Blue Guitars

Blue Guitars is a Blues album released by Chris Rea on October 14, 2005 consisting of eleven CDs, one DVD and a full colour book, including paintings by the artist, liner notes and song lyrics. The album is an ambitious project with the 137 songs recorded over the course of 1½ years with a work schedule - according to Chris Rea himself - of twelve hours a day, seven days a week. Initially the project was inspired by Bill Wyman's "Blues Odyssey" and can be called an "odyssey" in its own right, for depicting a journey through the various epochs of Blues Music, starting at its African origins and finishing with modern-time Blues from the 60s and 70s. Subsequently the eleven CDs are titled the following: "Beginnings", "Country Blues", "Louisiana & New Orleans", "Electric Memphis Blues", "Texas Blues", "Chicago Blues", "Blues Ballads", "Gospel Soul Blues & Motown", "Celtic & Irish Blues", "Latin Blues" and "60s & 70s". The collection is the fifth and last release in a line of Blues recordings Chris Rea has made since recovering from a serious disease at the turn of the millennium and promising himself a return to his Bluesy roots in the event that he survived. According to Rea "Blue Guitars" will be his last solo effort; however, he will continue to release albums as a member of the band "Memphis Fireflies".