Basta Chiudere Gli Occhi
5
By Bnoblefish
In 1964, when I was about 19, I was going to school in Florence, Italy, and I would take a bus to a little cafe, put a few gazillion lire into the juke box, order an espresso, and sit listening to Gino Paoli. He is, for many, an acquired taste, and this is a dated album--how could it not be? But the songs are classics. "Sapore di Sale," a great beach romance song..."Che Cosa C'e?" an amazingly beautiful and passionate declaration of love..."Vivere Ancora," a stubbornly romantic portrait of enmeshed love...and all the others. Gino wrote the songs; he was, and (at 76) still is one of the best pop songwriters of my lifetime. And the peerless Ennio Morricone--who scored "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," "The Mission," and "Cinema Paradiso"--did all the arrangements. It is music whose emotions you can climb into the mud and wallow in. One of the great albums of my life, though it will take an unusual set of ears to fully appreciate it today. All I can say is: Dive in!
