MY COPY OF THE NEW RELEASE

[Chris]

Hi Chris,
I am glad to see that I am not the only one who feels like this.There has been concerts on and no reviews or anything.If fans don't post their experiences everyone looses out.
Tina

-----------

Hi Tina,
Yes, I'm disappointed because I know how popular Chris Rea is either in Slovenia or Germany.
The new album price should also be "stabilized", so to speak.
Best regards to you,
Chris

[Tina3]

Hi Chris,
Another thing that makes me mad is the fact that no one seems interested in stocking any of Chris's new material at least at my end but they all want a cut of the price of it when they do.I wonder does Chris know any of this as he has requested that his albums be reasonably priced but do they listen to what he has to say.
Tina

[andrew fischer]

Hi Chris, hello Tina!

Speaking about the pricess I would say that I really love what Chris Rea does and money don't matter to me here ("that's only bit's of paper flying away from you" ). But Rea's works now aren't widely appreciated (and I suppose it's not that bad) and such albums as The Return of TFHBN and the Blue Guitars appear in Russia and CIS in a rank of an exclusive. Blue Guitars costed me $100 in the store, while at the gig in 2006 the price was $180!!!! I've already bought my ticket to the HBN gig for $250 (3rd row) and 2 years ago it costed me even more! I have to live in peace with all these hell things, that's why I don't worry that my copywill cost (only!)66 euros to your 40 or 50.

"Money - who needs it?
Let me live my life feeling easy
Put my toothbrush in my hand
And let me the travelling man!"

Chris Rea "I'm a Roadrunner"

[Chris]

Hi Andrew and Tina,

Thank you both for your replies. Perhaps I didn't say quite precisely, what I wanted to say, but I do care about my fellow Chris Rea fans everywhere. I appreciate very much their views and cherish their advice. That's what this page, I think, is all about. We point out to links to articles and videos, support viewpoints and tend to "defend" one another, if only in our posts. In fact we all speak, more or less, about the same: our admiration for his music and lately about the uneven audience treatment, different box-set prices, play sets and such.
For me the most valuable information I gained was on the policy at the doors; whether they allowed cameras and phones in.
Chris Rea was in a conflict with his recording company managers but he managed to free himself from their chains. Although it was relatively easy for him to set his own label and to open or relocate a recording studio, he still needed a distributor. Since there are only a handful of them around, Chris must struggle with them. They control the market all right, but the question remains: is it in their interest to promote Chris? They agreed to carry the title for a slice of the pie; anyone would. I had the feeling though, they were doing it reluctantly, as if seeing him more like an outsider of sort and not a major player anymore. But he is still our hero and he will prove to them he's a very important artist who had not said the last word yet.
So, all the best to you in St. Pete and Dublin,
Chris

[Tina3]

Hi Chris, hello Tina!

Speaking about the pricess I would say that I really love what Chris Rea does and money don't matter to me here ("that's only bit's of paper flying away from you" ). But Rea's works now aren't widely appreciated (and I suppose it's not that bad) and such albums as The Return of TFHBN and the Blue Guitars appear in Russia and CIS in a rank of an exclusive. Blue Guitars costed me $100 in the store, while at the gig in 2006 the price was $180!!!! I've already bought my ticket to the HBN gig for $250 (3rd row) and 2 years ago it costed me even more! I have to live in peace with all these hell things, that's why I don't worry that my copywill cost (only!)66 euros to your 40 or 50.

"Money - who needs it?
Let me live my life feeling easy
Put my toothbrush in my hand
And let me the travelling man!"

Chris Rea "I'm a Roadrunner"

Hi Andrew
I take the same view now.Whatever it costs I will pay it once it has got to do with Chris.There have been times in the pass when I let concerts go because I didn't have the money,much to my regret.That is not the way now.When all is said and done we get great value for money as Chris loves what he does.The way you phrase it is cool I couldn't put it better.I hope you enjoy the show and the music and maybe you will consider doing a post to let the rest of us know what it is like as I for one have a VERY long wait
Kind regards
Tina

Hi Andrew and Tina,

Thank you both for your replies. Perhaps I didn't say quite precisely, what I wanted to say, but I do care about my fellow Chris Rea fans everywhere. I appreciate very much their views and cherish their advice. That's what this page, I think, is all about. We point out to links to articles and videos, support viewpoints and tend to "defend" one another, if only in our posts. In fact we all speak, more or less, about the same: our admiration for his music and lately about the uneven audience treatment, different box-set prices, play sets and such.
For me the most valuable information I gained was on the policy at the doors; whether they allowed cameras and phones in.
Chris Rea was in a conflict with his recording company managers but he managed to free himself from their chains. Although it was relatively easy for him to set his own label and to open or relocate a recording studio, he still needed a distributor. Since there are only a handful of them around, Chris must struggle with them. They control the market all right, but the question remains: is it in their interest to promote Chris? They agreed to carry the title for a slice of the pie; anyone would. I had the feeling though, they were doing it reluctantly, as if seeing him more like an outsider of sort and not a major player anymore. But he is still our hero and he will prove to them he's a very important artist who had not said the last word yet.
So, all the best to you in St. Pete and Dublin,
Chris

Hi Chris
There is a lot of truth in what you say and I agree with you.Chris has and still does have problems with record company managers but I don't see what their problem is.They get paid for their work.I wonder could they see Chris as not worthy of their services cause he stood up to them and does as he wants musically and not as they want.He might not have the sales of some of the other big stars but he does have a following of fans and has done now for years.I wonder could it be that they are hoping he will fail in what he is doing just to prove a point .I don't know what the problem is but I do know that Chris does not get a fair deal from them.Surely sales from the likes of Stony Road and Blue Guitars proves that he is doing something right regardless of what they think.All the best to you in Poland
Kind regards
Tina

[Chris]

Hi Tina again,
I read that Chris Rea is not an easy person to work with. He is demanding, accurate and precise and that's why he mostly succeeds in life. He went through a lot as far as his illnesses. He knows what he wants. I mean, even before he embarked on this tour he already started - as he said in interviews - on his new project (or several projects!)
The record companies just wanted to control him. He is free to do artistically as he pleases and I hope he will succeed.
Best regards,
Chris

[Tina3]

Hi Chris,
I'm glad Chris is like that.At least we the fans get to listen to excellent music and not some manufactured type of so called music that someone else thinks we want.In an interview last weekend he said he was 3 weeks into the next project.So we have lots to look forward to .I hope you have a good day Chris
Kind regards
Tina

[Mr_Blues]

Today comes the fourth day of me having the new release and it´s sure nice
Boxet looks so well on bookshelf next to the Blue Guitars
Wonder how many fine earbooks we might still get in the future from Chris??

About the actual music, Delmonts is its own case, but other two cd´s sounds much like
music on Blue Guitars, Chris Rea style of blues. I´ve been listening a lot of blues in past
10 years and I have to say one thing: Chris Rea has soft sound and he´s missing some edge
and raw sound which the real deal blues guys have. But no reason to worry, music is still great

Delmonts, that reminds a lot of Shadows etc. sound, that´s understood. But yet there is many
hints to Chris Rea sound and style from the past. Talking about his old instrumentals from 80´s and 90´s.

In overall it can be said that Chris Rea´s blues style ain´t actually that far from his older style.

[Chris]

Hi everyone,

I'm disappointed, to put it mildly, because the new earBook is still not available in Poland (it's already February 15) and I don't know the reasons - why. I again phoned the office of Warner Music Poland to get a clear answer, and received instead a rather rude suggestion "that I would have to wait" until Feb. 25 (for the new box-set.) My reply was "no, you got it wrong lady, I don't have to do anything, I can buy it elsewhere", but the lady used irony that "they (WM-Poland) don't have to follow the Germans or the English with the same release date." So, the situation at this distributor is rather strange. Instead of admitting that someone drowsed away and apparently overlooked Chris Rea's box-set, since it was published under a telling little (or to them nothing at all!) name (FHBN), the lady was trying to put a brave face on, instead. All in all, it's bad example for the company which - in worst case scenario - should have allowed someone else to carry the title, since they couldn't.
I have no possibility of complaining to anyone at the Warner-International, Warner-Europe, Edel Records or whoever, but this local division is doing a bad job for the prestigious company as well as the customer they are suppose to be working for in the first place.
Moreover, when I've mentioned that "after all Chris Rea is to play Warsaw on February 20" the lady replied that "they (WM-Poland) have nothing to do with it" and added that "it's the Live Nation (concert tour agency) which deals with it." She couldn't tell me whether the box-set would be available in the foyer of the Sala Kongresowa (the Congress Hall) at the time of the concert, or immediately after it.
I must say that, as far as I know, this is the first instance they've handled Chris Rea's new album in such a way.
After all, I made an extra effort, by phoning them, to make sure I get the FHBN box-set on time and I don't think I deserved such a treatment.
Best regards to all,
Chris

[bvermaak]

You can buy it at the foyer. We could it even in Holland. Our release date is 25th of Feb.

[Gerby]

Hi Chris

lso, I'm surprised there are no concert reviews, pictures nor videos from either Ljubljana (Slovenia) Munich, Dresden or Hamburg....
We need some more action here!

Hi Chris,
I am glad to see that I am not the only one who feels like this.There has been concerts on and no reviews or anything.If fans don't post their experiences everyone looses out.
Tina

Hi everyone !
I started a topic named "After concert comments" after the first concert in Luxembourg and this (I thought) would had been the ideal place for everyone to put comments about the different concerts.Its bad that it has not a big success.
Take care
Gerby

[Jim M]

I received my copy of HBN yesterday and what can i say.I orderd it in DEcember/had to wait patiently for 3 months/had to pull my turntable out of mothballs/had to rearange my living room to make it fit/had to hook up my turntable/had to find a place to buy a new needle (no small task) and it was all worth it !! Fantastic !!!

[Chris]

Hi everyone,

My initial reaction to the earBook is very positive. I would need to listen to the recording a little bit longer, but I can tell right now it's an aesthetic publication worth every penny. Furthermore, the book not only looks nice but it takes you back to the late 50s and early 60s in the industrial Northern Yorkshire. One can almost feel it by going through it page by page. Pictures never lie and they are supported by words. Even though they depict people posing for the photographs (that used to be a standard as everyone would have dressed for the picture!), to show the better side of themselves, they really can influence your imagination. The idea with the album format was thoroughly analyzed, I guess.
I'd like to repeat that in my opinion the recordings should have been released prior to Chris' tour. That way, the album would have sell better. Unless, Chris wanted to concentrate entirely on his true fans.
I'm a dedicated follower (most of the people on this forum are) so there is no problem with me.
The vinyl LPs indeed smelled of shellac, just as Chris said in the BBC radio interview. I know that there are connoisseurs who would say that the vinyl recordings carry a better sound, more reacher and broader as far as the scope of the upper and lower tones, but for ordinary listeners it doesn't really matter. I've already pulled my turn table from the basement all right... The sound of "the Delmonts" is indeed somehow "reacher."
I take it that "the Delmonts"are a sort of vehicle to take the listener from the 50s to 60s in the first class seat to the HBN. To re-create the atmosphere and even the flavor of those years, with mini Coopers, mini skirts, the brilliantine covered hear, a very special way of dressing for a dance party at the club. This has been accomplished. Even though I was too young in the late 50s to go to any club, never mind to dance, I do remember my older colleagues preparing themselves for a Friday or a Saturday night out at the workers' club (the English called it locally: "worky club", "worki club" or "workee club"?) where a band was playing (the) Shadows-like tunes. The Telstar, Apache, The Young Ones....
The two CDs with the HBN blues songs are just great. Non-invasive and soft, they might be received by some listeners as "too soft", though. One can sense Miles Davis jazz influence in them, discover Chris' well known themes as well as other artists' sound.
I don't want to be more aggressive in my writings because I know people can see it differently.
Best regards to you,
Chris

[Tina3]

I received my copy of HBN yesterday and what can i say.I orderd it in DEcember/had to wait patiently for 3 months/had to pull my turntable out of mothballs/had to rearange my living room to make it fit/had to hook up my turntable/had to find a place to buy a new needle (no small task) and it was all worth it !! Fantastic !!!

Hi Jim,
I am glad to know that I am not on my own.I did more or less the same thing.Took me hours to arrange my turntable and look for a new stylus.For the 1st time ever my lot here watched me speechless wondering what on earth I was up to.I think they thought that I had finally lost the plot.But yes it was worth every minute of it.It took me back years and for an added bonus I found the 1st ever album I ever owned by Chris the one which I thought was long gone.So it was a great trip and I hope Chris continues to bring out new material on vinyl.I haven't found a place for my turntable yet but I will.
Kind regards
Tina

The two CDs with the HBN blues songs are just great. Non-invasive and soft, they might be received by some listeners as "too soft", though

Hi Chris,
I think the album sounds better the more you listen to it.If I have one comment it would be that it is to say that this album does not have the hard edge that was on some of Blue Guitars.I don't see that as a bad thing though, I think this is just a different kind album.I have to say I do like it, there are as are on all of Chris's albums some songs that I don't like but overall I have listened to nothing else since I got it and I still like it.
Kind regards
Tina

[PAB]

For Belgium:

My Music dealer called me this afternoon. THE Pack is arrived. I don't even know how much it costs.
Thank you VISA Card.

PAb