A poco più di un anno dalla dipartita del grande Joe, mi sembra doveroso rendere omaggio alla sua memoria musicale ed al contributo artistico di questo grandissimo interprete, perciò prendo spunto dalla lacuna della mancanza di una recensione del suo secondo album uscito, come il primo, nel mitico '69.
Siamo nella Londra di fine epoca beat quando una nuova epoca musicale è iniziata e si consacra proprio nell'agosto di quell'anno con il ritrovo a Woodstock, al termine del quale il mondo musicale non sarà più lo stesso. Uno dei tanti eroi dell'evento fu proprio il nostro amato Joe con la sua voce un po' roca, ma assolutamente "aggressiva", allora venticinquenne ed avezzo ad interpretare celebri cover.
A Woodstock si fa notare in particolare per quella "Delta Lady" di Leon Russel, qui piazzato alle tastiere, che sarà a lungo uno dei suoi cavalli di battaglia, contenuta proprio in questo album uscito poco dopo e che ne consacrerà le qualità. Russel lo accompagnerà anche nel tour propositivo dei primi due album e da cui sarà tratto il capolavoro live "Mad Dogs & the Englishman".
Qualità tali da permettergli d'attingere senza difficoltà dal repertorio di mostri sacri dell'epoca quali i baronetti di Liverpool e Bob Dylan: basta pensare a brani come "With a Little Help from My Friends" del primo album o "Something" e "She Came through the Bathroom Window" dall'indimenticabile attacco, contenuti in questo, sviluppati in maniera tale da non far rimpiangere l'esecuzione madre, se non addirittura andare oltre.
Certo Joe non viveva solo di luce riflessa, ma ne aveva anche di propria da vendere e la fa risaltare particolarmente nell'album d'esordio, in questo troviamo solo "That's Your Business", simpatica ballata vagamente da saloon che si contrappone decisamente, anche come stile esecutivo alla malinconica "Hello Little Friend" o all'appassionata "Bird on the Wire".
Assai accattivante è anche l'inizio di "Hitchcock Railway" che fila via in ripetuto duetto con le cinque coriste che lo accompagnano, in stile Bacharachiano e che si ripetono anche nel brano di chiusura anche se in misura minore.
In conclusione un album onesto con le vette indimenticabili che ho cercato di evindenziare, certamente inferiore a quello d'esordio anche come Organico e atto a sfruttarne la gloria, cui 4 stelle vanno un po' larghe, ma in considerazione dell'elevata qualità della registrazione rapportata ad un'epoca in cui la stereofonia esisteva, ma non era di certo per tutti, ci stanno.
Elenco tracce e testi
01 Dear Landlord (03:23)
Dear landlord
Please don't put a price on my soul
My burden is heavy
My dreams are beyond control
When that steamboat whistle blows
I'm gonna give you all I got to give
And I do hope you receive it well
Depending on the way you feel that you live.
Dear landlord
Please heed these words that I speak
I know you've suffered much
But in this you are not so unique
All of us, at times we might work too hard
To have it too fast and too much
And anyone can fill his life up
With things he can see but he just cannot touch.
Dear landlord
Please don't dismiss my case
I'm not about to argue
I'm not about to move to no other place
Now, each of us has his own special gift
And you know this was meant to be true
And if you don't underestimate me
I won't underestimate you.
02 Bird On The Wire (04:30)
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
Like a worm on a hook,
like a knight from some old fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons for thee.
If I, if I have been unkind,
I hope that you can just let it go by.
If I, if I have been untrue
I hope you know it was never to you.
Like a baby, stillborn,
like a beast with his horn
I have torn everyone who reached out for me.
But I swear by this song
and by all that I have done wrong
I will make it all up to thee.
I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch,
he said to me, "You must not ask for so much."
And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door,
she cried to me, "Hey, why not ask for more?"
Oh like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
03 Lawdy Miss Clawdy (02:15)
Well lawdy, lawdy, lawdy miss clawdy
Girl you sure look good to me
But please don't excite me baby
I know it can't be me
Well as a girl you want my money
Yeah but you just won't treat me right
You like to ball every morning
Don't come home till late at night
Oh gonna tell, tell my mama
Lord, I swear girl what you been to me
I'm gonna tell everybody that I'm down in misery
So bye, bye, bye, baby
Girl, I won't be comin' no more
Goodbye little darlin' down the road I'll go
So, bye, bye, bye baby
Girl, I won't be comin' no more
Goodbye little darlin' down the road I'll go
04 She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (02:37)
She came in through the bathroom window
protected by a silver spoon
But now she sucks her thumb and wonders
By the banks of her own lagoon
Didn't anybody tell her
Didn't anybody see
Sunday's on the phone to Monday
Tuesday's on the phone to me
She said she's always been a dancer
She worked at fifteen clubs a day
And though she thought I knew the answer
Well I knew what I could not say
And so I quit the Police Department
And got myself a steady job
And though she tried her best to help me
She could steal, but she could not rob
Didn't anybody tell her
Didn't anybody see
Sunday's on the phone to Monday
Tuesday's on the phone to me
05 Hitchcock Railway (04:41)
Two train tickets into LA
One round trip the other way
I get the feeling where a feather falls
I get the feeling when tomorrow calls
We'll be calling for love
Home trip, ticket to sail away
Hand grip, Hitchcock railway
Soft ride, made for comfort
Been tried, guaranteed password
Hitchcock railway
Don't you fail to pay
I'm gonna ride, I'm gonna testify
Save my soul, renew your mind
Good stop, good day
Hitchcock railway
Free fare, conductor's coming
Prepare, better start running
On time, hold that foodline
Stateline, I've been convicted
Goodstop, good day
Hitchcock railway
Gonna buy myself a ticket
I'll be on that train tonight
On that loving train
That train of freedom
07 Something (03:32)
(George Harrison)
There's something in the way she moves
that attracts me like no other lover
something in the way she moves me
I don't want to leave her now
you know I believe in how
There's something in the way she smiles
and all I have to do is think of her
something in the way she smiles for me
I don't want to leave her now
you know I believe in how
your asking me will my love grow
I don't know, no I don't know
just stick around and let it show
I don't know, oh I don't know
There's something in the way she moves
that attracts me like no other lover
something in the way she moves me
I don't want to leave her now
you know I believe in how
your asking me will my love grow
I don't know, no I don't know
just stick around and let it show
I don't know, oh I don't know
There's something in the way she smiles
and all I have to do is think of her
something in the way she smiles for me
I don't want to leave her now
you know I believe in how
08 Delta Lady (02:51)
(Leon Russell)
Woman Of The Country Now That I Found You
Longing For Your Soft And Fertile Delta
And I Wisper Sighs To Satisfy Your Longing
For The Warm And Tender Shelter Of Your Body
Oh Delta Lady
Your Mine, Yes Your Mine Delta Lady
Your Mine, Be All Mine
Delta Lady
Please Don't Ask How Many Times I Found You
Standing Wet And Naked In The Garden
And I Think Of The Days
And The Different Ways I Held You
We Were Closely Touching, Yes Our Heart Was Beating
Your Mine, Yes Your Mine Delta Lady
Your Mine, Be All Mine
Delta Lady
Oh When I'm Home Again In England
I Think Of You My Love
Cause, I Love You, Love
There Are Concrete Mountains In The City
And Pretty City Women Live Inside Them
Oh But Yet It Seems The City Scene Is Lacking
I'm So Glad Your Waiting For Me In The Country
Your Mine, Yes Your Mine Delta Lady
Your Mine, Be All Mine
Delta Lady
10 Darling Be Home Soon (04:49)
Come
And talk of all the things we did today
Here
And laugh about our funny little ways
While we have a few minutes to breathe
Then I know that it's time you must leave
But darling be home soon
I couldn't bear to wait an extra minute if you dawdled
My darling be home soon
It's not just these few hours but I've been waiting since I toddled
For the great relief of having you to talk to
And now
A quarter of my life is almost past
I think I've come to see myself at last
And I see that the time spent confused
Was the time that I spent without you
And I feel myself in bloom
So darling be home soon
I couldn't bear to wait an extra minute if you dawdled
My darling be home soon
It's not just these few hours but I've been waiting since I toddled
For the great relief of having you to talk to
[Instrumental break]
Darling be home soon
I couldn't bear to wait an extra minute if you dawdled
My darling be home soon
It's not just these few hours but I've been waiting since I toddled
For the great relief of having you to talk to
Go
And beat your crazy head against the sky
Try
And see beyond the houses and your eyes
It's ok to shoot the moon
So darling
My darling be home soon
I couldn't bear to wait an extra minute if you dawdled
My darling be home soon
It's not just these few hours but I've been waiting since I toddled
For the great relief of having you to talk to
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Altre recensioni
Di MauroCincotta66
Joe canta in una maniera così intima e personale, che le parole diventano eterne.
Joe Cocker e la sua voce roca, grintosa e piena di sentimento, tra coloro che hanno contribuito a definire l’abecedario del rock.