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Devo ammettere che dei Kinks conoscevo solamente “You Really Got Me”, nota anche alle pietre…
Al primo ascolto di questo album sono rimasto estasiato, ragion per cui questa rece, frutto di mie personali “sensazioni”, potrebbe essere pompata e/o contenere molte cantonate! Abbiate pieta…
“Face To Face” è il quarto album dei Kinks (registrato tra il ’65 e il ’66) e rappresenta, a mio parere, il loro "Rubber Soul": distacco dal rock degli esordi, con la ricerca (prima nel testo e poi nell’esecuzione) di quell’originalità che li porterà a sperimentare i concept-album e l’opera rock negli anni successivi.
Si parte con una tiratissima “Party Line” dal sapore country, introdotta mediante gli squilli di un telefono e qui già trovo molte similitudini con i brani del periodo Help dei Beatles, ma presumo sia normale in quel periodo riscontrare tali e simili influenze.
È presente, come session man alle tastiere, Nicky Hopkins che abbellisce gli scenari raccontati da Ray Davies. Il suo apporto è fondamentale ad es. in brani come “Rosie Want You Please Come Home”, un grido disperato di Ray Davies alla sorella trasferitasi in Australia…
Ma la perla dell’album è “Sunny Afternoon” (maggio 1966) che mi fa venire subito in mente "Happy Togheter" dei Turtles (1967); "Sunny Afternoon" è riuscito a scalzare dal primo posto in classifica, nientepopodimeno che “Paperback Writer” dei Beatles!!!
A voi il giudizio tra le due…
Gradevole anche la freschezza di “Holiday In Waikiki”, in cui gli interventi slide di Dave Davies, uniti ai suoni del mare, richiamano l’atmosfera balneare. “Dandy” è invece una veloce ballata, parente stretta del loro singolo “A Well Respected Man” il quale rappresenterà la chiave di volta, per la nuova direzione verso la quale si indirizzerà il nostro Ray Davies nella scrittura dei testi.
In “Session Man” abbiamo, curiosamente, qualche passaggio armonico che sarà poi caro a George Harrison. “I’ll Remember Everything”, invece, ricorda molto “If I Needed Someone”...
Sono dello stesso periodo anche le storie decadenti di miseria e povertà racchiuse in “Big Smooke” e “Dead End Street”, due singoli aggiunti come bonus track alla versione deluxe del 2011.
Non manca qualche riferimento al R&B, come in “Your Looking Fine” oppure all’India come in “Fancy”, dove senza scomodare sitar, tabla e santoni la sensazione è quella…
L’album è sicuramente di stampo psichedelico, pur non avendo tutti i tipici marchi di fabbrica, ad es. di Revolver: sitar, voci al contrario, batterie spettrali. Una specie di psichedelia in embrione. Che sia anche un concept-album senza volerlo?
I Kinks mi appaiono stilisticamente chiari, sobri e senza volontà di strafare; la sezione ritmica è quasi impeccabile, la chitarra solista di Dave Davies bilanciata, essenziale e decorosa. Gli arrangiamenti sembrano più orientati alla struttura del brano che alla ricerca della tecnica esecutiva: ogni riff, lick o altro è al servizio della canzone, mai il contrario.
Certo è che la produzione fa tanto! Presumibilmente ho il sospetto che il non aver a disposizione un George Martin, o i tecnici di Abbey Road, faccia percepire "accettabile" una batteria ben suonata, mentre viceversa fa sembrare “spaziale” quella suonata male!!!
Basti pensare che Ray Davies non ha avuto neanche il permesso di imporre la sua di copertina! Lui voleva usare uno sfondo nero, serio ed in linea con i temi adulti del disco, ma gli fu imposta questa, coloratissima e psichedelica (che comunque trovo gradevole).
Non vi sono quelle scontate svisate stilistiche, tipiche di altri gruppi coevi similarmente privi di veri guitar hero, i quali cercavano l’assolo a tutti i costi, quale autocompiacimento personale del solista di turno, risultando, di fatto, ridicoli se confrontati con i vari Clapton, Beck, Hendrix (solo per citare gli axeman).
Scompaiono anche i power chord che li hanno resi famosi nei primi album; tirando le somme i Kinks cercavano, quanto meno fino ad allora, di non fare il passo più lungo della gamba…
Probabilmente questa scelta stilistica è stata anche legata alla loro messa al bando dagli Usa e/o al fatto che i loro album non riuscivano a posizionarsi bene nelle classifiche, ragion per cui ipotizzo che un genio come Ray avrà pensato: “A sto punto che me ne frega, famolo strano…”
Importante notare come in tutti i brani vi sia sempre la ricerca della “melodia”: da questo punto di vista accosto Ray Davies a McCartney, mentre come scrittore di testi lo ritengo superiore!
(Ho sempre timore a fare confronti con i Fab Four, ho quasi la sensazione di rischiare meno usando come termini di paragone Mozart, i King Crimson o Hendrix!!! 😉)
Ma c’è una strana sensazione che continuo ad avere ascoltando i Kinks: uno strano déjà-vu che mi riporta alla mente melodie di artisti famosi, pubblicate solo successivamente…
Mi chiedo, quindi, quale e quanta sia stata la loro influenza nello scenario musicale pop-rock.
Se solo avessero avuto più soldi e/o la stessa produzione dei gruppi più blasonati, chissà cosa avremmo potuto ascoltare oggi!
Magari qualcosa di peggio… 😉
Grazie per la pazienza!
P.S. consiglio la versione deluxe dell’album in quanto oltre alle bonus track e singoli estratti, sono presenti le due versioni dell’album mono&stereo..
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
03 Dandy (02:10)
Dandy, dandy,
Where you gonna go now?
Who you gonna run to?
All your little life
You're chasing all the girls.
They can't resist your smile.
Oh, they long for dandy, dandy.
Checkin' out the ladies,
Tickling their fancy,
Pouring out your charm
To meet your own demands,
And turn it off at will.
Oh, they long for dandy, dandy.
Knockin' on the back door,
Climbing through the window,
Hubby�s gone away,
And while the cat's away
The mice are gonna play.
Oh, you low down dandy, dandy.
Dandy
Dandy, you know you're moving much too fast,
And dandy, you know you can't escape the past.
Look around you and see the people settle down,
And when you're old and grey you will remember what they said,
That two girls are too many, three�s a crowd and four you're dead.
Oh dandy, dandy,
When you gonna give up?
Are you feeling old now?
You always will be free,
You need no sympathy,
A bachelor you will stay,
And dandy, you're all right.
You're all right.
You're all right.
You're all right.
You're all right.
You're all right.
04 Too Much on My Mind (02:27)
There's too much on my mind,
There's too much on my mind,
And I can't sleep at night thinking about it.
I'm thinking of the time,
There's too much on my mind,
It seems there's more to life than just to live it.
There's too much on my mind,
And there is nothing I can say.
There's too much on my mind,
And there is nothing I can do
About it,
About it.
My thought just weigh me down,
And drag me to the ground,
And shake my head till there's no more life in me.
It's ruining my brain,
I'll never be the same,
My poor demented mind is slowly going.
There's too much on my mind,
And there is nothing I can say.
There's too much on my mind,
And there is nothing I can do
About it,
About it.
There's too much on my mind.
07 House in the Country (03:00)
He don't need no sedatives to ease his troubled mind.
At work he is invariably unpleasant and unkind.
Why should he care if he is hated in his home,
'Cause he's gotta house in the country,
And a big sports car.
He's gotta house in the country,
And a big sports car.
But he ain't gotta home, oh no,
And he's as wicked as he can be,
'Cause he's gotta house in the country
Where he likes to spend his weekend days.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, well all right
Well, he got his job when drunken Daddy tumbled down the stairs.
From that very day this boy is more than having his share.
One of these days I'm gonna knock him off of his throne,
'Cause he's gotta house in the country,
And a big sports car.
He's gotta house in the country,
And a big sports car.
And he's oh so smug, oh yeah.
He's got everything he needs,
'Cause he's gotta house in the country
Where he likes to spend his weekend days.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, well all right
And he's oh so smug, oh yeah.
He's got everything he needs,
'Cause he's gotta house in the country,
And a big sports car.
He's gotta house in the country,
And a big sports car.
But he's socially dead, oh yeah,
And it don't matter much to him,
'Cause he's gotta house in the country
Where he likes to spend his weekend days.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, well all right
House in the country
House in the country
House in the country
House in the country
08 Holiday in Waikiki (02:45)
I won a competition in a little column in my local paper.
So I packed my bags and flew across the sea all on my local paper.
I sailed to Hawaii in the u.s.a.
I'm just an English boy who won a holiday in Waikiki.
I didn't realize it was commercialized when I unpacked my cases,
Because a genuine Hawaii ukulele cost me 30 guineas,
And even when I'm swimming I have to pay.
I'm just an English boy who won a holiday in Waikiki.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Across the coral sands I saw a hula hula dancer, looking pretty.
I asked her where she came from and she said to me,
I come from New York City,
And my mother is Italian,
And my dad's a Greek.
I'm just an English boy who won a holiday in Waikiki.
It's a hooka hooka on the shiny briny on a wake a hola[? ],
And in a little shack they had a little sign that said Coca Cola,
And even all the grass skirts were PVC.
I'm just an English boy who won a holiday in Waikiki.
Oh yeah, yeah.
In Waikiki
In Waikiki
09 Most Exclusive Residence for Sale (02:51)
It was the biggest house in the neighborhood.
He went and bought this house when he made good.
Ten bedrooms and a swimming pool,
Where he entertained all the people that he knew.
But he hit the hard times and had to sell out.
Most exclusive residence for sale.
He went and spent all the money that he had.
Because he had a heart and not a head.
He spent it all on girls and fancy jewelry.
Then he found himself in front of a judge and jury,
And the judge said to pay up, our you must sell out.
Most exclusive residence for sale.
He had to tell all the servants to go away.
Couldn't even afford to pay their way.
He took to the bottle and drunk himself down,
Then he soaked away all the troubles and let them drown.
Then he saw a notice on the wall,
Most exclusive residence for sale.
Most exclusive residence for sale.
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
10 Fancy (02:28)
Fancy, if you believe in what I believe in,
Then we'll be the same, always.
Fancy, just look around thee
If you will fancy all the girls you see, always.
My love is like a ruby that no one can see,
Only my fancy, always.
No one can penetrate me,
They only see what's in their own fancy, always
11 Little Miss Queen of Darkness (03:16)
Well I met her accidentally,
In a little discotheque.
And she acted oh so friendly
To every fella that she met.
And her hair was hanging down,
Like a bright and silver machine[? ].
Little miss queen of darkness
Dancing night and day.
Little miss queen of darkness
Dancing, dancing on.
Although she looked so happy,
There was sadness in her eyes.
And her curly false eyelashes
Weren't much of a disguise.
And her bright and golden hair,
Was not all that it might seem.
Little miss queen of darkness
Dances sadly on.
Yes little miss queen of darkness
Dancing, dancing on.
There was something missing
From her carefree little life,
And she'll never understand you
When you're kissing her good night.
'cause the only boy she had
Went and coolly stepped aside.
And little miss queen of darkness
Might as well have died.
Little miss queen of darkness
Dancing, dancing on.
12 You're Lookin' Fine (02:47)
When I first saw her
She looked alright,
Second time that I saw her
She looked outta sight.
And I said,
You're lookin' fine,
You're lookin' fine,
You're lookin' fine,
And I feel alright,
Yes, I feel alright.
She got all the angles,
So directly applied.
And when I see her,
I have to cry,
You're lookin' fine,
You're lookin' fine,
You're lookin' fine,
And I feel alright,
Yeah, I feel alright.
You're lookin' fine,
You're lookin' fine,
You're lookin' fine,
And I feel alright,
And I feel alright.
13 Sunny Afternoon (03:35)
The taxman's taken all my dough
And left me in my stately home
Lazing on a sunny afternoon
And I can't sail my yacht
He's taken everything I've got
All I've got's this sunny afternoon
Save me, save me, save me from this squeeze
I've got a big fat momma trying to break me
And I love to live so pleasantly
Live this life of luxury
Lazin' on a sunny afternoon
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime
My girlfriend's run off with my car
And gone back to her ma and pa
Tellin' tales of drunkenness and cruelty
Now I'm sittin' here
Sippin' at my ice-cool beer
Lazin on a sunny afternoon
Help me, help me, help me sail away
Or give me two good reasons why I oughta stay
'Cause I love to live so pleasantly
Live this life of luxury
Lazin' on a sunny afternoon
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime
Save me, save me, save me from this squeeze
I got a big fat momma trying to break me
And I love to live so pleasantly
Live this life of luxury
Lazin' on a sunny afternoon
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime
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Altre recensioni
Di northernsky
I Kinks ci hanno regalato tanti piccoli gioielli pop e Ray Davies era un genio. Punto.
"Face To Face" è il primo capolavoro dei Kinks, quello in cui Ray Davies inizia a far trapelare la sua visione ironica e malinconica del mondo.
