"A Ti se ne daj" (1971)
The startlingly moody face on the cover in fact belongs to completely harmless and sweet man who is very much beloved on Croatian music scene - important as a stepping stone in architecture of our own rock music, remembered as one of its pioneers and amongst the first original authors (as opposed to countless cover artists) Drago Mlinarec is also a somewhat of mystery, since he consciously pursued his own muse and defiantly refused to play the money game. After the first, phenomenal success of his sunny pop days with Grupa 220, Mlinarec recorded only sporadically and it seems that his albums never caught the mainstream attention again, though they absolutely deserve re-discovery and when listened again can even surprise listener with his committed vision and depth.
Take "A Ti se ne daj" from 1971. that was his first solo album, recorded with guys assembled in aftermath of break up of original Grupa 220 - Husein Hasanefendić, Ivan Piko Stančić, Nenad Zubak and Brane Živković - it is a poetic, inspired rock album (one of the very first in Croatia) that would make anybody really proud. From the musicianship to the lyrics, it is a stunningly interesting album that actually sound better with each listening, unfortunately seems that lack of hit singles firmly locked Mlinarec into ghetto of an "artist" and I doubt that wide audience cared much (or that it bothered him, to be honest). Its an open question how would his career progress had he optioned to recycle sunny 1960s sound forever and he must have been aware of this, but judging from his choices Mlinarec was too much of a original and idealist to ever consider selling out. Good for him and good for us who are re-discovering his music that sounds brilliant decades after its original release.
"Pjesme s planine" (Songs From The Mountain) is result of Drago Mlinarec's self-imposed soul searching in countryside - under all those rock guitars and prog rock sidesteps, in its heart it is a gentle acoustic folk album with some masterful musicianship involved (courtesy of Srećko Zubak and Jadranko Budić, new guys in the team) and even extended solo passages here don't sound like just pure young punks show off, but are actually fascinating and yes, uncompromising. Sure, the sound of Hammond organ places it all squarely into its time but the music is timeless and singers enthusiasm truly intoxicating. Mlinarec might not have been the most virtuosic of singers and his vocal range is fairly limited, though it makes no difference here - it makes his songs instantly recognisable and guys behind him are excellent. The 11 minute finale "Dijete zvijezda" (which is mostly instrumental) is so mind-boggling that I feel equally excited and embarrassed that it took me so long to actually look this masterpiece up. This guy was such a visionary that he deserve a monument.
"Rođenje" (1975)
As introductory thunderstorm smoothly sails into 13 minute "Beautiful Helen And Me Out In The Rain", "Rođenje" unfolds upon amazed listener with dizzying palette of colours - courtesy of some jazz cats involved this time (Neven Frangeš on piano) Drago Mlinarec goes off like a kite even higher, following his muse and taking us along with him. The sound is only slightly changed this time around, with less rock guitars and more accent on jazz fusion but Mlinarec is too much of softy to completely leave acoustic folk behind, so we are served with some dreamy numbers ("Pjesma o djetinstvu", "Pjesma povratnika") while biggest surprise comes from pen of few centuries old Croatian poet Hanibal Lucić (lovely "Jur nijedna na svit vila" sung in ancient accent), I mean how uncommercial can you get? When you think it can't get any better than this, finale is completely instrumental - either I am drinking too much coffee or this is really amazing. Yes, I often wonder off into schmaltzy schlager-land but I know genius when I hear one. What an artist, what a musician. If I see Drago Mlinarec on the street somewhere I will probably behave like a lunatic now. He just got himself a new fan.
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