Chris Rea

For the rugby union footballer, see Chris Rea (rugby player).

Chris Rea

Chris Rea (Template:Pron-en, REE-ə) (born Christopher Anton Rea, 4 March 1951, Middlesbrough) is an English singer-songwriter, recognisable for his distinctive, husky voice and slide guitar playing. The British Hit Singles & Albums stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s. He was already a major European star by the time he finally cracked the UK Top 10 with his 18th chart entry; "The Road to Hell (Part 2)".

Although Rea had limited success in the United States, two of his albums, The Road to Hell and Auberge, topped the UK Albums Chart. The book Guinness Rockopedia described him as a "gravel-voiced guitar stalwart".

Biography

Early career

Rea began his musical career at the comparatively late age of 22, inspired by the music of Joe Walsh and Ry Cooder In 1973, Rea joined the local band, Magdalene, replacing David Coverdale who later created Whitesnake. The following year Rea released "So Much Love", after local club owner, and promoter John B. McCoy gained Rea a recording contract with Magnet Records. Rea also performed on Hank Marvin's album The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate (1977). The same year he guested on Catherine Howe's EP, The Truth of the Matter.

Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? was Rea's debut album which was released in June 1978, and produced by Gus Dudgeon. The title of the album was a reference to the stage name that Rea's record label thought he should adopt. The first single lifted from the album, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)", was his biggest hit in the United States, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching #1 on the Adult Contemporary Singles chart. "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" was nominated for a Song of the Year Grammy, losing out to Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are". Like most of Rea's early singles, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" failed to appear on the UK Singles Chart on its first release, and only reached #30 when re-released in late 1978 to capitalise on its US achievement.

The UK singer Elkie Brooks enjoyed greater success with the song in 1982, when she charted her cover version at #17. It was also the first record played by Radio Caroline, after a long period off the air. Another cover of "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" by Kenny Craddock was used as the theme tune for BBC sitcom, Joking Apart.

Dudgeon went on to produce Rea's next effort, Deltics.

European breakthrough

Rea began to focus his attention on continental Europe, releasing eight albums in the 1980s. It was not until 1985's Shamrock Diaries and the songs "Stainsby Girls" and "Josephine" that audiences began to take notice of him (on 5 July 1986 Rea played in front of 95,000 people at Slane Castle, Ireland, as a supporting act of band Queen on their Magic Tour). His following albums were On The Beach (1986) and Dancing with Strangers (1987). The Dancing with Strangers tour in 1987, saw Rea sell out stadium size venues for the first time across the world, and Rea played Wembley Arena twice. His following album was the New Light Through Old Windows compilation album, which saw studio reworkings of his earlier work.

His next full album was to be his major breakthrough. The Road to Hell (1989) enjoyed massive success and became his first #1 album in the UK. This accomplishment could not be mirrored in the US, where it only reached #107, in spite of the single track "Texas" achieving extensive radio airplay. The title track was released as a single and reached the UK Top 10. Rea appeared on the Band Aid II project's single in December 1989. His next album, Auberge, was also a European hit, reaching the top spot in the UK.

After Auberge

After Auberge, Rea released God's Great Banana Skin, which reached #4 in the UK. The album returned Rea to the rockier sound of Road to Hell, and the single "Nothing to Fear" gave him another Top 20 hit. A year later Espresso Logic hit the Top 10 and "Julia", written about his second daughter, gave him his eleventh Top 40 position. The album was part promoted by Rea taking part in the British Touring Car Championship, although he was eliminated in the first round. A period of ill health meant his next album did not appear until 1998. Despite no singles being released and little promotion, The Blue Cafe still made the UK Top 10, though it proved to be Rea's last. In 1999, 10 years after Road to Hell, Rea released The Road to Hell: Part 2, which received no promotion and never made the Top 40. In 2000, he released King of the Beach, receiving critical praise and a healthy Top 30 placing.

In 2000 a remix of Rea's 1986 "On the Beach" single by York was released and enjoyed moderate success on the dance floor.

Fighting pancreatitis and back to the blues

After being diagnosed with pancreatitis, Rea underwent an operation called a Whipple procedure (pancreaticoduodenectomy), with a predicted 50% chance of survival. In 2001, Rea promised himself that if he recovered, he would be returning to his blues roots. This near brush with death was the catalyst for a change in musical direction and motivation. The resulting Blue Guitars eleven CD collection of 137 blues-inspired tracks recorded in eighteen months, completed with his own paintings as album covers, is seen by himself as his finest work to date. In an interview with The Britsound Radio Show, Rea revealed that "it’s not until you become seriously ill and you nearly die and you’re at home for six months, that you suddenly stop to realise that this isn’t the way I intended it to be in the beginning. Everything that you’ve done falls away and start wondering why you went through all that rock business stuff." In 2002, Rea released Dancing Down the Stony Road following recording sessions in France and the UK. (An abridged version of the album was later released with the title Stony Road). The album was followed by a DVD of the same name, comprising a documentary and footage from a concert in Cologne. Rea set up his own JazzeeBlue label in 2003 to free himself from the pressure of record company expectations. Since then he has released the blues albums Blue Street (Five Guitars) (an instrumental jazz-blues album) and then The Blue Jukebox. He has worked with David Knopfler for two albums: Wishbones (2001) and Ship of Dreams (2004).

Blue Guitars and retirement

Following the release of the box set, Blue Guitars, in 2005, it was announced that Rea would not record any further solo albums. He has stated that he would continue to make records with some of his favourite players under the name The Memphis Fireflies. A double DVD set and a separate double CD set was released in 2006, including live selections from Rea's farewell tour entitled The Road To Hell & Back.

The return

In November 2007, Rea announced a new tour and a new album featuring 38 new tracks on three CDs and two vinyls, which included a hardback book in the style of a slightly tatty 12" vinyl sleeve. The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Blue Notes (a dedication to the 1960s guitar of the same name) was released in February 2008. In writing the album, Rea dreamed up a band that had never existed — a pastiche instrumental group from the late 1950s called The Delmonts.

The release of the album was followed by a European tour. The band was introduced as "The Delmonts featuring Chris Rea", and played in various venues across the UK, including the Royal Albert Hall in London.

His song "Driving Home for Christmas", which originally reached #53 in the UK chart when first released in 1988, re-entered at #33 nineteen years later in December 2007, making it the first time the song had made the UK Top 40. In a live interview on the BBC Radio 4 programme Today on December 17, 2009 Rea said he wrote “Driving Home for Christmas” many years before he first recorded it. His wife had come down to London to drive him home to Middlesbrough in her Austin Mini to save money because it was cheaper to drive than travel by train. Inspiration for the song came as she and Rea were stuck in heavy traffic heading out of London with a long drive to Middlesbrough ahead of them. Rea said "Driving Home to Christmas" is a “car version of a carol”.

In October 2009, Rhino released a new 2-disc best of compilation. Still So Far To Go - The Best of Chris Rea contained some of his best known hits over the last thirty years, many of them less well known, as well as more recent songs from his "blues" period. There are also two new songs "Come So Far, Yet Still So Far to Go" and the ballad "Valentino", a song about his dog that had died. The album was Rea's highest charting album in 15 years, reaching #8 and staying in the Top 50 for four weeks.

In 2010 Rea performed on an European tour called Still So Far to Go. His special guest on stage was an Irish musician Paul Casey. The tour ended on 5 April in Belfast, United Kingdom.

A new studio album is due to be released in 2011.

Family life

Rea is the son of Camillo Rea, an immigrant from Italy and Winifred, of Irish descent (died September 1983). He has two brothers, Nick and Mike, and four sisters, Catherine, Geraldine, Paula and Camille.

He is married to Joan, with whom he has two daughters (Josephine, born 16 September 1983, and Julia Christina, born 18 March 1989). He used to live at Sol Mill in Cookham, Berkshire. This property also contained the Sol Mill Recording Studios where he produced some of his later albums. He also produced albums for other artists such as Sylvin Marc, and Robert Ahwai on his JazeeBlue label. The property was sold in 2006.

The name Rea was well-known locally thanks to the chain of "Rea's Ice Cream" shops owned by Rea's father. In later years the chain folded except for one shop operated by Camillo himself. Chris Rea holds a season ticket with Middlesbrough F.C..

Other interests

Rea has stated that he is a fan of the Ferrari motor-racing team, having watched races since his childhood. He mentioned in a television interview that he had an early memory of asking his father, whilst watching a race on a black-and-white television, what colour the Ferrari was, and his father replied "Red, son, blood red".

Rea also recorded a song, "Saudade," in tribute to three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna. It featured prominently in the BBC documentary that can be watched in full here (UK users only) and was released on The Very Best of Chris Rea (2001).

Rea also has a passion for the Caterham Seven sports car and commissioned a painting of his blue car for the cover of Auberge.

Politics

In August 2008, it was incorrectly reported that Rea had donated £25,000 to the Conservative Party. This news report has since been strongly denied by Mr Rea.

In April 2010 however, just weeks before the UK general election, it was reported by The Guardian newspaper that Rea had donated £100,000 to the Conservatives.

Films

Rea has also been an actor, playing the lead in the 1999 comedy film, Parting Shots, alongside John Cleese, Bob Hoskins and Joanna Lumley. Rea played a character who was told that cancer gave him six weeks to live, and decided to kill those people who had badly affected his life.

He also had a cameo role in the 1996 film, La Passione, for which he wrote the soundtrack.

Local references in Rea's lyrics

Rea's lyrics contain references to growing up in Middlesbrough, a town which, at the time, had much heavy industry around it, including chemical processing, steelmaking, and shipbuilding. Perhaps the most famous of these references occur in the song "Stainsby Girls", a tribute to his wife Joan, who attended Stainsby Secondary Modern School, now known as Acklam Grange Secondary School.

Other references occur in "The Road to Hell":

I'm standing by a river, but the water doesn't flow

It boils with every poison you can think of

This lyric refers to the appearance of the River Tees in the 1960s, when it was at its most polluted. The song "Steel River" compared the old polluted Tees with the later cleaner river. "Windy Town" is a memory of Middlesbrough from the viewpoint of a touring musician. The hit "On the Beach" refers to the beach at Saltburn-by-the-Sea in Cleveland.

Discography

Main article: Chris Rea discography

• Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? (1978)
• Deltics (1979)
• Tennis (1980)
• Chris Rea (1982)
• Water Sign (1983)
• Wired to the Moon (1984)
• Shamrock Diaries (1985)
• On the Beach (1986)
• Dancing with Strangers (1987)
• The Road to Hell (1989)
• Auberge (1990)
• God's Great Banana Skin (1992)
• Espresso Logic (1993)
• La Passione (1996)
• The Blue Cafe (1998)
• The Road to Hell: Part 2 (1999)
• King of the Beach (2000)
• Dancing Down the Stony Road / Stony Road (2002)
• Blue Street (Five Guitars) (2003)
• Hofner Blue Notes (2003)
• The Blue Jukebox (2004)
• Blue Guitars (2005)
• The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Blue Notes (2008)
• Still So Far To Go: The Best of Chris Rea (2009)

External links

• Official site of Rea's record label, JazzeeBlue
• Official site
• IMDb Parting Shots
• Interview on the Britsound Radio Show, November 2005