Wiki
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Release Date
2006
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Length
13 tracks
Not Too Late is the third studio album by jazz and pop musician Norah Jones, released in January 2007. It was produced by Lee Alexander, the songwriter and bassist featured on Jones's previous albums, Come Away with Me and Feels like Home. The album reached number one in the United States and the United Kingdom. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making it Jones' third consecutive number-one album. It was the tenth best-selling album of 2007, according to IFPI.
Background and recording
Jones wrote most of the songs on the album when she was on tour during 2004 and 2005; for example, "Until the End" was written in the South Pacific, "Rosie's Lullaby" in Australia, and "The Sun Doesn't Like You" in Brazil.Jones wrote "Thinking About You" in 1999 with Ilhan Ersahin, her then-bandmate in Wax Poetic, but she thought it was too much of a pop song for her to record and rejected a version she recorded for Feels like Home.Jones had an acoustic guitar with her on the tour and wrote more songs with it than she previously had: "The guitar is simple and a lot easier to carry than a piano", she said.
After the tour concluded, Jones began recording the album with Alexander, who "tweak" the lyrics of the songs and "pulled into better shape", according to Jones. Not Too Late was mostly recorded at Jones's home studio and is the first album Jones recorded without producer Arif Mardin, who died in the summer of 2006. Jones described the sessions as "fun, relaxed and easy" and without a deadline; executives at Blue Note Records reportedly did not know they were recording an album. Many of the sessions were "spur of the moment", with friends of Jones and musicians they recommended being asked to play. The album features guest appearances by organist Larry Goldings, singer-songwriter M. Ward, and Kronos Quartet cellist Jeff Ziegler. Jones said the songs on the album are "not so cut-and-dried" compared to her earlier material and have "a twist to them". In contrast to her previous albums, the piano, organ and Wurlitzer are not as prominent as the guitar: "the piano is always loud in the mix, but I've never been into it being the main rhythm instrument unless we're playing something funky. I've always liked the guitar as the rhythmic instrument", Jones explained.
Reception
Reviews of the album have generally been favorable. By January 29, 2007, it had become the most pre-ordered album of all time on Amazon.com, Jones' second album after Feels like Home to reach the merchant's all-time top ten pre-order list.
The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 405,000. According to Nielsen SoundScan, it was the eighteenth highest selling album of 2007 in the U.S., with 1.50 million copies sold.In the United Kingdom, it entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, becoming the 800th number-one album in the history of the chart; it sold 60,500 copies in its first week.It debuted at number five in Japan, opening with sales of 36,400 copies; in Canada, the album entered at number one with opening week sales of 36,000.In Australia, it entered the ARIA Albums Chart at number two and was certified gold with shipments of 35,000 copies. The album reached number one in seventeen countries, including Germany and France. (For more information, see Charts.) According to a press release from EMI, Not Too Late is certified gold or platinum in twenty-one countries as of February 2007. In February, the IFPI awarded the album a platinum certification for shipping one million copies in Europe.
The first single from the album was "Thinking About You", which was released in the U.S. in early December 2006 and was one of the first songs by a major artist to be available for paid digital download in mp3 format. "Not Too Late" was released as a radio single in Taiwan in early 2007.] For the week beginning January 23, the entire album was streamed on VH1.com's "Hear Music First" program.Jones recorded an hour-long performance for UK BBC radio and television that was aired in late January, and she performed via simulcast on the feature Live@BT: Norah Jones for Canada's Citytv in early February. The second single from the album was "Sinkin' Soon", released in March.
Jones was scheduled to embark on a twenty-two date concert tour of North America, beginning on April 13 and ending on May 12. One of the dates was to take place at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, on April 28. On February 16, 2008, Not Too Late re-entered the Greek International Albums Chart at number fourteen and climbed to number thirteen the next week. On August 18, the album returned to the top ten on the French Albums Chart and reached number seven.
Track listing
# Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Wish I Could" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander 4:17
2. "Sinkin' Soon" Jones, Alexander 4:37
3. "The Sun Doesn't Like You" Jones, Alexander 2:59
4. "Until the End" Jones, Alexander 3:55
5. "Not My Friend" Jones 2:54
6. "Thinking About You" Jones, Ilhan Ersahin 3:20
7. "Broken" Jones, Alexander 3:20
8. "My Dear Country" Jones 3:24
9. "Wake Me Up" Jones, Alexander 2:46
10. "Be My Somebody" Jones 3:36
11. "Little Room" Jones 2:43
12. "Rosie's Lullaby" Jones, Daru Oda 3:56
13. "Not Too Late" Jones, Alexander 3:31
Bonus track
"2 Men" (Jones, Alexander) (Japan bonus track) – 2:30
Deluxe version (CD and DVD)
"Thinking About You" – music video
"Sinkin' Soon" – music video
"Until the End" – music video
"Thinking About You" – Making of….
"Sinkin' Soon" – Making of….
"Until the End" – live performance filmed in Burbank, CA, in November 2006
"Sinkin' Soon" – live performance filmed in Burbank, CA, in November 2006
"12 minutes interview" – with Norah Jones
Charts
The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #1, selling 405,000 copies in its first week in the United States. The album spent 34 weeks on the U.S. chart.
Chart Provider(s) Peak
position Certification Sales/
shipments
Billboard 200 (U.S.) Billboard 1 2× platinum 2,000,000
Billboard Top Digital Album (U.S.) 1
Billboard Top Comprehensive Albums (U.S.)1
Brazil ABPD ABPD 1
Euro Album Chart IFPI 1 Platinum 1,000,000
Argentinian Album Chart CAPIF 1
Australian Album Chart ARIA 2 Platinum 70,000
Austrian Album Chart Media Control Europe 1 2× platinum 40,000
Belgium Album Chart (Flanders) IFPI/Ultratop 1 Gold 25,000
Belgium Album Chart (Wallonia) 1
Canadian Album Chart Nielsen SoundScan 1 2× platinum 200,000
Czech Album Chart IFPI 3
Danish Album Chart IFPI/Nielsen Music Control 1 Gold 20,000
Estonian Album Chart Pedrobeat 2 Gold 5,000
Finnish Albums Chart GLF 1 12,000+
French Albums Chart SNEP/IFOP 1 Platinum 240,000+
German Albums Chart Media Control 1 Platinum 200,000
Greek International Albums Chart IFPI 2
Greek Albums Chart IFPI 5
Hungarian Top 40 Album Chart Mahasz 1 Gold 5,000
Indonesian Album Chart LIMA 3
Irish Album Chart IRMA 2 Gold 7,500
Italian Album Chart FIMI/Nielsen SoundScan 5 Gold 40,000
Japanese Albums Chart Oricon 5 Gold 190,000
Korean Album Chart MIAK 1 12,000
Mexican Albums Chart AMPROFON 16
Netherlands Albums Chart NVPI/MegaCharts 1
New Zealand Albums Chart RIANZ 1 Gold 7,500
Norwegian Albums Chart VG Nett 1
Polish Album Chart ZPAV 1 Platinum 20,000
Portuguese Album Chart AFP/Nielsen 5 Gold 10,000
Spanish Album Chart Promusicae/Media Control 3 Gold 40,000
Swiss Album Chart Media Control Europe 1 2× platinum 60,000
Swedish Album Chart GLF 1 Gold 30,000
Taiwanese International Album Chart ICRT 3
UK Albums Chart BPI/The Official UK Charts Company 1 230,000+
Personnel
Vocals: Norah Jones
Backing vocals: Norah Jones, Daru Oda, M. Ward, Richard Julian, Adam Levy
Whistle: Daru Oda
Piano: Norah Jones
Chamberlain keyboards: Paul Bryan
Acoustic guitars: Jesse Harris, Norah Jones
Electric guitar: Adam Levy, Norah Jones, Tony Scherr, Robbie McIntosh
Backwards electric guitars: Adam Levy
Pizzicato cello: Julia Kent
Bowed cello: Jeffery Ziegler
Guitjo: Jesse Harris
Mandolin: Kevin Breit
Trombone: J. Walker Hawkes
Bass: Lee Alexander
Bowed basses: Lee Alexander
Drums: Andy Borger, Tony Mason
Slit drum: Andy Borger
Pots & Pans: Andy Borger
Wurlitzer: Norah Jones
Hammond B-3 organ: Larry Goldings, Devin Greenwood
Marimba: Andy Borger
Cymbals: Andy Borger
Trumpet: Chuck Mackinnon
Tenor sax: Rob Suddith, Bill McHenry
Mellotron: Norah Jones
Cellos: Julia Kent
Pizzicato: Lee Alexander
Tuba: Jose Davilla
Lap steel: Lee Alexander
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