Mr. Mudd And Mr. Gold

Neke velike muzičare sam otkrio tek kada su otišli sa ovoga sveta. Sećam se trenutka kada sam prvi put čuo Calvina Russella i pomislio: Pobogu, pa gde se ovaj tip do sada krio! Toliko sam bio impresioniran da sam odmah počeo da psujem ljude iz muzičke industrije, a malo čeprkanja po Russelovoj biografiji mi je razjasnilo stvari.

Njegov životni put je bio sve samo ne običan.

Russell je autentični Teksašanin kome se život ogledao na izboranom licu – nimalo lak niti jednostavan, pun muke i problema. Svoja životna iskustva je pretakao u pesme u kojima govori o ljudima sa margina, zavisnicima od alkohola i droga što je bio i on sam, kriminalcima, zatvorima, zadimljenim barovima… Jednom rečju – potencijalnim gubitnicima.

Svoje pesme je izvodio uglavnom po barovima. Na neki način bile su grube, baš kao i život koji je opisivao. Ne sumnjam da tipova poput njega ima koliko hoćeš i većina njih neće pobuditi neku veću pažnju, no Russellu se posrećilo. Slučajno je došao u kontakt sa Francuzom kome su se dopale njegove pesme i koji ga je nagovorio da ih snimi i izda u Evropi. Russell se preselio u Švajcarsku, počeo da izdaje albume i da nastupa u klubu koji je tamo vodio.

Praktično, cela karijera mu se odvijala u Evropi, a u rodnom Teksasu malo ko i zna za njega. Petnaestak albuma koje je izdao za male diskografske kuće pokazuju raskošan talenat – u njegovim rukama Telecaster je znao da reži i da jeca, a opori glas kojim je pevao jasno je pokazivao koliko je pića i cigareta prošlo kroz njegovo grlo. Neumeren i neuredan život su ga na kraju koštali glave. Umro je u 62. godini od ciroze jetre.

Nema pouzdanih informacija da je Russell upražnjavao i kockanje, ali nije nemoguće da je i to radio. “Mr. Mudd And Mr. Gold“, manje poznata pesma veličanstevenog songwritera Townesa Van Zandta, na prirodan način se uklopila u priče sa njegovog albuma Calvin Russell (1995). U svetu gubitnika kockari uvek nanovo pokušavaju da se “izvade”, a sama pesma proradi tek kada je pažljivo pročitate, jer govori o partiji pokera.

Well the wicked king of clubs awoke
And it was to his queen turned
His lips were laughing as they spoke
His eyes like bullets burned

The sun’s upon a gambling day
His queen smiled low and blissfully
Let’s make some wretched fool to pay
Plain it was she did agree

He send his deuce down into diamond
His four to hart, and his trey to spade
Three kings with their legions come
Preparations soon where made

They voted club the day’s commander
Gave him an army face and number
All but the outlaw jack of diamonds
And the aces in the sky

Well, he gave his sevens first instructions
Spirit me a game of stud
Stakes unscarred by limitation
Between a man named Gold and man named Mudd

Club filled Gold with greedy vapors
Till his long, green eyes did glow
And Mudd was left with the sighs and trembles
Watching his hard earned money go

Flushes fell on Gold like water
Tens they paired and paired again
But the aces only flew through heaven
And the diamond jack called no man friend

Now, the Diamond Queen saw Mudd’s ordeal
Began to think of her long lost son
Fell to her knees with a mother’s mercy
And prayed to the angels every one

Now, the Diamond Queen, she prayed and prayed
And the Diamond Angel filled Mudd’s hole
The wicked King of Clubs himself
Fell in face down in front of Gold

Now, three kings come to Club’s command
But the angels from the sky did ride
Three kings up on the streets of Gold
Three fireballs on the muddy side

The club queen heard her husband’s call
But Lord, that Queen of Diamond’s joy
When the outlaw in the heavenly hall
Turned out to be a wandering boy

Now, Mud he checked and Gold bet all
And Mud he raised and Gold did call
And the smile just melted on his face
When Mudd turned over that diamond ace

Now, here’s what this story’s told
If you feel like Mudd you’ll end up Gold
If you feel like lost, you’ll end up found
So amigo, lay them raises down

U originalu ova pesma ima akustični country folk ugođaj (kao i u izvođenju Stevea Earlea) i muzičari je, praktično, recituju. Rusellov pristup je potpuno rokerski, pun grube energije i tenzije (kao što je i partija koju akteri igraju), pa mi se čini da je i mnogo bolja.

Šta god bio vaš utisak, zapamtite samo jedno: od kocke se niko nije ovajdio.