The Royal Sessions Explained
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.[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 one, and debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 81.[6] [7]
Reception
Steven Thomas Erlewine, reviewing the album for AllMusic, describes it as "enjoyable". Glide magazine awarded it 8/10. USA Today gave it three stars out of four, with Jerry Shriver saying that "Rodgers' devotion rings true".[8] The Winnipeg Sun gave it two and a half stars, describing it as "Enjoyable, but not essential."[9] Le Parisien writer Michel Valentin viewed the familiarity of the songs as a drawback.[10]
Track listing
Personnel
- Paul Rodgers – vocals
- Michael Toles – guitar
- Leroy Hodges – bass
- Michael Barar – viola
- Roy Brewer – violin
- Marc Franklin – trumpet
- Charles Hodges – Hammond B3
- Wesley Hovanec – assistant engineer, electric bongos, videography
- Jonathan Kirkscey – cello
- Beth Luscombe – viola
- Perry Margouleff – guitar, mixing, producer
- Lannie McMillan – tenor saxophone
- Susanna Perry-Gilmore – violin
- Jessie Munson – violin
- Royal horns – featured artist, horn
- Lester Snell – piano
- Gary Topper – tenor saxophone
- Archie Turner – Wurlitzer
- Mark Wallace – cello
- The Royal Singers – strings
- James L. Spake – baritone sax
- James Robertson – drums
- Steve Potts – drums
- Daniel Bean – assistant engineer
- Ryan Smith – mastering
- William Wittman – engineer, mixing
Notes and References
- News: Paul Rodgers, 'Walk on By': Exclusive Song Premiere Off 'The Royal Sessions' . Billboard.com . Graff, Gary . 2014-02-17 . 14 January 2014.
- Collette, Doug (2014) "Paul Rodgers - The Royal Sessions", Glide, 10 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
- 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
- Stevenson, Jane (2014) "Paul Rodgers: New album 'like coming full circle'", Toronto Sun, 29 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
- "Paul Rodgers donates album profits to charity", Daily Express, 29 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
- "Blues Albums", Billboard, w/e 1 March 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
- "Paul Rodgers Chart History", billboard.com. Retrieved 23 February 2014
- Shriver, Jerry (2014) "Listen Up: Notable new releases", USA Today, 4 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
- "Eric Church Tops This Week's CD Reviews", Winnipeg Sun, 16 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
- Valentin, Michel (2014) "Les reprises royales de Paul Rodgers", Le Parisien, 26 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
- The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 24 February 2014. https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20140318130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20140319-0000/Issue1252.pdf. dead. 2014-03-18. Australian Recording Industry Association. Australian Web Archive. 1252. PDF. 24 February 2014. 17 August 2016.
