The Royal Sessions

The Royal Sessions
Studio album by Paul Rodgers
Released 4 February 2014
Recorded 2013, Royal Studios, Memphis
Genre Blues, soul
Length 41:34
Label 429 Records, Pie Records
Producer Perry A. Margouleff [1]
Paul Rodgers chronology
The Cosmos Rocks
(2008)		 The Royal Sessions
(2014)

The Royal Sessions is a studio album by Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company fame. Released on 4 February 2014, it consists of ten covers of blues, rhythm & blues and soul songs recorded at Royal Studios in Memphis, Tennessee with local musicians and produced by Perry A. Margouleff.[2][3] Rodgers chose songs for the album that inspired him in his youth.[3][4]

Rodgers announced before the album's release that he would be donating all proceeds from it to the Stax Music Academy, an after-school music programme in Memphis, stating that he wanted to "pay the proceeds to the people who gave us this music".[5]

The album entered the Billboard Blues Albums Chart at number 1, and entered the Billboard 200 at number 81.[6][7]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[9]
Glide8/10[2]
USA Today[10]
Winnipeg Sun[11]

Steven Thomas Erlewine, reviewing the album for Allmusic, gave it four stars out of five, describing it as "enjoyable".[9] Glide magazine awarded it 8/10.[2] USA Today gave it three stars out of four, with Jerry Shriver saying that "Rodgers' devotion rings true".[10] The Winnipeg Sun gave it two and a half stars, describing it as "Enjoyable, but not essential."[11] Le Parisien writer Michel Valentin viewed the familiarity of the songs as a drawback.[12]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "I Thank You"  (Isaac Hayes / David Porter) 3:10
2. "Down Don’t Bother Me"  (Albert King) 2:17
3. "I Can’t Stand the Rain"  (Don Bryant / Bernard Miller / Ann Peebles) 4:05
4. "I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)"  (Jerry Butler / Otis Redding) 5:36
5. "That's How Strong My Love Is"  (Roosevelt Jamison) 3:15
6. "Walk On By"  (Burt Bacharach / Hal David) 6:49
7. "Any Ole Way"  (Steve Cropper / Otis Redding) 2:38
8. "It's Growing"  (Warren Moore / Smokey Robinson) 3:05
9. "Born Under a Bad Sign"  (William Bell / Booker T. Jones) 4:09
10. "I’ve Got Dreams to Remember"  (Otis Redding) 6:31

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Graff, Gary (14 January 2014). "Paul Rodgers, 'Walk on By': Exclusive Song Premiere Off 'The Royal Sessions'". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  2. 1 2 3 Collette, Doug (2014) "Paul Rodgers - The Royal Sessions", Glide, 10 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
  3. 1 2 Ragonga, Mike (2014) "Paul Rodgers' Royal EPK Premiere, A Conversation With Astro Raph, Plus Exclusives From MODOC and Christine Rosander", Huffington Post, 28 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
  4. ↑ Stevenson, Jane (2014) "Paul Rodgers: New album 'like coming full circle'", Toronto Sun, 29 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
  5. ↑ "Paul Rodgers donates album profits to charity", Daily Express, 29 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
  6. ↑ "Blues Albums", Billboard, w/e 1 March 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
  7. ↑ "Paul Rodgers Chart History", billboard.com. Retrieved 23 February 2014
  8. ↑ "The Royal Sessions Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  9. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2014) "The Royal Sessions Review", Allmusic. Retrieved 23 February 2014
  10. 1 2 Shriver, Jerry (2014) "Listen Up: Notable new releases", USA Today, 4 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
  11. 1 2 "Eric Church Tops This Week's CD Reviews", Winnipeg Sun, 16 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
  12. ↑ Valentin, Michel (2014) "Les reprises royales de Paul Rodgers", Le Parisien, 26 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
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