Jimmy Barnes - Soul Deep

You can imagine the conversation at the record company… “ok Jimmy, if you’re going to do a Soul album, the first single has to be the most rocking, “Jimmy Barnes” type soul song we can find”. 

 

Unfortunately, the song chosen, I Gotcha, was too in your face.  It was too blunt.  And it was lacking … unfortunately … soul. So, when I heard the song on the radio in 1991, I completely dismissed the whole album as just another Jimmy Barnes album. 

 

That’s the problem with record companies.  Because Soul Deep is actually Jimmy Barnes’ first real artistic move as a musician.  After 7 number 1 albums treading basically the same musical terrain, what was he to do?  He goes back to his childhood and records an album of soul standards.  And they’re actually really good.  He actually sings.  Not shouts.  And his voice is really an asset, knowing when to hold it back, when to let it go.  The arrangements are fairly standard, but they do service to the songs.  This is a really good artistic step and a solid album