Alex Chilton

"Bangkok" (Alex Chilton)

Here’s a little thing that’s gonna please ya
Just a little town down in Indonesia
Bangkok
Yeah Bangkok

Two slanty eyed men lyin’ in bed
One got his Mauser, the other said
Bangkok
Ooh Bangkok

Makin’ love the Japanese way
Learned aggressively in Hong Kong
Bangkok
Ooh Bangkok

Margaret Trudeau, Jackie O.
Madame Nhu and Brigitte Bardot
Bangkok
Yeah Bangkok
Ooh baby Bangkok
Baby Bangkok
Baby Bangkok

Yeah
Huh huh hah

Hmm hmm ha ha ha

I’m not livin’ on Chinese rocks
I never …
Oh Bangkok
Yeah Bangkok baby
Whoo

It’s a revisionist kinda mind
It’s just a little town down in Indochina
Bangkok
Yeah Bangkok
Whoo Bangkok
Baby Bangkok

Nella discografia (solista) piuttosto erratica del compianto Maestro di Memphis, "Bangkok" occupa un posto di assoluto rilievo storico-artistico; pubblicato nel 1978 dalla Lust/Unlust di New York, e' il secondo 45 giri di Alex successivo allo scioglimento dei Big Star.
Un autentico tributo allo spirito piu' sincero e libertario del rock'n'roll (la label interna - FUN - ricalca graficamente quella degli storici singoli SUN di Elvis Presley), "Bangkok" rivela con anticipo la visione musicale di Alex dell'epoca, poi portata a compimento e maturazione con la produzione del capolavoro d'esordio dei Cramps, "Songs The Lord Taught Us".

Assolutamente iconica la foto di Godlis scelta per la copertina, scattata una sera del 1977 sulla Bowery a New York : "I don't remember whose idea it was to go out to the median strip on the Bowery to do that shot - mine or Alex's. Most certainly it was on a whim or a dare while talking over beers at the CBGB's bar. Definitely not planned too far in advance. Just run out in the rain, and try an idea out, then go back for another beer. We'd tried other shots indoors and out, but neither of us was satisfied. So when I developed the film and saw that strange drop of rain that had landed on the lens in what couldn't have been a more perfect spot, I was ecstatic. That was it - and we both knew it. Soon it got used as the cover for his independent single "Bangkok" (with a great version of the Seeds' "Can't Seem to Make You Mine" on the flip side)".
Da ascoltare a volume alto.

Chris Bell

"I Am The Cosmos" (Chris Bell)

Every night I tell myself

"I am the cosmos, I am the wind"

But that don't get you back again

Just when I was starting to feel okay

You're on the phone

I never wanna be alone

Never wanna be alone

I hate to have to take you home

Wanted too much to say no, no

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Never wanna be alone

I hate to have to take you home

Want you too much to say no, no

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah

My feelings always have been something

I couldn't hide, I can't confide

Don't know what's going on inside

So every night I tell myself

"I am the cosmos, I am the wind"

But that don't get you back again

I'd really like to see you again

I really wanna see you again

I'd really like to see you again

I really wanna see you again

I'd really like to see you again

I really wanna see you again

I never wanna see you again

I really wanna see you again

Uno dei 45 giri (pubblicato nel 1978 dalla Car Records di New York) piu' belli e indispensabili dell'intera storia della musica rock.

Impossibile non commuoversi ogni volta che lo si ascolta, continua nel tempo a brillare come un diamante purissimo acquistando - man mano che la vita scorre - senso e significato sempre piu' pregnanti.

Capolavoro ed esempio emblematico di cio' che "The Music Is Inside" rappresenta.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

Disco straordinario.

Quarto album ("I Learned The Hard Way") per la fantastica Sharon Jones e 39'38" di soul music stellare come non e' dato spesso di udire da un artista contemporaneo; qui si ascolta soul nell'accezione che il termine aveva negli anni sessanta e settanta quando il genere era al proprio apogeo creativo.

Cantato e suonato con passione rara, viscerale, contagiosa; onore e gloria agli autori!

Di seguito, la press release:

"Produced by Bosco Mann and recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine by Gabriel Roth in Daptone Records’ House of Soul studios, this record drips with a warmth and spontaneity rarely found since the golden days of Muscle Shoals and Stax. Sharon’s raw power, rhythmic swagger, moaning soulfulness, and melodic command set her firmly alongside Tina Turner, James Brown, Mavis Staples, and Aretha as a fixture in the canon of soul music. From the lush Philly-Soul fanfare that ushers in “The Game Gets Old” at the top of the record, to the stripped down Sam Cooke-style“Mama Don’t Like My Man” at the tail, the Dap-Kings dance seamlessly through both the most crafted and simple arrangements with subtlety and discipline. I Learned the Hard Way is the “Daptone Sound” at its finest".

(www.daptonerecords.com)

Beat Records Company

Per gli appassionati di colonne sonore originali di certo cinema di genere, e' indispensabile la frequentazione assidua della label italiana Beat Records Company.

L'occasione di menzionarla qui mi e' data dal lancio del nuovo sito, dove e' possibile consultare il catalogo ed effettuare ordini on-line.

Riprodotta qui sopra l'accattivante copertina del CD di "Black Emanuelle Goes East", opera del maestro Nico Fidenco.

(www.beatrecords.it)