Soulsville

Updated on Sep 23, 2024

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Recorded 2010 Artist Huey Lewis Producer Huey Lewis Genre Soul music		Length 43:36 Release date 18 October 2010 Label WOW Records

Released October 18, 2010 (2010-10-18) Similar Huey Lewis albums, Soul music albums

Huey lewis the news soulsville live

Soulsville is the ninth studio album from Huey Lewis and the News and the band's first since Plan B in 2001. The album was released on October 18, 2010, in the United Kingdom and Europe and November 2, 2010, in the United States. The album, a tribute to the artists and music of Stax Records, was the brainchild of the band's manager, Bob Brown. As lead singer Huey Lewis explained, "the public isn't clamouring for new Huey Lewis & the News material". Brown and the band decided "it would be cooler to go into the [Stax] catalog a little deeper and find songs that people hadn't heard and capture them faithfully".

Huey lewis the news soulsville don t let the green grass fool you

Recording

Lewis and the News recorded Soulsville at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, in early 2010. One of the original Stax co-engineers, Jim Gaines, who also engineered the band's best-selling albums, Sports and Fore!, produced the album with the band.

Reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic writes "what makes the album successful is that Huey Lewis & the News don't choose the obvious tunes", citing that their love for the music is infectious and the album "winds up like a bunch of old friends having fun revisiting their favorite tunes." Rick Moore of American Songwriter also praises the selection of "songs that are a little more obscure", calling it "a solid collection of 14 tunes from the Stax/Volt heyday" and a nice homage by the News. J. Matthew Cobb of SoulTracks thinks the song selections are a perfect fit for Lewis's voice and show how rich and vast the Stax catalog is, calling the album "one of the most aesthetically sound cover albums of 2010". Jason Heller of The A.V. Club completely disagrees by claiming Soulsville doesn't have soul and only a few of the songs rise "above the level of really good karaoke." He rips Lewis' renditions of Solomon Burke's (who died shortly before the album was released) "Got to Get You Off My Mind" and "Cry to Me", describing it as "a pathetic epitaph for the late King of Rock & Soul."

Album cover

The album cover was designed by Memphis folk artist Lamar Sorrento. It presents a caricature of a Memphis street corner, complete with musicians, rib joints, and WDIA, the country's first black radio station.

Personnel

Huey Lewis – vocals and harmonica

Johnny Colla – guitar, tenor saxophone, percussion, vocals

Bill Gibson – drums, percussion, vocals

Sean Hopper – keyboards, vocals

John Pierce – bass

Bill Hinds – guitar on all songs except "Don't Fight It" and "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You"

Stef Burns – guitar on "Don't Fight It", "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You", "I Want To (Do Everything for You)", and "Respect Yourself"

Marvin McFadden – trumpet

Rob Sudduth – tenor saxophone

Johnnie Bamont – baritone saxophone

Additional musicians and vocalists

Dorothy Morrison – vocal duet on "Respect Yourself"

Rick Steff – piano on "Don't Fight It", "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You"

John Gove – trombone on "Respect Yourself" and "Got to Get You Off My Mind"

Bertram Brown, Jackie Johnson, and Reba Russell – backing vocals on "Don't Fight It", "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You", "Got to Get You Off My Mind", "Little Sally Walker", and "Never Like This Before"

Larry Batiste, Niko Ellison, and Cleytoven Richardson – backing vocals on "Never Found a Girl", "Just the One (I've Been Looking For)", "Cry to Me", and "I Want To (Do Everything for You)"

Daunielle "Pie" Hill, Jackie Johnson, and Reba Russell - backing vocals on "Free" and "Respect Yourself"

Bryan Dyer – backing vocals on "Cry to Me", "I Want To (Do Everything for You)"

Ashling Cole – backing vocals on "Soulsville"

Songs

1Don't Fight It2:57
2Got to Get You Off My Mind2:50
3Free3:53

References

Soulsville Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA