When was the last time you heard a really good soul album. Real R&B, not the dross that gets labelled R&B these days which neither has any hint of rhythm or blues in its content. If you look you can still find some, but it's getting harder. So Imagine my delight listening to Joss Stone's debut 'Soul Sessions'. The 16 year old from the UK is a delight as she rips into a collection of souls classics such as the Isley Brothers' "For the Love of You", the Drifters' "Some Kind of Wonderful" , Aretha Franklin's "All the King's Horses", and Bettye Swann’s“Victim of A Foolish Heart”. Also thrown in for good measure the White Stripes' "Fell in Love With a Girl (now a Boy)," which features the Roots, which in Stone's interpretation feels right at home in the company, and confirms the song as a true classic. If you like real music, and especially if you like old Stax and Atlantic Soul, then this album should be an essential purchase. A contemporary album, containing material co-written with desmond child and Nile Rogers is due out later this year and will tell us if Joss can take that next step.
“It’s not rock ‘n’ roll anymore anyway,’’ he said. “What we used to call rock ‘n’ roll – the original term, defined by DJ Alan Freed – meant to refer to a certain kind of music that Chuck Berry and Little Richard and Elvis [Presley] were playing, and it was distinguishable from ‘popular music’ at that time ...What you have now is a pop music hall of fame, and I don’t care if I’m in the Pop Music Hall of Fame or not’’ Todd on why he's not especially a fan of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame as told to the Plain Dealer
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