Archive for the ‘ Americana ’ Category

Tony Joe White “The Train I’m On”

The Train I'm On

Tony Joe White’s The Train I’m On is one of those records that is just too damn good to be kept a secret. Keeping real on what may be his finest moment, the LP is a sweet and languid roots rock triumph.

I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby is sparse and smooth, fitted with just enough details to keep your ears addicted to the feel”Elvis himself took this one to number 5. Like contemporaries Bobby CharlesLonnie MackDale Hawkins, and Link Wray, Tony Joe was one of those swamp-rockers digging up roots in the 70s. On Train, his second album for Warner Bros, the production is stripped though not to the bone. A full band arrangement fills up just about every track, but thankfully you can always hear the spine. Harmonica, piano, and organ assist on dynamic The Family and raucous percussion with hyperactive jaw harp push Beouf River Road where tunes like Sidewalk Hobo need little more than a guitar and that voice. The slightly absurd Even Trolls Love Rock And Roll approaches some grimy alley-funk, while As The Crow Flies and 300 Pounds of Hongry are as muddy as I’ll ever need.

It’s true Polk Salad Annie, TJW’s huge 1969 hit, kept the paychecks coming in, but this kind of record is how Tony Joe ought to be celebrated.

“I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby”

:D CD Reissue | 2002 | Sepia Tone | at amazon ]
:) Vinyl | 1972 | Warner | search ebay ]
8-) Spotify link | listen ]

Jericho “Jericho”

Jericho

Has classic rock radio made a bad name for itself because the music doesn’t wear well with age, or is it because they keep playing the same old shit? In a perfect world, classic rock gems like Jericho would no longer be neglected by the airwaves and listeners would abound in new sounds from a previous era. Just imagine your local classic rock station slipped in one cut off this record, in place of the usual barrage of Zep and Skynyrd repeats; there could easily be a demand for this sweet sounding, authentic-as-it-gets, yet unissued and unplayed recording.

Jericho members Frank DiFelice, Denny Gerrard, Fred Keeler, Gordon Fleming hailed from Canada and recorded this one-off at the famous Bearsville studio in Woodstock, with engineering and production by Todd Rundgren. These guys were a part of the same scene as Jesse Winchester and The Band, sharing Rundgren as producer and art director Bob Cato between this and Stage Fright, and the music falls right in line, albeit with a harder edge.

They bust down the door with “True Fine Girl,” sounding like the Band on steroids with overdriven organ and screeching guitars notching a next-level sound. “SS #4” even sounds a little like hard rock “Cripple Creek,” but the key here isn’t loud guitar rippin but a loose knit down-home groove. There are nasty prog moves and killer Clavinet shredding on “Cheater Man;” Gordon Fleming really steals the show on keys, often overshadowing the guitar leads (a rare feat for keyboardists). “Baby’s Gone Again” is a blues that shuffles harder than Cream and “Backtrack” is a killer Edgar Winter style instrumental with gnarly parts played thru Garth Hudson’s own Leslie speaker and Clav. I’m a sucker for “Goin’ To The Country,” a goofy, stoned country groover with wowy Moog bass replacing the “jug” line. The vocalist shines on this little number (vocals are really great all the way through, actually) that definitely stands out from the rest.

One track, “Make It Better,” would score a minor hit, but Jericho would be largely forgotten, unissued since its original release. I do find that this record tends to push a little too hard; it’s kind of relentlessly hard-rockin. But it deserved much more than it got.

“Backtrack”

:) Original Vinyl | 1971 | Bearsville / Ampex | search ebay ]

Gene Parsons “Kindling”

Kindling

Sometimes it’s the less visible members of a great band who turn out to be the most interesting. Gene Parsons was the drummer with the Byrds from 1968 to 1972. If you’ve ever even heard his name, there’s a fair chance that you’ll confuse him with his near namesake who was with the same band less than a year and achieved a disproportionate notoriety. It’s indicative of Gene’s character that when Chris Hillman quit the Byrds to form the Flying Burrito Brothers with Gram, Gene refused the invitation to accompany him, choosing to stay with the seemingly over-the-hill outfit out of loyalty, particularly to close friend Clarence White, rather than take a giant leap with the hotly-fancied new boys.

Gene’s career continued to be defined by his unassuming, sensitive personality. When Roger McGuinn finally fired Gene and Clarence before the ill-fated reunion of the original band, Gene went into Warner Brothers to record an album of the songs he’d been unable to persuade McGuinn to perform with the Byrds. The project had support from Clarence throughout, with guest appearances from legendary bluegrass artists Vassar Clements on fiddle and Ralph Stanley on vocal. But the biggest surprise was the appearance of Gene Parsons, lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, who beside thumping the tubs proved to be a butt-kicking five-string banjoist and also contributed acoustic and electric guitars, pedal steel, harmonica and bass. Gene’s earnest vocals front seven originals plus covers by Lowell George, old partner Gib Guilbeau, Stanley and Skip Battin. The feel of the album is as refreshingly homespun as might be expected, with an air of bluegrass that predates the genre’s eighties traditionalist revival and compares with the slick commercial country rock then being produced by the various other Byrds alumni and their contemporaries. The sparse, bright production by Russ Titelman is exemplary.

The album garnered strong reviews from Rolling Stone and other music press biggies and might have prefigured a profitable, if appropriately low-key, solo career for Gene, but shortly after its issue Clarence White was killed and, in despair at the loss of his friend and collaborator, Gene withdrew from his Warners contract and retired to his California farm to concentrate on developing the Parsons-White String Bender. It would be three years before he ventured on a stage again, joining the reformed Burritos for a three-year tenure during which Gene finally found peer acceptance in a group milieu as composer and vocalist. Since then he’s continued to make public music at intervals whilst devoting his main effort to production and further development of the String Bender. He still has the trademark soup strainer moustache and professes contentment with life in a style typical of the man.

Kindling has been reissued by Sierra Records as The Kindling Collection, which bookends the whole album with seven neglected Parsons originals from the Byrds’ albums and four more from the later Burritos era. Clarence White features heavily on the former cuts and Sneaky Pete Kleinow on the latter, and the whole package is an excellent chronicle of Gene’s first-division career.

“Monument”

:) Vinyl | 1973 | Warner Bros | search ebay ]
:D CD Reissue | 1995 | Sierra | buy from sierra ]
8-) Spotify link | listen ]

Loudon Wainwright III “Attempted Mustache”

attemptedmustache

This is good singer-songwriter fare that’s well worth seeking out (and a pretty easy find too). Loudon Wainwright III had been kicking around for some time, releasing a few critically acclaimed folk albums throughout the early 70s. Attempted Mustache (his 4th LP) is one of Loudon’s finest efforts, a loose, low key affair with brutally honest lyrics and even a few shambolic, drunken performances that are highly entertaining. So while the playing and atmosphere is relaxed, this LP features some of Loudon’s best loved songs, a few that rank as true classics. Columbia released this very solid, musical album in 1973 (Loudon’s prime years), as he was just coming off the fluke hit “Dead Skunk.”

The album opens with “Swimming Song,” a very personal composition with clever lyrics. For this track Loudon’s ex-wife taught him how to pick the banjo. Towards the end Doug Kershaw adds some wonderful colors with his superb fiddle work. All in all, a brilliant performance that captures the man at the top of his game. Other great numbers are “A.M. World” (drunken country-rock), “Come A Long Way” (fragile Americana), “Nocturnal Stumblebutt” (sexually charged singer-songwriter nonsense) and “Lullaby” (melancholy folk-rock). These tracks rank as some of the finest unsung singer-songwriter material from the era but the humorous, looser cuts such as the live, talking-blues of “I Am The Way”, the modern/indie sounding “Dilated To Meet You” and rocker “Clockwork Chartreuseare” are almost as good.

Some reviewers have criticized Loudon’s work for being too emotional or overly sensitive but I think Attempted Mustache sounds great, especially all these years later. More of a hard luck hero than a James Taylor, Loudon delivers the goods on Attempted Mustache.

“The Swimming Song”

:) Vinyl | 1973 | Columbia | search ebay ]
;) MP3 Album | download at amzn ]
8-) Spotify link | listen ]

John Drendall, B.A. Thrower and Friends “Papa Never Let Me Sing The Blues”

Papa

There are enough good vanity pressings from the late 60s – mid 70s that make record collecting a rewarding interest.  The really good ones (the Bachs, the Rising Storm, Wilson McKinley, Relatively Clean Rivers et al) are far and few between.  Most of these records, while musically very good, are overpriced because so few quantities were initially pressed.  Please be warned though, most private press albums are average at best – I’ve been disappointed many, many times.  So naturally, when I bought the Riverman Music version (a Singpore cd reissue) of John Drendall, B.A. Thrower and Friends’ Papa Never Let Me Sing The Blues I was somewhat unsure of its quality, in other words, a skeptic.

Deacon Productions released 100 copies of Papa in 1971/1972.  Both John Drendall (vocals/guitar) and B.A. Thrower (bass guitar/electric guitar/organ) lived on the campus of Michigan University in Lansing.  The two eventually moved into a suburban house with a spacious garage.  This garage was turned into a studio where the group practiced hours on end.  Eventually Drendall and Thrower found a studio in Kalamazoo that would record their experiments.  Friends Tommy “Stiff Finger Eddie” Caruso (slide guitar), Mike “Elmo” Skory (keyboards), Vern “The Bopper” Albaugh (flute), Nelson Wood (harp), Jimmie Spillane (backgrounds), and Ross Maxwell (bells and anything else) add many valuable contributions to the album.  The music is very fine Americana, a true undiscovered gem that needs to be heard by more music fans.

The performances on Papa sparkle with a true level of professionalism.  Drendall, Thrower and their “Friends” are all excellent musicians, the songwriting is stellar, and the production sounds top notch – on par with a major label rock group.   Those of you who enjoyed Euphoria (the Texas country-rock group), Crazy Horse, and Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere era Neil Young will fall for this record in a big way.  One of the songs on Papa, “Old Man Gibbs,” sounds like an early Neil Young number in that it’s a great rootsy rocker with stoned electric guitar work and burnt out lyrics.  The album opener, “Cold Nite in August,” stands out as the album’s most blues oriented cut,  6+ minutes of laid back country-blues that’s well worth hearing.  Other highlights are the title track and “Get Too Heavy,” both acoustic gems that feature solid guitar picking and in the case of the latter, good, close harmonies.  Even the psychedelic numbers, “Black River Lady” and “I Feel” are fabulous mood music that conjures up a spacey atmosphere more in line with the late 60s.  My favorite tracks are the nifty country-rocker “Bye Bye Mr. Jones,” with its amusing group dialogue and the great “Throw Off Your Troubled Past.”  This last number features frantic guitar work (the guitarist really shreds up the fretboard on this one) and busy percussion; it’s really a treat to hear these last two numbers.  The album as a whole is uniformly strong and a must hear; not a bad cut on this LP.

So once again, Papa is a very accomplished work that should have been reissued years ago.  There’s been plenty of great reissues in 2009 but Papa is one of the best I’ve heard so far.

“Get Too Heavy”

:D CD Reissue | 2009 | Riverman | amazon ]
:) Vinyl | 1972 | Deacon | ebay? ]

Manassas “Pieces”

Pieces is just what the title says, but shouldn’t be discounted. The original Manassas album was a disconnected smattering of “pieces” itself. Nobody had combined country, rock, salsa, blues, and bluegrass like Stephen Stills’ powerhouse 7-piece that formed out from the wake of CSNY and the Burrito Brothers.
Pieces collects some leftovers from the Miami sessions that led to the first album (“Witching Hour” “Like A Fox”), warmups and ideas intended for the lost 2nd Manassas album, Down The Road (“Lies” “Love and Satisfy”), and what Stills refers to as “Chris Hillman and Byron Berline teaching me bluegrass” (“Panhandle Rag” “Uncle Pen”). Other tracks are electrified covers from Stills 1 & 2, the largely successful solo albums that gave Stephen the freedom to form a band like Manassas.
I can’t imagine Stills had heard the original Fox On The Run by Manfred Mann, which the Country Gentlemen would turn into a bluegrass standard, before writing Like A Fox. Even with Bonnie Raitt lending her voice, the chorus is still hard to listen to under the circumstances. The bluegrass numbers have no knockout picking, but a treat to hear Stills and Hillman harmonize on “Uncle Pen.” “Do You Remember The Americans” is bluegrass cooler than I’ve ever heard, a song that I wish had spawned an entire record’s worth.
“I Am My Brother” is a sick solo blues proves Stills true worth.
Al Perkins on steel

Pieces

Pieces is the perfect name for this new Manassas outtakes collection from Rhino.  Nobody had combined country, rock, salsa, blues, and bluegrass like Stephen Stills’ powerhouse 7-piece that formed out from the wake of CSNY and the Burrito Brothers, and their eponymous album was a disconnected smattering of “pieces” itself. This new hodgepodge of unheard treats may be scattered, but it’s right in line with tradition and kicks ass like any Manassas fan would expect.

Pieces collects some leftovers from the Miami sessions that led to the first album (“Witching Hour” “Like A Fox”), warmups and ideas intended for the 2nd Manassas album, Down The Road (“Lies” “Love and Satisfy”), as well as what Stills refers to as “Chris Hillman and Byron Berline teaching me bluegrass” (“Panhandle Rag” “Uncle Pen”). Other tracks are electrified covers from Stephen Stills 1 & 2, the hugely successful solo albums that gave Stephen the freedom to form a band with Doug Sahm level schizophrenia.

There are a number of gems here; “Witching Hour” and “Sugar Babe” are easy classics. Stills throws together the chorus of “Like a Fox” last minute and presages  Manfred Mann’s “Fox On The Run” (which the Country Gentlemen would turn into a bluegrass standard) word for word. Only problem, even with Bonnie Raitt lending her voice, I can’t hear past the Manfred version to this one. On Side B, the bluegrass numbers have no knockout picking, but it’s a treat to hear Stills and Hillman harmonize on “Uncle Pen.” “Do You Remember The Americans,” however, is cooler grass than I’ve ever heard. I wish Stills had recorded an entire album in this vein. “I Am My Brother” is a sick solo blues to prove Stills’ immense talent and soul.

This is a no-brainer for Stills, CSNY, Byrds, Burrito, or rock music fans.

“Do You Remember the Americans?”

:D CD Compilation | 2009 | Rhino | buy at amazon ]
8-) Spotify link | listen ]

The Bobby Fuller Four “I Fought The Law”

I Fought The Law

The Bobby Fuller Four were an amazing Texas combo, one of the best pure rock n roll groups ever .  They were an anomaly in the mid 60s, a classic group who enjoyed top 40 hits throughout the British Invasion – a movement that nearly swallowed most American competitors whole and rendered the 50s style rock n roller irrelevant.  Few rock titans possessed the raw talent and drive of Bobby Fuller; he could write songs ready made for the radio, was a fine lead guitarist and early on, he produced his own records.   Fuller was also the owner of a teen club and various independent record labels, a true rock n roll entrepreneur from the genre’s early days.

Early on Fuller recorded in Texas for vanity labels Yucca, Eastwood, Exeter, and Todd.  It was during this early period (early 60s) that he was known as “The Rock N Roll King of the Southwest,” a crown he wore with pride.  In the mid 60s, Fuller relocated his group to California and recorded two albums for Mustang with Bob Keene producing.  I Fought The Law is probably the Four’s crowning achievement.  It’s a consistent record that saw Fuller shed his Buddy Holly influences and blossom into a first rate artist.

The album is known for its pounding top ten smash (and rightfully so) “I Fought The Law,” a classic outlaw anthem written by Sonny Curtis and recorded earlier by the Crickets (minus Buddy Holly).   Surely one rock’s best ever singles, this track was also a nod to Fullers’ 50s roots; the Bobby Fuller Four were perhaps the first group that borrowed from rock’s genesis or origins, the 1950s, and created a new style known as roots rock.  Other tracks are just as good, however.  “Never To Be Forgotten” is perhaps Fuller’s finest creation, with its propulsive fuzz bass (Randy Fuller played bass and was constant in an ever changing lineup), soaring vocals and vibrant tex-mex strumming.  I’ve never heard anything like it and in a weird way it manages to mix proto country-rock, tex-mex, and sunshine pop into a stunning musical statement (the production on this one is immaculate too).  Other tracks like the charging “Julie” and the Eddie Cochrane influenced “Saturday Night” are near classics that proudly display Bobby Fuller’s obsession with 50s style rock.  My favorite track, “Fool of Love,” was initially cut in 1964 as a single for Exeter during Fuller’s Texas Tapes era.  The Mustang version heard on I Fought The Law is something of a lost classic that’s a bit more polished and jangley when compared to the earlier Exeter single.  Other notables are “Let Her Dance” (a minor chart entry) and “Only When I Dream,” two great pop tracks with hooks galore and superb vocals.  These tunes compare favorably with Brian Wilson’s creations from around the same time;  “Let Her Dance” and “Only When I Dream” could have easily found a home on the Beach Boys’ Today album.  All tracks were written by The Bobby Fuller Four (mostly Bobby Fuller), quite an achievement for 1965.

Originals are expensive ($50-$100), which is suprising for a record that really isn’t rare and sold pretty well.  There are two cd versions of I Fought The Law, one by Ace (a twofer with KRLA King of the Wheels ) and the other on Never To Be Forgotten: The Mustang Years, an excellent box set.  There’s even a nice vinyl Mustang repress that’s easily available and highly recommended.

I Fought The Law was Bobby Fuller’s last LP before his tragic death and for this reason it remains a vital purchase.  More importantly, Fuller started to sound like himself; he was really coming into his own as a songwriter and creative force around the years of 1965/1966.  Check out the last Bobby Fuller Four single too, “My True Love” (B-side), for proof of Bobby’s growth as an original artist.  Real rock n roll lasts forever and nobody did it better than the Bobby Fuller Four.

“Only When I Dream”

:D CD Reissue | search amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1966 | Mustang | search ebay ]
8-) Spotify link | listen ]

Taj Mahal “Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home”

First I must admit, I have never been a big fan of the blues. I love good songwriting, interesting chord progressions, and sparingly used solos – all things the blues mostly avoids. It’s this deficiency of mine that’s unjustly prevented me from discovering artists who successfully managed to fuse pop, rock, country, and soul with the blues and deliver music that could poke anybody’s sweet spot. Luckily, I’m currently loving this little gem from the incomparable Taj Mahal.\
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It’s the title track’s delicate, sparse mood I can’t hear enough. Taj transforms the Monkees hit composed by Carole King and Gerry Goffin into a relaxed and gorgeous rural roamer – his soulful vox moving all over the miles-beyond-blues chord changes. And though Giant Step isn’t completely free from the old I-IV-V, just let the feedback harmonica moan from Give Your Woman What She Wants hook in you in, the toe-tapping Cajun feel to Need Somebody On Your Bond ride you home, and overpowered blast of Six Days On The Road stamp it down, then see who cares about changes anymore. Inventive production touches abound: the childlike piano tittering on Good Morning Little School Girl, metronomic banjo strumming on Farther on Down the Road (the only original song on the record and an instant classic at that). The final track, Bacon Fat, is a standard blues originally penned by The Band, and here a slow jam for everybody’s last licks.\
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downhome grooves, a soothing mood, and plain fun record.\
Jesse Ed Davis on lead guitar\

Giant Step

I ‘ve never been a huge blues student. I go for more complicated songwriting, interesting chord progressions, and short, snappy solos – things from which the blues typically stray. Until lately, this deficiency has unjustly prevented me from discovering artists who successfully managed to fuse pop, rock, country, or soul with the blues and deliver music that falls right in the sweet spot. Finally, and thankfully, I’m currently loving this little (giant) gem from the incomparable Taj Mahal.

Along with Ry Cooder, Taj was a founder of the legendary Rising Sons, and went on to release two stripped down delta-blues classics in 1968. Giant Step, released concurrently with a raw collection of solo recordings called De Ole Folks At Home in 1969, would be his third, and personal favorite to many.  It’s the title track’s delicate, sparse mood I can’t stuff in my head enough. Taj transforms the Monkees hit, composed by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, into a relaxed and gorgeous rural roamer – his muddy vox rolls all over the changes, miles beyond blues. And though Giant Step isn’t completely free of the old I-IV-V, just let the feedback harmonica moan from Give Your Woman What She Wants hook you in, the toe-tapping Cajun feel to You’re Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond take you along, and overpowered drive of Six Days On The Road stamp it down, then see who cares about chord progressions anymore.

The most fun comes from inventive production touches: childish piano tittering on Good Morning Little School Girl, metronomic banjo rapping on Farther On Down The Road (one of two originals on the record and an easy classic), ace country guitar leads all throughout provided by Jesse Ed Davis, here accompanying Taj for the third and final record before embarking on his own solo career (releasing three solid records and sessioning with plenty of the greats). The final track, Bacon Fat, is a pretty standard blues originally penned by The Band, and here mostly a drawn out jam affording everbody last licks.

The album is actually 2 in 1, accompanied with De Ole Folks At Home, an acoustic solo set with Taj providing old-time steel-body slide picking, clawhammer banjo, harp, and hambone on traditional and classic numbers like Cluck Old Hen and Fishing Blues, as well as several originals. It’s like pulling up a hot seat on Taj’s front porch, who would pass? An excellent pairing, this record is essential on its own and along with Giant Step you can’t refuse. Downhome grooves, raw authentic performances, a plain fun record that got me rethinking the blues. “Take a giant step outside your mind.”

“Take A Giant Step”

:D CD Reissue | 2003 | MSI | 2fer | buy at amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl |  1969 | Columbia | search ebay ]
Spotify link | listen ]

The Flying Burrito Brothers “Burrito Deluxe”

Burrito Deluxe

Taken as a whole, The Flying Burrito Brothers second album, Burrito Deluxe, is a mild disappointment when measured up against their legendary debut LP, The Gilded Palace of Sin. That record defined the country-rock genre and is still the yardstick by which all alternative country records are measured.

Burrito Deluxe was oringally released by A&M records in 1969.  There are some good songs onboard, most notably mellow country-rockers “Cody, Cody” and “God’s Own Singer.”  These are clearly the LP’s best numbers.  Parsons and company even cover “Wild Horses” a few years before the Rolling Stones included it on their Sticky Fingers LP.  On the surface Burrito Deluxe seems like a good enough follow-up to The Gilded Palace of Sin but further listening reveals some major flaws.  For one, the songwriting is inconsistent: Burrito Deluxe yields no true classics on par with “Christine’s Tune,”  “Hot Burrito #1,” or “Hot Burrito #2.”  Parsons at this point was losing interest in the band he and Chris Hillman co-founded.  Was Parsons spending too much time with Keith Richards or perhaps writing songs and preparing for his brief solo career?  Aspects that made the Burrito’s debut so great, the fuzz guitars, those strong soul and country influences (what Parsons referred to as Cosmic American Music) and the unity in performance are missing.  Instead the Burritos go for a harder rocking bar band sound as heard on tracks like Bob Dylan’s “If You Gotta Go” and the Sweetheart era outtake “Lazy Days.”  “Lazy Days” is professional songcraft, a decent enough number but the Dylan cover along with “Man In The Fog” is rather sloppy – this is not the Flying Burrito Brothers I know.  Other tracks like “Image of Me”, “Farther Along” and “Older Guys” are respectable, gutsy country-rock efforts but again, nothing groundbreaking or classic.

So on a whole, this is a solid album for the country-rock genre, definitely better than what the average band was releasing back in the late 60s/early 70s.  I’d go out on a limb and say that the Burrito’s self titled 3rd album and Last of the Red Hot Burritos (live) may be more consistent records – these records are without Gram Parsons too!  Listening to Burrito Deluxe reminds us that Parsons’ head was elsewhere at the time.  It feels as though the band is rushing through each number without any heart or true committment and because of this, Burrito Deluxe suffers from an unfocused sound.  All complaints aside, Burrito Deluxe is still well worth a spin and an essential albeit baffling country-rock/Americana LP.

“Cody, Cody”

:D 2CD Flying Burrito Anthology | 2000 | Interscope | get at amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1970 | A&M | search ebay ]

uReview: Bruce Springsteen “Greetings From Asbury Park”

Asbury Park

[ratings]

So what of THE BOSS? Is this debut his finest moment? Second to its successor? Was the best of Bruce a ways to come? Is it even worth listening to?

“Blinded By The Light”

:) Original Vinyl | 1973 | Columbia | ebay ]
;) MP3 Album | download ]
8-) Spotify link | listen ]