I Believe to My Soul (Mcup)

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 24, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B000AYEIXG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,061 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It should be 'heart and my soul', October 10, 2005

By 

1jazzlover (Nampa, ID United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Believe to My Soul (Mcup) (Audio CD)

I am surprised by the lack of coverage I am seeing here on Amazon.com concerning this title. I first heard about it on the Today Show. The band performed a couple of songs and that is when I discovered that part of the purchase price was being donated to the Red Cross to aid the hurricane Katrina victims. I gleaned the following details from the Starbucks site:

"In Starbucks Company-operated locations in the U.S. and Canada, Starbucks Hear Music, Rhino and Work Song and will donate $10 of the purchase price of every CD sold to aid in the region's recovery. In all other retail channels in the U.S. and Canada, Starbucks Hear Music and Rhino and Work Song will donate $3 of the purchase price of every CD sold. Donations will be made to the American Red Cross and the Canadian Red Cross (according to the country in which the CD was purchased) to provide support for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. This donation will continue for the lifetime of the CD and is in addition to Starbucks Coffee Company's long-term relief and recovery efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina."

That alone is reason to consider buying this CD in my opinion. The music is an added bonus.

From the back of the CD cover:

"This is a new soul record done in a classic mode, not a re-creation of classic soul music. It is a record authentic to where these five great artists find themselves today--and in relationship to each other. It is music steeped in tradition, but played with no particular reverence for it. This is the first of a series; and there is more to come."

The CD was produced by Joe Henry...who brought together five of the greatest living artists of soul: Ann Peebles, Billy Preston, Mavis STaples, Irma Thomas, and Allen Toussaint.

The listing of songs and associated artists on Amazon.com needs to be corrected as follows:

1.You must have that true religion--Mavis Staples
2.Both ways--Billy Preston
3.Tonight I'll be staying here with you--Ann Peebles
4.The same love that made me laugh--Irma Thomas
5.Mi Amour--Allen Toussaint
6.Keep on pushing--Mavis Staples
7.As one--Billy Preston
8.Loving arms--Irma Thomas
9.River boat--Allen Toussaint
10.That's enough--Mavis Staples and Billy Preston
11.Turvalon--Allen Toussaint
12.When the candle burns low--Ann Peebles
13.We are one--Allen Toussaint

Now...to get to the music. I like this CD. It's not cutting edge, there are no vocal acrobatics...but it sure is easy to sit down with...like an old friend...or a good cup of coffee. It's warm and friendly. There is a humanity about it. When Ann Peebles sings 'when the candle burns low', you feel the pain, but are encouraged by the hope. That kind of sums up this music. It's real. It's honest. It's about 'heart' and soul. It's about how 'we are one'...how we share in this life...both the joys and sorrows.

I have to give this project 5 stars. I'd give the music 4 stars, but with the added bonus of part of the purchase price going to the Red Cross to aid the Katrina victims...how can it be anything but a 5?

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars soul believers, February 24, 2006

By 

K. R. Williams "kenzed" (melbourne, australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I Believe to My Soul (Mcup) (Audio CD)

Simply one of the most exciting recordings in years. New, and vibrant, performances by dearly beloved. Joe Henry continues his blessed mission in producing fresh work by great soul era artists overlooked by an increasingly homogeneous music industry. Enough grumpy old man, I Believe To My Soul is the rare thing that puts one at risk of stopping people and boring them about it. The juice produced by Henry's matching of Solomon Burke with songs by contemporary writers brought the great man to Australia; Bettye LaVette appeared on Letterman (would that she appear in the footsteps of her contemporary Betty Harris at the Prince of Wales venue in Melbourne). Henry has brought together, in alphabetical order, Ann Peebles, Billy Preston, Mavis Staples, Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint. If even one of those names stirs, a treat awaits. Everyone is in great form. Mavis Staples is alight raising her voice in praise on album opener You Must Have That True Religion, relentless on Keep On Pushing. Irma Thomas reaches higher and higher on Loving Arms, Ann Peebles heartbreaking on When the Candle Burns Low. The album was recorded in June last year. Then came Katrina. Toussaint became one of the refugees in the Superdome and Thomas was among early hurricane missing. So it was a delight to happen upon the two closing the Grammys telecast with a musical blast for the battered Gulf Coast and the lately lamented Wilson Pickett. Too late, but what sweet noise Pickett and Joe Henry might have made. For those who like that sort of thing (salutations), Allen Toussaint is on piano throughout, arranged the horns, sings three. That he is thanked in the notes for ''unfailing generosity'' is nice. Is it worth going grumpy because the notes are a strain to read by dint of marrying magenta and black into gloom? Sigh. Ah well, overreaching design never silenced such heavenly voices.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soul out the ying yang, January 5, 2006

By 

Travis Dubya McGee Bickle "elitist duffer" (Texas Quail Hunting Camp) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Believe to My Soul (Mcup) (Audio CD)

Superb outing from a passel of soul immortals, produced by that ace producer, Joe Henry...a highly accomplished artist his own self...this is his what? 4th or 5th smash production...and the artists, from Ann Peebles to Allen Toussaint to Billy Preston (and including several others) all really shine...not to be missed.