CHRIS REA
''(BLUE GUITARS) - ALBUM EIGHT: GOSPEL SOUL BLUES & MOTOWN''
AUGUST 30 2005
608:49
ALBUM ONE - BEGINNINGS (54:01)
''The first album of this set deals with the very beginnings of the Blues, tracing its ways back to its African roots. Living conditions were hard, many African natives were taken captives and transported across the ocean to be sold as slaves, sometimes even betrayed by their own people, which is vividly depicted in the song "The King Who Sold His Own". All in all it was an environment, where it was only natural for the Blues to develop, and even though the instrumentation and the construction of the songs was still very different from what we now know as Blues, the basics were already there: the sadness, the strain, the burdens, the depression, the feeling of "blue" and - of course - the underlying musical structure.''
1. West Africa (04:16)
2. Cry For Home (04:58)
3. The King Who Sold His Own (05:18)
4. White Man Coming (04:01)
5. Where The Blues Come From (06:18)
6. Lord Tell Me It Won't Be Long (04:58)
7. Work Gang (04:32)
08. Praise The Lord (04:41)
09. Sweet Sunday (05:38)
10. Sing Out The Devil (06:08)
11. Boss Man Cut My Chains (03:23)
ALBUM TWO - COUNTRY BLUES (64:50)
''Country Blues was the natural development, the original Blues would go, once it had arrived in the American South: it was a dark time, a time of fear, people had to work hard during slavery, even harder after they had been released, wandering around unemployed, aimlessly. Racism and KKK made the situation even worse, which reflected in the music, instrumentation gradually changed and the lyrics told stories of fear (KKK Blues), aimless wandering (Walkin' Country Blues), alcoholism (Too Much Drinkin'), but also the flight from prevailing conditions, maybe with another perspective for life and the future in the big cities (Ticket for Chicago). But also themes of movement (Steam Train Blues) and the faith in God and Religion (If You've Got A Friend In Jesus) were made topics in the songs, as well as the occasional search for some recreation and a good time (Dance All Night Long). The social and personal problems found their way into the music and started to change the Blues on a profound level.''
1. Walkin' Country Blues (03:41)
2. Man Gone Missing (04:40)
3. Can't Stay Blues (04:58)
4. KKK Blues (04:56)
5. Too Much Drinkin' (04:52)
6. Catwalk Woman (04:32)
7. If You've Got A Friend In Jesus (04:24)
8. Head Out On The Highway (04:31)
09. Wild Pony (04:10)
10. Steam Train Blues (03:50)
11. Going Up To Memphis (04:20)
12. Somewhere Between Highway 61 & 49 (06:06)
13. Ticket For Chicago (05:16)
14. Dance All Night Long (04:33)
ALBUM THREE - LOUISIANA & NEW ORLEANS (47:55)
''The Blues presented on this record may be "The Blues" to many. When the originally African and South-influenced Blues were brought to Louisiana, New Orleans, the Mississippi Delta, new instruments were added—clarinet, brass, piano, mandolins, accordions - and along with the banjo mingled into an interesting mix, which would be known as New Orleans, Swamp, Cajun or Riverboat Blues. The basics for directions like Jazz, Swing and even Rock & Roll were laid during this time and a distinctive, instantly recognizable sound was created, which would imminently be associated with the Blues.''
1. Two Days Missing Down The Viper (02:57)
2. Who Cares If I Do (04:24)
3. What Made Me Love You (03:16)
4. You Got Dixie (04:41)
5. One Night With You (05:29)
6. Talking 'Bout New Orleans (05:27)
7. Le Fleur De La Vie (03:13)
8. Catfish Girl (03:50)
9. Only A Fool Plays By The Rules (04:00)
10. Baby Come Home (03:30)
11. Dance Avec Moi (03:15)
12. L'ete Eternal (03:33)
ALBUM FOUR - ELECTRIC MEMPHIS BLUES (46:25)
''The title says it all, "Going Electric", that's what this album is about, and what a change it was for the Blues and Blues Musicians, finally they could make themselves heard among the loud crowds and stuffed places, they usually used to play. It was a tremendous change in the way, the Blues could be approached, fine and subtle figures and fine chord structures could suddenly be played, the Blues was rising to previously unbeknown heights: "Now I can play above the bar noise, Man I'm bigger than a crowd" as Rea states in the opener "Electric Guitar", which perfectly paraphrases, what musicians must have felt, after this milestone revolution. Nor did "electric" stop at the guitars - organs, pianos, keyboards, all was going electric, studios started to play around with the new electric sound, the possibilities seemed endless.''
1. Electric Guitar (04:43)
2. Electric Memphis Blues (04:15)
3. All Night Long (04:11)
4. Born Bad (03:46)
5. Let's Start Again (03:52)
6. What I'm Looking For (04:26)
7. Rules Of Love (03:12)
8. What You Done To Me (03:28)
9. Hobo Love Blues (03:38)
10. Pass Me By (03:06)
11. The Soul Of My Father's Shadow (03:52)
12. My Blue World Says Hello (04:08)
ALBUM FIVE - TEXAS BLUES (58:38)
''And yet another direction, the Blues was morphing into. Take the basic concept, move it into the "modern wild west" and what you get out of it is straightforward Texas Blues. It's all in there, endless highways, run-down trucker bars, oil, dirt, cowboy boots, stories about life on the move, all down in Texas, all just as sad as the original Blues (Lone Star Boogie, No Wheels Blues). The mixture of the basic Blues concept with more country and western styled instruments (slide guitars, harmonica) gave the Blues a rawer, yet again still instantly recognizable sound, which has played a major role in music ever since - go Stevie Vaughan and ZZ Top!!
"I still remember, the place we used to go, dreaming dreams of Texas, as we pushed hard through the snow'' 1. Lone Rider (04:45)
2. Texas Blue (05:10)
3. No Wheels Blues (05:02)
4. Lone Star Boogie (05:16)
5. Blind Willie (06:48)
6. The American Way (04:07)
7. Angellina (04:47)
8. Truck Stop (04:49)
9. Weekend Down Mexico (04:20)
10. Line Dance Boogie-/ Texas Line Boogie (04:41)
11. Too Big City (05:02)
12. Houston Angel (04:01)
ALBUM SIX - CHICAGO BLUES (54:53)
''Again it was movement that was pushing the Blues into a new direction, movement upwards North to Chicago in the pursuit of jobs and a new life. People suddenly found themselves in a completely different situation and this instantly influenced the Blues, the electric style, developed earlier on in Electric Memphis and Texas Blues, remained, however became harder and edgier, instruments like the saxophone were incorporated into the music and gave this new hybrid a sometimes jazzy feel. Once again, the lyric themes shifted away from known territory and began to reflect the changed situation, drugs, alcohol, sex, women, money gained major importance, life in wintry ghettos and anonymous housing schemes contributed its share: Chicago Blues was born.''
1. I'm Moving Up (04:31)
2. Maxwell Street (04:39)
3. Bob Taylor (05:15)
4. She's A Whole Heap Of Trouble (02:31)
5. Jazzy Blue (03:24)
6. Hip-Sway (03:39)
7. That's The Way It Goes (03:32)
8. To Get Your Love (05:07)
9. Chicago Morning (04:56)
10. Catwalk Woman (03:35)
11. Since You've Been Gone (04:09)
12. All Night Long (05:27)
13. Here She Comes Now (04:16)
ALBUM SEVEN - BLUES BALLADS (44:02)
''With the incorporation of the piano and other new elements, such as swing and jazz, according to Chris Rea a somehow "sleepy morphine-induced style" came to be, which is a pretty accurate description of those Blues Ballads. The original, primitive influences are no longer recognizable, replaced by a calmer, smoother, more polished, yet nonetheless still recognizable, style of Blues. All that constituted the Blues in the past is still there.''
1. Last Call (03:31)
2. Maybe That's All I Need To Know (04:20)
3. Deep Winter Blues (04:59)
4. If I Ever Get Over You (04:56)
5. I Love The Rain (04:25)
6. My Soul Crying Out For You (03:27)
7. If That's What You Want (04:08)
8. There's No One Looking (05:22)
9. What Became Of You (04:45)
10. My Deep Blue Ways (04:19)
ALBUM EIGHT - GOSPEL SOUL BLUES & MOTOWN (52:46)
''While the basic structures and rhythms of the Blues remained true to the original, still a new generation moved the Blues onwards, banjo style played on electric guitar became the electric "sitar", the sound hit the nerve of the Indy/Hippie generation, instantly recognizable: Tamla Motown. Softer and easier accessible than previous hybrids of the Blues, basically every song was a hit.''
1. Sweet Love (04:10)
2. Break Another Piece Of My Heart (04:17)
3. Ball & Chain (04:51)
4. Gospel Trail (04:46)
5. Shy Boy (03:31)
6. Come Change My World (04:01)
7. Call On Me (03:56)
8. Just In Case You Never Knew (04:05)
9. Let Me In (05:35)
10. I'll Be There For You (04:03)
11. The Pain Of Loving You (03:36)
12. Are You Ready (06:07)
ALBUM NINE - CELTIC & IRISH BLUES (63:15)
''The Blues went in yet another direction, when it started to mingle with Celtic and Scottish/Irish influences, forming still another hybrid. The general feeling of sadness, loss and blues, which is inherent in the Scottish, Irish and Celtic roots anyway, together with an all new instrumentation could lay the basis for a different kind of approach, giving the Blues the typical Celtic feel.''
1. Celtic Blue (07:59)
2. Too Far From Home (07:28)
3. 'Til The Morning Sun Shines On My Love And Me (05:28)
4. Lucky Day (05:08)
5. What She Really Is (04:55)
6. Wishing Well (03:57)
7. Irish Blues (03:58)
8. No More Sorrow (05:49)
9. While I Remain (04:52)
10. Last Drink (04:56)
11. 'Til I Find My True Love's Name (03:30)
12. Big White Door (05:32)
ALBUM TEN - LATIN BLUES (64:03)
''Latin Music may not be the most obvious direction to look for the Blues, still there were great influences from the African culture with slaves landing in Brazil, who influenced the Caribbeans from their own direction, Cuban guitar and some kind of trademark piano were added, creating a mix so different from Mississippi Blues, and yet, Bossa Nova Blues was a direction in its own right. The Blues was even swapping over into Reggae, but in spite of its "sunshine feeling" the themes and topics were just as sad.''
1. Hey Gringo (05:48)
2. Immigration Blues (05:06)
3. Still Trying To Clear My Name (04:09)
4. Sun Is Hot (04:11)
5. Screw You And Your Deep Blue Sea (04:20)
6. Nothing Seems To Matter No More (03:37)
7. Sometimes (04:50)
8. Lampiou (05:36)
9. Keep On Dancing (03:48)
10. Lucifer's Angel (04:48)
11. How I Know It's You (03:59)
12. Forever (04:34)
13. You Got Soul (05:06)
14. Bajan Blue (04:30)
ALBUM ELEVEN - 60S & 70S (58:01)
''A new time, a new generation, a new variation of the Blues. Things had started changing once again and once again, the whole 200-year-history of the Blues was thrown over in the split of a second, when Blues suddenly started to sound old again, respect was paid to the ancestors of modern Blues music, but there was also Woodstock, the Flower Power Movement, all those kinds of currencies that were interpreting the Blues in their own way and cave it a new face.''
1. My Baby Told Me (Blues) (02:41)
2. Got To Be Moving (03:44)
3. My Baby Told Me (Gospel) (03:02)
4. Heartbreaker (02:46)
5. Yes I Do (Instrumental) (03:15)
6. Wasted Love (04:28)
7. Cool Cool Blue (03:55)
8. Clarkson Blues (04:54)
9. Who Killed Love (04:04)
10. Never Tie Me Down (04:02)
11. Mindless (03:44)
12. Ain't That Just The Prettiest Thing (05:03)
13. Nobody But You (03:31)
14. Waiting For Love (04:37)
15. Blue Morning In The Rain (04:30)
Ed Hession - Accordion
Sylvain Marc - Bass
Gerry O'Connor - Banjo
Chris Rea - Balafon, Banjo, Bass, Bottleneck Guitar, Calimba, Dobro, Drums, Guitar (Electric), Harmonica, Mandolin, Organ (Hammond), Percussion, Piano, Slide Guitar, Vibraphone
Richard Williams - Narrator
Martin Ditcham - Drums
Robert Ahwai - Guitar
BIOGRAPHY
by Steve Huey
British singer and guitarist Chris Rea has enjoyed a run of popularity in Europe during the late '80s and early '90s after almost a decade of previous recording. Rea started out performing with a local group called Magdalene, taking David Coverdale's place; the band won a national talent contest in 1975 as the Beautiful Losers, but still failed to get a record contract. Rea left the band and recorded the album Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?, which alluded to a discarded stage name, which went gold on the strength of the U.S. Top 20 hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)." Rea was not heard from again in the U.S. for some time, concentrating his efforts on his main fan base of Europe. A compilation of tracks from Rea's '80s albums, New Light Through Old Windows, was released in 1988 and sold well in the U.K. and Europe and charted in the U.S. Rea followed it up with the critically acclaimed The Road to Hell, which many regarded as his best album. It and its follow-up, Auberge, went to the top of the U.K. album charts, but did not prove as successful in the U.S., where he has failed to chart with his subsequent releases. He released his most ambitious project in 2005, an eleven-album, 130-track box set of all new material inspired by the blues and his own paintings called Blue Guitars. The fun The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Blue Notes appeared in 2008.
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