Following The Footsteps

A litle present from Italy for you tonight. While I was in Naples at the beginning of the year I picked up a compilation CD by Le Orme - a name which translates, if the automatic translator thingy is to be believed, as The Footsteps.

The CD was remarkably cheap by Italian standards and went by the name "I Successi". I strongly suspect a more accurate name would have been "I Records They Made Before I Successi". But from my perspective this misrepresentation may have been a blessing in disguise. Because apparently when at the height of their "successi" in the 1970s they were considered to be the Italian Emerson, Lake & Palmer - let us pause for a moment to consider the full horror of that statement - while this, on the other hand, is top quality 1960s garage and pop-psych.

"Dovunque Andrai" - Le Orme

"Mita Mita" - Le Orme

Before we get to the videos, it would appear from the comments on yesterday's post that I have once again inadvertantly upset some Elkie Brooks fans. I am sorry to keep dragging the rest of you into this long-running dispute, but I will have another go at clarifying my position. At no point have I ever said that Elkie is not a good singer. Of course she is. All I have said is that her decision to do a disco version of "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" was - how to put this - perhaps a little misguided and, in my humble opinion, the end result was not up to her usual standard.

Let me try to illustrate the point. Here is Elkie and Vinegar Joe back in 1972 with a barn-storming rendition of "Ride Me Easy".



Now, surely even the most ardent and indiscriminate Elkophile must concede that is just in a totally different league to this?