Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Happy End -- Kaze wo Atsumete （風をあつめて）

 

Number: 020

Lyricist: Takashi Matsumoto

Composer/Arranger: Haruomi Hosono

From Happy End's 1971 album: "Kazemachi Roman"

"Kaze wo Atsumete" (Gather the Wind) is an important song embodying the concept of "Kazemachi Roman"（風街ろまん...Wind City Romance）. Its musical motif with a hint of James Taylor's vocal style can be said to pioneer Haruomi Hosono's（細野晴臣）subsequent preference for country rock, so through the combination of that down-home melody and those windy city lyrics, the distinct "backstreet world" revealing that shitamachi（下町）elegance is being shaped somewhere even in Tokyo.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).