Purtroppo, per latenti problemi con la connessione internet, non ho potuto verificare se la recensione di questo disco fosse già esistente sul server di DeBaser, quindi mi scuso in anticipo se dovessi ripetere qualcosa di già detto in precedenza.

Partiamo dal presupposto che ai fan di data più recente il nome dei Byrds dirà poco-niente, eppure nell'America di metà anni '60 che soffriva terribilmente il confronto con l'emergente musica inglese (Stones e Beatles, certo, ma anche i nascenti Doors e Cream), i membri della suddetta band avevano tutti una grande fama anche individuale ed infatti, chi più, chi meno, avrebbero tutti avuto una carriera solistica di tutto rispetto, si veda Roger McGuinn, portabandiera dei Byrds anche dopo lo scioglimento, il chitarrista David Crosby, membro dell'incredibile e seminale terzetto Crosby, Stills & Nash, ma anche il bassista Chris Hillman con i suoi countreggianti Flying Burrito Brothers.

La grande invenzione (e merito) dei Byrds fu quella di aver trovato un genere di compromesso, ma non per questo un ibrido privo di personalità, tra il folk di matrice Dylaniana e il rock britannico dei Beatles, e a loro volta influenzarono gli autori dai quali presero spunto, da una parte rivendicando la paternità sul periodo psichedelico dei Beatles(il cui apice si raggiunse in Sgt Pepper's), e dall'altra lasciando totalmente sconvolto Dylan il quale abbandonò la sola chitarra acustica del folk sostituendola con un'intera rock band a tutti gli effetti che gli costò non poche critiche. Il summo, l'apice di tutto ciò, fu ovviamente la famosissima (e bellissima) Mr. Tambourine Man, guarda caso cover di Dylan, che da singolo spazzò via tutti i rivali (e che rivali !!!) e rivoluzionò tutti i parametri del folk-rock, ma sarebbe riduttivo il soffermarsi solo su questa canzone (Bob Dylan commentò: "Wow, ci puoi anche ballare!"): altre cover di Dylan magistralmente eseguite (Chimes Of Freedom), riproposizioni di vecchie canzoni folk della tradizione americana in The Bells Of Rhymney (mossa riproposta dal Boss 40 anni più tardi), e significativi episodi originali in You Won't Have To Cry.

In definitiva, non assegno le 5 stelle piene nemmeno a questo disco, benchè di sicuro ci si avvicini, perché è certamente rivoluzionario e seminale come pochi altri dopo di lui, ed innegabilmente ha dei grandi picchi artistici, però non raggiunge la perfezione di album usciti nel suo decennio quali "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band", "Highway 61 Revisited", "Let It Bleed" e altri del genere. Rimane comunque un disco, se non altro per significato storico, da avere assolutamente.

Elenco tracce testi samples e video

01   Mr. Tambourine Man (02:23)

Hey mister tambourine man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there ain't no place I'm going to
Hey mister tambourine man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you

Take me for a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship
All my senses have been stripped
And my hands can't feel to grip
And my toes too numb to step
Wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin'
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Unto my own parade
Cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it

Hey mister tambourine man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there ain't no place I'm going to
Hey mister tambourine man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you

02   I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better (02:34)

The reasons why
Oh I can say
I have to let you go, babe
And right away
After what you did
I can't stay on
And I'll probably feel a whole lot better when you're gone

Baby for a long time
You had me believe
That your love was all mine
And that's the way it would be
But I didn't know
That you were putting me on
And I'll probably feel a whole lot better when you're gone
Up when you're gone

Now I've got to say
That it's not like before
And I'm not going to play
Your games anymore
After what you did
I can't stay on
And I'll probably feel a whole lot better when you're gone
Up when you're gone
Up when you're gone
Up when you're gone

03   Spanish Harlem Incident (02:00)

Gypsy gal, the hands of Harlem
Cannot hold you to its heat
Your temperature's too hot for taming
Your flaming feet are burning up the street

I am homeless, come and take me
Into the reach of your rattling drums
I got to know babe, all about my fortune
Down along my restless palms

Gypsy gal, you got me swallowed
I have fallen far beneath
Your pearly eyes so fast and slashing
And your flashing diamond teeth

The night is pitch black, come and make my
Pale face fit in to place, ah, please!
I gotta know babe, I'm nearly drowning
If it's you, my lifelines trace

I been wondering all about me
Ever since I seen you there
On the cliffs of your wildcat charms I'm riding
I know I'm 'round you but I don't know where

You have slayed me, you have made me
I got to laugh halfways off my heels
I got to know babe, will you surround me?
So I can tell if I'm really real

04   You Won't Have to Cry (02:09)

Oh, you know it makes me sad
To see you feel so bad
But it's happened to you many times before
But if you will come with me
Then girl you will see
That you won't have to cry anymore

There's no reason to feel blue
Because of what he says to you
And I wouldn't want to see you hurt no more
I could never do you wrong
'Cause my love for you is too strong
And you won't have to cry anymore

Oh, I saw you there with tears in your eyes
Because he told you so many, many lies

Oh, you know it isn't right
To put yourself uptight
By thinking about the things he's done before
Just trust your love in me
And girl you will see
That you won't have to cry
No, you won't have to cry
No, you won't have to cry anymore

05   Here Without You (02:38)

Daytime just makes me feel lonely
At night I can only dream about you
Girl, you're on my mind
Nearly all of the time

It's so hard being here without you
Words in my head keep repeating
Things that you said when I was with you

And I wonder, is it true?
Do you feel the same way too?
It's so hard being here without you
Being here without you

Oh I know this won't last
I'll see you someday
It seems as though that day will come never

But there's one thing I'll swear
Though you're far away
I'll be thinking about you forever

Streets that I walk on depress me
Ones that were happy when I was with you
Still with all the friends I know

And with all the things I do
It's so hard being here without you
Being here without you.

06   The Bells of Rhymney (03:33)

Oh what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Is there hope for the future?
Say the brown bells of Merthyr
Who made the mine owner?
Say the black bells of Rhondda
And who killed the miner?
Say the grim bells of Blaina

Throw the vandals in court
Say the bells of Newport
All will be well if, if, if, if, if
Say the green bells of Cardiff
Why so worried sisters? Why?
Sang the silver bells of Wye
And what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney

Oh what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Is there hope for the future?
Say the brown bells of Merthyr
Who made the mine owner?
Say the black bells of Rhondda
And who killed the miner?
Say the grim bells of Blaina

07   All I Really Want to Do (02:05)

I ain't lookin' to compete with you
Beat or cheat or mistreat you
Simplify you, pacify you
Deny, defy, or crucify you
All I really want to do
Is baby be friends with you

No, I ain't lookin' to fight with you
Frighten you or uptighten you
Drag you down or bring you down
Chain you down or bring you down
All I really want to do
Is baby be friends with you

I don't want to fake you out
Take or shake or forsake you out
I ain't lookin' for you to feel like me
See like me or be like me

I don't want to meet your kin
Make you spin or do you in
Or select you or dissect you
Or inspect you or reject you
All I really want to do
Is baby be friends with you
Baby be friends with you
Baby be friends with you

08   I Knew I'd Want You (02:15)

I'd like to love you
With all of my heart
You've had me on your trip
Right from the start
And when you looked at me
With love in your eyes
I knew I'd want you, oh yeah

I'd like to hold you
If you want me to
I've found something new, girl
Just by looking at you
And it's in your smile
And it's in the way
I knew I'd want you, oh yeah

I meet so many people
I feel I don't know
But I felt so close to you
When you said hello

I'd like to love you
And together we'd find
The place we've been looking for
Where we'll have peace of mind
And there we'll be happy
And there I'll know why
I knew I'd want you, oh yeah, oh yeah

09   It's No Use (02:26)

10   Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe (02:49)

11   Chimes of Freedom (03:53)

Far between sundown's finish and midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts, struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors, whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
And for each and every underdog soldier in the night
And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

Even though a cloud's white curtain in a far off corner flashed
And the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting
Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless seeking trail
For the lonesome hearted lovers, with too personal a tale
And for each unharmful gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

Starry-eyed and laughing, as I recall when we were caught
Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
And we listened one last time, and we watched with one last look
Spellbound and swallowed 'til the tolling ended
Tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, srung-out ones and worse
And for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

12   We'll Meet Again (02:07)

We'll meet again
Don't know where, don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day

Keep smiling true
Just like you always do
'Til the blue skies make the dark clouds fade away

Some sunny day, hey hey hey
Some sunny day, hey hey hey
Some sunny day, hey hey hey

We'll meet again
Don't know where, don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day

Keep smiling true
Just like you always do
'Til the blue skies make the dark clouds fade away

Some sunny day, hey hey hey
Some sunny day, hey hey hey
Some sunny day, hey hey hey

Carico i commenti...  con calma

Altre recensioni

Di  Lewis Tollani

 Il risultato è una strabiliante altalena di suoni e sensazioni, un armonioso abbraccio onirico.

 Grazie (anche) a loro, il folk(rock) assurgerà al rango di genere musicale degno e riconosciuto.