Joss Stone released her debut album The Soul Sessions at the age of 16. The CD was a huge success and her name was immediately established in the music world. After her second album Mind, Body & Soul, Introducing Joss Stone was released in 2007. According to Joss, we really get to know her on that album.
Joss Stone (real name Joscelyn Eve Stoker) was born in 1987 in Devon, England. At a young age, she signed a contract with an American record company.
Soul classics
Joss Stone has an impressive soul voice and to give her plenty of practice, the record company sent her into the studio with a few old soul heroes. Among others, she recorded a batch of obscure soul songs from the 60s and 70s with Betty Wright and Timmy Thomas. For fun, a 'souled-up' version of the song 'Fell In Love With A Boy' by The White Stripes was also recorded.
Cover album
The exercise went so well that the record company decided not to record her planned debut album just yet. Instead, in 2003, a cover album was released with the special recordings: The Soul Sessions. The album and the single 'Fell In Love With A Boy' became big hits.
Management
Shortly after the release of our Sunday Morning Classic “Mind, Body And Soul”, it became known that Joss Stone had fired her mother as manager. The collaboration between them was no longer going well due to Joss growing up. Finding a new manager then caused quite a few problems.
Exuding sex appeal
Stone: "A manager came to talk to me who told me I urgently needed to exude more sex appeal. He said girls should want to be me, but boys should want to have me in bed. Sorry, but I won't take my clothes off for anyone. I'm not as beautiful as Beyonce; I can't imagine the world wanting to see me naked."
Successful singles
Mind, Body And Soul produced successful singles such as 'You Had Me', 'Right To Be Wrong', 'Spoiled' and 'Don't Ya Wanna Ride'. Joss also performed at Live 8 in London in 2005, a global festival to draw world leaders' attention to problems in Africa.
Own vision
On her third album, the British soul singer and songwriter felt she could truly express her own musical vision. "This is the first time I've made an album that really represents me," said Joss Stone. "That's why I called it Introducing Joss Stone. These are my words and this is who I am as an artist."
Top 2000
Unfortunately, in the 24th edition of the Top 2000 (we are now in 2023), there are no entries for Joss.
Sunday Morning Classic
On 23 April 2023, we welcomed Joss as Sunday Morning Classic in our Platenbar with her 2004 album Mind, Body and Soul.
‘Mind Body & Soul’ is a phenomenal CD, where you constantly feel confronted with something very special.
The album features original material from the singer for the first time. Betty Wright, a soul singer from the 70s and also backing vocalist for artists such as Erykah Badu and Jennifer Lopez, produced the album. The legendary Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier also contributed a song, together with his son Bo Dozier. Joss had a relationship with Bo for two years, until she was eighteen. The album is a very pleasant surprise. Joss steps out of her comfort zone and succeeds in brilliantly mixing various musical styles with her soul roots. She tackles reggae, R&B, blues and even throws in a bit of hip-hop. In "You Had Me" she shows off her amazing voice in a restrained, subtle way.
Mind, Body And Soul produced successful singles such as 'You Had Me', 'Right To Be Wrong', 'Spoiled' and 'Don't Ya Wanna Ride'.
Source: NPO Photo: Benoît Derrier from Stockholm, Sweden, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
