La proposta all’inizio mi lasciò alquanto perplesso: si trattava di scegliere alcuni brani dei Beatles e riproporli dal vivo sul palco del Centrale del Tennis al Foro Italico di Roma nell’ambito del “Beatlesmania Festival” organizzato dall’Official Fan Club
Pepperland. Le ragioni del mio tentennare erano molteplici. Innanzitutto, i Beatles –pur col dovuto rispetto e ammirazione- non sono e non sono mai stati il gruppo al primo posto tra le mie preferenze, poi perché con il Balletto di Bronzo non avevo mai eseguito brani di altri artisti, ma forse più che altro mi preoccupava il rischio che si corre quando si decide di reinterpretare dei brani tratti dal repertorio più saccheggiato al mondo e cioè quello di ritrovarsi di colpo catapultati in una dimensione astratta in cui ci si sente assediati da un campo minato a Nord, un fitto ginepraio a Sud, le sabbie mobili a Est e un giungla intricata e insidiosa a Ovest. Negli ultimi decenni abbiamo assistito a un continuo proliferare di cover dei brani dei Beatles realizzate dai più sublimi e ineguagliabili interpreti ma anche –ahimè!- dai più sgangherati scalzacani da balera estiva tra gli ombrelloni-oni-oni o da scialbe orchestrine nei quiz televisivi. Come minimo si rischiava di fare una magra figura o addirittura scadere nel famigerato e da me tanto aborrito “effetto piano bar”!... However a little voice inside my head kept saying that the challenge was so, so tempting. I eventually relented. I reviewed a bit 'old Beatles albums and so, eliminating a priori and without mercy all the more melodic songs and exploited, slowly I came to a really exciting range of pieces that I wanted to rearrange without changing (perhaps just for the sake of making them unrecognizable: sleazy trick !...), while respecting the basic structure, giving it to my "feet" are a new and very personal color, actually closer to the spirit of Gianni Leone / Leonero that the Ballet, I think. In fact, I have interpreted them with great joy, I have "heard" as if they were composed by me, and this was very exciting emotion. Of course I can not mention my teammates and that is the flamboyant drummer-bassist Richard Pins and-prodigy Alessandro Corsi, who made a valuable and indispensable contribution to the successful outcome of the concert. By the way, the repertoire of the evening consisted of songs "I Want You," "Dear Prudence," "Jealous Guy" (turned into a ballad rollingstoniana, part of the so-called "Beatle" published by the Official Beatles Fan Club Pepperland), " Working Class Hero "," Sexy Sadie "(transformed into an incredibly ... Charleston, part of the so-called" Beatle mania 2 of 2004, attached to this e-mail) and "Yer Blues". Not bad, eh? Only later his friend Louis Hops, president of the Official Beatles Fan Club Pepperland, told me that the signed Lennon-McCartney songs such as "Dear Prudence" or "Yer Blues" or "Working Class Hero" were actually composed by Lennon only. This confirms what I've always thought that the soul that is deeper and more subversive of the Beatles was John and Paul, a bit 'too saccharine and childish as an artist and as a person, but this is my personal opinion. A McCartney but I certainly recognize a great talent bass. Right from the first records you hear a sound, a refined technique and bold, very rarely found in other groups. At the time, as part of Pop, bassists just play based on the fundamental notes of the agreements, without committing too much to develop guidelines on their harmonic and melodic instrument. Paul, however, was equipped with a very different conception bassist. Just think of the bass line of "Come Together", for example, to realize the great impact that can have this tool when it is played in such a way as to make carrying and not mere accompaniment. Going to listen to old Beatles records, one is struck by the amount of advances e presagi musicali che hanno disseminato qua e là nella loro intera produzione. Appaiono evidenti e riconoscibili i prodromi, i germi di innumerevoli correnti e generi musicali come la Psichedelìa, il Progressive, lo Sperimentalismo, il Demenziale e persino il Glam Rock: provate a riascoltare “Sexy Sadie” (Album Bianco, 1968) e vi accorgerete che potrebbe benissimo essere un brano di David Bowie nel periodo Ziggy Stardust (1972-1973); sembra addirittura di sentire Mick Ronson alla chitarra nell’arpeggio in si minore all’inizio della strofa (…”What have you done”…)! Quest’avventura musicale mi ha galvanizzato e non vedo l’ora di riproporre il concerto -che, peraltro, è really liked it at all-as soon as possible. Maybe I can add value with tracks if possible even more exciting and titillating .... Certainly the raw material from which to draw is there. We'll talk. Greetings to all friends of music.
Gianni Leone, in August 1999
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