WILLY DEVILLE WANTS TO DREAM
So what else is new? Hes certainly not the only rock n roller to fit that description. Bruce Springsteen has his vision of an America that lies midway between James Dean and Norman Rockwell, full of big cats and little gurlies, where any kid with a good heart and a fast guitar can earn a one way ticket to the Promised Land.
WILLY DEVILLE WANTS TO DREAM: THERES A NEW ROSE IN SPANISH HARLEM
by
John Neilson
Willy DeVille is a dreamer.
So what else is new? Hes certainly not the only rock n roller to fit that description. Bruce Springsteen has his vision of an America that lies midway between James Dean and Norman Rockwell, full of big cats and little gurlies, where any kid with a good heart and a fast guitar can earn a one way ticket to the Promised Land. Van Morrisons vision is more pastoral, closer to the 19th Century than the 20th, full of Irish meadows and grassroots spirituality. For Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe, time stopped somewhere in the early 60s, when the Everly Brothers were still on the radio, Phil Spector was at his peak, and real rock n roll was three chords and a lot of reverb. Ray Davies, meanwhile, built a career out of romanticizing an England where the sun hasnt yet set on Waterloo Station, although he has been trying (not altogether gracefully) to come to grips with the 80s on his latest LPs.