by Andrea Laffranchi
The bluesman opens (for the second time) a show of the band in Germany. “I sang “Diamante” last year on Mick’s birthday in Tuscany: he was touched”
The origins are the same. The swamps of the blues. For the Rolling Stones, they were the foundation onto which white rock was grafted. Zucchero brought this black tradition into Italian songs. “To the classic question, Beatles or Rolling Stones?, I’ve always answered Stones with conviction. That’s still the case today, even though I later learned to love the Beatles. I like the Stones’ raw, rotten sound that draws on African American culture,” says Zucchero.
Yesterday the concert of the biggest rock band in history opened in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Sensation?
“It was an honor to have been chosen by them for the second time to be the gladiator to call the public to the arrival of the Emperor.”
The only Italian double victory. The first time was in Imst in Austria in 1999: remember?
“I played after Bryan Adams and before them. I met them backstage, they had a big tent with a pool table and a jukebox. They were calm, I was a little anxious… we had drinks and a conversation had created chemistry ».
With Jagger he met again …
«Last summer in Tuscany. He was a guest of Count della Gherardesca in Castagneto Carducci and I was invited to Mick’s birthday party. When he arrived I made one of my usual jokes: “I heard about you”, I heard about you. And he “me too”. And the ice broke.’
“After dinner, someone in the audience recognized me and asked me to sing. I took a guitar from Jagger’s studio and made “Con le mie lacrime”, the version of “As Tears Go By” that the Stones had recorded in Italian. He followed me, he remembered her. And then I attacked with “Ohne Frau”. Mick knew the cover of Paul Young, but he was wrong and said “Without Madonna” ».
“No, and how do you tell him?” I finished with “Diamante”: he had his little son in his arms and I saw his eyes shining, something will have reached him beyond the text ».
Who has aged the best since they first met?
‘Definitely Jagger, I play it with Keith… Mick works out, doesn’t drink, does gymnastics and still jumps like a cricket. Maybe it’s because I’m from Emilia, but I don’t have that mentality… Sooner or later I’ll have to persuade myself to become active, but it won’t be cool sports for sure, at least I’ll chop wood » .
Aren’t you training for a world tour like the one whose first phase is about to end and which will accompany you until next summer?
«After two years in prison I wanted and had to go on stage. It charges me like a power plant every evening, even without physical preparation. In fact, I feel less tired than in the past. With the Stones, despite the age, I see the same fire, while other colleagues have lost it and are moving forward ».
The trap generation is being criticized because many don’t seem to have that fire right from the start: concerts in playback and insults to fans when they don’t freak out like Rhove did.
«The job is missing. The training teaches you the ABCs of the craft, how to build a lineup, how to adapt to audience reactions. I learned it at the beginning when I was playing in dance halls ».
After such a long tour, are you afraid of the emptiness of returning?
“It’s my thought. I want to keep making music wherever someone asks me to, but now I don’t want to make records anymore. You must feel the need to write and stay away from the rest of the world for a year and a half ».
The Rolling Stones haven’t made any unreleased albums since 2005, the previous one is from ’96… They have such a repertoire that they don’t need news…
“I’m not afraid to throw out weak pieces, I’m the first censor of myself. Right now I’d rather stand by the window and see if anything changes. There is a musical drift and I need more complex music that gives goosebumps. Otherwise I’ll keep going and play live.”
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July 28, 2022 (Modification July 28, 2022 | 07:17)
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED