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Gli Ottanta hanno rappresentato per moltissimi artisti popolari tra i Sessanta e Settanta un autentico "punto di non ritorno", anche e soprattutto per via dell'esplosione di generi tra loro anche molto diversi come il Punk, l'Heavy Metal di Iron Maiden e soci, la Disco Music, il Pop e la New Wave tanto per menzionare i generi più voga al tempo.
La carriera di Rory Gallagher non fa eccezione anch'essa: dopo il periodo Hard Rock della seconda metà dei Settanta, conclusosi con "Stage Struck" del 1980, per il poliedrico irlandese inizia un periodo difficile nel quale i suoi problemi di alcoolismo cominciano ad emergere in modo sempre più evidente, ma ciononostante la sua produzione musicale fedelissima al proprio credo Rock/Blues continua con un altro ottimo album edito nel 1982 in Germania assieme all'immancabile Gerry McAvoy al basso, al batterista Brendan O'Neill, subentrante a Ted McKenna, e con il supporto di Bob Andrews alle tastiere e di Dick Perry (ex-Pink Floyd) al sax con Ray Beavis e che porta l'inequivocabile nome di Jinx.
Titolo inequivocabile questo (tradotto dall'inglese come "incantesimo" o come "sortilegio", "maleficio"), perché è da qui che l'eccellente Rory inizia ad interrogarsi sulla propria vita da autentica anti-Star del Rock e sui suoi problemi personali che egli sublima, soprattutto, in due ballate Rock/Blues magistrali che costituiscono probabilmente il nucleo del platter del disco: "Easy Come, Easy Go" e "Jinxed".
La prima mette in evidenza le fin troppo sottovalutate doti canore e di songwriter dell'artista, come si evince da alcuni versi del testo (tradotti dall'ottimo Fabio Rossi):
"Dalle vittorie facili e sconfitte facili, ora non sei più così spensierato. [...] / "Un tempo era facile vincere, facile perdere, ultimamente senti solo note tristi. [...] / "Chiuso dentro te stesso, devi venire fuori subito. Forza, prova di nuovo e sentirai una melodia diversa."
La seconda è un'altra favolosa composizione Rock/Blues sulla quale si staglia un altro dolente racconto di Rory circa la sua condizione alla perenne ricerca di se stesso tra amori finiti male e disavventure varie, come in una sorta di "malocchio" (ossia il famoso Jinx), una sorta di "cono d'ombra" dal quale egli non riesce ad uscirne.
Sulla stessa falsariga sembra porsi anche "Signals", altra ottima prova Rock/Blues, mentre lo spazio per dell'Hard Rock venato di Rock 'N' Roll viene dedicato a pezzi come "The Devil Made Me Do It", dedicata a Buddy Holly ed Eddie Cochrane, due degli idoli Rock 'N' Roll amati da Rory, "Big Guns" con qualche sonorità che, specie nei riff, sembra strizzare l'occhio alle linee melodiche persino dei "Sex Pistols" e dalla muscolare "Bourbon" in cui emerge la sua passione (spesso smodata) per il caro vecchio whiskey (o in American English bourbon, per l'appunto).
Con "Double Vision" ritorna prepotente l'uso della celebre "slide guitar" suonata qui alla maniera di Muddy Waters (altro idolo indiscusso dell'artista irlandese), così come in "Ride On Red, Ride On", pezzo scritto in realtà dal bluesman Iverson Minter in arte Louisiana Red a sfondo smaccatamente anti-razzista.
"Loose Talk", pezzo nel quale Rory critica in modo non troppo velato il processo di manipolazione degli artisti presenti in una certa casa discografica, chiude in maniera assai degna un altro ottimo album nel quale Rory mostra ancor di più la voglia di fare musica vera e, soprattutto, "suonata" in barba alla modernità del tempo rappresentata da "musica di plastica" o peggio ancora da easy listening che egli stesso nella sua vita ha costantemente evitato come la peste.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Big Guns (03:33)
Well, you think you're sitting pretty,
But you're sitting on a powder keg.
Well, you think you're standing steady,
But you're weak as a matchstick leg.
Well there's a rumble in the city,
There's a call out for your head.
Now isn't a pity,
You're future's just a lump of lead.
But now you're running scared you've got no place to run,
You're caught between the law and the Big Guns.
Yeah...
Well, it's a long way from the pool halls,
To the rackets and the petty crime.
Well, you thought you were a tough one,
But you've bitten off too much this time.
You've stepped on the wrong toes,
Now look who you've upset.
Well, you walked on the wrong turf,
You got your picture on the police gazette.
Well, now you're running scared, got no place to run,
You're caught between the law and the - Big Guns.
Yeahhh..
Your back's against a wall, you don't like it there at all.
Now your world's about to fall, you got no friends you can call.
Well, you never felt so gritty,
Well, the sweat's pouring down your back.
You're like a tiger in the jungle,
And you can't find your way back.
You haven't played your cards right,
You hadn't seen the signs.
Well, you tried to run the whole game,
Now you've come to the end of the line.
Well, now you're running scared, you've got no place to run.
Now you're face to face with the Big Guns.
02 Bourbon (04:06)
Well, he's drinking down the bourbon like it was soda pop,
Trying to quell a feeling he knows ain't gonna stop,
He's mortgaged out his blood for one more chance to breathe.
He had the D.T.'s for breakfast, the shakes till noon,
He picked up his bag and left the motel room,
His head is held high but his heart is on it's knees.
Well, he packed his guitar and his bar-room tan,
Gotta get some miles behind him as fast as he can,
Another destination, some place else to play.
Well, he left a life behind him in some old trailer park.
They tried to make it work; it was ruined from the start.
He had to shake the rust, it became time to leave.
It's a honky-tonk engagement,
But there's no better place to play.
His face feels like crazy pavement,
It's getting more lined every day.
Well, he's gonna write a letter and try to explain,
She says he's too old to have these growing pains,
But something keeps him moving, living on through the night.
But as the night approaches, a change is in the air,
His heart is pumping fast, he's got no cares.
The music befriends him, it can take him anywhere.
It's a honky-tonk engagement,
But there's no better place to play.
His mind feels like crazy pavement,
He's getting crazed out every day.
Well, he's drinking down the bourbon like it was soda pop,
Trying to quell a feeling he knows ain't gonna stop,
He's mortgaged out his blood for one more chance to breathe.
He had the D.T.'s for breakfast, the chills till noon,
He picked up his bag and left the motel room,
His head is held high but his heart is on it's knees.
04 The Devil Made Me Do It (02:53)
Well, the devil made me do it, do it, do it
The devil made me trip and fall
The devil drove me to it, to it, to it
Till I had no chance at all
What did I do that was so bad, to go and get myself arrested?
Just hit town to have some fun, but I ended up in the trash can
There I was in the witness stand, my eyes turned towards the jury
Trying to recall what went wrong last night, but it won't come right back to me
Well, the devil made me do it, do it, do it
The devil made me trip and fall
The devil drove me to it, to it, to it
Till I had no chance at all
The lawyer said, "Son, won't you plead the fifth, and don't speak unless requested"
Using all the words at his command, his skills were sorely tested
Then, to my complete surprise, they went and called a hostile witness
The devil himself, well he took the stand and that's where my case rested
Well, the devil made me do it, do it, do it
The devil made me trip and fall
The devil drove me to it, to it, to it
Till I had no chance at all
What did I do that was so bad, to go and get myself arrested?
Well, I was just in town to have some fun, but I ended up in the trash can
There I was in the witness box, my eyes turned towards the jury
Trying to recall what went wrong last night, but it won't come back to me
Well, the devil made me do it, do it, do it
The devil made me trip and fall
The devil drove me to it, to it, to it
Till I had no chance at all
Well, the devil made me do it, do it, do it
The devil made me trip and fall
The devil drove me to it, to it, to it
Till I had no chance at all
Well, the devil drove me to it, to it, to it
The devil made me trip and fall
The devil drove me to it, to it, to it
Till I had no chance at all, till I had no chance at all
Till I had no mind at all
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