aaamusic | On 02, Nov 2010

When you hear the name of Huey Lewis & the News you mind immediately thinks of Michael J. Fox skateboarding to school with The Power of Love on the background, Back to the future and its soundtrack marked an era and the band is still famous and loved for that song. Actually their career went on releasing other six albums, Plan B, the second last ,nine years before Soulsville, their latest release.
In the intervening time since their last album, frontman Lewis appeared on Broadway as attorney Billy Flynn in the musical ‘Chicago’, maybe he wanted to make different experiences after twenty years with the same band.
Now in 2010 Soulsville is a passionate tribute to Stax Records, well known in soul music folklore as the label who signed Booker T and the MGs, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Sam and Dave, among others and features 14 songs from the Stax library.
Maybe Mr. Lewis wanted to go back to his roots.
In fact the title of the album itself, apart from being a beautiful success by Isaac Hayes, is a tribute to the genre that has most deeply influenced music, it’s like he wanted to say “Welcome to the birthplace of music”, but it can be also interpreted like a journey inside his conscience. In a word we are talking about SOUL.
Ingredients of these album are fourteen soul classic reinterpreted and based on the deep, scratching, hot voice of Huey Lewis. Obviously his band plays an essential part for a good outcome, winds and the piano player make every tune brilliant and soulful.
Competing with these giants is not easy,  but Huey can keep his head held high.
Respect Yourself  is a stone-cold standard soul classic, while Just One More Day is a heartbreaking ballad, a perfect mix between his rough voice and winds that sometimes are gently, but they know hot to sound shrill to create a tearing up effect.
Soulsville is one of the hardest song and I must confess that I prefer the original version, anyway Lewis’ version is supported by female choirs that particularly enriched the tune.
That said I really appreciate this kind of tribute beacuse young people must be informed about classics, especially if we are talking of blues and soul. We must learn the past to understand the present. Also Huey Lewis & The News are right to perform this kind of music seen the quality of his voice and his musicians.

Author: Roberta Capuano