1988: reduce da due album di buon successo commerciale ma in rotta con la sua casa discografica, in balia della dipendenza da eroina e desideroso di sperimentare nuove sonorità Steve Earle, inquieto e ribelle country rocker nato 54 anni fa Fort Monroe, Virginia, dà alle stampe il suo terzo album, "Copperhead Road": dietro ad una copertina decisamente tamarra si nasconde un mix esplosivo di stili e sonorità diverse, destinato a riscuotere un clamoroso e inaspettato successo di vendite e critica.
2008: per celebrare i vent'anni dalla sua pubblicazione, "Copperhead Road" viene ristampato in edizione deluxe, e questa volta non si tratta di un'operazione commerciale di scarso interesse come molte altre di questo genere, ma di un'occasione d'oro per conoscere questo artista non solo grazie alla sua massima espressione discografica, ma anche come performer, data l'azzeccatissima aggiunta di un vero e proprio disco live, indubbiamente molto più bello e interessante delle bonus track più o meno inutili messe in coda alla tracklist.
L'invitante profumo del capolavoro si avverte già dalle prime note della titletrack che apre l'album: atmosfera quasi esotica, misteriosa, che sfocia subito in una composizione cadenzata, imponente, di grandissima forza evocativa, grazie anche alla voce sporca e graffiante di Steve Earle più che mai adatta a cantare le vicende del contadino-contrabbandiere protagonista della canzone. Neanche il tempo di prendere fiato e si cambia totalmente registro con il country allegro e scanzonato di "Snake Oil", con un testo che ridicolizza le promesse dei politici, e quindi il rock sporco, a'la Rolling Stones di "Back To The Wall", con la chitarra e la batteria che incalzano, si rincorrono e graffiano nel martellante chorus magistralmente interpretato da Earle: tre canzoni e tre stili completamente diversi.
Non si può dire che "Copperhead Road" sia un album scontato e prevedibile, ma il meglio viene con la micidiale accoppiata "The Devil's Right Hand"-"Johnny Come Lately"; la prima, che tratta il tema tipicamente americano dell'ossessione per le armi da fuoco è a mio parere la vera e propria punta di diamante dell'album, una formidabile folk song appena irrobustita dalle chitarre, che entra subito in testa con la forza dirompente di un tormentone, mentre la seconda, suonata nientemeno che con i Pogues (e si sente) è un'irresistibile irish rock che narra le vicende di un pilota americano durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale. Dopo queste cinque meraviglie l'album si mantiene su ottimi livelli con le ballate rock "Even When I'm Blue", "You Belong To Me", "Waiting On You" e "Once Your Love", fino ad arrivare a "Nothing But A Child", una stupenda ballad a tema natalizio che chiude l'album in maniera del tutto inaspettata e geniale.
Il disco live aggiunto in questa edizione deluxe (78 minuti complessivi) si divide in due parti: le prime 11 tracce, registrate nel 1987 a Raleigh, North Carolina, si aprono non a caso con una trascinante "The Devil's Right Hand" ed esplorano il repertorio più country di Steve Earle, quello degli album "Guitar Town" ed "Exit 0", offrendo grandi canzoni, orecchiabili ed interpretate a meraviglia come "Fearless Heart", "Continental Trallways Bus", "San Antonio Girl", "The Week Of Living Dangerously" un paio di cover ("Wheels" e la suggestiva folk song "Brown And Root"), una "Johnny Come Lately" in versione più lenta e scarna, quasi cantautorale e per finire una ballatona languida e sofferta del calibro di "It's All Up To You", mentre le rimanenti sei tracce, registrate a Calgary nell'89 offrono delle cover d'eccezione come l'introspettiva "Nebraska" di Bruce Springsteen e la trascinante "Dead Flowers" degli Stones, ma anche la struggente folk ballad "Little Sister", oltre ad una "Copperhead Road" resa ancora più imponente e granitica, la piacevole divagazione AOR di "I Ain't Ever Satisfied" e, dulcis in fundo, l'incalzante country rock di "Guitar Town", l'ideale colonna sonora su cui scorrono i titoli di coda di questo meraviglioso spettacolo.
In conclusione, "Copperhead Road" deluxe edition è il giusto tributo alla carriera di questo eclettico a coraggioso artista, e in più offre la convenienza di due capolavori al prezzo di uno, vantaggio reso ancora più considerevole dal fatto che "The Devil's Right Hand" da sola basterebbe a giustificare tutti i venti euri di esborso.
Da avere.
Elenco tracce testi e samples
01 Copperhead Road (04:30)
Well my name's John Lee Pettimore
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only come a town about twice a year
He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Everybody knew that he made moonshine
Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad
He headed up the holler with everything he had
It's before my time but I've been told
He never come back from Copperhead Road
Grandaddy ran whiskey in a big block Dodge
Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge
Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside
Well him and my uncle tore that engine down
I still remember that rumblin' sound
When the sheriff came around in the middle of the night
Heard mama cryin', knew something wasn't right
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load
You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road
I volunteered for the Army on my birthday
They draft the white trash first,'round here anyway
I done two tours of duty in Vietnam
I came home with a brand new plan
I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico
I just plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
Now the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air
I wake up screaming like I'm back over there
I learned a thing or two from Charlie don't you know
You better stay away from Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
02 Snake Oil (03:30)
Ladies and gentlemen, attention please
Come in close so everyone can see
I got a tale to tell
A listen don't cost a dime
And if you believe that we're gonna get along just fine
Now I've been travelin' all around
I heard trouble's come to your town
Well I've got a little somethin'
Guaranteed to ease your mind
It's call Snake Oil y'all
It's been around for a long, long time
Say, your crops'll burn if it don't rain soon
Ain't seen a drop since the tenth of June
Well I can open up the sky
People never fear
If you ain't impressed yet, just tell me what you wanna hear
Well you lost your farm so you moved to town
You get a job, they shut the factory down
Now you sit around all day long feelin' sad and blue
You need Snake Oil y'all, tell you what I'm gonna do
I can heal the sick, I can mend the lame
And the blind shall see again, it's all the same
Well ain't your President good to you
Knocked 'em dead in Libya, Grenada too
Now he's taking his show a little further down the line
Well, 'tween me and him people, you're gonna get along just fine
04 The Devil's Right Hand (03:03)
About the time that Daddy left to fight the big war
I saw my first pistol in the general store
In the general store, when I was thirteen
Thought it was the finest thing I ever had seen
So l asked if I could have one someday when I grew up
Mama dropped a dozen eggs, she really blew up
She really blew up and I didn't understand
Mama said the pistol is the devil's right hand
The devil's right hand, the devil's right hand
Mama said the pistol is the devil's right hand
My very first pistol was a cap and ball Colt
Shoot as fast as lightnin' but it loads a mite slow
Loads a mite slow and soon I found out
It can get you into trouble but it can't get you out
So then I went and bought myself a Colt 45
Called a peacemaker but I never knew why
Never knew why, I didn't understand
Cause Mama said the pistol is the devil's right hand
Well I get into a card game in a company town
Caught a miner cheating I shot the dog down
Shot the dog down, watched the man fall
Never touched his holster, never had a chance to draw
The trial was in the morning and they drug me out of bed
Asked me how I pleaded, not guilty I said
Not guilty I said, you've got the wrong man
Nothing touched the trigger but the devil's right hand
05 Johnny Come Lately (04:09)
I'm an American, boys, I've come a long way
I was born and bred in the USA
So listen up close, I've get something to say
Boys, I'm buying this round
Well it took a Iittle while but we're in this fight
Ain't going home 'til we've done what's right
We're gonna drink Camden Town dry tonight
If I have to spend my last pound
When I first got to London it was pourin' down rain
Met a little girl in the field canteen
Painted her name on the nose of my plane
Six more missions, I'm gone
Well I asked if I could stay and she said that I might
Then the warden came around yelling "shut out the lights"
Death rainin' out of the London night
We made love 'til dawn
But when Johnny Come Lately comes marching home
With a chest full of medals and a G.l. loan
They'll be waitin' at the station down in San Antone
When Johnny comes marching home
My P-47 is a pretty good ship
And she took a round coming cross the Channel last trip
I was thinking 'bout my baby and letting her rip
Always got me through so far
Well they can ship me all over this great big world
But I'll never find nothing like my North End girl
I'm taking her home with me one day, sir
Soon as we win this war
Now my granddaddy sang me this song
Told me about Londen when the Blitz was on
How he married Grandma and brought her back home
A hero throughout his land
Now I'm standing on a runway in San Diego
A couple Purple Hearts and I move a little slow
There's nobody here, maybe nobody knows
About a place called Vietnam
07 You Belong to Me (04:24)
Lately I've been feeling a little uneasy so I run straight home to you
It's been cold as hell and you just can't tell what a girl might do
I made a whole lot of promises baby, but none of my dreams came true
And it's you that paid and I'm so afraid that I'm losing you
But you belong to me
You belong to me
you beleng to me, me, baby, me
Now your mama said you could do better than me, baby I know that's true
But you believed me instead. every word I said, and I did too
But every day's a Iittle bit harder out there no matter what I do
Well I could carry the world on my shoulders girl long as I got you
But you belong to me
You belong to me
you beleng to me, me, baby, me
But you belong to me
You belong to me
you beleng to me, me, baby, me
Well my shining armour is rusted and worn
There's a heart inside here entrusted and sworn to you
Just tell me baby what I need to do
I can win you over again if you want me to
But you belong to me
You beleng to me, me, baby, me
10 Nothing but a Child (04:23)
Once upon a time in a far off land
Wise men saw a sign and set out aross the sand
Songs of praise to sing, they travelled day and night
Precious gifts to bring, guided by the light
They chased a brand new star, ever towards the west
Across the mountains far, but when it came to rest
They scarce believed their eyes, they'd come so many miles
And the miracle they prized was nothing but a child
Nothing but a child could wash these tears away
Or guide a weary world into the light of day
And nothing but a child could help erase these miles
So once again we all can be children for awhile
Now all around the world, in every Iittle town
Everyday is heard a precious little sound
And every mother kind and every father proud
Looks down in awe to find another chance allowed
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Altre recensioni
Di shooting star
La title track è potentissima, con una voce megasofferente e virile piena di carica.
Steve duetta con la cantante country Lucinda Williams in modo dolce e malinconico, e l’intreccio tra acustiche, slide guitars, mandolini e violino sanno creare la giusta atmosfera.
