''The B-Funk'' is the debut studio album by the British R&B and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer-songwriter

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English singer, songwriter, actress and radio personality. She released her first album, ''The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke ...

. It was released on 26 November 1995 by independent record label Dome Records.

Release and reception

''The B-Funk'' was released in November 1995 on independent record label Dome Records. It received wide critical acclaim by the urban media in Britain with '' Echoes'' magazine labelling it "the best British soul album ever" and ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine stating that "this lady is on her way to becoming an international star."Review
- Review
. ''Echoes Magazine'' and Billboard reactions, detailed on Dome Records website. Retrieved 1 May 2006. The album was also named Album of the Year by ''Blues & Soul'' in 1996, also earning Knight R&B Act of the Year at the 1996 Black Music Awards in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. However, the commercial success of the album did not match its critical acclaim, peaking at number 145 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. In total, six singles were released from the album, including two releases of " Flavour of the Old School" and a limited edition international release of "Cast All Your Cares." The album was the only LP released by Knight on Dome Records. After creative differences with the label, Knight decided to leave and sign a new contract with

Parlophone Records Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

in 1997. To capitalise on Knight's increased success at the label, Dome have subsequently re-released ''The B-Funk'' several times—the first being on 31 May 1999, after Knight won two awards at the

MOBO Modern Baseball (sometimes abbreviated as MoBo) was an American emo band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of Bren Lukens, Jake Ewald, Sean Huber, and Ian Farmer. The band formed in 2012 at Drexel University and released their first ...

Awards, and then again on 8 May 2006, after the top 10 success of her hits collection, '' Voice - The Best of Beverley Knight''. On both occasions, the album was re-released with bonus remixes of the singles.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:B-Funk, The 1995 debut albums Beverley Knight albums Hip-hop soul albums