''Blue's'' is the fourth studio album by Italian singer-songwriter

Zucchero Fornaciari Adelmo Fornaciari (; born 25 September 1955), known professionally as Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero (), is an Italian singer, musician and songwriter. His stage name is the Italian word for "sugar", as his primary school teacher used to ...

. It was released on 15 June 1987, with Fornaciari credited as "Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari". The album sold over 1.3 million copies. The success that Zucchero had experienced at music festivals in the early 1980s, including several appearances at the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival ( ), officially the Italian Song Festival (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by (RAI). It is the longest-running ...

, eventually attracted the attention of foreign musicians. After travelling to the United States in the mid-1980s, he returned with a new band including some American musicians and a focus on the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

. Among them was keyboardist

David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on '' Human Touch'' (1992), '' Tr ...

. The tour following the release of the album included performances featuring

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances featuring expressive body movements. Most of his best-known singles, such as "Feelin' Alright ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

, and B. B. King. The album elevated Zucchero's reputation internationally It became the best-selling album internationally by an Italian musician, until it was overtaken by Zucchero's subsequent studio album '' Oro Incenso & Birra'' in 1989.

Track listing

Personnel

*Zucchero – vocals, piano *Giorgio Francis – drums *Rosario Jermano – percussion *Polo Jones – bass *

Corrado Rustici Corrado Rustici (born 1957) is an Italian musician, songwriter and producer. Recording career Rustici was a founder member of the Naples-based progressive rock group Cervello. The band recorded the album ''Melos'' in 1973, with Rustici on guitar ...

– guitar *

– keyboards * Wayne Jackson – trombone, trumpet * Andrew Love – saxophone *

Clarence Clemons Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American saxophonist. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. Clemons rel ...

– saxophone *Eric Daniel – saxophone *James Thompson, Aida Cooper, Arthur Miles, Simona Pirone, Coro di Voci Maschili della Chiesa Avventista – backing vocals *John Etchells – sound engineer

References

1987 albums Zucchero Fornaciari albums 1980s Italian-language albums {{Blues-album-stub