The Royal Sessions

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The Royal Sessions
PaulRodgers-RoyalSessions.jpg
Studio album by
Paul Rodgers
Released4 February 2014
Recorded2013, Royal Studios, Memphis
Genre Blues, soul
Length41:34
Label 429 Records, Pie Records
Producer Perry A. Margouleff [1]
Paul Rodgers chronology
Live in Glasgow
(2007)		The Royal Sessions
(2014)		 Midnight Rose
(2023)

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]

Contents

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

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 74/100 [8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Glide8/10 [2]
USA Today Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Winnipeg Sun Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]

Steven Thomas Erlewine, reviewing the album for AllMusic, describes 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

Charts

Chart (2014)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [13] 92
UK Albums (OCC) [14] 58
US Billboard 200 [15] 81

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References

  1. ↑ Graff, Gary (14 January 2014). "Paul Rodgers, 'Walk on By': Exclusive Song Premiere Off 'The Royal Sessions'". Billboard.com. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  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 28 March 2014.
  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
  13. ↑ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 24 February 2014" (PDF) (1252). Australian Recording Industry Association. Australian Web Archive. 24 February 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2016.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ↑ "Paul Rodgers | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "Paul Rodgers Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
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