JOYFUL MEMORIES

Quella Vecchia Locanda’s second and last album “Il tempo della gioia” (The time of joy) was recorded in 1974 with a different line-up featuring veterans Giorgio Giorgi (vocals, flute), Massimo Roselli (piano, organ mellotron, moog, vocals), Patrick Traina (drums, percussion) and Raimondo Maria Cocco (electric and acoustic guitars, vocals) plus Claudio Filice (who replaced the American violinist Donald Lax) and Massimo Giorgi (who took the place of bassist Romualdo Coletta). The strong classical influences are still there but the overall sound is slightly different from the eponymous debut album and features a jazzier, darker atmosphere. The art cover is magnificent and tries to describe the content of this work where the music and words weave nightmares and dreams.

The intense, dreamy opener “Villa Doria Pamhili” begins with a beautiful piano pattern, then acoustic guitar and violin delicately come in and melodic vocals try to describe the feelings that you could experience going to a pop festival in the early seventies... A sweet harmony plays with nature, soaring and gliding on the grass while joy makes people vibrate...

“A forma di...” (In the shape of...) is a classically inspired short instrumental that could recall “Traccia” by Banco del Mutuo Soccorso. It starts softly, as if the music was coming from a distant place... Violin, counter-bass, flutes and harpsichord, then soaring vocals used as an instrument to colour some melodic lines... An amazing track!

The title track is more complex. It begins with a delicate, romantic melody. A sundown on the sea, a magic carpet ride towards new horizons... Then a sudden change in rhythm and mood brings in dark shadows... “It’s as if you were beating the time of joy / And never the time of pain / Your smile is already there... Suddenly the air is trembling / Fear has already taken you...”. Some vocal passages could recall the gloomy atmospheres of “Ys” by Il Balletto di Bronzo, while others recall Hans, PFM’s merchant of dreams, and his coach... A very particular dream full of colours and musical nuances...

“Un giorno, un amico” (A day, a friend) features jazzy touches and violin rides, delicate calm passages and fiery ones. It’s a long, complex track full of changes and colours. Take a deep breath and imagine running to the sun, just to find new sparks of life and old fears, hidden words and thoughts concealed in a secret jewel-case... 

 

The last track “E’ accaduto una notte” (It happened one night) is dark and gloomy. It describes in music and words a nightmare. It begins with a choir setting a gothic atmosphere, then the music goes on quirkily while the lyrics depict a snake crawling through the rocks in the night, a car falling into the void, bad omens and vanishing hopes... “A roar bursts out / A flash of fire / That suffocates voices already extinguished...”.

From Rock Progressivo Italiano: An introduction to Italian Progressive Rock

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Quella Vecchia Locands: Il tempo della gioia (1974). Other opinions:

Jim Russell: This would have to be one of the top candidates to suggest to someone as an essential Italian album and one that covers most of the traits that make them special: creative songwriting fusing the rock, classical, and jazz genres; immaculate production with great attention to recording details; exceptional use of violins, flutes, and other classical elements; warm and passionate Italian vocals; and perhaps most importantly an unabashed willingness to project a most romantic style of music... (read the complete review HERE)

You can read an interview with some members of the band HERE

THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD

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...

From Rock Progressivo Italiano: An introduction to Italian Progressive Rock

You can listen to the complete album HERE

 

You can read an interview with some members of the band HERE