Rocktrospectiva: The Succesful "Auberge" Turns 35

 

Released on 25 February 1991 "Auberge" a French word for "inn" was the 11th., studio album by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea. The album, as well as the title song, is notable for its association with the Caterham Super Seven that Rea owned, which he called the "Blue Seven". The car appears on the album cover, illustrated in oil by motoring artist Alan Fearnley. The album spawned four singles "Auberge", "Heaven", "Looking For The Summer" & "Winter Song". The album made several references to the car over several tracks, as well on the video of the title song, and its cover illustration was used for its adverts. In 2005, Rea sold the car in an auction. 

 

Auberge was the follow-up to Road to Hell, an ambitious, dark-toned album that found European and critical success. Perhaps "Auberge" was not as dark as its predecessor, but Rea seemingly can't sing a word without sharpening its flinty edges, making it a bit threatening. The album reflected the thoughts and feelings of a man on a meandering road trip, thinking over the things he's said and done. "Heaven" seemed to recall a time when the afterlife was in reach, but it could just as easily be the song of someone who's finally found his way. The reggae-tinged "Every Second Counts" found Rea adjusting his phrasing perfectly to the song's mellow upbeat, while the rousing title track and its accompanying set piece "Set Me Free" moved from searching, tentative guitar noodlings into full-blown epics, sketching the album's story line with bluesy bottom end, blustering horns, backup singers, and Rea's own grainy vocal rumble. "Auberge" was ambitious, and its rangy songwriting gone to take a few odd turns on its way to the scenic overlook where everything became clear and then the twisting guitar and swelling strings of "Gone Fishing." 

 

Auberge reached the No. 1 in the UK and Germany despite critices described the record as more of the same stuff with subtle differences to keep both doubters and aficionados guessing.

 

Auberge Track List: 

 

1. Auberge

2. Gone Fishing

3. You're Not A Number

4. Heaven

5. Set Me Free

6. Winter Song

7. Red Shoes

8. Sing A Song Of Love To Me

9. Every Second Counts

10. Looking For The Summer

11. And You My Love

12. The Mention Of Your Name 

Absolute Christmas/Absolute Scrooged: Driving Home For Christmas

           

Driving Home for Christmas was first released as a B-side because the now late Chris Rea thought Christmas songs were novelties, and he didn’t want to draw attention to it. Perhaps it may be an atypical song for him, nevertheless. it’s a perfect song that had endured and captures the nostalgic feeling of Christmas since. 

Stuck in traffic on the A1, where the late Chris Rea found himself in Christmas 1978, his wife behind the wheel of her Mini, he beside her as they tried to get from Abbey Road Studios in London to their home in Middlesbrough, 220 miles away. He wrote the song on a whim, scribbling down the lyrics whenever passing headlights illuminated the car interior, then put it away with his other unfinished scraps when he got home. 

Eight years later, he paired his lyric with some jazzy chords he'd written and then a song was born. At first, he shoved it on a B-side, but in 1988 he re-recorded it for a compilation, put it out as a single, and nothing fantastic happened, it was not an instant hit, it was more like a slow burner that went from radio playlists and department stores into people's hearts throught the years.

It was a slow burner because it’s not grand, just a common track not packed with magnificent of the contemporary Christmas hits at the time, not a tremendous lyrics it's just about being trapped in the A1 and trying to get as much as possible home on Christmas eve, not other emotion or tenderness, just about being there sitting and awaiting in traffic, looking forward to getting home.

When the track was released during Christmas 1988, "Mistletoe And Wine" by Cliff Richard was the Christmas No.1 and then nothing else but others related songs and "Driving Home For Christmas" was at 53, and there you go, nothing happens and the song was there as another useless attempt to capture the No. 1 for Holiday Season, in fact, I never heard about this track until Christmas 2019 and curiously I was trapped in traffic too trying to get home as soon as possible, but inmeadiately caught my attention because it sounds older maybe vintage, like the way Christmas songs used to be and doesnt sound like this anymore, and here's the key part of everything.

"Driving Home For Christmas", is a common Christmas song but not a one that impose and use the usual sounds many Xmas songs use and do like sonic bells, whistles, Santa's Ho Ho, and even thought the song emerged in the late 80s., it's not dated because it was created to sound like that, nostalgic and in some ways tender and magic cause it alludes a common thing everyone of us have experienced once in while, being sat in an unmoving car for Christmas as a way to comfort us and make our stance easy and less complicated just like the way it was 35 years when were kids and Christmas had a different meaning, and that's why this anthem hits hard, not only because Chris' death but also because captures the season's true spirit as no other song do.

In Memoriam: Rock And Blues Singer-Songrwriter "Chris Rea" Dies Aged 74

Iconic Middlesbrough-born musician Chris Rea, who had hits with Driving Home for Christmas, On the Beach and The Road to Hell, has died at the age of 74, a spokesperson for his family said.

 

The statement said that he died "peacefully in hospital … following a short illness". 

 

Rea blended blues, pop, soul and soft rock on 25 studio albums, featuring hits including The Road to Hell, taken from a UK No 1 album of the same name; Driving Home for Christmas, a perennial seasonal favourite; and tracks such as On the Beach and Josephine that earned popularity in the Balearic dance scene. He sold more than 30 million albums.

 

He was born in 1951 in Middlesbrough to an Italian father and Irish mother, and had six siblings. "To be Irish Italian in a coffee bar in Middlesbrough – I started my life as an outsider," he later said. As a young man he dabbled in music while working labouring jobs, including in his father’s ice-cream factory, and considered being a journalist. He eventually joined a band aged 22, Magdalene, which had previously featured David Coverdale (later of Deep Purple). He then joined another band, the Beautiful Losers, but struck out solo when offered a record deal, releasing his debut single, So Much Love, in 1974.

 

His first flush of success came in the US, where his 1978 song Fool (If You Think It’s Over) reached No 12 and earned him a Grammy nomination for best new artist. He struggled to match that achievement for some years – likening industry machinations in this period to a big manure heap of bubbling stuff. I had no control over it, I didn't know what to do – though the 1985 album Water Sign was a hit across Europe and helped to turn his fortunes around.

 

The late 1980s were his most commercially successful period: finally embraced in the UK despite often sitting outside the dominant trends in pop, 1987's Dancing With Strangers began a run of six UK top 10 albums, two of them reaching No 1.

 

The 1988 compilation album New Light Through Old Windows contained his biggest hit, Driving Home for Christmas, originally recorded in 1986. It made little impact on its first release, but the gentle, sentimental song about the communal pleasure of its title has continued to grow in popularity ever since, reaching a chart high of No 10 in 2021. Rea originally wrote it at a low ebb when he was without a manager, out of a record contract and actually banned from driving – he had to be driven home by his wife from London to Middlesbrough because he couldn't afford the rail fare. He wrote the lyrics on the car journey, but didn’t complete the song until a few years later.

 

Rea's chart success waned somewhat in the 2000s, when, beginning with 2002's Dancing Down the Stony Road, Rea turned away from pop and back towards the Delta blues that had originally inspired him. 

 

Appropriately, given he often fixated on cars and roads in his songs, Rea was a motor racing enthusiast who raced models by Ferrari and Lotus, and participated in the 1993 British Touring Car Championship. For the 1995 Formula One season, he joined the Jordan team as a pit mechanic. "I really didn't want to do the VIP thing, so I was in charge of Eddie Irvine’s right-rear tyre," he later said.

 

Rea suffered a number of health issues during his life. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and eventually had his pancreas removed along with parts of his stomach and small intestine in 2001. The procedure caused him to become diabetic.

 

He had a stroke in 2016, which he described as a  "very scary moment … I got it into my head that my perception of pitch had gone with the stroke. And it took a lot of convincing from people saying there’s nothing wrong with what you're playing." In 2017, he collapsed on stage during a concert in Oxford, and was taken to hospital to recover.

 

Rea is survived by his wife Joan, whom he began dating aged 17, and their daughters Josephine and Julia, both of whom Rea named hit songs after.

Rocktrospectiva: The Darkert And Conceptual "Road To Hell" Turns 35

Released on 30 October 1989, "The Road To Hell" was the tenth studio album by British artist Chris Rea, considered the most successful studio album by the artist, topped the UL for three weeks and it was considered as a modern masterpiece, the album contains strong elements of social commentary, addressing alienation, violence and redemption. The album spawned four singles "The Road To Hell", "That's What They Always Say", "Texas" & "Tell Me There's A Heaven".  

Written and recorded within four weeks. Rea had a lot of trouble with the album arising out of the attitude of his record company, so he recorded the next album – Auberge – before, as an agreement with Warner Brothers. So if Road To Hell didn’t work – and they said it won't – we would jump straight away to Auberge and forget about it, of course things work for this album, so there was no need to do what was agreed.

The Road To Hell is a concept album about the problems of modern society, and while this subject recurs throught the album, it is balanced by another recurring subject, the solace of love and family. The album begins with the sound of a disturbing phenomenon: a traffic jam. This leads into "The Road To Hell Parts 1 and 2", with lyrics evoking impending doom and fears of technology, economic collapse fear of violence on city street, other highlights includes "You Must Be Evil" deals with the irresponsible depiction on television news, "Texas", which depicts the feeling of being trapped economically or socially, and seeing escape to a new environment as the only way out; "Looking For a Rainbow", a cathartic anthem which describes the search for a better life by those who are economically disadvantaged, but reflects the struggles we all face to improve ourselves; "That's What They Always Say", a song about the special kind of hell experienced by those whose ambitions are thwarted; and "Tell Me There's a Heaven", whose lovely orchestral atmosphere belies its bleak message and "Daytona" which is about the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona.

Is definitely darkest and best album , a concept album about the horrors of the modern age . Still potent with a message for modern days, and the effect was inmediately cause this is Rea's most exciting, potent and comercially succesful album to date. 

 

The Road To Hell Track List:

1. The Road To Hell (Part 1)

2. The Road To Hell (Part 2)

3. You Must Be Evil

4. Texas

5. Looking For A Rainbow

6. Your Warm And Tender Love

7. Daytona

8. That's What They Always Say

9. I Just Wann Be With You

10. Tell Me There's A Heaven