IN a one-off and almost guaranteed sell-out show at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Monday, November 3, Teessider Paul Rodgers will present The Royal Sessions live, with all the players from his latest album of the same name.
In the mid 1960s, before Rodgers founded Free, Bad Company or The Firm, with Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, he could be found in his home town of Middlesbrough playing bass in local band, The Roadrunners.
Rodgers was besotted with vinyl 45s from America and spinning the records over and over, he would imagine how the artists and singers created such momentous sounds and wonder about the places they came from.
Press fast forward to 2013 and Paul Rodgers is at his musical mecca, Willie Mitchell’s famous South Memphis’ Royal Studios, recording those familiar old songs with many of the same players who graced the original tracks.
The Royal Sessions represents the culmination of a long, profound journey for Rodgers. Five decades after first discovering these songs on those old 45s, he has achieved the sound of his R&B fantasy.
The band worked in the real-school style on analogue tape, with the basic tracks all cut live including Rodgers’ vocals. The veteran session men were surprised when he chose to kick off with Otis Redding’s iconic That’s How Strong My Love Is. After Rodgers nailed the song in one take, organist Charles Hodges took him aside and said: “Man, you’ve really got this in you. You can really do this.”
Joining Rodgers at the Albert Hall are Reverend Charles Hodges Snr (Hammond B3), Leroy Hodges Jnr (bass guitar), Archie "Hubby" Turner (wurlitzer), Michael Toles (guitar), Steve Potts (drums), The Royal Singers, Shontelle and Sharisse Norman with Marc Franklin (trumpet), James L Spake (baritone sax), Gary Topper and Lannie McMillan Jnr (tenor sax).
Rodgers will be donating the proceeds from the album to the Stax Music Academy, in Memphis, for children’s education programmes. Profits from the show will go to the Willows Animal Sanctuary Unit in Aberdeenshire.
Box Office: livenation.co.uk or ticketmaster.co.uk
Helen Brown
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here