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Tra i grandi patriarchi dell'hard rock, c'è spesso un gruppo che si tende a dimenticare.
Posti di fronte a questo ragionamento molti si staranno chiedendo: "Ma quale che l'è 'sto gruppo chi?".
I più scaltri l'avranno già capito, perché il titolo in alto non lascia molto spazio all'immaginazione. Ma per chi non fosse ancora chiara la cosa, posso dare un piccolo aiuto.
Allora: ci hanno suonato alcuni tra i più grandi e influenti chitarristi che la storia del rock ricordi. Volete i nomi? Ok? Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page.
"Adesso è facile" staranno pensando alcuni: "sono gli igolz"
"Ma va là pistola, che sono i gansenrosis".
"Lo so io, sono i pinc floit, quelli con quel chitarrista che suonava coi denti".
Non proprio. Si tratta degli Yardbirds, "gallinacci" in italiano (Mike Bongiorno dixit) e "Little Games" è l'album che la band diede alla luce nel periodo seguente all'addio di Jeff Beck, con Page alla chitarra.
L'LP, composto da 10 canzoni, venne pubblicato nel 1967. Non ebbe molto successo commerciale, tant'è che la band si sciolse.
Jimmy Page dalle ceneri del gruppo diede vita ai New Yardbirds, poi Led Zeppelin. Il cantante Keith Relf e il batterista Jim McCarty invece pubblicarono due dischi con i Renaissance pre-Annie Haslam, mentre il bassista-secondochitarrista Chris Dreja divenne fotografo. E pensate un po', gente, chi scattò la foto che ora sta sul retro del primo disco degli Zeppelin? Si, quella con Robert Plant che indossa un golfino nero e Bonzo, con dei baffetti, un maglione ricamato. Proprio LUI, Chris Dreja!
Ma veniamo al disco. Un miscuglio di pseudo-psichedelia, blues e schitarrate. Risulta difficile trovare dei punti deboli o dei capolavori, ma nel complesso risulta comunque un'opera discreta che si alterna tra momenti acustici ed elettrici, spensierati o tesi, che darà soddisfazioni soprattutto ai seguaci di Jimmy Page, che avranno modo di scoprire che il pezzo "Black Mountain Side" presente su Led Zeppelin I altro non è che "White Summer", cioè la terza traccia di Little Games. Si può anche sentire il chitarrista dilettarsi con l'archetto (suo marchio di fabbrica) all'interno di "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor" e "Glimpses".
Nella versione rimasterizzata sono inoltre presenti delle bonus tracks, con dei singoli e delle tracce mai pubblicate. Interessante notare come su una di queste, "Think About It risieda quello che sarà poi uno degli assoli migliori di Page, cioè quello di "Dazed And Confused". Sembra proprio tagliato e incollato!
Nel complesso quindi, un disco dimenticato e sottovalutato, tutto sommato a ragione eccezion fatta per qualche trovata, cugino invecchiato male di "Disraeli Gears".
Elenco tracce testi e video
02 Smile on Me (03:20)
(Chris Dreja / Keith Relf / Jim McCarty / Jimmy Page)
Smile on me baby,
Make me feel like summer's here.
Smile on me baby,
Make me feel good when you're near.
Prove it to me baby,
That our love is in the clear.
Walk with me baby,
Make me hold my head up high.
Walk with me baby,
Make me feel the greatest guy.
I'm gonna love you baby,
Love you till you cry.
Stay with me baby,
Make me always feel so fine.
Stay with me baby,
Make me always feel so fine,
So I can tell all the world,
You always gonna be mine.
Smile on me baby,
Make me feel like summer's here.
Smile on me baby,
Make me feel good when you're near.
Prove it to me baby,
That our love is in the clear.
03 White Summer (03:59)
White Summer was an instrumental that Jimmy Page played with The Yardbirds, and later used in Led Zeppelin, where it turned into Black Mountain Side and appeared on their first album.
07 No Excess Baggage (02:39)
(Atkins / Derrico)
I'm moving,
I'm gonna see the world while I can.
I'm moving,
I'm gonna be a well rounded man.
And there ain't no room for no-one else,
I've got to learn it all for myself.
No excess baggage,
- There to worry me.
No excess baggage,
- There to hurry me.
No excess baggage, girl,
I must roam,
All alone,
On my own,
I'm hungry,
I wanna taste the fruits of the world.
So hungry,
And assure I do love you girl.
But if you're what I'm searching for,
My heart will lead me back to your door.
No excess baggage,
- There to worry me.
No excess baggage,
- There to hurry me.
No excess baggage, girl,
I must roam,
All alone,
On my own.
But if you're what I'm searching for,
My heart will lead me back to your door.
No excess baggage,
- There to worry me.
No excess baggage,
- There to hurry me.
No excess baggage, girl,
I must roam,
All alone,
On my own.
I gotta roam,
All alone,
- No excess baggage.
On my own.
I gotta roam,
- No excess baggage.
All alone,
On my own.
- No excess baggage.
I gotta roam,
- No excess baggage.
On my own.
08 Stealing Stealing (02:36)
(Chris Dreja / Keith Relf / Jim McCarty / Jimmy Page)
Stealin', stealin',
Mama, don't ya tell on me,
I'm stealing back to the way I used to be.
Well, put your arms around me,
Like a circle round the sun,
Now [they's got the blue,?]
We can have a little fun,
How glad it's you,
And not your sister with me now,
Saw her yesterday,
And she look's just like a ...,
Stealin', stealin,
Mama, don't ya tell on me,
I'm stealing back to the way I used to be.
I'm stealin', stealin,
Mama, don't ya tell on me,
I'm stealing back to the way I used to be.
Well, sit beside me baby,
[?]
The sun is shining out now,
Just for you and I,
Look, I mean to walk you home,
Your mama's getting bad,
So I'd rather stay at home.
Stealin', stealin,
Mama, don't ya tell on me,
I'm stealing back to the way I used to be.
I'm stealin', stealin,
Mama, don't ya tell on me,
I'm stealing back to the way I used to be.
Stealin', stealin,
Mama, don't ya tell on me,
I'm stealing back to the way I used to be.
Stealin', stealin,
Mama, don't ya tell on me,
...to fade
09 Only the Black Rose (02:50)
(Keith Relf)
Gone, gone away,
Gone away,
Almost nothing to do.
Gone away,
Now I'm far from you,
Though I'm alone now,
And there's nobody near,
I hush my voice,
Lest they should hear;
My prayers go up to the sky,
Deep within me I die,
I'll never cry,
No-one must see me this way.
Left, left to find,
Someone kind,
Who won't leave me behind,
Who will guide me,
When I am blind;
Soothe my brow,
When thoughts hurt my brain;
Help me love,
When faced with pain.
I long to find someone who,
Will remind me of you,
Only the black rose knows what I will do.
Silence, silence now,
Not a sound,
Stillness everywhere now,
And the trees,
To the wind gently bow,
Only visions of the past and the gloom,
And for the moment you're in the room,
And just as flowers bloom and die,
No-one watching to cry,
Only the black rose stands up to the sky.
Only the black rose stands up to the sky.
Only the black rose.
11 Puzzles (02:10)
(Jimmy Page / Jim McCarty / Chris Dreja / Keith Relf)
You never talk straight to me,
It's all puzzles to me.
If there's sense in what you talk about,
I can never see.
If you don't want me to spend your life with you,
Go and find someone new.
'Cause I know there's so many better girls than you.
Puzzles, hanging on my mind now,
Puzzles, puzzles in my mind,
In my mind,
That's all I find,
In my mind.
Life's puzzles,
I will never know,
Which way to go straight.
Love, war, people arguing,
How can they know what to hate?
Ever since I began thinking,
I wondered why things were so.
But no matter how hard I contemplate,
Puzzles will never go.
Puzzles, hanging on my mind now,
Puzzles, puzzles in my mind,
In my mind,
That's all I find,
In my mind.
Ooh, puzzles.
13 Ha Ha Said the Clown (02:30)
(Tony Hazzard)
Chorus
Ha ha said the clown
Has the king lost his crown,
Is the knight being tight on romance?
Ha ha said the clown,
Is it bringing you down,
That you've lost your chance.
Feeling low, gotta go,
See a show in town.
Hear the jokes, have a smoke,
And a laugh at the clown.
In a whirl, see a girl,
With a smile in her eyes.
Never thought I'd be brought,
Right down by her lies.
Chorus
In a trance, watch her dance,
To the beat of the drums.
Faster now, sweating brow,
I'm all the fingers and thumbs.
Wonder why I hit the sky,
When she blows me a kiss.
In a while run a mile,
I'm regretting all this.
Chorus
Time to go, close the show,
Wave the people good-bye.
Grab my coat, grab my hat,
Look that girl in the eye.
Where's your home?
What's your phone number?
Stop fooling round.
Could have died she replied.
"I'm the wife of the clown"
Chorus
16 Think About It (03:45)
(Keith Relf / Jim McCarty / Jimmy Page)
When will the clouds all roll away?
When will the good people have their say?
I hope you're still round to see the day.
Take a while,
Think about it.
Take a while,
Think about it.
Take a while,
Think about it.
Who can tell what is up or down?
You can be the king or be the clown.
Then climb your tree, take a look around.
Take a while,
Think about it.
Take a while,
Think about it.
Take a while,
Think about it.
Circles of life, an infinite plane,
That which is now now will be again.
Who can decide who is insane?
Take a while,
Think about it.
Take a while,
Think about it.
Take a while,
Think about it.
Carico i commenti... con calma
