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The Law (English band)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Law
GenresRock
Years active1991–1992
LabelsVerve, Atlantic
Past membersKenney Jones
Paul Rodgers
Pino Palladino
Jim Barber
John Staehely
John Young

The Law were an English rock group formed in 1991 by singer Paul Rodgers (ex-Free, Bad Company and The Firm) and drummer Kenney Jones (ex-Small Faces/Faces and The Who). They intended to use different supporting musicians, to allow Rodgers to pursue whatever style he wished. They assembled a core band of studio musicians, consisting of Jim Barber (whose credits include The Rolling Stones, Ruby Turner and Mick Jagger's solo album Primitive Cool) as the main guitarist, second guitarist John Staehely (ex-Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne) and bassist Pino Palladino (formerly of Paul Young's and Jools Holland's bands), with guest spots by guitarists such as David Gilmour, Bryan Adams and Chris Rea.

The band produced the Billboard number 2 AOR Chart hit "Laying Down the Law",[1] written by Rodgers, but the group's only album peaked at number 126 on the Billboard 200 chart. An album of outtakes from the first album[citation needed] has been released as a bootleg, often referred to as The Law II.

The Law – joined by John Young on keyboards – played just one show: at Milton Keynes Bowl, supporting ZZ Top and Bryan Adams. "That was completely barmy," reflected Rodgers. "Kenney and I… couldn't wait to get on the road, but it never happened. I sat waiting for the phone to ring. We even had to twist arms just to get that show – much to the chagrin of some of the other bands that day."[2]

Discography

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Albums

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List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions
US
[3]
UK
[4]
The Law 1991 126 61

Singles

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List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
Main.
CAN
"Laying Down the Law" 1991 2
[1]
68
[5]
The Law
"Miss You in a Heartbeat" 38
[6]
90
[7]

Unreleased album (The Law II)

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These songs are left-overs from the released album sessions. Notably, both "Wanna Make Love to You" and "Alibi" were previously recorded by Eric Clapton (as "I Wanna Make Love to You", a 1986 B-side (released in 1988 on Crossroads, and "No Alibis", on his Journeyman album, respectively). Also, Too Much Is Not Enough was previously recorded by Joe Lynn Turner in the mid-eighties for the unreleased follow-up of Rescue You and he recorded it again with Deep Purple on their Slaves and Masters album. In 1998 he recorded it again on his solo album Hurry Up and Wait. The original version can be found on the Demos '88–91' bootleg.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Billboard" (PDF). Worldradiohistory.com. 20 April 1991. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  2. ^ Ling, Dave (March 2000). "My classic career". Classic Rock #12. p. 90.
  3. ^ [1][dead link]
  4. ^ "Law - The Law". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  5. ^ "RPM 100 Chart" (PDF). Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 18 May 1991. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Billboard" (PDF). Worldradiohistory.com. 6 July 1991. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  7. ^ "RPM 100 Chart" (PDF). Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 10 August 1991. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
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