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Da ‘Stay’ [2007] a ‘Blue Eyed Soul’ [2019] passando per ‘Big Love’ [2015], non ci ho più perso tempo.
Non mi piace chi fischietta sovrappensiero, non in termini di microsolco musicale. E gli ultimi lavori in studio dei Simply Red, e 'Simply Red' vuol dire Mick Hucknall, non hanno nulla da spartire con me.
Simply Red che hanno smesso di piacermi dal preciso istante in cui Mick non ha avuto più fame.
Nel 1985 Mick aveva fame, una fame del diavolo. Provate a coglierlo, in ‘Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)’, quando canta ‘…so I went to the bank…’, il modo in cui dice ‘bank...’, come aggredisce il vissuto.
Aveva fame, dicevo, anche in studio. Stewart Levine, il produttore scelto per l’album di debutto, ebbe il suo bel da fare a disciplinarlo, a rallentarlo, ad insegnargli come si approccia un microfono in sede di registrazione.
Il luogo comune, o meglio, il postulato, che i Simply Red fossero ‘Mick + la band’ fu subito chiaro a chi gravitava intorno al progetto.
Il sentore era unico e univoco: che voce, il cantante: pazzesca. Ma i brani ed il resto del gruppo ? C’era da lavorare.
Elliot Rashman, manager storico, Stewart Levine e lo stesso Hucknall si adoperarono per levigare, innestare, rinvigorire. Dave Fryman, chitarrista che peraltro ha un credito di stesura in ‘Red Box’, venne allontanato perché giudicato punto debole in un ruolo cruciale. Il sostituto venne reclutato dal notebook di Levine: Sylvan Richardson, affine al tipo di sound voluto dal produttore.
‘Holding Back The Years’ venne completamente ri – arrangiata. Anche qui, manager e produttore dovettero metterci del buono per convincere Mick, poco propenso a rivedere il proprio operato, un po’ per via del carattere altezzoso, un po’ per un orgoglio di fondo maledettamente insito.
Reclutato Richardson, il resto del nucleo venne confermato: Tony Bowers al basso, lo splendido Fritz Mcintyre alle tastiere, Chris Joyce alla batteria, Tim Kellet alla tromba.
Pietra angolare del progetto, la voce di Hucknall ammorbata dalle lussurrieggianti tastiere di Mcintyre. Levine, da par suo, rese ascoltabili e strutturati i brani precedentemente perfomati live dal gruppo, con evidenti lacune di sorta.
L’Elektra, succursale della Wea, si fece avanti per mettere sotto contratto il progetto.
I punti più alti dell’album risultarono essere il singolo apripista, ‘Moneys Too Tight (To Mention)’, cover dei Valentine Brothers, la title track che vanta un dna struggente e la jazz – fusion ‘Sad Old Red’. Ma a trainare il carro e a portarli al numero uno in America fu ‘Holding Back The Years’ la quale, ad oggi, rimane loro indissolubile marchio di fabbrica.
Poco impatto ebbero gli altri due singoli estratti, ‘Come To My Aid’, che apre il disco, ‘Jericho’ e 'Red Box'. In mercati selezionati venne anche realizzata una tiratura limitata di 'Love Fire'.
A posteriori, Hucknall e Levine hanno pareri contrastanti su ‘Picture Book’.
‘Suona troppo datato, troppo scarno. Alcuni brani, reinterpretati e rielaborati dal vito, rendono. Per il resto, faccio fatica ad ascoltarlo oggi’ sostiene il leader. Per contro, il manager, che lavorerà anche ad altri tre album, ‘A New Flame’ (1989), ‘Stars’ (1991) e ‘Life’ (1995) lo ritiene quanto di meglio mai realizzato con la band: fresco, potente, completo.
Chi vi scrive si colloca a metà strada. ‘Picture Book’ è un album solido, lineare. Annovera qualche punto debole: non mi convince la chitarra, troppo scarna, e l’approccio alla batteria eccessivamente scolastico.
Non a caso, in quello che per me ad oggi resta la loro pietra miliare (‘A New Flame’) Heitor TP andrà a sostiture Richardson, e per il pluridorato ‘Stars’ l’intuizione pazzesca fu piazzare Gota Yashiki alla batteria in luogo di Joyce.
La fame, dicevo, scinde l’uomo dalla bestia già solo perché il primo ha la facoltà di scegliere. Qui, Mick, è stato un po’ uomo e un po’ bestia. Ha scelto, e ha scelto bene. Ha addentato l’opportunità con ferocia, avendo l’accortezza di non farne brandelli.
Elenco tracce testi e samples
01 Come to My Aid (04:03)
(M Hucknall/F Mcintyre)
come to my aid you're sweet as everything
come to my aid i'd give you anything
i feel so betrayed by the people i love
come to my aid it's you i'm thinking of
prouder than wild
sad enough to sing
come to my aid and care for social living
Why are we liable to die for survival?
why is our nation divided?
come to my aid..
in the poverty stakes see just what it means
when welfare decimates you'd better care
about your fellow people
why are we liable to die for survival?
why is our nation divided?
come to my aid...
come on board
03 Look at You Now (03:02)
Right from the start you tried to hurt me,
But look at you now, behaving like a fool.
A long time ago you treated me so mean but
Chorus:
Look at you now.
Look at you now.
You threw me away like litter in the gutter.
I had to pick my self up and find something better.
-chorus-
I looked so hard, I'm looking hard now
Looking at your head.
Don't talk about birthdays, that don't mean a thing to me.
Don't throw it in my face, it's too sweet to sting.
-chorus-
I kept on looking hard (repeat)
Looking at your head, head!!!
04 Heaven (04:32)
Ev'ryone is trying to get to the bar.
The name of the bar,
The bar is called Heaven.
The band in Heaven,
They play my favourite song.
They play it once again,
They play it all night long.
Chorus:
Heaven,
Heaven is a place,
A place where nothing,
Nothing ever happens.
-chorus-
There is a party, everyone is there.
Everyone will leave at exactly the same time.
It's hard to imagine that nothing at all
Could be so exciting, could be so much fun.
-chorus-
-chorus-
When this kiss is over it will start again.
It will not be any different, it will be exactly the same.
It's hard to imagine that nothing at all
Could be so exciting, could be so much fun.
-chorus-
05 Jericho (06:06)
Listen boy, I'll tell you a thing.
I'll make you a career in the business I'm in.
I'll make you rich, I'll make you a toy,
I'll make you turn over into my little boy.
Y'see I'm going somewhere.
I don't know what I'm gonna do when I get there.
I know money's a thing - your only inspiration
And your only meaning.
You must think that all I do
Is spend my time making pretty pictures of you.
You can fall when I will climb,
But I'll be falling over just by having you in mind.
1st. chorus:
Mend that fight - oh listen to them
Kickin' up a ball inside a Jericho wall.
Mend that fight - it's all twisted through them.
If you ain't rich then you won't go to the ball.
Having mercy and licking up love,
And moving through your ocean like I've never had enough.
Y'see you ain't all I want,
You're everything and more that I have ever hoped for.
You must think that all I do
Is spend my time making pretty pictures of you.
You can fall when I will climb,
But I'll be falling over just by having you in mind.
-1st chorus-
2nd chorus:
You won't go to the ball.
You won't go to the ball.
You won't go, you won't go,
You won't go to the ball.
(repeat)
You must think that all I do
Is spend my time making pretty pictures of you.
You can fall when I will climb,
But I'll be falling over just by having you in mind.
Mend that fight - oh listen to them
Kickin' up a ball inside a No.10 wall.
Mend that fight - it's all twisted through them.
I'm rich, you ain't, so you won't go to the ball
No more!
-2nd chorus-
Outro:
Yeah, if you ain't got nothing
You'll never go there
(Repeat)
I tried to make you see
I tell you, I'd had enough.
Money was a thing, money was a thing,
Money was a thing that I believed in.
(Repeat)
06 Money's Too Tight (to Mention) (04:13)
I been laid off from work
My rent is due
My kids all need
Brand new shoes
So I went to the bank
To see what they could do
They said son - looks like bad luck
Got-a hold on you
[Chorus:]
Money's too tight to mention
I can't get an un-em-ploy-ment ex-ten-sion
Money's too tight to mention
I went to my brother
To see what he could do -
He said bro-ther like to help you
But I'm unable to
So I called on my fa-ther fa-ther
Oh my fa-ther
He said
[Chorus:]
Money's too tight to mention
Oh mo-ney mo-ney mo-ney mon-ey
Mo-ney's too tight to mention
I can't even qual-i-fy for my pension
We talk a-bout rea-gan-on-ics
Oh lord down in the con-gress
They're passing all kinds - of bills
From down cap-it-ol hill - (we've tried them)
[Chorus:]
Money's too tight to mention
[spoken] cut-back!
Mo-ney mo-ney mo-ney mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' 'bout the dollar bill
Now what are we all to do
When the mon-ey's got a hold on you?
Mo-ney's too tight to mention
Oh mon-ey mon-ey mon-ey mon-ey
Mo-ney's too tight to mention
A-mero - mon-ey oh yeah
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey:..
07 Holding Back the Years (04:30)
Holding back the years,
Thinking of the fear I've had so long.
When somebody hears,
Listen to the fear that's gone.
Strangled by the wishes of pater,
Hoping for the arms of mater,
Get to meet her sooner or later,
Holding back the years,
Chance for me to escape from all I know.
Holding back the tears,
Cause nothing here has grown.
I've wasted all my tears,
Wasted all those years.
Nothing had the chance to be good,
Nothing ever could, yeah.
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on.
So tight.
I've wasted all my tears,
Wasted all those years.
And nothing had the chance to be good,
Cause nothing ever could, yeah.
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on
So tight.
That's all I have today
It's all I have to say.
09 No Direction (03:41)
Singing hymns on road and pavements.
Hungry Jims, no one saves them.
Walkin' north, talkin' south
With firm intention.
And I don't know what I'm talking about,
It's firm intention.
Chorus:
In this dreary life, with no direction,
What this cause says about my life
And no direction, no direction!!!
To enter a place like an alien.
To leave a place like an alien.
What's this calling? What's this calling?
Firm intention.
Better feel it, better believe it.
Firm intension.
-chorus-
Watch that feeling, watch that feeling
Or I'll grab it, or I'll grab it.
Watch that feeling, watch that feeling
Or I'll grab it, or I'll grab it.
-chorus-
10 Picture Book (05:49)
Many types came to see the picture.
Many types came to see the picture.
Only he had the right to come.
Only he is long gone.
Will or win or wicked, it's written in it.
(repeat)
Quivering in mutual agression,
Women sing remembering affection.
Only he had the right to come.
Only he is long gone.
Will or win or wicked, it's written in it.
(repeat)
Here by the side of the book.
(We beseech thee, we beseech thee.)
Here by the side of Piero's spirit.
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Altre recensioni
Di woodstock
"'Picture Book' rappresenta il folgorante esordio dei nostri, con brani che sono classici degli anni 80."
"Questo disco trasuda lo spirito di quell'epoca dal primo all'ultimo secondo."
