Fool if you think it's over-Chris Rea

I went to a private, friends only, concert of his in Newcastle, I think 1983. I was a student up there. A lass I knew was going out with a roadie and she couldn't make it, so she squared it that I could go :) It was in a part of Rockshots, if memory serves me right. It was a fabulous night, intimate and warm. I did get a telling off from the great man for demanding he play 'Loving You' somewhat incessantly....

It was unforgettable, the best 'concert' I've ever been to.
 
Here is a bit from this site about my brother....


" Al Todd on March 24, 2017 at 2:34 pm said:

For those that haven’t heard, another colourful roadie fron our area passed away recently. I first met Malcolm ‘George’ Woodhead in around 1964. He was a still at school with Robert ‘Bob’ Evans, who became a member of ‘The Elastic Band’, fronted by Eugene McCoy. George teamed up with Will Grimston to become virtual freelance roadies and it was always a pleasure to have them transport our motley group (Denver Mule, amongst others) I remember when Fairport Convention were playing at the Redar Jazz Club and George was in the audience. There was a group of unruly over-refreshed lads talking loudly over Fairports performance and, in the middle of a gentle and heartfelt number (the name of which escapes me) George, obviously overcome by the beautiful music, stood up from his chair and shouted out with a volume the would have done credit to ‘The Who’,”Hoy! ******* shurrup or I’ll pan yer!!!!!” Amazing isn’t it? that I cannot for the life of me remmeber the music, but I will always remember that emotive outburst!"
I'm very sorry to hear this. I was at school (Mary's) with George and worked with him at British Steel, doing shutdowns in the summer when we were both students. One of the funniest guys I've ever known. RIP George.
 
From Wiki ....

"Fool (If You Think It's Over)" was the lead single from Rea's debut album Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? which was recorded at producer Gus Dudgeon's Thames Valley recording studio The Mill. The song's inspiration was the experience Rea's younger sister Paula had had some years previously of being devastated at losing her first boyfriend, "Fool..."'s lyrics being the advice (real or imagined) with which Rea had responded to his sister's experience.[3] Rea would recall that he had written "Fool..." as a song which Al Green might record:[4][5] (quote:) "I’d always seen it as a Memphis [soul] song [but] I never had the chance to voice my opinion about what I thought about the production" of his own recording of the song [3] of which Rea has elsewhere stated: "[It was in the] wrong key. It ended up being this huge California thing [see California Sound]. It’s the only track I never played guitar on which tells you something about the spirit of it. On top of that, it was just a huge hit. So there was nothing I could do. It was like: 'This is not me!'"[6] Rea did play keyboards on "Fool..." with the track's background vocals provided by Rea and the Mill's assistant engineer Stuart Epps
I hadn't read that, so it is likely that Elkie Brooks' cover was closer to his own vision for the song than his own!

Didn't he do a Friday or possibly Saturday night residency at the Kirk just before WHTBS was released? I seem to remember being there but being too drunk to bother going into the other room where he was playing. 🤷‍♂️
 
I'm very sorry to hear this. I was at school (Mary's) with George and worked with him at British Steel, doing shutdowns in the summer when we were both students. One of the funniest guys I've ever known. RIP George.
Ta for that. Sounds like my big brother Malcolm (George to just about everyone else).

After the roadie job he ended up being a specialist in the design of motorway comms systems. Working all over the UK.

Such a great and funny guy.

He was probably the brightest one in our family.

Sadly missed.
 
The title track to Benny Santini is my favourite - stunning song

Deltics, the follow up album is also superb - got it on blue vinyl somewhere
By 79 I was at uni in a relationship with my soon to be first wife. That album brings back memories of her.
 
The commercial success of the song particularly in the USA revitalised Chris Rea’s career. Nice story about him getting home to Middlesbrough at Christmas in 1978 to find a huge royalty cheque on his doormat. Elkie Brookes’ cover actually did better in the UK than the original.
Probably due to the fact that Elkie could belt out a great tune and had a TV show.
 
I hadn't read that, so it is likely that Elkie Brooks' cover was closer to his own vision for the song than his own!

Didn't he do a Friday or possibly Saturday night residency at the Kirk just before WHTBS was released? I seem to remember being there but being too drunk to bother going into the other room where he was playing. 🤷‍♂️
Certainly saw him at the Kirk. Wasn't a fan of his type of music at the time, but my then girlfriend was . She being from the Boro, it was no surprise to me. She ended up being my wife, and I became a fan.
 
No, a vibrant royal blue IIRC !
Simply BR Blue.
Was/is Chris Rea an anorak then? What’s the Deltics track all about? I must say I never got into his early stuff, only hopping on the bandwagon with Watersign until Auberge, the golden era in my book
 
The video is full of nostalgia. Got me wondering - the loss of ICI, steelworks, shipbuilding and no doubt other heavy industries- thousands upon thousands of jobs and livelihoods gone - forever. What do the many who would have normally relied on labouring jobs do for work? Or perhaps they haven’t anything to fall back on. Those of us in work with different skills set are indeed the fortunate ones
 
Simply BR Blue.
Was/is Chris Rea an anorak then? What’s the Deltics track all about? I must say I never got into his early stuff, only hopping on the bandwagon with Watersign until Auberge, the golden era in my book
Deltics are diesel electric trains. The lines from Thornaby to Boro were the most concentrated in England.
If I am not mistaken there were 100 railway tracks between Stockton/Newport road and the river.
Not my bag but apparently a heaven for train spotters.
Anyway, deltics is about the soundtrack of youth, back in the day.
 
What do the many who would have normally relied on labouring jobs do for work? Or perhaps they haven’t anything to fall back on.
They are shunned, labelled "chav scum" or worse, dumped onto sink estates and live their lives with no hope of employment or betterment, breeding children doomed to repeat the cycle. These are "Thatcher's children", when this work was lost/destroyed no one gave any thought to the fate of those left behind. These are some of the people who voted "Brexit" because they had nothing to lose.
 
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