The eleven separate records which comprise "Blue Guitars" could as well stand on their own; in combination, however, they provide a journey through the different epochs of the Blues, showing the various components that have been added to the original African Blues over time, the changes in instrumentation, style, lyrical expression and thematic implications. Thereby Chris Rea and his band imitate the various styles and lyrical topics, creating an instantly recognisable atmosphere on each record, with the first few songs usually setting up the direction in which the record is going and then developing to various styles within the field of each record.
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The first album of this set deals with the very beginnings of the Blues, tracing its ways back to its African roots. Living conditions were hard, many African natives were taken captives and transported across the ocean to be sold as slaves, sometimes even betrayed by their own people, which is vividly depicted in the song "The King Who Sold His Own". All in all it was an environment, where it was only natural for the Blues to develop, and even though the instrumentation and the construction of the songs was still very different from what we now know as Blues, the basics were already there: the sadness, the strain, the burdens, the depression, the feeling of "blue" and - of course - the underlying musical structure.

Country Blues was the natural development, the original Blues would go, once it had arrived in the American South: it was a dark time, a time of fear, people had to work hard during slavery, even harder after they had been released, wandering around unemployed, aimlessly. Racism and KKK made the situation even worse, which reflected in the music, instrumentation gradually changed and the lyrics told stories of fear (KKK Blues), aimless wandering (Walkin' Country Blues), alcoholism (Too Much Drinkin'), but also the flight from prevailing conditions, maybe with another perspective for life and the future in the big cities (Ticket for Chicago). But also themes of movement (Steam Train Blues) and the faith in God and Religion (If You've Got A Friend In Jesus) were made topics in the songs, as well as the occasional search for some recreation and a good time (Dance All Night Long). The social and personal problems found their way into the music and started to change the Blues on a profound level.

The Blues presented on this record may be "The Blues" to many. When the originally African and South influenced Blues were brought to Louisiana, New Orleans, the Mississippi Delta, new instruments were added - clarinet, brass, piano, mandolins, accordions - and along with the banjo mingled into an interesting mix, which would be known as New Orleans, Swamp, Cajun or Riverboat Blues. The basics for directions like Jazz, Swing and even Rock & Roll were lain during this time and a distinctive, instantly recognizable sound was created, which would imminently be associated with the Blues.

The title says it all, "Going Electric", that's what this album is about, and what a change it was for the Blues and Blues Musicians, finally they could make themselves heard among the loud crowds and stuffed places, they usually used to play. It was a tremendous change in the way, the Blues could be approached, fine and subtle figures and fine chord structures could suddenly be played, the Blues was rising to previously unbeknown heights: "Now I can play above the bar noise, Man I'm bigger than a crowd" as Rea states in the opener "Electric Guitar", which perfectly paraphrases, what musicians must have felt, after this milestone revolution. Nor did "electric" stop at the guitars - organs, pianos, keyboards, all was going electric, studios started to play around with the new electric sound, the possibilities seemed endless.

And yet another direction, the Blues was morphing into. Take the basic concept, move it into the "modern wild west" and what you get out of it is straightforward Texas Blues. It's all in there, endless highways, run-down trucker bars, oil, dirt, cowboy boots, stories about life on the move, all down in Texas, all just as sad as the original Blues (Lone Star Boogie, No Wheels Blues). The mixture of the basic Blues concept with more country and western styled instruments (slide guitars, harmonica) gave the Blues a rawer, yet again still instantly recognizable sound, which has played a major role in music ever since - go Stevie Vaughan and ZZ Top!!

Again it was movement that was pushing the Blues into a new direction, movement upwards North to Chicago in the pursuit of jobs and a new life. People suddenly found themselves in a completely different situation and this instantly influenced the Blues, the electric style, developed earlier on in Electric Memphis and Texas Blues, remained, however became harder and edgier, instruments like the saxophone were incorporated into the music and gave this new hybrid a sometimes jazzy feel. Once again, the lyric themes shifted away from known territory and began to reflect the changed situation, drugs, alcohol, sex, women, money gained major importance, life in wintery ghettos and anonymous housing schemes contributed its share: Chicago Blues was born.

With the incorporation of the piano and other new elements, such as swing and jazz, according to Chris Rea a somehow "sleepy morphine-induced style" came to be, which is a pretty accurate description of those Blues Ballads. The original, primitive influences are no longer recognizable, replaced by a calmer, smoother, more polished, yet nonetheless still recognizable, style of Blues. All that constituted the Blues in the past is still there.

While the basic structures and rhythms of the Blues remained true to the original, still a new generation moved the Blues onwards, banjo style played on electric guitar became the electric "sitar", the sound hit the nerve of the Indy/Hippi generation, instantly recognizable: Tamla Motown. Softer and easier accessible than previous hybrids of the Blues, basically every song was a hit.

The Blues went in yet another direction, when it started to mingle with Celtic and Irish influences, forming still another hybrid. The general feeling of sadness, loss and blues, which is inherent in the Irish and Celtic roots anyways, together with an all new instrumentation could lay the basis for a different kind of approach, giving the Blues the typical Celtic feel.

Latin Music may not be the most obvious direction to look for the Blues, still there were great influences from the African culture with slaves landing in Brazil, who influenced the Caribbeans from their own direction, Cuban guitar and some kind of trademark piano were added, creating a mix so different from Mississippi Blues, and yet, Bossa Nova Blues was a direction in its own right. The Blues was even swapping over into Reggae, but in spite of its "sunshine feeling" the themes and topics were just as sad.

A new time, a new generation, a new variation of the Blues. Things had started changing once again and once again, the whole 200-year-history of the Blues was thrown over in the split of a second, when Blues suddenly started to sound old again, respect was paid to the ancestors of modern Blues music, but there was also Woodstock, the Flower Power Movement, all those kinds of currencies that were interpreting the Blues in their own way and cave it a new face.

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