On Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse is a British Jewish soul singer whose stuff I discovered about two weeks ago and I added a couple of her cuts to my video iPod, after I read an article about her. Apparently, she was recently voted Britain's best female artist and is busy trying to conquer the United States. She dropped her CD, Back To Black, in the United States last week and it is already #7 on the Billboard charts (which apparently is the highest debut of any British woman on America's music charts). And some observers have referred to Ms. Winehouse as a "white Lauryn Hill" or "white Macy Gray". I wouldn't go that far, but she does stand out among today's musical fare so check her out.

The songs that I like the most so far are "Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good". "Rehab" - with the catchy "They tried to make me go to rehab / I said no, no, no / Yes, I've been black but when I come back / I say no no no" chorus - has an unusual mix of hard-edge beats and '60s girl-group soul, that go well with her deep-sounding voice. She gives shout outs to Ray Charles and Donny Hathaway. I see this song being the theme for any TV or movie scene of alcoholics and drug abusers. However, white girl needs to take her ass to rehab, given what I've read about her drinking and drug habits.

"You Know I'm No Good" is the first song being released in USA, although "Rehab" (the catchier cut) was released first in the UK. And "You Know I'm No Good" apparently features rapper Ghostface Killa (I assume to help ease its acceptability in USA), although I haven't heard that version.

"Love Is A Losing Game" is also decent. And check out the title song, "Back To Black". I assume that the CD's title refers to her notorious alcoholic habits, and/or the influence of American soul and jazz music on her. I also see that Ms. Winehouse cites Teena Marie as one of her favorite artists, and I recently posted (and folks commented) about Lady T's contributions to the "blue-eyed soul" genre.

Question: why do white females from Britain (Dusty Springfield, Lisa Stansfield, Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse, etc.) do a significantly better job overall than their American counterparts - with Teena Marie being a notable exception - on the soul music front?