''Espresso Logic'' is the thirteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, fie ...

, released in 1993. The US edition of the album has a significantly different track listing, featuring two songs (''God's Great Banana Skin'' and ''Miles Is A Cigarette'') from Rea's previous album, '' God's Great Banana Skin'', which was not released in the US, along with ''If You Were Me'', a track recorded with

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

for his 1993 ''

Duets A duet is a musical composition or piece for two performers. Duets or The Duets may also refer to: Films and television * ''Duets'' (film), a 2000 film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti and Huey Lewis * "Duets" (''Glee''), a 2010 episo ...

'' release. The cover art of the US edition is the same as the UK single ''Espresso Logic''. The song ''

Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...

'' was dedicated to his daughter Julia Christina, who was four years old at the time.

Critical reception

A "refined, elegant, rock style" characterizes the record, which continues Rea's '90s run of "commercially successful and critically acclaimed albums". A review in ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print si ...

'' finds that "Rea immediately declares his multi-ethnic impulses", as the title track begins with his "languidly atmospheric slide guitar shimmering like the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

under a full

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

moon. Then Davy Spillane's mournful

Uillean pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...

inject Celtic melancholy, and the two instruments interweave throughout the track, accompanied by a Brazilian-inflected tribal rhythm, until they are nearly indistinguishable from one another." Rea recorded the album using the two '62

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...

s, plugged into a Fender piggyback amp, "that he's relied on for more than a decade", and he uses a glass slide, rather than a brass one. "From working with Irish pipers, I've adopted this technique of banging the slide onto the harmonic. So I've had to stop using the brass, because I've only got one more refret on my pink Strat. I've played it so hard that I don't think there's gonna be any wood left," he ruefully acknowledges.

Track listing

All songs written by

Original track listing

# "Espresso Logic" – 6:54 # "Red" – 5:26 # "Soup of the Day" – 3:45 # "Johnny Needs a Fast Car" – 6:35 # "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" – 4:50 # "

" – 3:55 # "Summer Love" – 4:07 # "New Way" – 3:30 # "Stop" – 5:10 # "She Closed Her Eyes" – 3:55

US track listing

# "Espresso Logic" – 6:53 # "Julia" – 3:54 # "Soup of the Day" – 3:46 # "If You Were Me" (duet with

) – 4:20 # "Johnny Needs a Fast Car" – 6:34 # "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" – 4:49 # "God's Great Banana Skin" – 5:18 # "Miles Is a Cigarette" – 4:21 # "Summer Love" – 4:04 # "Red" – 5:26 # "She Closed Her Eyes" – 3:56

Personnel

– vocals, organ, guitars,

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

Max Middleton David Maxwell Middleton (born 4 August 1946) is an English composer and keyboardist who was originally a docker on the London docks. Middleton is known for his work on the Fender Rhodes Electric piano, the Minimoog synthesiser and his percussiv ...

– acoustic piano, keyboards * Robert Ahwai – guitars * Sylvin Marc – bass *

Martin Ditcham Martin Ditcham is an English drummer, percussionist and songwriter. Ditcham is a prolific session musician, working with artists such as Henry Cow, Status Quo, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Roger Daltrey, Sade, Mary Black, Nik Kershaw, Chris ...

– drums, percussion *

Andy Fairweather-Low Andrew Fairweather Low (born 2 August 1948) is a Welsh guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman' ...

– handclaps *

Davy Spillane Davy Spillane (born 1959 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician, songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle. Biography Irish music At the age of 12, Spillane started playing the uilleann pipes. His father encouraged him an ...

–

Uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...

* Pete Beachill – trombone * Dave Stewart – trombone *

– lead vocals on "If You Were Me" * Val Chalmers – backing vocals * Linda Taylor – backing vocals * Emma Whittle – backing vocals

Production

* Chris Rea – producer, sleeve concept * Neil Amor – engineer * Stuart Epps – engineer * Paul Mortimer – engineer * Simon Wall – assistant engineer * Tommy Willis – guitar technician * Willie Grimston – coordination *

Stylorouge Stylorouge is a graphic design studio based in Yalding, Kent, formed in London by creative director Rob O'Connor in 1981. Art work created by the studio has included record sleeve designs for bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees for their 1981's ...

– artwork * Stephen Sandon – sleeve photography Studios * Recorded at The Mill (Berkshire, England) * Mixed at Outside Studios (Oxfordshire, England)

Critical reception

Track listing

Original track listing

US track listing

Personnel

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References