Un ricordo venuto a galla come un occhio di grasso nel brodo, per usare una metafora particolarmente poetica. Per me è stata una delle canzoni più importanti del 1969 (e il 1969 è stato il mio vero 1968).
Thunderclap Newman è stato un gruppo di un solo album, anzi di un solo 45 giri, questo Something in the Air arrivato al 1° posto nella classifica britannica il 2 luglio 1969 e rimasto al top per 3 settimane. ero a Dublino ed è stata la mia canzone preferita di quel periodo.
Tornato in Italia, ne feci con mezzi rudimentali la “base” per una versione italiana che cantavano mia sorella e alcune sue amiche.
Riporto le informazioni sul gruppo da AllMusicGuide:
John “Speedy” Keene was an old crony of the Who, and had written “Armenia City in the Sky,” which appeared on The Who Sell Out LP. The unlikely Andy Newman played terrific pub-style piano and looked much like a postal clerk, which in fact, he was. Jimmy McCullough, the guitarist, looked to be a mere teenager, and so he was. It was this combination, plus the production efforts of Pete Townshend, that offered the album, Hollywood Dream. As the now-classic single, “Something in the Air” had long preceded it, the album delivered the goods in a similar fashion, fueled by Keene’s reedy vocals and Newman’s charming honky-tonk piano. Hollywood Dream has remained an anglophile fave; sadly, it was to be Thunderclap Newman’s only album. Even if you own the original LP, make sure to check out the recently expanded edition of the compact disc.
Le parole della canzone riportano al clima infuocato di quegli anni:
Call out the instigators because there’s something in the air,
We got to get together sooner or later because the revolution’s here,
And you know it’s right and you know that it’s right.
We have got to get it together.
We have got to get it together now
We’re together now.
Block off the streets and houses because there’s something in the air,
We got to get together sooner or later ‘cos the revolution’s here
And you know it’s right and you know that it’s right
We have got to get it together
We have got to get it together now
Hand out the arms and ammo
We’re gonna blast our way through here
We’ve got to get together sooner or later becaue the revolution’s here
And you know it’s right and you know that it’s right
We have got to get it together
We have got to get it together now
We have got to get it together now
Now, we’re together now, the revolution’s here,
It’s here, the revolution’s here now.
Anche per questo, il brano fu inserito nella colonna sonora di Fragole e sangue (The Strawberry Statement), un film del 1970 che molti (spero) ricorderanno.
Molti l’hanno reincisa. Tra questi, Bob Dylan e Tom Petty (fecero un tour insieme, e suonarono in Italia – la seconda volta di Bob Dylan se si esclude la leggenda metropolitana della sua apparizione al Folkstudio – al Paleur di Roma il 3 ottobre 1987, con Roger McGuinn dei Byrds come support group, e io c’ero, ma questa è tutta un’altra storia; la prima era stata, sempre al Paleur, il 19 giugno 1984, ed ero anche lì).
Sbagliando s'impera 