AA.VV.
Play New Rose For Me

It was 1990, I was attending the final year of scientific high school, the graduation exam was looming, and the institute organized a trip to Paris; so after the heart-wrenching visits to the Louvre and the D'Orsay (blessed be ignorance) and after falling asleep in the cinema during the original version screening with French subtitles of Woody Allen's "Crimes And Misdemeanors", I dedicated my first free moment to a devout pilgrimage in rue Pierre Sarrazin, home of the historic record label New Rose, which, besides having in its ranks genuine sacred monsters of rock history (Bo Diddley, Saints, Cramps, Johnny Thunders, is that enough?), also offered more than one opportunity to many obscure heroes of Eighties rock'n'roll (among my favorites, Primevals and That Petrol Emotion). And above all, in 1987, it released what I still consider one of the most beautiful compilations ever published, "Play New Rose For Me", the hundredth title in a glorious catalog.

Splendid from the packaging - double vinyl wrapped in a cardboard cover that reproduces the envelope of a greeting card - the collection aligns 26 episodes, or rather 26 reciprocal tributes among the label's artists.

Just to say, there are Divine Horsemen and Mad Daddys tackling the Cramps; Mudboy & The Neutrons, Giant Sand, and Fortune Tellers revisiting Bo Diddley; Reptiles At Dawn and Slickee Boys who do not back down from genuine pieces of punk history such as "Chinese Rocks" and "Misunderstood"; rendering everything with a passion and involvement difficult to replicate, for an overall result that to define as brilliant is an understatement.

And above all, there are four moments reserved for pure, strong, tough hearts and crazy souls.

The first is for the pure hearts. The pure heart is that of Alex Chilton who performs as a perfect one-man-band "With A Girl Like You" by the Troggs. Honestly, I don't know any words adequate for such a genius, someone who with the Box Tops was on the verge of conquering the world, with Big Star wrote a handful of songs that would have made both the Beatles and the Velvet Underground envious, and died in misery a few months ago, forgotten by all. As a dutiful - albeit minimal - recognition, I direct you to listen to "With A Girl Like You".

The second is for the strong hearts. The strong heart is that of Howe Gelb who, leading Giant Sand (at the time, perhaps, the best rock band around, along with Died Pretty) boldly takes on no less than "Who Do You Love" and offers a version that is (absolutely, yes) on par with that of Quicksilver Messenger Service on "Happy Trails", while being significantly different. As much as that was stretched out, occupying an entire vinyl side, this is compressed, hardened, and soured: the sensation is that while Howe Gelb recites the lyrics, everyone is engaged in playing "John Coltrane Stereo Blues" or something of the kind. Only a group in a state of grace and fully aware of its talent can afford to violate in such a way one of the greatest classics of all time rock; and I like to think that Bo Diddley made a point of personally congratulating Gelb and company (on the occasion, among them was also the late Rainer of Rainer And Das Combo).

The third is for the tough hearts. The tough heart is that of Jello Biafra who in a single stroke electrifies Bobby Fuller Four and the Clash, igniting "I Fought The Law" with a somewhat hardcore punk fire, adapting the lyrics (the historic shift from "I fought the law and the law won" to "I fought the law and I won") and transforming the original lament of an imprisoned man for his woman into a fierce mockery against the US judicial system, distinguished for having acquitted a police officer of a double murder charge based on the defense theory that, having ingested sugar-laden junk food, this caused him a temporary mental disturbance.

The fourth, and last, is for the crazy souls. The crazy soul is the hippie one of Sky Saxon which meets that, devastated by electroshock and thorazine, of Roky Ericson, letting the famous "Don't Slander Me" soar freely to places unknown to mere mortals: more than a tribute, a true declaration of love. It would be really nice if this had helped to drive the demons from the spirit of old Roky, if one believes what was stated during his recent collaboration with Okkervil River, for which true love drives away all evil.

You will have thus understood how an emotionally deep album, "Play New Rose For Me" is, one of those that are no longer made nowadays; even though it is the hopeful response of encountering something similar that still drives me to feed on music.