Any fans?i got into him heavily in the early 90's and picked up all of his albums ..most people might only know him from the 1978 hit Fool(If You Think Its Over) but all of his records contain a ton of great tunes ...
Yes I do like Chris Rea. His voice was incredible. I prefer his mid 80s stuff to his later and totally self indulgent blues stuff. Its a pity he turned his back on the material that made him very rich and popular. We were going to see him at Gateshead Sage on his last tour(a tremendous venue designed for superb sound quality) but when we saw the prices and setlist we decided against it. A few nights later he collapsed on stage. On this tours(as with all his recent tours) he only played a few token songs from his classic period and then he played them without conviction. personally I dont want to go to a gig and want endless slide guitar twiddling His singing on songs like looking for the summer is quite superb as he elicits so much emotion and digs so deep. Rea was sheer class for a while with one of the silkiest voices that almost (but not quite)puts Chris Farlowe to shame
I also prefer his 80's stuff. I did buy a greatest hits compilation a couple of years ago and I noticed that a lot of the songs had been re-recorded. Not sure why he re-recorded them. Maybe a copyright thing.
Fan since c83. Fav period 81-91. I think he lost all sense of quality control in later years, although I do really like The Blue Jukebox from '04 and parys of Blue Guitars (143 track boxset). No info on his well being since his collapse. I did read that tapes from a shelved early eighties album were found but no word on whether a release was being considered.
Massive fan of his & a local lad to me ( about 20 miles away ). Got all his LP's & I love both older & newer Jazzy/Blue styles equally. Never made a bad LP ( yes I even love Road To Hell II ) . Wish there was some statement as to his well being, it's nearly 18 months since his on stage collapse. On a personal level I'd love there to be vinyl releases of his LP's from '98 - '07 i.e The Blue Cafe, Blue St. ( 5 Guitars ), Road To Hell II, King Of The Beach , Hofner Blue Notes & The Blue Jukebox to name but a few.....doubt this will ever happen though. Top Ten for me are : 1. God's Great Banana Skin 2. Auberge 3. The Blue Cafe 4. The Road To Hell 5. On The Beach 6. Shamrock Diaries 7. King Of The Beach 8. The Blue Jukebox 9. Dancing With Strangers 10. Road To Hell II..... ( honourable mention self titled LP )
One of the largest parts of my collection. I love all eras of Chris Rea, from early balladeer controlled by expectations of his record company through chart success and his ventures into the blues - which, to be honest, were always there behind his musicality. His foray into the blues has paralleled his significant health challenges and the Stony Road material illustrates this and gave me a huge respect for him. Saw him at the Sage in Gateshead as mentioned above - it was fabulous. An example of another artist who, although known for certain materials, deserves recognition for an enormous lifetime of superb sounds.
I'm aware of just a couple of his tracks and own The Blue Jukebox. I should listen to this album again soon.
On The Beach one of my favourite vinyl Albums Chris Rea's voice so rich and warm on that album. I like all his albums up to The Blue Dukebox. A wonderful performer and a very multi talented man.
Big fan here. Rea is like Zevon, Steve Forbert, and a few others who most people don’t know about despite the fact that they put out consistently great music. Like hardly a bad tune in the bunch type of great music. Secret genius.
Anyone who wants to get into Chris, hit up his hits package: Still So Far To Go. If you aren’t hooked enough to pick up a few more albums I’ll be shocked.
I love "Workin' On It" and "Fool (If You Think It's Over). Too bad he's not better known in the USA...
Yes lets !! And Deltics, to be honest there is only one album that doesn't do it for me & that's La Passione. Other than that even my less liked ones ( Espresso Logic, Wired To The Moon, Benny Santini ) still contain stellar tracks.
Ah, I love "WIRED TO THE MOON" myself. Perhaps because it´s my entry in the world of his music, but also because he never really puts a foot wrong at any time. The title track is lovely. But then, the rest of his albums aren´t bad, either.
Yes as I said even my less favoured LP's of his have great tracks i.e Wired To The Moon has Shine, Shine, Shine, Bombollini & the title track. Espresso Logic has Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea, Red & the title track. Benny Santini has Because Of You, Fool & Fires Of Spring. Some fantastic deep cuts on all his releases.