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JOSS STONE :: SOUL MUSIC'S NEW FACE - 17, BLOND AND BRITISH a Young soul phenomenon a Published in PRESS Magazine October 2004
Lately, in a cookie-cutter world of overhyped and saccharine teen pop stars where they are slowly becoming more image-conscious and manufactured, it seems that whenever a new teen pop star comes along, she releases a couple of annoyingly catchy but highly forgettable tunes, only to be replaced by a fresher face. However, once in a blue moon, a young, new talent comes along to shake things up. And we are not talking about your typical pre-fabricated marketing wonder unable to hold her own on a stage.
Belting out soul and R&B with the maturity of a veteran songstress with her pristine, soul-drenched pipes, Joss Stone despite her years, has a grown-up voice that's the real deal and wants her music, not her image, to sell her album. Strong, sensuous, assured, her vocals are sassy and raw, and she accents key words with deep, breathy moans or pained, bluesy rasps that sometimes it’s easy to forget that the voice comes from a beautiful, quiet, slightly shy 17-year-old British girl. Not your typical R&B diva, she is quick to challenge old notions of race and music. She sings soul, not "black" or "white" music.
Born Joscelyn Eve Stoker on April 11, 1987, Stone surprisingly does not hail from Memphis, Philly, Motown or any of the other soul centers. Neither was she wasn't reared solely on the likes of Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston or even her U.K. predecessor, Dusty Springfield, nor was she one of those UK soul fanatics who know the name of every drummer to record for Stax. Instead, she's from the pastoral country of Dover, England, where she lived until she turned eight, before moving off to the rural town Devon, where the white, sun-kissed blonde British darling spent her teen years and listened to a steady diet of everything before stumbling into her love for soul. Raised on a combination of old school soul, jazz, rock and pop, thanks to her parents’ good taste in music, Stone listened to a lot of different types of music. Eventually, when she was old enough to ask for it, after seeing an advertisement, the young Joss Stone asked her mom to buy her Aretha Franklin's Greatest Hits for Christmas, Stone’s first album, which inspired her to become a singer. Drawn towards soul and R&B, aside from that of Aretha Franklin’s music, she also eventually developed a love for Al Green, Stax and Atlantic Records, and in time, Stone realized that she possessed an impressive throaty vocal style with both depth and emotion, much like her idols.
At fourteen, while watching a British TV talent show on the BBC entitled, “Star For a Night,” Stone knew she could do better than the indistinguishable flock of pop star wannabes, who were mangling the popular classics. On a whim she tried out, just for fun, and stunned an unsuspecting audience who expected yet another squeaky blonde cutie to entertain them and scouts hungry for new talent, because but out of the giggly teenager came a vocal reincarnation of Gladys Knight rolled up with Janis Joplin and a dash of Dusty Springfield, as Stone, in her natural, 14-year-old pipes belted out tunes like a Motown goddess, Aretha Franklin's classic "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” and Whitney Houston's “It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay” on the show. And she won. Not only that, her talent is such that through that appearance, the singer earned an agent, a trip to America, and an instant record deal.
Stone’s managers knew the British producers called the Boiler House Boys. They were impressed by Joss’ natural vocal ability, and brought her to the attention of Steven Greenberg, a former A&R rep who had started his own label, S-Curve, credited with discovering Hanson and producing their first hit "MMMBop" and the breakout blockbuster, proven by another feather in his cap, the Baha Men's "Who Let the Dogs Out." Anticipating her impending career as a singer, Joscelyn and her mother changed her name to the catchier and sultrier Joss Stone. They then flew to New York to meet with Steve Greenberg.
When Joss Stone came to the New York-based S-Curve label, she had never made a record or performed with a live band before a live audience. What she did have—to quote Joss’s co-writer, vocal arranger and mentor Betty Wright—was "a God-given gift," a voice of uncommon strength, soulfulness, and sensitivity.
Miami R&B/soul legend Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman"), joined Stone for her first recording, becoming an instant mentor and friend to the gifted singer, helping her refine her singing. In addition, Greenberg and Wright teamed her up with a Miami soul dream team made up with a group of gifted but long-overlooked musicians who were among the prime movers and shapers of "The Miami Sound" of the Seventies: organist Timmy Thomas ("Why Can't We Live Together"), keyboardist Bennt Latimore ("Let's Straighten It Out") and guitarist Little Beaver ("Party Down"). When the album was nearly complete, Greenberg came up with a brainstorm. Stone should record some forgotten soul classics. Release dates to be damned, Joss put her own songs on hold in favor of spending some time in the studio with those architects of the Miami Soul sound. From there she ended up in Philadelphia with the masterminds of contemporary soul and R&B, The Roots. What started out as a side project grew into an obsession for everyone involved. Others who assisted Stone in the studio in 2003 for what became The Soul Sessions EP also included vocalist Angie Stone and a riveting set of 1970s classics by the likes of Laura Lee and Bettye Swann, as well as tracks by Wright and Franklin accentuated the neo-soul gem crafted in just four days, that included a suite of lost soul gems and a cover of The White Stripes' "Fell In Love With a Girl" (renamed "Fell In Love With a Boy") with hip-hop heavyweights The Roots. On September 16th, 2003, Stone introduced herself to the MTV generation with the funky strut of "Fell in Love with a Boy," which was a rework of the White Stripes hit "Fell in Love with a Girl." Her debut album, The Soul Sessions, which came out to the delight of critics and to the horror of the candy-pop cohorts was a huge success, selling over two million copies.
A few years ago, she was just a little girl in Devon, England. Now she’s traveling the States in a bus with her mother, who manages the 17-year-old's shows and tours, living through a grueling press tour. The last 12 months have seen Joss make a huge mark the world over, including the USA, where she has performed with music luminaries including Elton John, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight and Debbie Harry. She has also performed almost everywhere, from booking gigs at some of the coolest venues in the US, such as the intimate Joe’s Pub in Manhattan and the Troubadour in Los Angeles, to the annual Glastonbury Festival in England last June, where she performed before more than 100,000 screaming fans in her native England, rounding out an impressive bill that included Franz Ferdinand, Damien Rice, Wilco, and PJ Harvey, and has recently finished a tour in which she opened for Simply Red, for which Chicago's House of Blues was among the venues. A media darling, who’s still a little amazed by this merry-go-round she’s taking, Stone has also been the subject of a feature story in Entertainment Weekly, People Magazine and Billboard, and has been profiled in The New York Times and many of the other big name papers. She has also performed on Good Morning America, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and proved to be refreshingly real as she chatted with talk show hosts Ellen Degeneres and Craig Kilborn.
By the summer of 2004, The Soul Sessions was certified gold in the US, went double platinum in the UK and had sold more than two million copies worldwide. It also reached Number One on Billboard's "Heatseekers" chart in February 2004; breached the US Top 40 in April '04, and hit the Top Ten in thirteen countries around the world. A nomination for Britain's prestigious Mercury Music Prize and a coveted spot on a VH1 Divas Live special (both much-deserved) followed.
Following the worldwide multi platinum success of her debut, “The Soul Sessions,” Joss Stone returns with her second album, Mind, Body and Soul released under S-Curve Records in September of this year. Her first collection of all original material on which the talented Stone has written/co-written twelve of the fourteen songs on her new disc, including collaborations with such veteran hit makers as Lamont Dozier and Desmond Child, Mind, Body and Soul is personally considered by Stone to be her real debut album.
Though she has worked with many of the same classic Miami soul musicians that gave The Soul Sessions such an authentic '70s sound, there is a real progression between her first disc and the new album. Shifting from the really old-school feel of The Soul Sessions where it seemed like she was paying tribute to artists of the past and thanking them for inspiring her, Mind, Body & Soul, in comparison, is more contemporary, as Stone tries her hand at more funky hip-hop/R&B fare, which, considering her flair in soul, will doubtless boost her fan base even more, as Stone's music clearly resonates with fans who are tired of today's soulless, manufactured pop and long for the organic singing and live-band sound of yore.
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Stone’s
managers knew the British producers called the Boiler House Boys. They were
impressed by Joss’ natural vocal ability, and brought her to the attention of
Steven Greenberg, a former A&R rep who had started his own label, S-Curve,
credited with discovering Hanson and producing their first hit "MMMBop" and the
breakout blockbuster, proven by another feather in his cap, the Baha Men's "Who
Let the Dogs Out." Anticipating her impending career as a singer, Joscelyn and
her mother changed her name to the catchier and sultrier Joss Stone. They then
flew to New York to meet with Steve Greenberg. When Joss Stone came to the New
York-based S-Curve label, she had never made a record or performed with a live
band before a live audience. What she did have was a voice of uncommon strength,
soulfulness, and sensitivity. Entranced by her soulful power, the S-Curve record
label owner and industry vet signed her to his S-Curve Records right away and
flew her to Miami, where work on her first album, Soul Sessions began as
she was teamed up with masters of soul and other music stars, who all consider
her a pleasure to work with.