Nonostante sin dai loro esordi la musica dei Rolling Stones sia sempre stata dominata da influenze nere, questo è forse il loro album più "nero" dai tempi in cui i cinque interpretavano travolgenti re-make di brani di Chuck Berry , Solomon Burke e Sam Cocke. Dall'inizio alla fine di Black And Blue, gli Stones fanno un'accurata ricognizione del funky negro da New York a Kingston e come dimostra "Hot Stuff", talvolta entrambe le culture etniche si scontrano in una bizzarra collisione. Il gruppo cavalca un riff ripetitivo in chiave disco, mentre quel grande spaccone di Jegger farfuglia la sua personale interpretazione dello scherzoso talkover giamaicano. Comunque sia, la minacciosa posizione che gli Stones assumono in questo e altri brani non è sicuramente quella di certe punte della vuota generazione di strada, bensì quella di baldanzosi Sweet Macks , sfoggianti scarpe di coccodrillo con tacco alto, pieghe dei pantaloni affilate come rasoi e diamanti rosa delle dimensioni di un uovo di piccione: Gentiluomini Professionisti del Tempo Libero. Sicuro Hot Stuff e l'insidiosa Hey Negrita potrebbero ben rappresentare il tipo di ballabile brutalizzato che Le Jardin suona fino a farvi sanguinare i piedi e orecchie, ma questi due brani non richiedono un missaggio alla Tom Moulton per essere alla moda. Al contrario questo disco è un esperiemnto di stile in cui gli Stone riaffermano le loro origini, integrandovi gli elementi più grezzi del Salsa e del Fatback funk.
Ad ogni modo, ci sono momenti in cui l'interpretazione è buona ma il risultato è debole. La Cherry Oh Baby di Eric Donaldson, ad esempio, è un fallimento dovuto agli stessi motivi che fecero di Luxury uno dei brani di maggior successo di Its Only RNR. In verità gli Stones sono molto più abili nel ricreare uno stile particolare secondo le loro esigenze, che nel riprodurre una copia pari-pari. Come brano "obbligatorio" di reggae, Cherry Oh Baby non aggiunge altre frecce al loro arco.
In cerca di nuove ispirazioni nere, Billy Preston è preso per il colletto al punto da risultare l'ombra di Jagger in Melody, e insieme i due canticchiano questa perla di purissimo "polpettone" jazzato alla Uptown. Ad un livello puramente spontaneo , è senz'altro il brano migliore dell'album e, nonostante Preston faccia sentire la sua personalità qua e là, questo non va a discapito di gustosi fraseggi blues di Keith Richard o dell'abile drummig di Charlie Warrs, indubbiamente il maggior protagonista dell'album.
Degli otto lunghi brani, solo Hand Of Fate, con pregevole assolo di chitarra di Wayne Perkins, e Crazy Mama si avvicinano ai più tradizionali riffs degli Stones, anche se ridotti all'essenziale.
Memory Motel è il modo in cui Jagger preferisce cantare il blues; fatta con lo stesso stampo stilizzato da cui uscirono Moonlight Mile e If You Really Want To Be My Friend, si tratta di una canzone d'amore "sulla strada" di sette minuti, che vede Jagger, Richard e Preston alle tastiere con Perkins e Mandel alle chitarre.
Per finire Black And Blue non è forse l'album che la maggior parte degli aficionados si aspettava, anche perchè Mick Taylor se ne andato dopo cinque anni e se ne sente l'assenza. Gli Stones ne proveranno una manciata ma senza risultati eclatanti. Forse è il materiale che mostra troppe crepe di fantasia, troppa routine.
Elenco tracce testi e samples
02 Hand of Fate (04:27)
(M. Jagger/K. Richards)
The hand of fate is on me now
It pick me up and knock me down
I'm on the run, I'm prison bound
The hand of fate is heavy now
I killed a man, I'm highway bound
The wheel of fortune keeps turning round
Turning round, turning round
I should have known it was a one horse town
My sweet girl was once his wife
He had papers the judge had signed
The wind blew hard, it was stormy night
He shot me once, but I shot him twice
The hand of fate is on me now
It pick me up and it kicked me right down
Kicked me right down
Kicked me right down
I had to save her life
Yeah, I gunned him twice
Yeah, and I watched him die, watch out boy
Yeah, I watched him die
He was a barroom man, the violent kind
He had no love for that gal of mine
Then one day in a drinking bout
He swore he'd throw me right of town
The hand of fate is on me now
I shot that man I put him underground
I put him underground
Yes I did
I'm on the run, I hear the hounds
My luck is up, my chips are down
So goodbye baby, so long now
Wish me luck, I'm going to need it child
The hand of fate is on me now
Yeah it's too late
Too late baby, too late now
The hand of fate is on me now
The hand of fate is heavy now
It pick you up and knock you down
04 Memory Motel (07:09)
(M. Jagger/K. Richards)
Hannah honey was a peachy kind of girl
Her eyes were hazel
And her nose were slightly curved
We spent a lonely night at the Memory Motel
It's on the ocean, I guess you know it well
It took a starry NIGHT to steal my breath away
Down on the water front
Her hair all drenched in spray
Hannah baby was a honey of a girl
Her eyes were hazel
And her teeth were slightly curved
She took my guitar and she began to play
She sang a song to me
Stuck right in my brain
You're just a memory of a love
That used to be
You're just a memory of a love
That used to mean so much to me
She got a mind of her own
And she use it well
Well she's one of a kind
She's got a mind
She got a mind of her own
And she use it mighty fine
She drove a pick-up truck
Painted green and blue
The tires were wearing thin
She turned a mile or two
When I asked her where she headed for
"Back up to Boston I'm singing in a bar"
I got to fly today on down to Baton Rouge
My nerves are shot already
The road ain't all that smooth
Across in Texas is the rose of San Antone
I keep on a feeling that's gnawing in my bones
You're just a memory of a love
That used to mean so much to me
You're just a memory girl
You're just a sweet memory
And it used to mean so much to me
Sha la la la la
She got a mind of her own
And she use it well
Mighty fine, she's one of a kind
On the seventh day my eyes were all a glaze
We've been ten thousand miles
Been in fifteen states
Every woman seemed to fade out of my mind
I hit the bottle and hit the sack and cried
What's all this laughter on the 22nd floor
It's just some friends of mine
And they're busting down the door
Been a lonely night at the Memory Motel
05 Hey Negrita (04:59)
(M. Jagger/K. Richards)
Hey Negrita, hey now
Move your body, move your mouth
Shake lady, way down south
Shake baby, in your home town
Come si chiama, what's you game
I'm just a poor man, what's your name
Shake your body, do it up now
Shake body, move it up now
Hey Negrita, hey now
Hey conchita, shake it up now
Bate las caderas, do it up now
Flash of gold in your ears, child
Flash of gold in your eyes
Saw the gleam in your mouth
Saw the steel in your thighs
Do it up now
Bate las caderas, do it up now
Just a momentita, not so fast
I need money, my sweet ass
Listen I'm a poor man
My pay is low
Here's one last dollar, then we go
"One last dollar," she say "I got my pride"
Going to get your boss, boy
Going to tan your hide
Hey Negrita, hey now
Hey Negrita, do it right now
06 Melody (05:49)
(M. Jagger/K. Richards)
Melody, it was her second name
Melody, it was her second name
Melody, it was her second name
Melody, it was her second name
Came home one morning about quarter to three
I'm banging on my door cause I just lost my key
Open up, baby, you got someone else inside
I'm going to come get you dead or alive
Melody, it was her second name
Melody, it was her second name
Melody, it was her second name
Melody, it was her second name
I took her out dancing but she drank away my cash
She said, "I'm going to fix my face don't you worry I'll be back"
I'm looking for her high and low like a mustard for a ham
She was crashed out in the bathroom
In the arms of my best friend
Melody, it was her second name
Melody, it was her second name
Melody, it was her second name
Melody, it was her second name...
Then one day she left me
She took everything that moved
My car, she took my trailer home
She took my Sunday boots
My nose is on her trail
I'm going to catch her by surprise
Then I'm going to have the pleasure
To roast that child alive
Melody, it was her second name
Melody, it was her second name
Melody, it was her second name
Melody, it was her second name...
08 Crazy Mama (04:34)
(M. Jagger/K. Richards)
Well you're crazy Mama
With your ball and chain
And your sawn off shotgun
Blown out brains, yeah
You can scandalize me
Scorn my name
You can steal my money
And that don't mean a doggone thing
Cause if you really think you can push it
I'm going to bust your knees with a bullet
Your crazy mama, ah yeah
Well your old time religion
Is just a superstition
You going to pay high prices
For your sacrificises
Well your blood and thunder
Sure can't faze me none
If your going to keep on coming
I'm gonna take it all head on
If you don't believe I'm going to do it
Just wait till you get hit by that bullet
Don't think I ain't thought about it
But it sure makes my shackles rise
And cold blood murder
Make me want to draw the line
Well your crazy mama
With your ball and chain
Plain psychotic
Plain insane
If you don't think I'm gonna do it
Just wait for the thud of the bullet
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Precedente
Live @ Birmingham, 13 Maggio 2006
Successiva
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