Pino Daniele
Un uomo in blues

Pino Act II - The 90s.

The third part of Pino Daniele's career begins in 1991. The first ranges from his debut (1977) to the peak of '84 with the live testament "Scio!"; the second from '85 ("Ferry Boat") to '89 with "Mascalzone latino". There will be another 3 up to today (2011): the one I'm describing goes from '91 to '98 with the release of the best "Yes I Know my way"; the one (perhaps) most rejected and criticized by fans (as well as the general public) and certainly the one that overshadowed Pino's career starting from 1999 with the most bewildering album ever, "Come un gelato all'equatore", followed by increasingly "disjointed" releases like "Medina" (the best of the period), then "Passi d'autore" and "Iguana" in 2005. The last part is from 2007, starting with the album "Il mio nome è Pino Daniele e vivo qui" as if to show a desire to turn the page once again, which he does the following year by reuniting the "superband" with "ricomincio da 30", but it lasts just a year, then everything dissolves. The last 2 albums "Electric jam" and another somewhat debatable best "Boogie Boogie Man" follow.

But let's go back to 1991. It's a Pino who wants to play and do it big. The first album of the decade, after 2 years of silence, arrives like a firecracker in the middle of the night. "'O Scarrafone" becomes the hit of that year and breathes new life into our hero. It's not that Pino Daniele wasn't known before, but thanks to this album, the fame becomes national, and he begins to see that light called success, perhaps arriving too late.

"Un uomo in blues" opens precisely with the catchy "'o scarrafone", the 1st single extracted; a light song that stays in your head thanks to the now famous chorus with that "oggi è sabato e domani non si va a scuola", an anthem of those years! Perhaps the first of a long series of songs made to push the album. Following is the title track: it’s a new Pino, aggressive, practically electric! The song fits well in the context of the album and will become the new nickname of Pino Daniele. The third track is a gem: "Gente distratta". A "felt" and very inspired song by our artist, focusing on a girl's relationship with her family and the people who leave her alone... the best of this work. "Che soddisfazione" puts the album back on slightly lighter paths: even if the main theme is the hunger for success, and to reach it, the protagonist "spent a fortune"! Only voice and guitar, now Pino's hallmark of inserting at least one song of this type. Cheerful and carefree, a hit in the live performances that followed. Additionally, it features the collaboration of the great American guitarist Mick Goodrick. As in the following "Invece no", the duo reconfirms itself, and this is the first song on the album in Neapolitan: while "'O scarrafone" stopped only in the title, in this, the Neapolitan language resumes singing. In fact, it's this album that becomes the turning point between the "Neapolitan" Pino Daniele and the "Italian"! "Leave A Message" takes up that 80s Pino Daniele structure, i.e., text in Neapolitan-Italian-English very recurrent in the albums of the golden years: just think of "Yes I Know my Way, I Say i sto 'cca, Bonne soirée..." The following is "Domani": another inspired and very delicate piece... a love song in the form of a dedication to a person now lost... to be listened to. We return to Neapolitan with "Femmena", where the voice of the backing vocalist, and then-wife, Dorina Giangrande, stands out in the background. "For Your Love" has the bilingual basis of Pino Daniele: a fast track with Pino's electric guitar always in the background. The album concludes with "Solo": another very electric track, always focusing on the unstable relationship between man and woman, where he says he wants to stay... alone! In fact, analyzing the lyrics, you can notice that in many songs, the dominant theme is the "broken" relationship between lovers: "Solo, for your love, domani, un uomo in blues, gente distratta". Perhaps it was a declaration of intent towards his wife... the fact is that soon after he separated from her.

Two years after the previous "Mascalzone latino", Pino this time hangs up the acoustic guitar and relies entirely on the electric one. A wise choice and a well-appreciated album. It ranges from cheerful to more inspired songs without ever falling into the banal.

"Un uomo in blues" is an album from 20 years ago, but very current. Complicated human relationships, people wanting to prove their worth through money and cars, a society always in a rush and indeed distracted by what surrounds it. As I said, the first of Pino's '90s and probably one of the best: perhaps only surpassed by the following "Che Dio ti benedica". Then the radical change.

Score to Pino: 8.