The Soul Sessions

In 2003, I heard a track from a new album by a young British singer, Joss Stone. I thought her voice sounded amazing, and I was very surprised to discover she was only 16 years old. I asked about it in a record shop, and was told the debut release was called ‘The Soul Sessions’. It was an album of song covers, with the originals recorded by a diverse assortment of singers and groups. It covered everything from Waylon Jennings, to Aretha Franklin and The Isley Brothers. I bought a copy, wondering if she had been too bold to take on such giants of the industry.

But I needn’t have worried. Right from the start, I heard that she was up to the task. And track two kept the good feeling going.

Track three was her version of a more modern song, the White Stripes hit from 2001.

By track six, she was all the way back to 1967, with a song I remembered from The Soul Bothers Six.

Her good taste extended to track eight, with a wonderful ballad written and recorded by John Sebastian.

Track ten finished off the CD with a great (almost-accapella) version of the Isley Bothers hit, ‘For The Love Of You’.
I played the whole thing again, straight away.
The following year, it won The Mercury Music Prize, for Best New Album.

Joss is still very much around on the scene. As well as releasing six more albums, she turned to acting too, with well-received parts in TV series like ‘The Tudors’ on BBC, and the film ‘Eragon’.

Super Duper Love

I heard a record one day in 2003, and after less than a minute, I knew that I had to buy it. I expected it to be sung by a black American female artist, probably in her forties. When I researched it, I was flabbergasted to discover that the singer was not only English, but she was white. When I found out that she was only sixteen years old, I almost fell over. I didn’t even try to get the single release, instead buying the full album on CD within a few days.

The singer was Joss Stone, and the record was called The Soul Sessions. It consisted of ten tracks, all cover versions of songs by other recording artists. I loved this new CD immediately. Stone’s voice had a soulful quality and a rich tone that belied her age, and she tackled everything from emotional ballads, to the funky stuff of my chosen track. The covers were diverse too, from Waylon Jennings, to the Isley Brothers; The White Stripes, to John Sebastian. In every case, she did them justice, and in my opinion, exceeded the quality of many of the originals.

I expected this girl to be the next big thing. Watching her pop videos, the attractive young woman with the look of a 60s wild child and the voice of a Blues or Soul diva, seemed to me to be the perfect combination. But it never really happened. Despite selling five million copies of this debut album, and recording many more over the years, she never quite made it to the big time that I predicted for her. She did win a Grammy Award, and two Brit Awards, and she made it onto the Sunday Times rich list. Acting roles followed, including film and TV, with a creditable performance as Ann of Cleeves in the BBC production, The Tudors.

She continues to record, and released her latest album this year. She didn’t become the household name that I thought she would, in the way that Adele has, for instance. But I still love to listen to that first album on occasion, and relish just how good it was. I found it hard to pick a track, so chose the one I heard that day on the radio.