Quella
Vecchia Locanda were one of the many prog bands formed in Rome in the
early seventies. They released their eponymous debut album in 1972
for the Help label with a line-up featuring Giorgio Giorgi (vocals,
flute), Massimo Roselli (piano, organ, mellotron, moog, vocals),
Donald Lax (violin), Patrick Traina (drums, percussion), Romualdo
Coletta (bass) and Raimondo Maria Cocco (electric and acoustic
guitars, vocals). The musicians had a strong classical background and
their music is a very interesting blend of classical influences with
rock and folk. The beautiful art cover tries to describe the content
of the album, a concept about difficult relationships and solitude...
The
opener “Prologo” (Prologue) depicts in music and words a
desperate, bleak landscape of solitude and alienation, an old,
decrepit house in a dark wood where even worms refuse to live, where
love for life gets hate in return. The very first notes are picked up
from Johannes Brahms’ piano trio, op. n. 8, then the music develops
in a shifting way before calming down... “These walls are heatless
and dark / You can find here nothing but pain / Light, I’m looking
for you / Life, I’m running after you...”.
“Un
villaggio, un’illusione” (A village, an illusion) describes a
desperate, frenzied running through burnt grass aimlessly, led by the
thirst for life... “There’s a village out there / It’s open to
everyone but not to me / My destiny is dreadful / I need someone
beside me...”. A sudden change in rhythm underlines the fear of
refusal and the sensation that bullets shot from the village could
penetrate your body and turn the green grass red like fire...
“Realtà”
(Reality) is a beautiful dreamy ballad where the dread illusion melts
and hope rises... “I can breathe / I can see the light... Pain,
hate and love do not make any sense to me now / I look at the sky
that resembles me / A storm starts raging / Shouts, lightning,
wind... They do not notice the people who are suffering and envy
their honey... I’m dreaming of something that could give you a real
peace... Who can understand this reality?”.
“Immagini
sfocate” (Unfocused images) is a short, hypnotic track where an
aggressive, psychedelic guitar riff emerges from experimental
sounds... “I’m dreaming, I think so / All is dark around me /
Only mysterious forces can explain...”. The psychedelic dream fades
on the next track, the complex “Il cieco” (The blind man) where
the sounds of life bring us back to reality and the lyrics describe
meeting a blind man who needs someone beside him and asks for help...
“Dialogo”
(Dialogue) is a beautiful, complex track where classical influences
blend perfectly with rock and a touch of jazz in the musical dialogue
between the scared hermit banned from society and the blind man. New
positive feelings come to life...
“Verso
la locanda” (Towards the inn) is another excellent track,
bittersweet and dreamy, where the violin leads the way to the house
of joy... “A thousand shadows are running in my direction / Come,
my friend / The way is long but I will lead you / That’s the
inn...”.
The
final track “Sogno, risveglio e...” (Dream, awake and...) opens
with a delicate piano pattern, then violin and flute come in... “The
roof crumbles / The walls fall down / In theatre of the world...”.
Here the melancholic, dreamy mood and a reprise of the initial theme
could suggest that what is crumbling is the dreadful house of
solitude in the dark wood...
You can listen to the complete album HERE
You can read an interview with some members of the band HERE
