''Royal Tea'' is the fourteenth solo studio album by American

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

musician

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his inde ...

released in 2020. It was recorded at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

. The album was followed by a live release, ''Now Serving: Royal Tea Live from the Ryman'', which includes all songs from ''Royal Tea'' except "Savannah". ''Royal Tea'' was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album for the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in 2022.

Track listing

All songs written by Joe Bonamassa and

Bernie Marsden Bernard John Marsden (born 7 May 1951) is an English rock and blues guitarist. He is primarily known for his work with Whitesnake, having written or co-written with David Coverdale many of the group's hit songs, such as "Fool for Your Loving", ...

except where noted. # "When One Door Opens" (Joe Bonamassa, Kevin Shirley,

Pete Brown Peter Ronald Brown (born 25 December 1940) is an English performance poet, lyricist, and singer best known for his collaborations with Cream and Jack Bruce.Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 80 Bro ...

) – 7:35 # "Royal Tea" (James Howe, Bonamassa, Shirley) – 4:29 # "Why Does It Take So Long to Say Goodbye" – 6:45 # "Lookout Man!" (Bonamassa, Shirley, Mike McCully, Brown) – 5:31 # "High Class Girl" – 4:54 # "A Conversation with Alice" – 4:19 # "I Didn't Think She Would Do It" (Marsden, Bonamassa, Brown) – 4:12 # "Beyond the Silence" (Bonamassa) – 6:46 # "Lonely Boy" ( Dave Stewart, Bonamassa,

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland, (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Jayne County, Sting, Eric C ...

) – 4:06 # "Savannah" – 4:38 :Target exclusive CD bonus tracks: #

"Don't You Do Me No Favours" – 5:38 # "Don't Hand Me Your Hangups" – 4:13

Personnel

* Joe Bonamassa - vocals and guitar (all tracks), mandolin (10) * Kevin Shirley - acoustic guitar (3, 4), percussion (4) * Rob McNelley - rhythm guitar (6, 7) *

Reese Wynans Reese Wynans (born November 28, 1947) is an American keyboard player, who has done session work and has been a member of Double Trouble and progressive rock band Captain Beyond. In 2015, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a ...

- organ (all tracks), piano (8),

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

(6, 10) *

- piano (9) * Michael Rhodes - bass (all tracks) *

Anton Fig Anton Fig (born 8 August 1952 in Cape Town, South Africa), known as "The Thunder from Down Under", is a South African session drummer, perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Ba ...

- drums (all tracks), percussion (4, 8) *

Greg Morrow Greg Morrow is an American drummer, percussionist, session musician, mixing engineer, and vocalist. Biography Morrow was born in Ripley, Tennessee and raised in Memphis. At age 11, Morrow and his band performed on a local TV show, and he par ...

- drums and percussion (4) * Jeff Bova - orchestration (1), percussion (2) * Lee Thornburg - trumpet and horn arrangement (9) * Paulie Cerra - saxophone (9) * Ron Dziubla - baritone saxophone (9) * Errol Litton - harmonica (4) * Juanita Tippins - backing vocals (1 to 5) * Mahalia Barnes - backing vocals (6) * Jade MacRae - backing vocals (1 to 6) * Bernie Marsden - backing vocals (10) * Orchestra - The Bovaland Symphonic Orchestra (1)

References

{{Joe Bonamassa 2020 albums Albums produced by Kevin Shirley Joe Bonamassa albums