Music City Soul

Music City Soul
Studio album by Beverley Knight
Released	7 May 2007
Recorded	October 2006
Genre	Gospel, Soul
Length	53:43
Label	Parlophone
Producer	Mark Nevers Eg White Jimmy Hogarth Paul Reid
Beverley Knight chronology
Voice - The Best of Beverley Knight (2006) Music City Soul (2007) The Collection (2009) Singles from Music City Soul "No Man's Land" Released: April 30, 2007 "After You" Released: 2 July 2007 "The Queen of Starting Over" Released: 15 October 2007 (download only)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
The Sun	[1]
The Mirror	[2]
The Independent	[3]
London Lite	[4]
The Times	[5]
The Guardian	[6]
Digital Spy	[7]
The Belfast Telegraph	[8]
Virgin Media	[9]
Mojo	[10]

Music City Soul is the fifth studio album recorded by British singer-songwriter Beverley Knight, and was released on Parlophone Records on 7 May 2007 (see 2007 in music). The album contains the singles "No Man's Land", "After You" and "The Queen of Starting Over", and features Ronnie Wood on a number of tracks. The album became Knight's second highest charting album in the UK, peaking at number eight.

Album information

History

The majority of Music City Soul was recorded and Produced by Mark Nevers at The Beech House studio in Nashville, Tennessee in the United States in just five days in late October 2006. All the songs on the album were written beforehand the previous summer and then recorded back to back in the studio with an array of different musicians. The intention was to create an organic sound reminiscent of classic 1960s soul albums that epitomised releases by artists such as Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke and Al Green, who had influenced Knight as a child .^[11]

The album was entitled Music City Soul to reflect the fact that Knight has returned to her soul and gospel roots. It was also intended to pay homage to Nashville, the city it was recorded in, which is often referred to as 'The Music City' due to its rich musical heritage.^[12]

The album was preceded by the single "No Man's Land" on 30 April 2007.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Every Time You See Me Smile*"	Beverley Knight, M. Brammer, B. Barson	Mark Nevers	4:08
2.	"Ain't That A Lot Of Love*"	W. D. Parker, H. Banks	Mark Nevers	2:43
3.	"After You"	Peter Vale, M. Leeson	Mark Nevers	4:08
4.	"No Man's Land"	Beverley Knight, Eg White, Jimmy Hogarth	Eg White	3:30
5.	"The Queen of Starting Over"	Peter Vale	Mark Nevers	3:47
6.	"Black Butta*"	Beverley Knight, Guy Chambers	Mark Nevers	3:40
7.	"Saviour"	Beverley Knight, Guy Chambers	Mark Nevers	2:58
8.	"Time Is on My Side"	Jerry Ragovoy, Meade	Mark Nevers	3:33
9.	"Why Me, Why You, Why Now"	Beverley Knight, M. Brammer, B. Barson	Mark Nevers	3:55
10.	"Tell Me I'm Wrong"	Beverley Knight, M. Brammer, B. Barson	Mark Nevers	3:49
11.	"Trade It Up"	Beverley Knight, M. Brammer, B. Barson	Mark Nevers	3:37
12.	"Rock Steady"	Aretha Franklin	Paul Reid	3:57

Bonus Tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"Uptight"	Beverley Knight, Jimmy Hogarth	Mark Nevers	3:15
14.	"Back To You"	Beverley Knight, Craig Wiseman	Mark Nevers	4:15
15.	"After You (Radio Edit)"	Peter Vale, M. Leeson	Peter Vale	3:59
Total length:				55:07

Vinyl Edition Released May 7, 2007

Side A # Track 1. "Every Time You See Me Smile"* (featuring Ronnie Wood) 2. "Ain't That a Lot of Love"* 3. "After You" 4. "No Man's Land" 5. "The Queen of Starting Over" 6. "Black Butta"*

Side B # Track 1. "Saviour" 2. "Time Is on My Side" 3. "Why Me, Why You, Why Now" 4. "Tell Me I'm Wrong" 5. "Trade it Up" 6. "Rock Steady"

Notes:

• "*" indicates that the song features guitar played by Ronnie Wood.

Personnel

• All tracks engineered and produced by Mark Nevers -

    mastered by Bunt Stafford Clark

All tracks (except track 4 and 12)

• Jamal Carter - backing vocals
• Janice Coeder - backing vocals
• Ann McCrary - backing vocals
• Brain Kotnar - drums
• Duana Denison - electric guitar
• Paul Burch - percussion and acoustic guitar
• Pete Cammings - electric guitar
• James Long - electric guitar
• Derrick Lee - piano and keyboards
• Bobby Woods - piano and keyboards

Track 4

• Jimmy Hogarth - guitar
• Eg White - all instruments on "No Man's Land", except guitar

Track 12

• Paul Reide - guitar
• Carlos Hercules - drums
• Paul Bruce - bass
• Stewart Trotman - fender rhoades
• Luke Smith - Hammond B3
• Alex Garnett - saxophone
• Daniel Marsden - trumpet
• Nichol Thomsom - trombone
• Billy Godfrey - backing vocals
• Bryan Chambers - backing vocals
• Louise Marsden - backing vocals

Unreleased material

The following songs were recorded in the run up to the release of Music City Soul, but not included on the album:

1. "Ain't It Better"
2. "Bridge" (B. Knight, G. Chambers)
3. "Firetown" (B. Knight, D. M. Frank)
4. "Mellow" (B. Knight, J. Hogarth)
5. "My Motto" (B. Knight, G. Chambers, Lin XI)
6. "One Step Too Far" (B. Knight, J. Hogarth)
7. "Time is Now" (B. Knight, G. Chambers)

Chart performance

Chart (2007)	Providers	Peak
The Official UK Album Chart	BPI / The Official UK Charts Company	8
The Official UK Urban Album Chart	BPI / The Official UK Charts Company	3
European Top 100 Album Chart	IFPI	37
Switzerland Album Charts		86

References

1. ^ The Sun review
2. ^ The Mirror review
3. ^ The Independent review
4. ^ Connolly, Paul. Album review. London Lite. May 8, 2007.
5. ^ The Times review
6. ^ The Guardian review
7. ^ Digital Spy review
8. ^ The Belfast Telegraph review
9. ^ Virgin Media review
10. ^ Batey, Angus. Album review. MOJO. May 2007 issue, pp. 110.
11. ^ Hodgkinson, Will. Interview. The Guardian. October 25, 2002.
12. ^ Press release. Official website. Retrieved January 29, 2007.

External links

• Official website