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RELATED LINKS

• Ms. Stone on S-Curve Records
• VH1 interview with Ms. Stone
• Ms. Stone on the BBC

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Tavis: It's been quite a year for Joss Stone. The 17-year-old--that's right, 17--released her critically acclaimed CD, "Mind, Body & Soul." She's performed for the President, some duets with the likes of Smokey and Mick Jagger, had lunch with Tom Cruise, and in a couple of weeks, will take part in Stevie Wonder's annual Christmas charity event here in L.A. And behind all the accolades and positive press lies genuine talent. Imagine that. Here is a clip from the video for her song "Right to Be Wrong."

Joss Stone, singing: Got a right to be wrong,

I've been held down too long,

I've got to break free

so I can finally breathe,

Got a right to be wrong,

Got to sing my own song,

I might be singing out of key,

but it sure feels good to me,

Got a right...

Tavis: No lip-syncing there. As a matter of fact, Smokey Robinson calls her Aretha Joplin.

Joss: Oh, yeah. He told me about that.

Tavis: Aretha Joplin. You get where Smokey's going with that. That's quite a compliment from Smokey Robinson, isn't it?

Joss: He's nice. He's very sweet.

Tavis: How are you?

Joss: I'm good. How are you?

Tavis: I'm well. Nice to see you. Are you comfortable?

Joss: I am.

Tavis: OK. Just want to make sure you're comfortable sitting there. I know you've been asked this question a thousand times, but for those who have not seen or heard your answer to this question, how did you get so hooked on soul music?

Joss: Well, a lot of people do ask me that.

Tavis: I'm sure.

Joss: But living in England, people think that I've never heard soul music in my life, nobody's heard soul music in my life, but I heard it just the same as everybody else would, on the radio and TV, just like pop, just like reggae, just like hip-hop, you know? And I don't really think that somebody would, I don't know, ask Christina Aguilera, "How'd you get into pop?"

Tavis: Yeah.

Joss: Or Bob Marley, "How'd you get into reggae?" Like it's--I don't know. I just listened to it, and I heard it, and it kind of came out, and people were like, "You're kind of soulful." I was like, "Really? I'll take that. All right.' So then I went with it. I don't know.

Tavis: It just happened like that.

Joss: Yeah. It just kind of comes out. I don't know.

Tavis: But to your point, though, Joss, is there something specific, something in particular about the sound of soul, the feel of soul that, in fact, drew you, as opposed to the other things you mentioned, pop and rock? You heard all of it. You could have been drawn to that. As well as you sing, you can sing any of it. Why soul?

Joss: Um, I think I believe it more.

Tavis: You believe it more?

Joss: Yeah.

Tavis: That's a very good answer.

Joss: It's kind of--

Tavis: Good answer. Good answer. Good answer. I'm sorry. Go ahead.

Joss: When you listen to it, you listen to, like, Aretha or Roberta Flack, you believe them, and they make you cry, you know? So it's honest music.

Tavis: Yeah. Um, so this is your second release, the one we just featured here now. Tell me what the difference between this CD is and the first CD?

Joss: OK, so the first CD was not my album, but people--It kind of turned into my album. It was meant to be just an E.P., five-track. That's why it's all covers, because--

Tavis: They were covers. Exactly.

Joss: Yeah. 'Cause I was writing this one before I did the 'Soul Sessions.' And they were like, "Yeah, we just want to release you in a different way, with just this little E.P.' Or just, 'Oh, a couple thousand people, won't really know about it, but it'll make a buzz." And it kind of just kept going and kept going and got bigger than we thought it would, so it kind of turned into my first album, which kind of sucked, 'cause I didn't want people to think that I was just this cover artist.

Tavis: But that doesn't hurt, though. I mean, people--When people hear songs that they know and they hear that you can really sing those songs--I mean, it takes a lot of nerve to sing some of the stuff you sang on that first...

Joss: It was horrible. I was so scared.

Tavis: Some people's music is so good, it ought to be left alone, I think.

Joss: Oh, my God.

Tavis: You could do a good job with it, though.

Joss: I did the Aretha track.

Tavis: Right.

Joss: I was, like, on my knees begging, "Please, please, please don't put that on that," because what kind of fool covers Aretha? You know? 'What the hell? Like this is horrible, man?' But you know, they were just, "Oh, this is an E.P. No one'll hear it."

Tavis: Yeah. And boom, it took off.

Joss: No one heard it. Yeah, right. It's horrible, man. I'm so embarrassed.

Tavis: All right, so we get the voice out there. We get the name out there, Joss Stone. We know who you are. We know you can sing, 'cause we've heard you sing these covers. And then, bam, you release this. This really is you.

Joss: Yeah.

Tavis: You've written, like, what, 11 out of 14 of these songs?

Joss: Something like that. Yeah. Well, I kind of ran with people.

Tavis: Yeah?

Joss: Yeah. It was just an experiment, like I really don't know what I am doing, so I don't want people to take that and, you know, be too critical, because this is my first attempt.

Tavis: It's more than an experiment. It's more than an attempt. This thing is selling. You're much too modest here. I love this about you. You still have that innocence of youth. But when you write 11 out of 14 songs--One, it's awfully nice your record company let you put your stuff on here.

Joss: Yeah. It's nice.

Tavis: They trust what you have written here. Where does that writing thing come from? I mean, it's one thing to be 17 and perform and go on "American Idol" and do somebody else's stuff. It's another thing to actually write.

Joss: Yeah. At first--'Cause I got signed with my management, um, at 14, and they were, like, "Joss, maybe you should just try writing with these two guys, Jonathan Shorten and Connor Reeves in England." I was like, "I really don't know how to sing, let alone write." Like, I was just making this up. I have no idea what I'm doing. Then I'd go in and write? I was like, "No." But I used to write poems, and that was the only thing I was good at at school. I was like the worst speller, I couldn't do math or anything, but I could write poems. And my teacher was like, 'Thank God," you know, so I guess that probably helps. And it's just, I think anybody really can do it. I think the song is already written. You just need to find it. You need to just, like, take it from there, you know.

Tavis: You're much too cute, I'll tell you. Let me ask a silly question. Can I ask a silly question?

Joss: Go ahead.

Tavis: All right. How is your music received in England versus in the U.S.A.? Is there a difference between how they treat your music?

Joss: I think--I don't know. I mean, I don't really spend too much time anywhere to know exactly what it's like.

Tavis: You're moving so fast, you don't know--Yeah.

Joss: Yeah. It's kind of hard. 'Cause I'll go to Europe, and I'll do all this promo in France, and then I'll never see it, you know? But I see it more in England because that's obviously where live. But I don't know. I think they like it. But I think here, everything just takes longer because it's huge, and England's, like, little, so it doesn't take so long, you know, to, like, reach everybody, 'cause it's a smaller country. So it just takes longer here.

Tavis: Are you still happy living there, or is there a lure here in the states that's starting to--

Joss: Well, my boyfriend lives here.

Tavis: Well, That's a good lure. Sometimes that works. And speaking of your boyfriend--I don't want to get too personal. Can I mention who your boyfriend is?

Joss: Yeah, sure.

Tavis: Why don't you mention who his father is?

Joss: Lamont Dozier.

Tavis: Yeah. A great...

Joss: He's so great.

Tavis: Lamont Dozier's a great artist and writer in his own right.

Joss: He is like the nicest man I've ever met, like he's so cool. He is so, so, so, so sweet, and he's so talented, obviously. But I was, like, shy to meet him. He came to my gig. I was like, "Oh, my God." Like he came to my gig? That was not--That's like, it's weird. It was really weird. My mum was freaking out, and I didn't realize I was gonna fall in love with his son, but hey.

Tavis: He is a great talent in his own right. So how does that work? How do you like--How do you have a boyfriend? I know you get, like--Well, you can afford it, so--You can do better than just free weekend minutes, so I guess--See, I still have free weekends, but I'm trying to imagine, Joss, how I would have a girlfriend who lives in England when I live in L.A.?

Joss: It's kind of hard. Well, I kind of--I live with him half--It's half and half. So when I'm in L.A., I'm with him, and sometimes he'll come out and see me. You make it work. You have to make it work. I miss him so much. Yeah, he's really sweet.

Tavis: Yeah. So now what do you do want to do with this career? I mean, I sense that your talent is, like, bigger than this room, and this really is just the start, so like, where you do want--Do you want to, like--What do you want to do? Since you said you kind of fell into this and you were not that good at it, you were not a great writer, and...

Joss: Yeah. I'm just making it up. Like, really?

Tavis: Yeah. Just make it up as you go along?

Joss: I have no idea. I just--I want to be better singer and a better songwriter and just a better artist, you know. I really have no idea what I'm doing, so I'm just trying to get better as I go along. Like, I keep blowing my voice out 'cause I don't know how to sing. Like I'm making this noise people seem to like, but I don't know how to do it. People--Most singers have been taught, like, certain ways how to sing with your stomach and blah, blah, blah, blah.

Tavis: You just sing.

Joss: I was just, like, making this noise, and I kept busting out my voice, so I started to have vocal lessons with Ron Anderson, and he's like, "Joss, you need to, like, learn how to do it, and then you're not gonna hurt yourself." So that's one thing. I want to do that. Um, I definitely want to keep making albums. I want to be different and have more involvement each time, you know? I don't know.

Tavis: This is scary. She's written 11 out of 14 songs, but she wants more involvement.

Joss: I do. I want to work at it. I want to learn an instrument. I want to do all sorts of things.

Tavis: She's selling records like hot cakes, but she doesn't really know how to sing. If you ever get this figured out, this is scary. This is really scary of what could happen if you ever get good at this.

Joss: I hope so, man.

Tavis: So if you were to really, really be good, if you ever were to get this thing down right, who would you sound like? Who do you listen to who you think has this thing down in a way that you'd like to get it down some day?

Joss: I think Aretha Franklin.

Tavis: Aretha Franklin. Yeah.

Joss: She is the best thing I have ever heard in my life. I never heard anybody better than that. I mean, there are some real great singers out there, but Aretha, she can do anything she wants to do, anything.

Tavis: I am not going to argue with that, 'cause the queen can put it down.

Joss: Right. It's like ridiculous.

Tavis: Yeah. She--It's ridiculous. Queen, it's ridiculous how good you are. I know you're watching in Detroit. I hope you're watching in Detroit. Joss, it's a pleasure to meet you.

Joss: And you.

Tavis: The new CD by Joss Stone, "Mind, Body & Soul." Don't believe her. This is no way to sell--You and I have to talk off-camera.

Joss: I'm not really very good at this.

Tavis: Yeah. We got to talk off-camera here, because I gotta teach you how to sell a record.

Joss: It's great.

Tavis: Yeah. There you go.

Joss: It's brilliant.

Tavis: You don't come on TV and sell records--

Joss: It's the best album in the world.

Tavis: "It's really not that good. It's not that bloody good. I'm really not--I don't know how to sing. I want to get better. I want to get better and better at this." No, that's not how you sell a CD. Anyway, nice to see you.

Joss: And you. Thank you very much.

Tavis: That's our show for tonight. As always, you can catch me on the radio on NPR. I'll see you back here next time on PBS. Until then, thanks for watching. Good night from Los Angeles, and keep the faith.