"When I was a young boy a lived for rock'n'roll; We spent our time playing gigs and travelling on the road; And we didn't have much money and the gigs were sometimes rough; Now I am a young man dressing in sparkling coloured clothes; A country house e sixty acres are a heavy load".
Così canta Steve Winwood, neopradrone di 60 acri nel Glouchestershire, in "Memories of a Rock'n'Rolla". Siamo nel '74 i "favolosi anni '60" sono finiti da un pezzo e l'imborghesimento avanza: i Traffic, loro sono al passo d'addio, di nuovo un quartetto, senza l'ingombrante sezione ritmica dei Muscle Shoals e con il giamaicano Rosko Gee al basso. Ma a sorpresa l'album di congedo non segue affatto la china di compiaciuta indolenza intrapresa con "Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory" ed "On The Road", proponendo pezzi più radio-friendly dove finalmente la splendida voce di Winwood spazia libera come ai tempi di "John Barleycorn Must Die".
La jazzata "Something New", per esempio, ha, ironicamente visto il titolo, la leggerezza tipica dei loro brani dei sixties, così come, all'altro estremo, la sinistra "Graveyard People" richiama un po' l'incubo psichedelico di "50000 Headmen". Non mancano comunque brani più estesi, nella più tipica tradizione dei Late Period Traffic: la jam session di turno quì è "Dream Gerrard", costruita su un ipnotico riff al sinth e su improvvise e drammatiche folate di mellotron sui quali Winwood al piano e Wood al sax-wah wah ricamano due interessanti assoli, romantico il primo, sornionamente invitante il secondo. L'incomprensibile testo, evocante il mondo onirico del poeta romantico Gerard de Nerval che vedeva nel sogno una seconda vita, è opera, e come stupirsene, di Vivian Stanshall, l'eccentrico animatore della Bonzo dog doo dah Band, orgoglio dadaista della swingin' London. Il brano, anche se segue un pò la falsa riga di "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys", è notevole e merita la palma di migliore insieme, probabilmente, all'altro mid-tempo "Walking In The Wind". La title track infine, seppur marcata da un pretenzioso testo ecologista di Capaldi, è un perfetto brano di chiusura che ci culla su un morbido tappeto di percussioni, organo e pianoforte verso la fine di una bella avventura.
P.S.: In copertina è raffigurato un bel disegno del gruppo basato su una foto in cui è ancora presente il percussionista africano Rebop, il quale però, a quanto pare dai credits, non ha mai partecipato alle registrazioni dell'album.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Something New (03:21)
(Winwood/Capaldi)
You said you couldn't leave me after all that we'd been through
I believed you when you said we should both try something new
I was drowning inside here with a love that was so true
But you laughed right in my face and there was nothing I could do
Once I took a walk across the hill to see what I could see
I saw a light falling from the sky and land beneath a tree
The light it gave was oh, so bright that it took away my care
I ran back to the house to tell you but you were not there
When you've loved someone dearly it's so hard not to regret
Memories that have faded, suddenly you can't forget
I know I was not dreaming when you walked right out the door
Just a feeling that told me my love was gone for evermore
When you think you've found the key, the door just slips away
And so you walk the floor all night until the break of day
Somewhere in your mind you know that things will be alright
Because everything in life is equal just like the day and night
You said you couldn't leave me after all that we'd been through
I believed you when you said that we should both try something new
Something new
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published by 1974 F.S. Music Ltd. (PRS) &
Freedom Songs Ltd. (PRS)
All rights on behalf of F.S. Music Ltd. admin. by
Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)
02 Dream Gerrard (11:06)
(Winwood/Capaldi)
And it's a fact, you are cold, they react, dream Gerrard
Hippos don't wear hats, lobsters shriek if provoked
On long blue ribbons
That he may see while he sleeps
Monsieur Old Neddy, he wears spectacles in bed
That he may see dreams more clearly
The night, it will be black, and white raven croaking
I am thirsty, die, they won't let it be
They think it should be done with reality
I scream from a skull. Fritz, bring your wigwam
They won't let it be
They think it should be done with reality, with reality
They won't let it be
They think it should be done with reality, with reality
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published by 1974 F.S. Music Ltd. (PRS) &
Warner/Chappell Music Ltd. (PRS)
All rights on behalf of F.S. Music Ltd. admin.
by Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)
04 Walking in the Wind (06:54)
You walk and talk and move around in circles
Your friends telling you you are doing fine
You can't see that snowball as it hurtles
Through the shattered membranes of your mind
If I could talk to you for just one minute
Then you would know what it is I am getting at
But there again your head's got nothing in it
By the way you left without your hat
I'm walking in the wind looking at the sky
Hanging on a breeze and wondering why, why
Your old man's headed for the final pay-off
The joker that you got is fading too
And all the sharks that come around for the rip-off
Are gonna tear the flesh right off you
The plastic princess hangs her head in wonder at the silver glittered boys
Trying, trying to compete
And all at once the room begins to thunder
And all that's left is the stain on the sheet
The prostitute is standing on the corner
Suffering so much pain to stay alive
She's so real, that life itself bows down before her
She couldn't make that nine to five
While the president is crying, crying in the White House
The prime minister's really got the blues
All the heads of state are busy playing cat & mouse
'Cause you can see none of them have ever paid their dues
God knows why, why, why
07 When the Eagle Flies (04:23)
(Winwood/Capaldi)
When the eagle flies you'd better watch your eyes
He's gonna sweep everything in his path
And when the heavens cry it's gonna drown the sky
And you'll get caught in the aftermath
When the mountains move it's no good trying
To prove that you've been doing everything you can
And don't you start to cry when you're about to die
You gotta stand up and take it like a man
Because you've been taking instead of giving
And all the while you've been living lies
Economics, all your atomics
Ain't gonna save you from that bird in the sky
And when the good times roll wrapped up in your mink coat
You will be stepping from your Cadillac
You will be stepping from your Cadillac
And in a micro flash you're gonna feel the lash
Of big eagle's wing across your back
And when the seas subside you'll see him glide right out of view
In clouds of snow the rains will come
And wash away the scum so that all the little flowers can grow
There'll be no more taking, only giving
And the sun pouring down
No economics and no atomics
Just the spread of Mother Nature's gown
Do you hear me, Mother Nature? ...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published by 1974 F.S. Music Ltd. (PRS) &
Freedom Songs Ltd. (PRS)
All rights on behalf of F.S. Music Ltd. admin. by
Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)
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