Come Away with Me – 2002
Come Away with Me is the debut album of pianist and singer Norah Jones, released by Blue Note Records on February 26, 2002. Recording sessions for the album took place at New York City’s Sorcerer Sound Studio and Shokan’s Allaire Studios in 2001.
The album’s critical and commercial success was a breakthrough for Jones in 2002, as it reached the top of the Billboard 200 chart and several jazz charts. The album also topped many critics’ “albums of the year” lists and gathered major music awards in the process, including eight Grammy Awards. Following initial sales, Come Away with Me was certified diamond by the RIAA on February 15, 2005 after having shipped over 10 million copies in its first three years of release. It has sold more than 26 million copies worldwide as of April 2012.
Come Away with Me is a mellow, acoustic pop album with soul and country overtones. It also incorporates blues, jazz,[7] and folk styles. Bobby Dodd of All About Jazz writes that, although the album features jazz standards, jazz purists and academics “may deny [Jones] jazz credibility for her folk infusion”. Jones’ guitarist Jesse Harris and bassist Lee Alexander wrote most of the album’s songs, which feature simple melodies and progressions.
In the US, Come Away with Me debuted at No. 139 on the Billboard 200 before climbing to No. 1 in January 2003, almost a year after its release. In total the album has appeared on the Billboard 200 164 weeks. It was certified platinum from the Recording Industry Association of America on August 22, 2002. It went on to sell over ten million copies over the next year, and on February 15, 2005, was certified as a diamond record by the RIAA. As of March 2016, the album has sold 11.1 million copies, making it the eleventh best-selling album of the Nielsen SoundScan era in the US. The album sold approximately 26 million copies worldwide.
In Germany, though the album debuted at just No. 37, it nevertheless stayed for a total of 141 weeks on the official German Albums Chart and it managed to reach No. 2 in its 37th week on that chart, where it stayed for 4 weeks. In the end, Come Away with Me sold 750,000 copies, reaching 5× gold, being her most successful album in that country and one of the longest-staying albums on the German Albums Chart.
Polyphonic HMI’s “Hit Song Science” software predicted the album’s success months before its release, contradicting skeptical executives.
The album won eight awards (Jones won five of the awards) at the Grammy Awards of 2003, including Album of the Year, as well as Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Don’t Know Why”.[30] Although she was happy about her success, Jones felt bad about sweeping the Grammy Awards. In an interview for 60 Minutes, Jones told Katie Couric:
I felt like I went to somebody else’s birthday party and I ate all their cake. Without anybody else getting a piece. That’s how I felt.
Norah Jones
Rolling Stone ranked Come Away with Me at number 54 on its list of the 100 Best Albums of the Decade.
Track listing
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. “Don’t Know Why” Jesse Harris 3:06
2. “Seven Years” Lee Alexander 2:25
3. “Cold Cold Heart” Hank Williams 3:38
4. “Feelin’ the Same Way” Alexander 2:55
5. “Come Away with Me” Norah Jones 3:18
6. “Shoot the Moon” Harris 3:57
7. “Turn Me On” John D. Loudermilk 2:33
8. “Lonestar” Alexander 3:05
9. “I’ve Got to See You Again” Harris 4:13
10. “Painter Song”
Alexander JC Hopkins
2:41
11. “One Flight Down” Harris 3:03
12. “Nightingale” Jones 4:11
13. “The Long Day Is Over”
Jones Harris
2:44
14. “The Nearness of You”
Hoagy Carmichael Ned Washington
3:09
Total length:
44:58
Personnel
Musicians
Norah Jones – vocals (1–14), piano (1, 3, 5–7, 9–14), Wurlitzer electric piano (4)
Sam Yahel – Hammond B-3 organ (6, 7, 11)
Rob Burger – pump organ (8), accordion (10)
Jesse Harris – acoustic guitar (1, 5, 6, 9, 11–13), electric guitar (1)
Kevin Breit – acoustic guitar (2, 4), National guitar (2), electric guitar (4, 13)
Adam Levy – electric guitar (3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12), acoustic guitar (8, 10)
Adam Rogers – guitar (7)
Tony Scherr – slide guitar and acoustic guitar (8)
Bill Frisell – electric guitar (13)
Jenny Scheinman – violin (9, 11)
Lee Alexander – bass (1–13)
Joseph Quevedo – drums (1, 5, 7, 11)
Brian Blade – drums (2, 4, 6, 8–10, 12), percussion (2, 9)
Kenny Wollesen – drums (13)
Arif Mardin – string arrangement (11)
Technical personnel
Producers: Norah Jones, Arif Mardin, Jay Newland, Craig Street
Engineers: Jay Newland, S. Husky Höskulds
Assistant engineers: Mark Birkey, Dick Kondas, Brandon Mason, Todd Parker
Mixing: Arif Mardin, Jay Newland
Mixing assistant: Todd Parker
Remixing: Jay Newland
Mastering: Ted Jensen, Mark Wilder
A&R: Brian Bacchus, Chris Cofoni, Bruce Lundvall, Eliott Wolf
Assistant: David Swope
Production coordination: Eden White, Shell White
Product manager: Zach Hochkeppel
Creative director: Gordon Jee
Art direction: Jessica Novod
Design: Jessica Novod
Photography: Joanne Savio