A Mark In Time
General Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Jackal on December 01, 2011, 12:22:56 PM
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Interview: Guitarist and singer Chris Rea
By Simon Hayes on August 22, 2011 4:56 PM
http://www.wharf.co.uk/2011/08/interview-guitarist-and-singer.html
Back in the 1980s it seemed every rock star worth his salt had some crusade or other to bring to the masses.
It might be deeply unfashionable now, but Chris Rea isn't bothered about that, which is why his latest album, Santo Spirito, includes a powerful film about bullfighting, which he wants to see banned.
He said: "I'd been into it, but never seen what really happens. My daughters took me to Seville for a birthday, we went to a bullfight, and I was horrified. When the guy puts the sword in he goes over to the grandstand and they throw flowers and all that.
"But there's this poor thing on the floor and it's not dead. These guys look like little kids who have done something terrible and don't know what to do anymore.
"I'm going to honour the bullfighters because they are brave. It's wrong to say they aren't brave. People say the bull doesn't stand a chance, but that's not to say it can't kill you. They do get very close to death.
"As one of the lines in the movie says, 'you touch the horn of that that's trying to kill you. They are also economically pinned down to it because they have no other way of making a living.
"The bullfighters are brave, they get very close to death, but they are economically pinned down. They have no other way of making a living, even though none of them seemed to enjoy it at all.
"It'll have to come from Brussels to stop it. If the EU thinks it's alright for farmers not to grow food or pay fishermen to throw fish back, the least they can do is pay bullfighters not to torture animals."
It might sound like a rich rock star's conceit, but Rea wants to get his message across, which is why the three cd and two dvd Santo Spirito package will retail for
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Nice one Jackal, thank you for bringing it to our attention. Chris Rea is a fine musician and it is true that I found out about him around the time of Road to hell. And he is a damn fine slide guitar player. He contributes to a couple of songs in David Knopfler's Ship of Dreams-I think they are quite amazing, and I wonder what a great thing would be if he ever played with MK. I believe that his early work, up until 1985, is way too era-sound influenced, and even the good compositions are kind of lost by the production, but "Let's dance" is a brilliant record, (contains my all time favourite Rea song, "Curse of the traveller"). Then "Road to hell" and "Auberge" are his peaks, commercial wise at least, and he still makes great music, but somehow distancing himself (but less than MK) from that sound that made him famous.
I like that he is so down to earth, getting the same feelings as a fan, when he meets other guitar players that he admires, I guess every down to earth - no matter how famous- guy, must be feeling the same way-see MK and BD.
I really do not get the bull fighting crusade of his. I mean I had the same idea and asked a couple of friends from Spain, and they replied that the bull lives like a king until the fight day, and it is no disrespect for the animal or brutish feelings. I think the roots go down to tradition and these things are not to be tempered with. After all, for those eating meat, cows and all the animals that are raised for that reason rarely have a good life and the kill is a kill, no matter how merciful a pistol seems over the bat or hammer - or for that matter the sword. Of course our friends from Spain can shed some light on it.
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i also loved the "let's dance record" cd (had it as a cassette) ...
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Check out 'Windy Town' from the 'Dancing with strangers'
album. My favourite CR song. Very Knopfler sounding!!
Cheers BBB
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BBB that is the album I was talking about, just couldn't remember the title, only the hit from it. The whole A side (pre-CD times) was so sweet, listening it over and over again, not turning over the record. As a matter of fact I don't quite remember the B side ;) . And it has the odd Joy of Christmas song first! It is perfect for the season!
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Tracklist:
"Joys of Christmas" - 5:15
"I Can't Dance to That" - 4:19
"Windy Town" - 4:25
"Gonna Buy a Hat" - 4:25
"Curse of the Traveller" - 6:26
"Let's Dance" - 4:07
"Que Sera" - 5:23
"Josie's Tune" - 2:19
"Loving You Again" - 5:40
"That Girl of Mine" - 3:41
"September Blue" - 3:09
"I Don't Care Any More" - 2:10
"Donahue's Broken Wheel" - 3:02
"Danielle's Breakfast" - 4:33
Tracks 12, 13, 14 are bonus tracks not available on the initial LP release.
'Loving you again' such a great song!!!
Cheers. BBB
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Thank you BBB, but now I feel a bit jealous, I still have my LP, but no extra tracks! Thank god MK never re-issued with extra tracks, saved us the jealousy! ;)
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I like Chris' thoughts about life and his comment about coffee in bed. Deep stuff.
I think we all strive for something we think will make us happy but hardly realise that the journey or moment is all we have. Easy to say, harder to live.
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Check out 'Windy Town' from the 'Dancing with strangers'
album. My favourite CR song. Very Knopfler sounding!!
Cheers BBB
One of the first cassettes I had in my walkman when I cycled to work in the mid 80's - still play it the whole time on my ipod,geat album that stood the test of time - new lights through old windows isnt bad either.
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Been listening a bit to the Blue Guitars set. I like the idea behind the project, but there are simply too many songs to make it exciting enough. And though he was trying to capture the sound of each blues style and time period, they end up sounding very similar and something that's supposed to be a 50s style blues song sounds more like a reworking of Road to Hell or Espresso Logic. Not very successful, although there are many highlights.
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Been listening a bit to the Blue Guitars set. .
You'd want to be on a desert island with nothing else to do to be able to listen to the whole lot of it - I bough it but never listened to all of it,12 cd's is a mouthfull - I read the book though - the biggest cd sleeve ever :o :o
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Been listening a bit to the Blue Guitars set. .
You'd want to be on a desert island with nothing else to do to be able to listen to the whole lot of it - I bough it but never listened to all of it,12 cd's is a mouthfull - I read the book though - the biggest cd sleeve ever :o :o
Never bought it, although the price was logical. (Expensive but for good reason) Maybe I should give it a go if I ever find the money for it
(I guess it is still in stock somewhere, it must have been hard to sell)
Anyway the return of the fab Hofner... was the last thing I bought from Rea, but mostly thrilled with the very idea of the project and the fact that it came with a book and 2X10'' vinyl.
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Been listening a bit to the Blue Guitars set. I like the idea behind the project, but there are simply too many songs to make it exciting enough. And though he was trying to capture the sound of each blues style and time period, they end up sounding very similar and something that's supposed to be a 50s style blues song sounds more like a reworking of Road to Hell or Espresso Logic. Not very successful, although there are many highlights.
same here.
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I used to like Chris Rea a lot.
When Mark retired after BIA, Chris Rea made the right musical choices.
Sound more Dire Straits and fill the space.
He released four wonderful albums (from Dancing with strangers to God's great banana skin).
After that his music became too slow, too jazzy. Not for me.
To be honest, I have no idea of what kind of music he's doing now.
I saw Chris Rea in Paris during the Road to Hell tour and I'd love to see him live again.
I don't like his touring schedules. Disgusting.
I won't do any effort for a guy who only tours in Northern Europe.
I won't buy his records anymore. I'm very upset by this guy.
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why use so much space T85??
how is the editing going? :-)
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Maybe Chris limits his touring for health reasons? He almost died ten years ago, and he still lives without a pancreas, so it might just the doctor's orders.
For me his music gets a bit boring quickly. If you haven't listened to him for a while, it's nice.
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why use so much space T85??
how is the editing going? :-)
we have Macs at work. :disbelief
Only have a decent computer when back home.
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Maybe Chris limits his touring for health reasons? He almost died ten years ago, and he still lives without a pancreas, so it might just the doctor's orders.
For me his music gets a bit boring quickly. If you haven't listened to him for a while, it's nice.
I know he's had serious health problems. I'm so pleased he could recover and get back to normal life.
That said, I can't accept health problems as an excuse for his touring choices.
He does 45 dates every other year.
He always do 20 UK dates, 10 german dates and peanuts for the other countries.
That means since he's touring again, he's done approx. 125 shows in Germany and UK while 4 in France. I talk of countries of comparable sizes, culture and geographical situation.
Same problem with many artists including our own MK. I think it has something to do with Crocky. It got worse as soon as he's got more power.
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I know he's had serious health problems. I'm so pleased he could recover and get back to normal life.
That said, I can't accept health problems as an excuse for his touring choices.
He does 45 dates every other year.
He always do 20 UK dates, 10 german dates and peanuts for the other countries.
That means since he's touring again, he's done approx. 125 shows in Germany and UK while 4 in France. I talk of countries of comparable sizes, culture and geographical situation.
Same problem with many artists including our own MK. I think it has something to do with Crocky. It got worse as soon as he's got more power.
Tunnel85, you shouldn't complain. Here in Greece, MK comes once every 23 years for concerts (he is more regular for vacation), and since his last visit was in 2008, I guess 2031 would be his next visit, to celebrate his 80th birthday or something. ;) ;) Chris Rea never made it and Pink Floyd only once. I mean, that Greece is far too distant for them and small, population wise, so no expectations for the big-heavy-expensive tours. But I can't complain. (I do but not publically. Publically but not through the Internet. Well you get the point) And what's more, the lousy financial state will lead promoters to leave Greece out of their plans more often. So for those of us who like artists of a certain age, maybe it is the last time we saw them live... :'( :'( :'( Well I don't regret it.
I went to see Ray Davies, and he played in an empty theater of 100 people 15 years ago but he was great and the same for Kansas 4 years ago.On the other hand Lou Reed played for almost an hour, only from his new album 12 years ago, P.J.Harvey played less than 50 minutes, White Stripes only two songs and the list is endless. Who can't trust artists and their behaviors but really I don't mind anymore. I just chose not to go. And I advise most of my friends to do the same. Maybe that will teach artists a lesson to respect the hard earned money that buys the ticket and (most importantly) teach the promoters a lesson for the actual price of the ticket. I will gladly pay the 50 Euros they ask to see the musician I like, but not in an arena. What's the use in watching the show through the big screens 200 meters away. And since they have many people why has to be so expensive? I usually go early to be in the front row, to feel the vibes and see the artists play. I have stopped going to concerts after MK came to Greece. Bob Dylan came but he played 25 km outside Athens, and Leonard Cohen too. They had so few people they could actually have the concert in the beautiful Lycabetus theater, but no! Damn, what wrong, I started in order to defend artists and I end up blaming them. But maybe it is the promoters fault. I don't know and I don't care. (Pottel, Waters came in Athens-actually the first time at the place 25km outside Athens to play Dark side-and at the Olympic stadium to play the wall. I didn't go, and i must say I couldn't care less. But from friends that went I heard it was the best sound they ever listened. But I just can't stand all this big productions anymore. Do you have the 1987-88 live from Athens video?)
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yeah, from the top of my head i believe i have that video.
by the way, athens 2008 :-) almost there...