Soul Believers

This time, singer-turned-soul-producer Joe Henry knocks one out of the park. He brings together three of soul music’s great female singers – Ann Peebles, Irma Thomas, and Mavis Staples – plus keyboardist-composer-singers Billy Preston and Allen Toussaint, for an intimate session of songs they haven’t recorded before. The results are gorgeous – musically delightful, emotionally powerful and inspiring. An impeccably funky little studio band (helmed by Toussaint) provides crackling, grooving support as the singers – their voices weathered by age now and even more beautiful as a result – deliver one heart-stopping performance after another.

Superb interpretations of older songs – Ann Peebles’ deeply soulful take on Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You,” Irma’s lovely, nuanced vocal on Tom Jans’ “Loving Arms” – fit perfectly with new originals by Toussaint and Preston. Billy is sinuous and seductive on the lover’s plea “Both Ways,” and testifies for peace and understanding over a funk groove on “As One.” Toussaint’s brilliant horn arranging soars on his driving “Mi Amour” and “Turvalon”; he also adds a fine remake of “Riverboat” (which he first produced on a great 1970 Lee Dorsey LP) and closes the album with a gently lilting new spiritual, “We Are One.” But perhaps the most astonishing performances are delivered by Mavis Staples, who digs deep into her gospel past to turn in her finest recorded work in many years. The spine-chilling blues hymn “You Must Have That True Religion” stands with the Staple Singers’ 1950s masterpieces; an exuberant duet with Preston on “That’s Enough” conjures up the joyful spirit of the song’s author, the great Dorothy Love Coates; and her powerful, gritty version of Curtis Mayfield’s “Keep On Pushin’” feels as meaningful today as the original did back in the Civil Rights era.

This is that rare thing, a new album in a classic older style which takes its place alongside the greatest masterpieces of the form. And the album helps bring soul music back to its gospel roots, by including on an R&B album Mavis’ three devastating spiritual performances, along with the new Toussaint and Preston originals that are explicitly inspirational in nature. This is music that with a great good-time groove that can also sustain and inspire us in times of struggle. One of the very best albums of the year.