JOE DOLCE "The Wind Cries Mary"
by Pete Best [3.07]

In short: Shaddap and listen to Joe in the 21st century.

ARTISTS can illustrate an idea, or illuminate it.
Joe Dolce's two '60s covers here - For No One
and The Wind Cries Mary - certainly put a candle
to two familiar songs.
The gently faithful Wind Cries Mary works,
because by sharing verses with Lin Van Hek,
attention is turned back to Jimi Hendrix's most
undervalued words. The cheeky changes to
McCartney's For No One uncover the real song
lost in 1966, having been delivered as just another
piece of impeccable pop on an almost flawless
Revolver. A hurt Dolce does everything but name
the girl.
And beyond worthy reworkings of some traditional
folksongs are bold strokes of invention, like the
daring Gift (from One Iraqi Child) , on which
graceful words overshadow musical whimsy, and
the sharp-edged rock of Dragon Lady . The
Lennonesque It Was Only a Dream brings back
tie-died memories for us that for Dolce remain his
fuzzy lefty, lets-get-out-of-Iraq reality.