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I Nazareth.
A molti rockettari questo nome non dirà molto, ma negli anni 70 c'era un gruppo che incise almeno tre album di ottimo Hard rock influenzato dal blues e dal rock'n'roll.
Nati nel 1969 in Scozia, e formati da: Dan McCafferty alla voce, Manuel Charlton alla chitarra, Pete Agney al basso e dal poderoso Darrel Sweet, morto purtoppo d'infarto nel 1999, alla batteria, si erano fatti conoscere dall'ottimo album di grezzo rock'n'roll "Razamanaz". Con il successivo "Loud'N'Proud" confermarono il loro status di ottima ma poco conosciuta band hard rock britannica, offuscati da altri grandi stelle che ebbero più fortuna commerciale.
Si aprono le danze al fulmicotone con "Go down fighting" in cui si palesa già la direzione dell'album: un rock compatto caratterizzato da una sezione ritmica semplice ma possente e una chitarra che crea un muro di suono. Ma il vero marchio di fabbrica, a mio parere, è la voce particolarissima del cantante Dan McCafferty: roca, sofferta e potente quanto basta. A tratti ricorda il primo Brian Johnson degli Ac/dc o dei Geordie (suo gruppo precedente). L'album prosegue con le tiratissime "No Fakin It", "Turn on your deceiver" e "Teenage nervous breakdown", tre canzoni tirate di Hard N Roll dall'inizio alla fine con la chitarra e la voce protagonisti e una sezione ritmica che non lascia respiro. Due brani meno esplosivi, ma comunque ottimi sono: "Free Wheeler" e "This flight tonight" (incredibilmente cover di Joni Mitchell), servono a farci respirare con le loro ottime trame blueseggianti che tanto hanno influenzato gruppi come gli Ac/Dc che non sono mai a sproposito troppo citati come riferimento sonoro. "Child in the sun" è il primo vero lento dell'album con il suo ritmo cadenzato e l'ottimo refrain a più voci. Una ballad mai banale e che serve a farci capire che i Nazareth non sono solo sfrenato Rock n roll ma sanno comporre qualcosa di più tranquillo e ragionato. In chiusura troviamo "The ballad of Hollis Brown", cover di Bob Dylan, un pezzo lento ma possente con il riff ossessivo di chitarra distorta che ci accompagna per tutto il pezzo e ci ricorda che i Nazareth sanno fare musica non solo divertente e spensierata ma anche sulfurea e minacciosa.
Un album che conferma le ottime dotti dei quattro rockers scozzesi che dopo l'album "Hair of the dog" tornarono a essere un misconosciuto gruppo che forse meritava qualcosa in più per le sue doti ma purtroppo risulta una perla solo per i cultori del genere. Insieme a "Razamanaz", si cui personalmente penso sia prodotto leggermente meglio, rappresenta il miglior album dei Nazareth.
Elenco tracce testi e video
02 Not Faking It (04:01)
(copyright 1973 mountain music,ltd.,carlin music corp.
All rights reserved.
Yellow dog music in canada and u.s.)
Slim jim was a stool pidgeon
On the payroll of the f.b.i.
Reverend fred sold instant religion
With a license from the man in the sky
Billy the kid was a gunslinger
Edgar wallace was a dead ringer
Me, I'm just a rock'n'roll singer
Keyhole pete was a keen watcher
Had a telephoto lens in each eye
Jack the ripper was a cool stalker
But his birds no longer fly
James joyce was a mudslinger
Jesus christ was a forgiver
Me, I'm just a rock'n'roll singer
I'm not fakin' it
Foolin' myself that I'm makin' it
I'm not fakin' it
Tricky dicky was a fast talker
But his promises were always a lie
Nostradamus was a doomwatcher
Predicted when we're gonna die
Cleopatra was a love giver
Jesse james was a born killer
Me, I'm just a rock'n'roll singer
03 Turn on Your Receiver (03:19)
Turn on your receiver
I'm gonna lat it on the line
'Cause I'm a great believer
In hangin' on to what is mine
So come over here and listen
I don't want you to be missin'
What I say
And I ain't gonna waste my time
Sayin' it all again
I've been hearin' stories
'Fact the word's all over town
I've had my share of worries
Ever since you've been around
So come over here and listen
I don't want you to be missin'
What I say
And I ain't gonna waste my time
Sayin' it all again
Turn on your receiver
There's a message comin' through
Keep your hands off my woman
Keep your hands to yourself
Keep your hands off my woman
04 Teenage Nervous Breakdown (03:43)
(copyright lowell george,1971 naked snake music)
Well, some contend that this rock'n'roll
Is bad for the body, bad for the soul
Bad for the heart, bad for the mind
Bad for the deaf and bad for the blind
It makes some men crazy and then they talk like fools
It makes some men crazy and then they start to drool
Unscrupulous operators could confuse
Could exploit and deceive
The conditional reflex theories
Change the probabilities, I said it's a
Crass and raucous crackass place
With a Pavlov on the human race
It's a terrible illness, a terrible case
And usually permanent when it takes place
It's a teenage nervous breakdown
It's a teenage nervous breakdown
It's a teenage nervous breakdown
05 Free Wheeler (05:31)
(copyright 1973 mountain music ltd.,carlin music corp.
all rights reserved.
yellow dog music in canada and u.s.)
I'm a freewheeler, an underground dealer
The kind of guy you never get to know
So you can quit thinking about stoppin' my drinkin'
You know I'll go the road I choose to go
I'm a freewheeler, living undercover
When things get hot I have to move out fast
When they know I'm lyin', the women come cryin'
But still I go the road I choose to go
No-one's ever going to re-arrange me
No-one's ever going to try to change me
You know I'll go the road I choose to go
I'm doin' fine, takin' my time
I don't want to settle down
No,no,no
06 This Flight Tonight (03:24)
Look out the left the captain said
The lights down there that's where we'll land
Saw a falling star burning
High above the Las Vegas sand
It wasn't the one that you gave to me
That night down south between the trailers
Not the early one that you wish upon
Not the northern one that guides in the sailors
You've got that touch so gentle and sweet
But you've got that look so critical
Can't talk to you babe you know I get so weak
Sometimes I think that love is just mythical
Up there's a heaven, down there's a town
Blackness everywhere any little lights shine
Blackness, blackness draggin' me down
Come on light a candle in this heart of mine
Starbright, starbright, you've got the lovin' that I like
Turn this crazy bird around
Should not have got on this flight tonight
I'm drinkin' sweet champagne got the headphones up high
Can't numb you, can't drum you out of my mind
They're singin'-"Goodbye baby,
Baby bye-bye,
Ooh! love is blind"
Up go the flaps,down go the wheels
Hope you got your heat turned on baby
Hope they've finally fixed your automobile
Hope it's better when we meet again babe.
07 Child in the Sun (04:51)
(copyright 1973 mountain music ltd.,carlin music corp
.all rights reserved.
yellow dog music in canada and u.s.)
I am just a child in the sun
Just another soul on the run
One more of your unwanted sons
Tell me where can I go
I had a line I tried for a while
Now I'm walkin' mile after mile
On my face no trace of a smile
Why does time pass so slow
Take me down to the river
Take me down to the sea
Where I can drown all my sorrows
Wash all my troubles away
Watch all my cares sail away
I have no ties my hands are unbound
There is no friend no love I have found
I have no ups I'm fixed to the ground
Tell me river where you flow.
08 The Ballad of Hollis Brown (09:14)
(copyright bob dylan,1963 m. witmark & sons.warner bros. music)
Hollis Brown he lived, on the outside of town
Hollis Brown he lived, on the outside of town
With his wife and five children
In his cabin broken down
He looked for work and money, and he walked a ragged mile
He looked for work and money, and he walked a ragged mile
Your children are so hungry
That they don't know how to smile
Your baby's eyes look crazy and they're tuggin' at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy and they're tuggin' at your sleeve
You walk the floor and you wonder why
With every breath you breathe
The rats have got your flour, bad blood it got your mare
The rats have got your flour, bad blood it got your mare
Is there anyone that knows
Is there anyone that cares
You prayed to the Lord above to please send you a friend
You prayed to the Lord above to please send you a friend
Your empty pockets tell you
That you ain't got no friend
Your baby's a cryin' louder now it's poundin' on your brain
Your baby's a cryin' louder now it's poundin' on your brain
Your wife's screams are a stabbin' you
Like dirty, drivin' rain
Your grass is turnin' black and there's no water in your well
Your grass is turnin' black and there's no water in your well
You spent your last lone dollar
On them seven shotgun shells
Way out in the wilderness a cold coyote calls
Way out in the wilderness a cold coyote calls
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That's hangin' on the wall
Your brain it is a bleedin' and your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain it is a bleedin' and your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That you're holdin' in your hand
There's seven breezes blowin' around the cabin door
There's seven breezes blowin' all around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out
Like the oceans pounding roar
There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm
There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm
Somewhere in the distance
There's seven new people born.
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