www.ChrisRea.nl

Hi all,

Kevin Powell got in touch with me, and posted some pictures on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/albu ... =558498542

and some videos on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzWpLCrOd_o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkkFov5-1VY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48CyB6fXrdM

As you may remember, Kevin played bass for Chris in the early 80s. He was on the Wired To The Moon album, as well as Water Sign.

He was 26 years old on these videos...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBv2ocl4 ... 3&index=11

and at 52 today, still quite handsome...


Lily

Fantastic to see those old clips of Kevin Powell on you tube............it put me in the mood to watch the Beat-Club dvd from 1983 ..........brilliant show & fantastic quality ..............mmmmm........can't think who to thank ......
2 things ;
1) After leaving CR , Kevin Powell joined Midge Ure ,who, along with most of his band, is from my hometown ,Glasgow , Scotland .........I have met Midge Ure a few times , and his guitarist ,Zal Cleminson, whose mum was a neighbour of mine ..........If you look really closely you will see a blond keyboard player ,Craig Armstrong , who went on to be one of the richest & most succesful musicians in the world as a film soundtrack composer , and arranger for U2, Madonna & many more ............funny old world

2) Amazing how many musicians Chris Rea went through until he found the hardcore band of Martin , Robert & latterly Sylvan ............

Excellent info Alan....

By the way, Kevin said he'll be happy to post on this thread and answer any questions, so...

Ask away...

Lily

Ohh dear..to be privileged to play on Wired To The Moon...what a fantastic album!!!

Kevin give us some insights Tell us more about Wired To The Moon album...

Z
www.zeljkoart.com

Hi everyone, isn't the internet wonderful? I discovered lily's you tube clips, and was over the moon when she replied to my message. I don't even remember doing the beat club show! I already had a copy of rockpallast, but it is poor quality, so that was nice to see also.
I have to make one small correction to lily's posting, I joined Chris after water sign was recorded, so am not on that album. I remember rehearsing at Jimmy Pages studio, the mill, in cookham, and we shot the promo for heartbeat down the road at bray studios.
The 1st drummer I played with on that tour/tv shows, was Gilson Lavis, who is now to be seen on Later with Jools Holland, as his regular drummer.
In the new year,C.R. auditioned another bass player and drummer,as was his way, but asked me back whilst recording Wired to the moon. I remember meeting the new drummer when travelling,by car, to montreux in switzerland. The driver of that Saab was none other than Chris Difford from Squeeze, and we had to endure the french lorry drivers strike, driving up embankments to avoid the jams!! I remember travelling at 120mph at times, and it was very late when we arrived.The studio was by lake Geneva, and was owned by Queen, who, along with C.R.and Squeeze, shared the same management.
If more fans are interested, I will continue this soon.
Thank you for the cheeky compliment lily.
Later folks.
Kevin.

Kevin
THis is very nice of you to do this !
Unfortunately i'm not familiar with your work.Where could i see a history of who you have played with ?
Now to a couple of C.R. questions;
He appears to be somewhat of a perfectionist.Is this true and if so did he drive everyone nuts ?
Or does he just like to get it right ?
What CD's did you work on ?
Is he as nice a guy as he appears to be ? Do you ever see him now ?
I for one would love to hear more road stories !
BY the way we all have no idea where Lily keeps coming up with this stuff but she does -Thanks Lily !
THanks
JIm

Thanks for the correction Kevin....

I guess I saw you play it on the official video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uqdEkmS ... 3&index=10

and the concerts (Beat Club and Ohne Filter), so I assumed... My bad!

Dido on Jim's questions please! Plus I have a few more coming...like....

What was the biggest and your favorite concert with Chris, and the worst?

Lily

Hi Kevin,

Many thanks for taking the time to post on this forum.

Regards,

Peter S...

Fantastic to have Kevin getting in touch & willing to give us some fantastic info
Anyone who has seen the stuff Kevin did with Midge Ure playing live will know what a formidable bass-player he is.........now the questions

Chris Rea related;

1)Wired to the Moon has always been a constantly played album of mine since it was first released , but it has always intrigued me as to why CR chooses to play bass on some tracks , then gets a great bass player in to play on some tracks ........( I realise budget must come into this when Water Sign is almost a glorified demo )
Did you feel you had to "under-play" to keep all the album to a similar feel ?.....Always loved the bass lines on Touche & Ace of hearts , so that question is hopefully taken as a compliment

2) Playing live in CR's band , do you remember enjoying any particular songs , and did you stick faithfully to the recorded bass parts ?

3) A b-side recorded at that time ,"True Love ", has a real funky bass part - is that you ?


Non-Chris Rea related;

1) Who are/were you fave bass players ?

2)What bass do you play now ?

3)Midge Ure had some amazing guys passing through his band ....were Mick Ronson & Zal Cleminson people you had watched on the tv & in concert when you were a kid ? (Like Me )

4)Any fave artists you have played with ?

Kevin ,thanks again for being in touch with Lily and doing this

Hi Kevin,

Good of you to take time out and provide some inside knowledge of those early days.
I have a friend who fronts a local band and he tells me that his drummer John Drennan played with Chris in Germany. I wonder if you can confirm this or even recall him?

Also up until a few years ago Chris used to rely much on the opinion of Willy Grimston who I think was from Middlesbrough too do you know how Willy came to be involved?

Thanks again Kevin.

Best Wishes

John Cooke
Hartlepool

John, ...you're Poolie???


Lily

Curses !! Cover blown

Hi Kevin,

You have your hands full now....

Got another one for you, In some Chris bios it has been said that he and David Coverdale played together in Magdalene, and when they broke up, the group became The Beautiful Loosers, with Chris as a frontman.
But others say that they never played together in Magdalene. You mentioned to me they arrived together in a limo and you on the back of a van....them the breaks back then....

Do you know or remember anything about that?

Lily

Hi Poolie,
[quote="poolie"]John, ...you're Poolie???
Hi John
how are you?? I hope your keeping well...I have to agree with Lily your user name has to be one of the best "covers" I have ever seen.
Tina

Hi Tina

I'm well thank you. It does seem ages since we spoke at the stage door at the City Hall Newcastle. I hope you to are well and judging from your avatar becoming something of an art collector yourself??
Keep happy.

John ( aka Poolie )