Chris Rea – Water Sign (1983)

Chris Rea has always been a reluctant rock star.  His real love was The Blues; he taught himself slide guitar by listening to old blues artists. His father was Italian and his mother Irish, but was born and raised in Middlesborough where his father had an ice-cream business.  He was destined to take over and run the business but chose music as a career instead.  He has also suffered from pancreatic cancer and has had a couple of strokes in his later years; this illness caused him to distance himself from the music business though he continues to record and release blues albums on his own terms.  He has always had a distinctive style and writes beautiful songs, this, his fifth album but my first is no exception.  Best songs are ‘Deep Water’, ‘Texas’ and ‘I Can Hear Your Heartbeat’