Corinne Bailey Rae (album)
Corinne Bailey Rae is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae. It was released on 24 February 2006 by EMI. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. Four singles were released from the album: "Like a Star", "Put Your Records On", "Trouble Sleeping" and "I'd Like To". Corinne Bailey Rae has sold over four million copies worldwide.
Release and promotion
"Like a Star" was released as the album's lead single in a limited-edition format in 2005, peaking at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart. When re-released in October 2006, "Like a Star" reached a new peak position of number 32 on the UK chart. The second single, "Put Your Records On", peaked at number two in February 2006. "Trouble Sleeping" was released as the album's third single in May 2006, peaking at number 40 in the UK."I'd Like To" was released on 12 February 2007 as the fourth and final single. On the same day, the album was re-released with a bonus disc containing some of the B-sides and remixes included on previous singles, as well as three new tracks—one of which, a cover of Björk's 1993 song "Venus as a Boy", only previously appeared on a covermount for Q magazine. Several songs from the album appear in the 2006 comedy-drama film Venus starring Peter O'Toole. In the United States, "Breathless" was released as a promotional single in 2007.
Commercial performance
Corinne Bailey Rae debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 108,181 copies in its first week. The album had sold 968,341 copies in the United Kingdom by May 2016, earning a triple platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry on 22 July 2013.The album debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, selling 40,000 copies in its first week. On the issue dated 3 March 2007, it peaked at number four with 120,000 copies sold. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on 5 December 2006, and had sold 1.9 million copies in the US by January 2010. As of October 2009, Corinne Bailey Rae had sold over four million copies worldwide.
Critical reception
Corinne Bailey Rae received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 69, based on 13 reviews. While some critics perceived filler as a weakness of the album, Bailey Rae earned positive comparisons to female recording artists such as Billie Holiday, Norah Jones, Erykah Badu, Minnie Riperton, and Macy Gray. David Jeffries of AllMusic called it "pleasingly homegrown, warm, and poignant in parts". Los Angeles Times writer Natalie Nichols compared Bailey Rae's music to that of Sade and Stevie Wonder.Accolades
Bailey Rae received a nomination for Best UK & Ireland Act at the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards. That same year, she won two MOBO Awards for Best UK Newcomer and Best UK Female, as well as a Mojo Award for Best New Act. Bailey Rae won Outstanding New Artist at the 2007 NAACP Image Awards, and was nominated for Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Album. At the 2007 Grammy Awards, Bailey Rae received a nomination for Best New Artist, while "Put Your Records On" was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The following year, Bailey Rae was nominated for another Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "Like a Star", and "Put Your Records On" won an ASCAP Award for Song of the Year.Track listing
Notes- signifies an additional producer
- signifies a remixer
- signifies a main and additional producer
Personnel
- Corinne Bailey Rae – vocals, backing vocals ; percussion ; acoustic guitar ; Spanish guitar ; electric guitar ; bass, piano ; additional keyboards, Moog
- David Ayers – engineering
- Jess Bailey – Hammond organ, Wurlitzer piano
- John Beck – keyboards
- Rod Bowkett – acoustic guitar, additional production, bass
- Justin Broad – drum programming, engineering ; production
- Livingston Brown – bass
- Steve Brown – additional Fender Rhodes, Hammond organ ; additional recording, backing vocals, Jupiter synths, music box sampling, production, Wurlitzer piano
- Steve Bush – bass, electric guitar, production, programming
- Steve Chrisanthou – organ ; production, programming, recording ; electric guitar ; horn sampling, percussion, Spanish guitar ; additional production ; piano ; mixing
- Jim Corry – tenor saxophone
- Tommy D – drum programming, keyboards, mixing, production
- Sam Dixon – bass
- Ian Duncan – engineering
- John Ellis – backing vocals, glockenspiel
- Yvonne Ellis – engineering, programming
- Andrew Hale – grand piano, production, programming
- Emma Hardy – additional photography inside booklet
- Paul Herman – drum programming, guitar ; mixing, production ; acoustic guitar, electric guitar
- Kenny Higgins – bass
- Jimmy Hogarth – additional production
- Dan Hope – additional recording
- Kenji Jammer – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Mikey Lawrence – drums, percussion
- Pete Lewinson – drums
- Darren Lewis – artwork
- The London Session Orchestra – strings
- Wil Malone – string arrangement and conducting
- Paul McKendrick – additional backing vocals
- Bob Miller – management
- Audrey Nunn – bass
- Andy Platts – additional guitar, Fender Rhodes
- Mike Pela – mixing
- Jason Rae – alto saxophone ; baritone saxophone ; flute
- RKW – production
- Cara Robinson – additional backing vocals
- Irene Rukerebuka – design, photography
- Paul Siddal – keyboards
- Malcolm Strachan – trumpet
- Joe Tatton – Hammond organ
- Colin Waterman – drums
- Jeremy Wheatley – mixing
- Gavyn Wright – director of The London Session Orchestra
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart | Peak position |
| Chart | Peak position |
Year-end charts
| Chart | Position |
| UK Albums | 141 |
| US Billboard 200 | 28 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 23 |