Keiko Fuji: Tōku e Ikitai (“Want to Go Far Away – Enka no Tabi”)

Description

A travelogue of torch songs and city lights, 遠くへ行きたい「演歌の旅」 finds 藤圭子 at her most quietly daring. Across lush strings, woodwinds, and brushed rhythms, she steadies every melody with that unmistakable burnished vibrato—half steel, half sigh. The opening “遠くへ行きたい” crests like evening air over the platforms; “波止場町” drifts on slow blues changes; “一人ぼっちのブルース” leans into late-night barroom swing. Arrangements are classic RCA studio craft, with the title track credited to 池田孝 and the rest shaded in warm, cinematic hues. This copy is the original 1972 Japan gatefold on RCA JRS-7221, complete with obi (¥1,800) and period design flourishes, pressed in the thick, quiet vinyl that flatters early-’70s Enka. A beautifully kept snapshot of Fuji’s itinerant, road-song era—equal parts departure board and confession booth.