Barbe lunghe.
Eppure l’unico ad avere la barba corta si chiama Frankie Beard (barba per l’appunto)! Questi furono i miei primi pensieri la prima volta che sentii parlare degli ZZ Top. Poi un giorno, mi trovavo a Lione in gita con la scuola e in un negozio di Cd usati m’imbattei in “Fandango” quarto album del trio texano, datato 1975. Non so nemmeno perché ma la copertina e il nome del disco mi attirano paurosamente e finii per comprare l’album a scatola chiusa.
L’album parte con il suono di un pubblico che freme per l’entrata in scena del gruppo. Siamo al Warehouse di New Orleans e sul palco sta per salire un trio texano. Una voce annuncia: “are you ready for ZZ top? Ladies and gentlemen, the fantastic ZZ top!” E si parte con un boogie irresistibile e serratissimo. E’ “Thunderbird”, veloce bluesaccio suonato con una grinta indescrivibile, davvero una partenza al fulmicotone. Nemmeno il tempo di riprendere fiato e la band esegue il classicissimo scritto dalla premiata ditta Leiber/Stoller per Elvis “Jailhouse Rock”, con la slide guitar di Billy Gibbons in primo piano nell’assolo. Davvero formidabile, una delle versioni di questa canzone che preferisco. Nemmeno una pausa ed è subito tempo del medley di nove minuti “Backdoor Medley”, un collage blues-rock costituito da “Backdoor love affair”, “Mellow down easy” di Wille Dixon, la prosecuzione di “Backdoor love affair” e infine il “Long distance boogie”. Gli ZZ top sono davvero dei grandi musicisti e ottimi intrattenitori coinvolgendo con il loro blues rock sporco e tostissimo.
Poi come di tradizioni per molti gruppi rock-blues dei 60 e dei 70, la seconda parte del disco è un ottimo lato costituito da registrazioni in studio. Sicuramente i suoni sono più puliti rispetto alla parte dal vivo ma i pezzi sono in ogni caso dei classicissimi composti rigorosamente dal gruppo. “Nasty dogs and funky kings” col suo ritmo sostenuto e sincopato inizia questa parte che continua con il blues strappa lacrime di “Blue Jean blues”, un classico del loro repertorio in cui si segnala il solismo del sempre ottimo Gibbons , molto struggente in questo brano. “Balinese” è il solito ottimo boogie non troppo duro ma ben ritmato e coinvolgente, mentre “Mexican blackbird” è una spensierata canzone dai toni quasi country, in cui la voce sembra riprodurre quella di un gran bevitore seduto a bere qualcosa in un saloon del Texas. Ad accentuare la sensazione c’è anche un bell’assolo d’armonica. Il disco si chiude in bellezza con i due bluesacci tiratissimi e veloci di “Head it on the X” , con l’alternanza incalzante al microfono di Billy Gibbons e Dusty Hill e soprattutto con quella che penso sia la mia preferita del disco, ossia “Tush”. Riff memorabile e tutta la band davvero sugli scudi con un ritmo che dire incalzante è poco, quasi un rock n roll!
Questo “Fandango”, insieme al precedente “Tres Hombres” è sicuramente uno degli episodi migliori dei tre barbuti texani, che purtroppo col passare del tempo si sono forse adagiati troppo sulla popolarità e hanno abbandonato il particolarissimo e personale Rock blues che aveva caratterizzato il loro sound iniziale per abbandonarsi ad un rock più banale ma con un migliore “appeal” commerciale, mentre qua li sentiamo come ottimi performers sia dal vivo sia in studio.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Thunderbird (04:09)
Get high, everybody, get high.
Get high, everybody, get high.
Get high, everybody, get high.
Get high, everybody, get high.
Have you heard? What's the word?
It's Thunderbird.
All you kids from Texas,
you grow so big and tall.
All of them kids from Texas
they grow so big and tall.
All of them like to roam
in that T-Bird hall.
Get hi-hi-high.
Really makes you feel so fine,
really goes down so smooth,
really puts you in the groove.
Have you heard? What's the word?
It's Thunderbird.
Juice, juice, juice
really makes you loose loose, loose,
really goes down so smooth,
really puts you in the groove.
Have you heard? What's the word?
It's Thunderbird.
Get hi-hi-high,
way up in the sky.
Gonna get, yes sirree,
if ya come and rock with me.
Have you heard? What's the word?
It's Thunderbird.
02 Jailhouse Rock (01:56)
Goin' to a party in the county jail,
Prison band was there and they began to wail.
Kid is shakin' and began to sing;
You should've heard them knocked out jailbirds sing.
Let's rock! Everybody, let's rock!
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin' to the jailhouse rock.
Spider Murphy sittin' on a block of stone;
Little Joey blowin' on a slide trombone.
Come on, Silly Willy, don't you be no square.
If you cannot find a partner, use a wooden chair.
Let's rock! Everybody, let's rock!
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin' to the jailhouse rock.
Shifty Henry said to Bugs,"For heaven's sake,
No one's lookin'; now's our chance to make a break."
Bugsy turned to Shifty and he said, "Nix nix. I
Wanna stick around awhile and get my kicks."
Let's rock! Everybody, let's rock!
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin' to the jailhouse rock.
03 Backdoor Medley: Backdoor Love Affair / Mellow Down Easy / Backdoor Love Affair No. 2 / Long Distance Boogie (09:54)
05 Blue Jean Blues (04:45)
I done ran into my baby
and fin'lly found my old blue jean.
I done ran into my baby
and fin'lly found my old blue jean.
Well, I could tell that they was mine
from the oil and the gasoline.
If I ever get back my blue jean,
Lord, how happy could one man be.
If I ever get back my blue jean,
Lord, how happy could one man be.
'Cause if I get back those blue jean
you know, my baby be bringin' 'em home to me.
06 Balinese (02:38)
Deep in the South of Texas
not so long ago,
there on a crowded island
in the Gulf of Mexico
it didn't take too much money,
man, but it sure was nice.
You could dance all night if you felt all right,
drinking whiskey and throwing dice.
And everybody knows
it was hard to leave.
And everybody knows
it was down at the Balinese.
Yeah, I remember Ruby,
she always dressed in red
wearing skintight pants, Lord, and how she could dance
with a rag wrapped around her head.
And everybody knows
it was hard to leave.
And everybody knows
it was down at the Balinese.
And everybody knows
it was hard to leave.
And everybody knows
it was down at the Balinese,
it was down at the Balinese,
it was down at the Balinese.
07 Mexican Blackbird (03:05)
If you're down in Acuna and you ain't up to being alone
don't spend all your money on just any honey that's grown.
Go find the Mexican blackbird and send all your troubles back home.
They all call her her "puta" 'cause no one really knows her name.
She works the cantina, dancin' and a-lovin's her trade.
Her mama was Mez'can and her daddy was the ace of spades.
Oh, let's drive that old Chrysler down to Mexico, boy.
Said, keep your hands on the wheel there.
Oh, it sure is fine, ain't it?
Now, ya got it! Hand me another one of them brews from back there.
Oh, this is gonna be so good.
Mm, she's hot as a pepper but smooth as a Mexican brew.
So head for the border and put in an order or two.
The wings of the blackbird will spread like an eagle for you.
Oh, one more time,
can you roll me another Bull Durham, please?
Can't you do it with one hand, boy?
08 Heard It on the X (02:28)
Do you remember
back in nineteen sixty-six?
Country Jesus, hillbilly blues,
that's where I learned my licks.
Oh, from coast to coast and line to line
in every county there,
I'm talkin' 'bout that outlaw X
is cuttin' through the air.
Anywhere, y'all,
everywhere, y'all,
I heard it, I heard it,
I heard it on the X.
We can all thank Doctor B
who stepped across the line.
With lots of watts he took control,
the first one of its kind.
So listen to your radio
most each and every night
'cause if you don't I'm sure you won't
get to feeling right.
Anywhere, y'all,
everywhere, y'all,
I heard it, I heard it,
I heard it on the X.
09 Tush (02:14)
I been up, I been down.
Take my word, my way around.
I ain't askin' for much.
I said, Lord, take me downtown,
I'm just lookin' for some tush.
I been bad, I been good,
Dallas, Texas, Hollywood.
I ain't askin' for much.
I said, Lord, take me downtown,
I'm just lookin' for some tush.
Take me back way back home,
not by myself, not alone.
I ain't askin' for much.
I said, Lord, take me downtown,
I'm just lookin' for some tush.
- Frank Beard, Bill Gibbons & Dusty Hill
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