• Voto:
Difficile separare il nome dei Procol Harum dalla canzone che li ha resi popolari nel mondo nel lontano 1967, ossia "A Whiter Shade of Pale"... quel giro di organo Hammond di Gary Brooker , ispirato a Bach, è stato uno dei simboli sonori degli anni 60, e non solo, dato che il 45 giri del pezzo fu protagonista di clamorosi rientri nelle classifiche mondiali più volte negli anni successivi, al punto da infrangere la barriera dei 10 milioni di copie vendute.
In Italia, la band fu oggetto di attenzioni particolari da parte degli artisti nostrani, visto che sia i Dik Dik ("Senza luce") che i Camaleonti ("L'ora dell'amore", ossia "Homburg") , spopolarono con rifacimenti dei loro pezzi. Ma i Procol Harum, sebbene associati ineluttabilmente a quel classico, furono capaci di produrre altra buona musica, e nel 1969 fecero uscire il loro terzo lavoro, ossia questo "A Salty Dog" , che nel nostro paese ebbe comunque una eco particolare, e chi ha la mia età o qualcosa di più forse si ricorda in quale contesto.
Per chi non è intorno agli "anta" come il sottoscritto, chiarisco che a metà degli anni 70 esisteva in Rai un programma seguitissimo dai giovanissimi di allora, che si chiamava "Avventura", ed era una trasmissione dedicata ai documentari sulla natura o su particolari imprese di esplorazione in luoghi impervi o sconosciuti. La sigla di apertura era cantata da Joe Cocker, una cover di "She came across the bathroom window" dei Beatles, e la sigla di chiusura era proprio "A Salty Dog" dei Procol Harum. Chi si ricorda di tutto questo, forse, come me ancora associa le prime note di archi e pianoforte del pezzo (con il rumore del mare e i versi dei gabbiani) al tramonto sul mare (in bianco e nero, purtroppo, ma bastava sognare i colori...) della sigla, e forse, come me, si emoziona come allora...
"A Salty Dog" è una delle melodie più straordinarie della storia del rock, senz'altro al livello dei più grandi classici dei Beatles, nella quale tutto suona meravigliosamente...... dalla voce di Gary Brooker, delicata e potente nello stesso tempo, al sottofondo degli archi orchestrali, alla scelta delle pause e dei crescendo. Il testo riguarda la storia di tragedia e di speranza di un gruppo di sopravvissuti ad un naufragio, tema ricorrente nella discografia della band, se si pensa a "The wreck of the Hesperus" presente in questo stesso disco, e in "Whaling Stories" dal precedente "Shine on brightly". Di fronte ad un tale classico, il resto dell'album a che livello si colloca? A mio avviso si tratta di un livello più che buono; i restanti brani vanno ascoltati e valutati in sé, altrimenti il paragone potrebbe ingiustamente deprezzarli. In particolar modo trovo eccellente la triade finale del lato B (ho ancora il disco in vinile...), formata dalla ballata pianistica "All this and more", dal blues caldo ed intenso di "Crucifixion Lane", e da "Pilgrims Progress", quest'ultima con qualche similitudine con "A Whiter shade of Pale", soprattutto nell'uso dell'organo in sottofondo, e comunque assolutamente non ripetitiva rispetto al suddetto classico. Vanno segnalati con piacere anche due episodi a base di chitarra acustica: la delicata e raffinatissima "Too much between us", che forse potrebbe interessare ai fans di Nick Drake, e "Boredom", che, a dispetto del titolo non è affatto noiosa, anzi, il flauto e le percussioni le conferiscono una frizzante atmosfera da festa hippie....
I Procol Harum poi tirano fuori gli artigli (a modo loro, beninteso...) in "The Devil came from Kansas", il brano più assimilabile al rock duro, e si reimmergono nel clima tragico delle (dis)avventure marine in "The wreck of the Hesperus", mentre "Jiucy John Pink" è un blues molto "standard", con Robin Trower protagonista. "The milk of human kindness" è invece il brano meno memorabile del disco.
Un'ultima nota sullo stile dei Procol Harum; secondo me, aldilà delle ovvie influenze, rintracciabili nella musica classica e nel blues soprattutto, questo gruppo aveva un suono molto originale (attenzione ho detto originale, non rivoluzionario), e non facilmente etichettabile. Un altro punto a loro favore. Peccato che però nei (pochi) lavori successivi ci sia stato un prematuro declino. Per la cronaca la band si è riformata nei primi anni 90, ma non è stata capace di suscitare clamori particolari intorno a sé.
Comunque, pur non essendo un capolavoro (tranne la title-track che invece lo è, eccome!) , "A Salty Dog" va riascoltato o scoperto, perché merita.
Voti: "A Salty Dog" - canzone: 6 ; resto del disco: 4
Riporto inoltre il testo della canzone "A Salty Dog"
"all hands on deck, we've run afloat! I heard the captain cry
explore the ship, replace the cook: let no one leave alive!
Across the straits, around the horn: how far can sailors fly?
A twisted path, our tortured course, and no one left alive
We sailed for parts unknown to man, where ships come home to die
No lofty peak, nor fortress bold, could match our captains eye
Upon the seventh seasick day we made our port of call
A sand so white, and sea so blue, no mortal place at all
We fired the gun, and burnt the mast, and rowed from ship to shore
The captain cried, we sailors wept: our tears were tears of joy
Now many moons and many junes have passed since we made land
A salty dog, this seamans log: your witness my own hand"
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 A Salty Dog (04:44)
'All hands on deck, we've run afloat!' I heard the captain cry
'Explore the ship, replace the cook: let no one leave alive!'
Across the straits, around the Horn: how far can sailors fly?
A twisted path, our tortured course, and no one left alive
We sailed for parts unknown to man, where ships come home to die
No lofty peak, nor fortress bold, could match our captain's eye
Upon the seventh seasick day we made our port of call
A sand so white, and sea so blue, no mortal place at all
We fired the gun, and burnt the mast, and rowed from ship to shore
The captain cried, we sailors wept: our tears were tears of joy
Now many moons and many Junes have passed since we made land
A salty dog, this seaman's log: your witness my own hand
02 The Milk of Human Kindness (03:48)
(Brooker / Reid)
When you knew that I had given all the kindness that I had
did you think that it might be time to stop?
When you knew that I was through
that I'd done all I could do
did you really have to milk the final drop?
Not content with my mistake
you behaved just like a snake
and you left me for a wasp without a sting
Tell all my friends back home
that I did it on my own
and that to their well-worn cares they should cling
When you knew that I had given all the kindness that I had
did you feel you had to break that lonely vow?
When you knew that I was through
that I'd done all I could do
did you really have to sow that final plough?
Not content with my mistake, you behaved just like a snake
and you left me for a wasp without a sting
Tell all the folks back home that he did it on his own
and that to their well-worn cares they should cling
03 Too Much Between Us (03:45)
There's you, you're sleeping over there
whilst me I'm sitting here
with so much sea between us
I can't make it much more clear
There'll be no time for crying
We won't make it more than six
I could change my plea to guilty
but I don't think it would stick
Still those other ratings far too easy to despise
You've said so much in silence now I truly am disguised
Let him who fears his heart alone
stand up and make a speech
For him perhaps an emperor's throne
if he could only speak
Far too few and far to follow
For shame I'll heed the cry
Be with me when I need a drink
be with me when I die
Still those other ratings far too easy to despise
You've said so much in silence now indeed I am disguised
04 The Devil Came From Kansas (04:39)
(Brooker / Reid)
The Devil came from Kansas. Where he went to I can't say
Though I teach I'm not a preacher, and I aim to stay that way
There's a monkey riding on my back, been there for some time
He says he knows me very well but he's no friend of mine
I am not a humble pilgrim
there's no need to scrape and squeeze
and don't beg for silver paper
when I'm trying to sell you cheese
The Devil came from Kansas. Where he went to I can't say
If you really are my brother then you'd better start to pray
for the sins of those departed and the ones about to go
There's a dark cloud just above us, don't tell me 'cos I know
I am not a humble pilgrim
there's no need to scrape and squeeze
and don't beg for silver paper
when I'm trying to sell you cheese
No I never came from Kansas, don't forget to thank the cook
Which reminds me of my duty: I was lost and now I look
for the turning and the signpost and the road which takes you down
to that pool inside the forest in whose waters I shall drown
I am not a humble pilgrim
there's no need to scrape and squeeze
and don't beg for silver paper
when I'm trying to sell you cheese
05 Boredom (04:35)
Some say they will and some say they won't
Some say they do and some say they don't
Some say they shall and some say they shan't
and some say they can and some say they can't
All in all it's all the same
but call me if there's any change
Some say there's nothing and some say there's lots
Some say they've started while some say they've stopped
Some say they're going and some say they've been
Yes, some say they're looking and some say they've seen
All in all it's all the same
but call me if there's any change
06 Juicy John Pink (02:07)
Well I opened my eyes this morning
I wasn't at home in bed
There were four angels standing round me
I thought I must be dead
Yeah I opened my eyes this morning
Thought I must be dead
There were four angels standing round me
and the room was painted red
Won't you have mercy on your wicked son
Take me up to heaven not hell where I belong
Yeah!
Well the sky began to tremble
and the rain began to fall
Four angels standing round me
and it weren't no social call
Yeah, the sky began to tremble
the rain began to fall
I fell down on my knees praying, Lord!
but it didn't do no good at all
Won't you have mercy on your wicked son
Take me up to heaven not hell where I belong
Yeah!
07 Wreck of the Hesperus (05:51)
(Fisher / Reid)
We'll hoist a hand, becalmed upon a troubled sea
'make haste to your funeral,' cries the valkyrie
We'll hoist a hand or drown amidst this stormy sea
'here lies a coffin,' cries the cemetery, it calls to me
And all for nothing quite in vain was hope forever tossed
No thoughts explained, no moments gained, all hope forever lost
One moment's space, one moment's final fall from grace
Burnt by fire, blind in sight, lost in ire
We'll hoist a hand, becalmed upon a troubled sea
I fear a mighty wave is threatening me
We'll hoist a hand, or drown amidst this stormy sea
'come follow after,' cry the humble, 'you will surely see ...'
But still for nothing quite in vain was hope forever tossed
No moments gained, no thoughts explained, all hope forever lost
One moment's space, one moment's final fall from grace
Burnt by fire, blind in sight, lost in ire
10 Pilgrims Progress (04:32)
(Fisher / Reid)
I sat me down to write a simple story
which maybe in the end became a song
In trying to find the words which might begin it
I found these were the thoughts I brought along
At first I took my weight to be an anchor
and gathered up my fears to guide me round
but then I clearly saw my own delusion
and found my struggles further bogged me down
In starting out I thought to go exploring
and set my foot upon the nearest road
In vain I looked to find the promised turning
but only saw how far I was from home
In searching I forsook the paths of learning
and sought instead to find some pirate's gold
In fighting I did hurt those dearest to me
and still no hidden truths could I unfold
I sat me down to write a simple story
which maybe in the end became a song
The words have all been writ by one before me
We're taking turns in trying to pass them on
Oh, we're taking turns in trying to pass them on
11 Homburg (03:43)
Your multilingual business friend
has packed her bags and fled
Leaving only ash-filled ashtrays
and the lipsticked unmade bed
The mirror on reflection
has climbed back upon the wall
for the floor she found descended
and the ceiling was too tall
Your trouser cuffs are dirty
and your shoes are laced up wrong
you'd better take off your homburg
'cos your overcoat is too long
The town clock in the market square
stands waiting for the hour
when its hands they both turn backwards
and on meeting will devour
both themselves and also any fool
who dares to tell the time
And the sun and moon will shatter
and the signposts cease to sign
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