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Rating: Four awkward guys, leaning on their big guitars, force a smile in the mugshot.
THE NOTTING HILLBILLIES
Lost...........
Yeah, where have the hillbillies, the farmers, and the mythical house parties gone?
Why on earth did I buy this CD?
Mark Knopfler might be the reason, it’s definitely the reason. It was 1990 when Knopfler founded this supergroup, bringing together three other exceptional guitarists: Brendan Croker, Steve Phillips, Paul Franklin, plus keyboardist Guy Fletcher.
This work finds its roots in North American Folk, rehashing traditional Country and Western songs, rearranged and made more accessible to a European audience. The songs, almost all steeped in a veil of sadness and melancholy, are supported by the four guitars that continuously weave and build melodies.
The railroad song opens the CD. Sweet with its mandolins and choruses, it feels so Far-West, here I already begin to wonder: "What the hell did I buy! I'm an idiot." The next track is a Blues; I've never understood Blues, but gradually I let myself be carried away, the cotton fields, Kunta Kinte*, the black slaves, I bow, I stand, I bow again and stand**, I sing along.
"Your Own Sweet Way" is the only track written by Knopfler and is heavily influenced by the former Dire Straits guitarist’s style, just like the beautiful "Will You Miss Me" later on, in this case written by S. Phillips. After these first three "whines," I'm catapulted into a dusty yard with "Run Me Down", a driving track where the keyboardist gets a chance to shine. I'm only at the fifth track but I feel more and more American, like a protagonist in a Morricone western.
It continues with folk song adaptations that seem almost rock. The journey continues through deserted and dusty roads of Alabama, Texas. Without rhythmic section yet there’s rhythm even in the slowness of certain tracks. Without a harmonica, without frills, everything revolves around the guitars. Throughout the work, what echoes the most is perhaps the sense of freedom.
Mark K. seems almost to want to say: "No more Straits, no more business, I'm tired." Then, well...... What remains in history is this unique record, like a loose cannon nonetheless, ultimately, a timeless album that, sixteen years after I purchased it, still is part of my personal playlist, unlike the Dire Straits works, which I haven't listened to for years.
* Kunta Kinte, the slave from the book/film Roots.
**I bow, I stand... the motion of cotton pickers. They tell me that from their laborious and rhythmic breathing comes Blues.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Railroad Worksong (05:30)
Working on a railroad for a dollar a day
Working on a railroad for a dollar a day
Working on a railroad good buddy for a dollar a day
Got to get my money gotta get my pay
Take this hammer take it to the captain
Take this hammer take it to the captain
Take this hammer good buddy take it to the captain
Tell him I’m gone tell him I’m gone
If he asks you was I running
If he asks you was I running
If he asks you good buddy was I running
Tell him I was flying tell him I was flying
If he asks you was I laughing
If he asks you was I laughing
If he asks you good buddy was I laughing
Tell him I was crying tell him I was crying
This old hammer rings like silver
This old hammer rings like silver
This old hammer good buddy rings like silver
Shine like gold buddy and it shine like gold
Working on a railroad for a dollar a day
Working on a railroad for a dollar a day
Working on a railroad good buddy for a dollar a day
Got to get my money gotta get my pay
Got to get my money gotta get my pay
Got to get my money gotta get my pay
03 Your Own Sweet Way (04:32)
There is nothing I can do
Nothing I can say
You'll do what you want to
You'll go your own sweet way
You'll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way
You'll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way
Now I can talk to you serious
I can talk to you nice
But when it comes to love
You won't take good advice
You'll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way
You'll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way
It doesn't matter what I say
What I do or what I think
You can lead a horse to water
You can't make him drink
You'll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way
You'll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way
05 One Way Gal (03:11)
One thing I like about that gal of mine
One thing I like about that gal of mine
One thing I like about that gal of mine
She treats me right and loves me all the time
She walked in the rain till her feet got soaking wet
She walked in the rain till her feet got soaking wet
She walked in the rain till her feet got soaking wet
And this she said to every man she met
Mister change a dollar – gimme a lousy dime
Mister change a dollar – gimme a lousy dime
Mister change a dollar – gimme a lousy dime
So I can fee that hungry man of mine
Sometimes I’m broke and blue as I can be
Sometimes I’m broke and blue as I can be
Sometimes I’m broke and blue as I can be
But still my baby she looks after me
That gal of mine she’s one way all the time
That gal of mine she’s one way all the time
That gal of mine she’s one way all the time
She takes the blues away and satisfies my mind
That gal of mine she’s one way all the time
That gal of mine she’s one way all the time
08 Please Baby (03:51)
TRADITIONAL
Please baby - please please baby
Won't you come back to your daddy one more time
Please baby - please please baby
When I get my money I will give you my last dime
When you left me babe, you left me feeling so blue
You know that I didn't love no-one but you
Please baby - please please baby
Won't you come back to your daddy one more time
I'm so blue baby, I'm, I'm so blue baby
I can't sleep at night
I can't hardly talk from crying
You know baby, you, you know baby
You always forever on my mind
Since you've been gone I can't sleep at night
Why don't you take my meals I can't eat a bite
Please baby, please please baby
Won't you come back to your daddy one more time
When you left me babe you left me feeling so blue
You know that I didn't love no-one but you
Please baby - please please baby
Won't you come back to your daddy one more time
11 Feel Like Going Home (04:53)
Lord I feel like going home
I tried and I failed and I’m tired and weary
Everything I ever done was wrong
And I feel like going home
Lord I tried to see it through
But it was too much for me
And now I’m coming home to you
And I feel like going home
Cloudy skies are rolling in
And not a friend around to help me
From all the places I have been
And I feel like going home
Lord I feel like going home
I tried and I failed and I’m tired and weary
Everything I ever done was wrong
And I feel like going home
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By claudio carpentieri
The album is a true act of reverence towards those distinctive sounds of that American tradition rooted in rockabilly, roots, bluegrass, and rock ’n’ roll.
"Missing... Presumed Having A Good Time": for genre lovers an album of substance, for everyone else an excellent tonic for the mind and heart in a world made of sumptuous banality.
