A Change Is Gonna Come is the debut album by American soul singerâÂÂsongwriter Leela James. It was released on Warner Bros. Records on June 21, 2005 in the United States.
James covers Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and No Doubt's "Don't Speak" on the album.
Boston Globe critic Renée Graham found that A Change Is Gonna Come "has brushes of hip-hop but is very much an R&B album, and a very good one at that. Leela James has a rich, compelling voice, and her CD is propelled more by pure talent than studio wizardry." People magazine found that "with the vintage R&B sounds on her debut [...] this petite woman with the big voice is a refreshing change from today's BET booty-shakers. The L.A. native has clearly learned well from the old-school masters; her husky vocals, equal parts gospel fervor and down-home grit, conjure shades of Mavis Staples, Betty Wright and Tina Turner."
Allmusic editor Andy Kellman wrote that the album "retains a nostalgic tint. James has the stature of a woman who should possess a squeaky voice, but she sings with demonstrative grit. More importantly, she doesn't see her inspirations merely as artists to mimic; she sees how they learned from the past and applied it to the present. The past is built upon (if only a little), rather than simply revisited [...] There's plenty of thematic range, whether there are blue lights in the basement, tears on the pillow, sweat on the dancefloor, or sun showers on the porch." Rebecca Barry from The New Zealand Herald felt that A Change is Gonna Come "does ooze the kind of old-school vibe and heartfelt delivery that makes it easy to believe her when she sings about crying into her pillow. Butt while producers [...] try to mix up her styles [...] there's little to distinguish each song from the next."
Credits adapted from the liner notes of A Change Is Gonna Come.
Notes
Sample credits