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Rating: That someone like me, let’s say, can also end up in Milan, in Lombardy.
That someone like me happened to be there last December and, after being dazzled by the lights and the dirty marbles of the Duomo, reconnects to reality and starts wandering the streets looking for shops that sell black pans to purchase the latest work by Enzino Jannacci titled “Something to Listen to, between Unreleased Tracks and Rarities”.
That someone like me searches all over Milan and doesn’t find the record. Not even at Feltrinelli.
That someone like me then expected the shop windows of the record stores to be plastered with Enzo’s album... and damn it, we are in his city!
But nothing. But could it be that someone like me, in the end, just dreamed of the record?
But, 10 years after the doctor's death, the album has really been released. And it’s a real gem because it contains dated and private recordings, demos of songs that later appeared on his records. Starting with "el portava i scarp del tennis", "soldato Nencini" and "il primo furto non si scorda mai".
The LP definitely feels the passage of time, the recordings are from the '50s and '60s made on tapes of the era, but it’s a handcrafted and genuine production, heartfully desired by Paolo, Enzo’s son and an extraordinary musician, who curated the entire project that made me happy and, maybe, some others too.
Paolino digs deep into the Jannacci family archive, and pulls out these tracks published exclusively on vinyl that, as he himself claimed, is a “physical reference, of larger dimensions, in a digital world.”
The album contains 14 tracks, 7 of which are performed live including the beautiful "sfiorisci bel fiore" later sung by Pierangelo Bertoli, in addition to "faceva il palo" and the already mentioned "il primo furto non si scorda mai".
Among the unreleased tracks is the surreal and brilliant "non posso sporcarmi il vestito". A video was also made for the song in which Enzo is chased by the characters from his songs after witnessing the death of a girl who ended up under the wheels of a tram. The text, with its few visionary verses, is a masterstroke:
"Sono rimasto tanto male, quando ho letto sul giornale,
che eri morta prematuramente, così, senza dirmi niente.
Ma che sei andata a fare sotto le ruote della motrice
avresti dovuto sapere che potevi anche morire.
Non posso venire a trovarti all'obitorio
perchè, come sai, mi dà fastidio il sangue.
Certo non è bello da parte mia
ma quando vedo il sangue mi sento tanto male
e non posso sporcarmi il vestito, per chi? Per te?
E non posso sporcarmi il vestito per te
anche se, ti voglio bene".
That eventually someone like me found and bought the record, even if in foreign land. In the Republic of San Marino where a huge vinyl shop resides...
Enjoy the listening.
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