• Voto:
Ok, lo ammetto ho un debole per il British folk, sia quello che mescola blues e jazz, quello dei preziosi arrangiamenti, ma anche quello dove la chitarra acustica la fa da padrone o padrona visto che è femminile.
Questo disco, abbastanza vecchio visto che è del 1965, appartiene all'ultima "famiglia" da me sopra citata; infatti qui un giovanissimo Bert Jansh accompagna le sue canzoni solo ed unicamente con la sua intima e malinconica chitarra. L'album infatti venne inciso con un lettore portatile nel suo appartamento londinese dell'epoca.
Il disco passò alquanto inosservato ai più anche se in realtà il suo "finger-picking", quel pizzicare le corde in maniera così inconfondibile, influenzerà di lì a poco artisti del calibro di Nick Drake (che per altro fece anche una cover di "Strolling down the highway",contenuta nell'album) e John Martyn per rimanere nell'isola britannica,ma anche Neil Young e Paul Simon al di là dell'oceano.
Le atmosfere del disco richiamano alla mente sia il primo Dylan, ma anche il conterraneo Donovan, tuttavia le canzoni di Jansh appaiono da subito più scure, agrodolci e decisamente meno pop di alcune uscite del buon Donovan.
Canzoni intime, incentrate principalmente sull'amore e l'amicizia, ma anche la droga come "Needle of death"... piccole gemme folk intervallate anche da pezzi esclusivamente musicali dove il virtuosismo di Jansch emerge alla grande come ad esempio "Alice's in Wonderland" di Charlie Mingus.
Vivamente consigliato ai cultori del genere e anche ai nostalgici delle atmosfere di un periodo irripetibile.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Strolling Down the Highway (03:06)
Strolling down the highway
I`m gonna get there my way
Just keep on down-a-walking
You hear my guitar, rocking
Well I stroll
On down
On down the highway
People think I'm a crazing
Lot about how they're-a-lazing
Sunshine's all day long
Narcotics far too strong
Well I stroll
On down
On down the highway
Cars won't stop for no one
But don't you think that you're
just rolling down
Think you are a spy
Gonna shoot them as they go by
Well, no cars
No cars
Won't stop for no one
Strolling down the highway
I'm gonna get there my way
Just keep on down-a-walking
You hear my guitar, rocking
Well I stroll
On down
On down the highway
08 Needle of Death (03:21)
When sadness fills your heart
And sorrow hides the longing to be free
When things go wrong each day
You fix your mind to 'scape your misery
Your troubled young life
Had made you turn
To a needle of death
How strange, your happy words
Have ceased to bring a smile from everyone
How tears have filled the eyes
Of friends that you once had walked among
Your troubled young life
Had made you turn
To a needle of death
One grain of pure white snow
Dissolved in blood spread quickly to your brain
In peace your mind withdraws
Your death so near your soul can't feel no pain
Your troubled young life
Had made you turn
To a needle of death
Your mother stands a'cryin'
While to the earth your body's slowly cast
Your father stands in silence
Caressing every young dream of the past
Your troubled young life
Had made you turn
To a needle of death
Through ages, man's desires
To free his mind, to release his very soul
Has proved to all who live
That death itself is freedom for evermore
And your troubled young life
Will make you turn
To a needle of death
11 Running From Home (02:27)
Runnin' runnin' from home,
Breakin' ties that you'd grown
Catchin' dreams from the clouds
The city sounds burn your soul
Turn your head to the cries
Of loneliness in the night
Just like a fly when it's caught
The spider soon takes it's prey
Spins a dance round your heart
Give me your beauty and age
A pleasure pleasing my mind
Your heart will shatter and fall
Step on pavements so old
Cast a glance at the young
Girls a-making their way
The passing image of you
Reflects a pain to my heart
And disappears in a crowd
Runnin' runnin' from home
Breakin' ties that you'd grown
Catchin' dreams from the clouds
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