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.Collette, Doug (2014) "Paul Rodgers - The Royal Sessions", Glide, 10 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014Ragonga, 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 Rodgers chose songs for the album that inspired him in his youth.Stevenson, Jane (2014) "Paul Rodgers: New album 'like coming full circle'", Toronto Sun, 29 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
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"."Paul Rodgers donates album profits to charity", Daily Express, 29 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
The album entered the Billboard Blues Albums chart at number one, and debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 81."Blues Albums", Billboard, w/e 1 March 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014"Paul Rodgers Chart History", billboard.com. Retrieved 23 February 2014
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".Shriver, Jerry (2014) "Listen Up: Notable new releases", USA Today, 4 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014 The Winnipeg Sun gave it two and a half stars, describing it as "Enjoyable, but not essential.""Eric Church Tops This Week's CD Reviews", Winnipeg Sun, 16 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014 Le Parisien writer Michel Valentin viewed the familiarity of the songs as a drawback.Valentin, Michel (2014) "Les reprises royales de Paul Rodgers", Le Parisien, 26 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014
Track listing
The vinyl version of this album does not contain "Born Under a Bad Sign" Amazon Exclusive includes three bonus tracks – "Shake", "Walk In My Shadow" and "Wonderful World"
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
Charts Chart (2014) Peakposition Australian Albums (ARIA) 92
References