Tito Schipa Jr.
Dylaniato

LA RECENSIONE

I "discovered" this album through Radio1 Stereonotte, specifically while listening to the song "Signori della guerra (Masters of war)" (in my opinion the best of the lot) played by Federico Guglielmi in a broadcast a few months ago.

The online search was not the easiest but in the end... (the CD has long been out of catalog...)

I had heard little in the past about Tito Schipa Jr. (naturally the son of the more famous tenor), I was aware of some of his incursions-collaborations in the Italian progressive cauldron of the '70s but I would never have expected an album like this from him. I understand that reinterpreting Dylan's songs in Italian might seem trivial (or obvious) but at least one cannot deny the originality of the idea especially if we consider that our "Mister Tambourine Man" is one of the most traditionally, and sometimes blandly, covered artists in the history of music.

One could criticize the musical choices adapted to the tracks (which I admit I do not fully appreciate...), the translation of certain lyrics, or Schipa's own voice (which to me seems a mix between Alberto Fortis and Finardi...).

This does not detract from this "Dylaniato" the merit of being, without any doubt, a work pleasantly worth rediscovering in the oblivion labeled "eighties".