One Fine Day Chris Rea

• 1 Do You Still Dream? 04:11
• 2 Loving You 03:55
• 3 One Fine Day 04:06
• 4 One Sweet and Tender Touch 04:44
• 5 If I Ever Break Free 03:00
• 6 Sierra Sierra 04:15
• 7 Members Only 03:24
• 8 Let Me Be the One 03:25
• 9 One Night with You 04:31
• Total Runtime 35:31

Info for One Fine Day

Chris Rea first emerged in 1978 thanks mostly to the US hit single Fool If You Think It’s Over from his debut album. Eventually he would go on to hit the big time in the mid-late 80s with a string of big selling albums and a sequence of memorable hit singles (Road To Hell Part 2 and On The Beach foremost). But, back in 1980 Rea was struggling after the albums Deltics and Tennis had failed to make a commercial impact. It was at this time that he went into the studio and recorded and self-produced this set of songs that have only emerged now on this limited edition CD+Vinyl package. As such, One Fine Day provides an intriguing snapshot of an artist at a pivotal moment in his career.

Of the nine songs, three have never been released before, three subsequently appeared as B sides of singles in quite different versions, and three are songs that would be re-recorded a year later for his eponymous album (rather oddly, since it wasn’t his debut album!).

Chris Rea fans will immediately be drawn to the three new songs: If I Ever Break Free, an upbeat song with gospel touches in the chorus; Members Only, a fairly straight forward 12-bar blues tune; and One Night With You which sounds rather like Leonard Cohen being accompanied by an Oompah band! They are three pleasant songs but it’s certainly not a scandal that they haven’t been released before.

The remaining six songs allow an interesting comparison with versions that were subsequently released, and in my view these original versions are often better. One Sweet Tender Touch is a case in point. It is recorded here brilliantly as a slow emotional bluesy song which sadly gets speeded up into a mainstream pop tune with the piano and Hammond replaced by a layer of sugary synths. Another chameleon-like song is Let Me Be The One, which originally appeared as a non-descript ballad on the B-side of Loving You, but here in its original guise is an infectious Springsteen-style rock’n’roll boogie.

Rhino have also just released remastered versions of some of the classic albums of Rea from his period of commercial success. This album might not match up musically to those re-releases but it is a truly fascinating insight into the artist when on the cusp of that success.

Chris Rea, guitar, piano, producer, slide guitar, vocals
Max Middleton, keyboards
Michael Moran, piano
Burleigh Drummond, vocals
David Pack, vocals
Joe Puerta, vocals
Ed Hession, accordion
Robert Ahwai, guitar
Jim Mullen, guitar
Alan Murphy, guitar
Gerry O'Connor, banjo
Bruce Lynch, bass
Sylvin Marc, bass
Dave Paton, bass
Andrew Powell, bass
Dave Mattacks, drums
Martin Ditcham, drums
Linda Taylor, background vocals
Carol Kenyon, background vocals
Katie Kissoon, background vocals

Produced by Chris Rea, Jon Kelly

Chris Rea
Christopher Anton Rea (pronounced Ree-ah), born 4 March 1951, is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Middlesbrough, England. He started his music career in 1978. Rea's initial focus was on continental Europe, releasing eight albums in the 1980s. It wasn't until 1985's Shamrock Diaries and the songs "Stainsby Girls" and "Josephine," that UK audiences began to take notice of him. Follow up albums On The Beach and Dancing With Strangers became UK hits and then the New Light Through Old Windows compilation album in 1988 cemented his reputation.

This album contains no booklet.