|
|
Argentine Groups - G-H-I-J-K-L
This outstanding guitar player was born in Buenos Aires on March 18th, 1949. After participating in the Los Abuelos de la Nada debut single, he formed the pioneer Spanish language blues trio Manal.
When Manal broke up Gabis moved to Brazil, where he lived from time to time. In 1972, encouraged by producer Jorge Álvarez, he recorded his first solo album with the help of La Pesada fellow musicians: Alejandro Medina on bass and vocals, Jorge Pinchevsky on violin, Isa Portugheis and Jimmy Márquez on drums, Kubero Díaz on guitar and vocals, and Billy Bond on the mixing console.
This was a very good hard blues and psycho album. The most remarkable tunes are: "La fiebre de la ruta", led by the powerful voice of Billy Bond, the crazy fiddle of Pinchevsky and the brilliant guitar of Gabis; the long and psychedelic "Más allá del viaje del tiempo", sung by Kubero and Medina, backed with guitar sounds and effects; "Blues del terror azul" ("Blues of the blue terror") was about the police repression of those days and features Gabis in yet another outstanding wah-wah performance; and the improvised mystic psychedelic madness of the guitar/violin/bass trio of "El viaje de Lord Dunsany".
The lyrics were based on the fantastic literature of authors like Lord Dunsany, H.P. Lovecraft and Algernon Blackwood. This was evident by the great cover design of Juan O. Gatti. It is recommended, though hard to get now.
For his second solo album Gabis recruited –besides Medina, Pinchevsky and Bond- Emilio Kauderer on electric piano, Charly García on organ, David Lebón on vocals and Juan Rodríguez and Black Amaya on drums
Though not as inspired as the first one, this second LP features some good moments as "Esto se acaba aquí", "Blues de la tierra supernova" and "Blues de un domingo lluvioso", all with great guitar work.
Gabis can also be seen on the movie Rock hasta que se ponga el Sol, performing a tune called "Raga" (included on the soundtrack album [Talent I-382}). He also played on several solo albums by fellow La Pesada members as well as other Talent/Microfón records.
In 1975 he moved to Brazil, where he worked with artists like Ney Mattogrosso and jazz-rock groups. By 1980 he returned to Argentina for Manal’s comeback. Afterwards he moved definitely to Spain.
None of his rare solo albums have been reissued on vinyl, but both are available on CD.
Gabriela (former wife of Almendra and Color Humano guitarist Edelmiro Molinari) is well known as being the first female singer of Argentine rock.
Her first single featurs "Campesina del sol" on the b-side. This soft folk tune happens to be her most remembered song, possibly because a live version was included on the soundtrack album of the movie Rock hasta que se ponga el Sol (Talent I-382).
In 1972 Gabriela participated in Acusticazo, a concert of all acoustic acts recorded live on the album of the same name (Trova TL 54).
Soon afterwards, Gabriela recorded her debut LP with the help of David Lebón on bass and acoustic guitar, Oscar Moro on drums, Litto Nebbia on piano, Emilio del Güercio on flute and backing vocals, Jorge Cutello on flute, León Gieco on harp and vocals, Miguel y Eugenio on vocals, and –you guessed- the great Edelmiro Molinari on guitar and production.
Molinari’s performance is noteworthy: his electric guitar playing is at his best! The album includes folk ballads like "Es la lluvia y nada más", "Haz tu mente al invierno del sur" y "Hombre del las cabras blancas" and electric rocks like "Rodando mis ideas al revés" and the strong blues "Voy a dejar esta casa, Papá". Altogether, a great album.
Sadly, Gabriela did not release any other record until 1974 (actually a single) and soon moved to Los Angeles (USA) with Molinari. She returned in the early 80s and recorded a couple of albums of no interest for this book.
The very rare debut album was never reissued on vinyl. The CD edition features all the singles as bonus.
- LITTO NEBBIA (v,g) AB
- CIRO FOGLIATTA (k) AB
- KAY GALIFFI (g) A
- OSCAR MORO (d) AB
- ALFREDO TOTH (b) AB
- PAPPO (g) B
Los Gatos represented the true the birth of the Argentine rock. After the success of "La Balsa" nothing would be the same...
In 1964, when a Beatles-like group called The Wild Cats, from Rosario (a very important city 300Km. North from Buenos Aires) lost their singer a teen named Félix "Litto" Nebbia auditioned, but was rejected for his young age and high voice. However, since they could not find anyone better, Fogliatta called Nebbia back and gave him the job.
The Wild Cats´ repertoire was based on covers of British groups like The Hollies and The Dave Clark Five. Nebbia would write Spanish lyrics for these songs as well as his own material. This was absolutely unheard of in those days. It is true that other artists sung rock covers in Spanish, but none with Nebbia’s attitude.
They also "translated" the group’s name and started calling themselves Los Gatos Salvajes (The Wild Cats in Spanish). They managed to perform in a very important TV show from Buenos Aires called La Escala Musical. The original contract was for two months, but due to the success they stayed for eight extra months (this included TV and live performances in dancing venues and the likes). This was Heaven for them!
Their first single was "La respuesta" (Music Hall 30370) a great beat song written by Nebbia. As far as I'm concerned, this is the first song of the so-called Argentine rock to be recorded. Just a few copies were sold.
Another single, an EP and an LP (Music Hall 12535) soon followed. The LP featured Litto Nebbia’s beat songs together with Spanish lyric covers of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Although unnoticed, the album was a good pop-beat effort. Most remarkable, alongside Nebbia’s personality is the excellent organ sound of Ciro Fogliatta.
By the end of 1965, the company responsible for the TV show went bankrupt and the band split. While the rest returned to Rosario, Litto and Ciro decided to stay in Buenos Aires and began to visit La Cueva, the rock venue of the time. There they met Moris, Tanguito, Javier Martínez, Pajarito Zaguri and Miguel Abuelo, among others. They get a job as the house and played and composed a great deal. In those days Nebbia and Tanguito wrote "La Balsa" (a long, controversial story in itself).
Litto met a young guy called Alfredo Toth and taught him to play bass. They returned to Rosario and recruited Oscar Moro and medical student Kay Galiffi. With this definitive new line-up and now simply Los Gatos (not "Wild" anymore) they recorded a single for RCA: "La Balsa" b/w "Ayer nomás" released on July 3rd, 1967.
Nothing would ever be the same. Soon to become a rock anthem, the single sold 200.000 copies, an extraordinary figure in those days for that type of music in Argentina!
Another point to note is that the b-side was not written by Nebbia but by Moris and Pipo Lernoud. Though the lyrics had to be changed at the request of the record company, this shows that the group was willing to compromise. They could have well chosen any song from their wide repertoire to include in their debut single. Nonetheless, they helped their comrades to get known and earn some royalties..
The debut album soon followed. It included some beautiful beat pop melodies like "Ya no quiero soñar", the organ driven "Me harás pensar en el amor", the classic "El rey lloró", my favorite "Madre escúchame", and both sides of the single.
The next single was a big hit as well: "Viento, dile a la lluvia" (with string arrangements). Their second album (Volúmen 2) kept the beat style. One particular song, "Una nube en tu vida", was the group first approach at soft psychedelia.
An EP featuring two songs from the first album (and two new ones – "Hoy soy muy pobre" and "Ya soy un hombre"-) was released soon before the next single ("Seremos amigos") and the third album of the same name ...all in that intense 1968.
Seremos amigos features songs like "Cuatro meses", the futuristic "Cuando llegue el año 2000" and the psycho oriented flower power sounds of "Esperando a Dios" (my personal favourite). A curious story is that the b-side of the single ("La chica del paraguas" –included on the LP) was such a hit in nearby countries that in Chile, for instance, the album was released with that title. The label number was the same than in Argentina, though.
By the beginning of the next year Los Gatos were virtually dissolved: all members except Nebbia went to Brazil, and later all –except Kay- visited the USA (by ship, since air transportation was expensive in those days!). Kay would fall in love and settled in Rio de Janeiro. Nebbia stayed in Buenos Aires to write and release his first solo album. During this period his father died.
Even Ciro Fogliatta managed to release an awful album of instrumental musak versions of popular tunes called "Música para el amor joven" (RCA VIK LZ-1161). By the end of the year, with the label absolute consent, Los Gatos reunited for a new LP.
Without Kay, Nebbia was pushed to write more rock-oriented songs. In this context, excellent guitar ace Pappo Napolitano (former Abuelos de la Nada) was a perfect fit.
The result was a very good album –their first one in stereo, by the way- with flower power songs on the A-side such as "Sueña y corre", the great "Hogar" -with remarkable organ and guitar- and "Lágrimas de María". The B-side was more psycho-rock oriented, particularly on the long "Fuera de la ley". The original edition included an insert with all the lyrics.
The next album was even better: Rock de la mujer perdida, possibly their best. This truly rocking album is driven by the powerful guitar of Pappo, the sweet and unique pop voice of Nebbia and the magnificent organ work of Ciro.
Side A features "Rock de la mujer perdida", "Requiem para un hombre feliz", the blues "Los días de Actemio" and the instrumental "Invasión" (credited to all members except Nebbia). Side B features "Mujer de carbón", "No fui hecho para esta tierra", "Por qué bajamos a la ciudad?" and "El blues de la calle 23".
An excellent and highly recommended record. (The original edition included an insert with the lyrics as well). (Note that the single b-side included a non-album track: "Escapando de mí").
Pappo left to pursue his own rock and blues project. In 1970, Los Gatos, now a quartet with Toth on guitar and Nebbia on bass, began sessions for yet another album. However, at the time only a single was released, but late in 1987 a one-side studio/one-side live LP hit the stores. The album was no surprisingly titled Inédito (en vivo y en estudio) (Unreleased -Live and at the studio) (RCA Ariola TLP-50396). The live side was recorded at the Teatro Odeón in Buenos Aires December 4th 1970.
Los Gatos greatest achievement was to lay the foundation for other artists to follow. They split and never reunited. Nebbia (who always refused to any kind of reunion) continued with his brilliant solo career. Prior to that, he formed a short-lived group (Huinca) together with Moro (next to join Color Humano). Toth and Fogliatta would form Sacramento, another short-lived project.
All Los Gatos records have been reissued on vinyl and CD. The CDs feature the singles as bonus tracks, thus covering their entire recording legacy. Many compilations have been released, most noteworthy Los Gatos (Serie Rock Progresivo) (RCA Vik LZ-1228) from 1972, which features one unreleased track ("Un día en el campo"). This song can also be found on the sampler LP 12 conjuntos for export beat argentinos (RCA Vik AVLD 3876). Another various artists sampler Modart Nro 1 (RCA Vik LZ-1138) from 1967 includes two unreleased tracks as well: "El día llegará" and "Jamás creí". All these tracks are available on the CDs as bonus.
Raúl "León" Gieco was born November 20th 1951 in a small town in the province of Santa Fe. His formula was simple: Bob Dylan type songs with left wing socially progressive lyrics.
By the end of the 60s, he moved to Buenos Aires with his guitar and a harp. In the big city he took lessons from Gustavo Santaolalla (Arco Iris) who soon discovered this newcomer´s potential. Gieco was introduced to Litto Nebbia, who invited him to join a live show of all acoustic acts held on June 16th 1972. León sung his now classic "Hombres de hierro" ("Men of Iron"), a "Blowing in the Wind"-influenced song about police repression during a riot. The performance was included on the album Acusticazo (Trova TL 54).
That same year, Gieco performed at the B.A.Rock Festival. In the movie (Rock hasta que se ponga el Sol) he can be seen singing "Hombres de hierro" (not included on the soundtrack).
His first album hit the stores in 1973. Produced and arranged by Santaolalla, the LP features collaborations from all Arco Iris members, as well as Vicente Busso (drums), Miguel y Eugenio, and Luis Cesio and Rubén Melogno (both from Uruguayan group Psiglo) on vocals. This is an excellent folk-rock record. Songs like "En el país de la libertad", "Todos los caballos blancos", "Hombres de hierro" (definitive studio version) and my personal favourite "Déjame que te sienta" are the best tracks.
Gieco was in need of a band for live performances, so he recruited Rodolfo Gorosito on electric guitar, Rubén Batán on bass and Vicente Busso on drums. The band was called La Banda de los Caballos Cansados.
With this line-up he cut two PS singles: the good seller "La navidad de Luis" and "Si ves a mi padre" (very similar to Neil Young’s ‘’Out on the Weekend’’) a preview of his following album with a non-LP b-side.
Gieco’s second LP, Banda de Caballos Cansados, was another good effort recorded with the help of Raúl Porchetto, Alejandro Lerner, Pablo Kohan, Miguel Pérez and a female choir featuring Gabriela.
León then joined Porchetto and duo Sui Generis for a touring project called PorSuiGieco. They released a studio album in 1976 (Music Hall 14210).
After this period, Gieco began to get involved in Argentine folklore rhythms. In 1977, he released his third album, El fantasma de Canterville (Music Hall 16033) which title track, written by Charly García, was censored by the military government of that time.
In 1978 he recorded his fourth album –4to LP (Shazam 14477). One tune, "Sólo le pido a Dios", turned into a national pacifistic anthem, especially during the Falklands War in 1982. The song enjoyed an extremely wide success and was even recorded by other artists in different languages.
Another important long time project was Gieco’s will to travel across Argentina to meet local musicians from diverse towns and villages in the provinces. His friend, musician and producer Santaolalla joined him. The result of the journey was a folklore double LP aptly titled De Ushuaia a la Quiaca (meaning "from Ushuaia" -the southern city of Argentina- "to La Quiaca" –the northern one).
In 1990 León recorded a live album with folk legend Pete Seeger.
Nowadays León Gieco is a highly respected artist. Not only for his musical skills, but also for his solidarity and coherence of ideas. He is the ultimate musician nobody has ever had a word about.
All Gieco LPs are available on CD.
The idea of this nonexistent group was to release a rock version of La Misa Criolla (The Argentine Mass), the ultimate Argentine folklore piece. The line-up included Féliz Pando, Hiacho Lezica (both ex-La Joven Guardia), Quique Alvarado (ex-Los Mentales, ex-Fe) and Daniel Cash. Even composer Ariel Ramírez and folklore performer Chango Farías Gómez played on this forgettable record.
The joke went –thanks God- unnoticed. Nonetheless, the album was released in France under the title Misa Criolla in Rock (Hexagone 883001) with a different cover. Beware!
- FERNANDO COLQUI (g)
- HUGO MARTURANO (g)
- GUIDO MEDA (b)
- GUILLERMO DITRO (d)
Hielo was another group that recorded on the legendary label Mandioca. Guido Meda had been a member of Los Larkins and Los Mods, both pre-Almendra bands that featured Luis Alberto Spinetta and Rodolfo García.
The music was flower power oriented. The song "Monsieur Ducau" was also included on the compilation album Mandioca Underground (MLP 331). They managed to cut a second single.
- LITTO NEBBIA (g,v)
- CACHO LAFALCE (b,v)
- GABRIEL RANELLI (k)
- OSCAR MORO (d)
Litto Nebbia, former leader of Los Gatos, had a recording contract with RCA and had released three albums so far: two as solo and one with a so-called Nebbia’s Band.
In 1972, with a desire to experiment, Nebbia formed a band called Huinca and recorded an album for the Trova label. To avoid contractual problems, he was pictured on the cover facing backwards.
Nebbia was experimenting with rock and folklore, but with Huinca he wrote melodic, progressive music. He never ever played electric guitar as much as he did on this excellent album.
The rock "Gritar y amar es luchar", the blues "Cadenas y monedas" and the good guitar and organ "Chocolates (para usted)" are the best moments of this recommend LP.
The hyperactive Litto soon got involved in many other albums and projects. Nonetheless, Huinca managed to play live, and after Nebbia‘s departure the remaining members formed a short living group called Aquarium. This trio did not release any records, and split when Moro went to play with Color Humano.
Sadly, there are no vinyl reissues of Huinca’s LP. Nebbia released the album on CD on his own label, but the sound quality is so poor that you better forget about it!
- LUIS ALBERTO SPINETTA (g,v) AB
- POMO (d) B
- MACHI (b,v) AB
- TOMMY GUBTISCH (g) B
After Pescado Rabioso's break up, Luis Alberto Spinetta formed a new trio together with two former Pappo's Blues members: Héctor Lorenzo (a.k.a. Pomo) on drums and Carlos Rufino (a.k.a. Machi) on bass.
Invisible debuted with a series of shows at the Astral Theatre in Buenos Aires by the end of 1973. Spinetta's music at this time was turning more progressive and challenging.
Those concerts were terrific. While the trio played an instrumental piece called "Tema de Elmo Lesto" (something like "Theme from Thean Noying"), a big cube-faced figured appeared onstage and "annoyed" the musicians. While they played "Azafata del tren fantasma" ("The stewardess of the Ghost Train"), the surrealistic film Un chien Andalou (1928- by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí) would be projected. Once again, Luis Alberto knew how to thrill his audience!
In March 1974 Invisible went to studios for their first LP. A single was released in advance: "Elementales leches" b/w the terrific wah wah guitar "Estado de coma", reminiscing Pescado Rabioso.
The first album surprised everybody. The cover showed drawings of genius Dutchman Mauritius Cornelius Escher (1898-1972). Although his drawings had already been used in the UK by Mott the Hoople and in the USA by Mandrake Memorial, this was something absolutely new for Argentina! Not only that, a bonus single was enclosed (in an envelope attached to the inner sleeve) with two new great songs: "La llave del Mandala " and "Lo que nos ocupa es esa abuela, la conciencia que regula el mundo".
All the album tracks are also wonderful and hard to describe. Spinetta's guitar sounds as clear and powerful as it never will. The arrangements and rhythmic were complex and unheard from a rock trio. If I had to choose my favourite, I would pick the two parts "El diluvio y la pasajera" for its beauty. A must have album, one of my favourites of all time, and definitely one of the best of 1974. Absolutely recommended.
Still, by the end of the year, Invisible released another good single that would close this first production cycle.
For the next album they sign with a major company (CBS), which garnered more production and promotional support. Durazno Sangrando is a good more relaxed and progressive album. The title song was very popular and should have been released as a single. The lyrics, based on a book by Carl Jung, were very important as well.
During 1975, a stupid various artists compilation record was released -Rock Competition (CBS 19445)- featuring Invisible's great version of the Tanguito classic "Amor de primavera".
Also in 1975, young virtuoso electric guitarist Tommy Gubitsch joined the group. Now a quartet, Invisible released their third and very popular final album: El jardín de los presentes. This LP had a lot of tango-influenced music and lyrics. There is some bandoneón playing; and the opening song, the still remembered "El anillo del capitán Beto", tells the story of a sort of space city bus driver with the same nickname of a popular soccer player.
This attempt to fusion tango with rock music was a trend in those days due to the fact that revolutionary tango composer Astor Piazzolla was getting involved with rock musicians. (He later regretted of this claiming that rock performers did not like to practice to improve their playing!). Anyway, let us admit that Spinetta had already used a bandoneón in a song years before that: "Laura va", from Almendra's debut album.
Another song to remark is "Niño condenado (Perdonado)", with a powerful King Crimson influenced interlude.
El Jardín de los Presentes -a very good album in the end- was promoted with a big sell-out concert. However, by the end of the year (1976) the group split.
Luis Alberto Spinetta pursued a solo career (sometimes under the name Spinetta-Jade) mostly influenced in jazz-rock and fusion. Pomo and Machi would play with different artists.
Invisible was undoubtedly one of the best groups from Argentina.
All albums had been reissued on vinyl (some editions of the first one lack the single), and on CD. The definitive edition of the first album on CD has all the singles included as bonus.
Another artist that participated in the Acusticazo, June 1972. Acusticazo was an all-acoustic show immortalised on an LP (Trova TL54). Miguel Krochik can be heard performing his only remembered song: "Guilmar".
The following year he released an album under the direction of Rodolfo Alchourrón, featuring Sergio Polizzi (of Bubu fame) on violin. It was an intimate folk album with a nice drawing on the cover.
The LP went unnoticed and is rare to see. There are no reissues on any format.
In the 80s, Krochik ran a very important recording studio in Buenos Aires.
This gifted musician, who can sing and play all rock instruments, has been a member of many important argentine groups: Pappo's Blues (as bass player), Color Humano (as drummer), and Pescado Rabioso (as bass player and singer), among many other collaborations.
After Pescado Rabioso's break-up he wrote an album with his wife and former groupie Liliana Lagardé (the "responsible" party for his fight with Spinetta). For this first solo album Lebón was joined by La Pesada musicians like Alejandro Medina and Isa Portugheis as well as ex-Pescado Black Amaya on drums and Charly García (Sui Generis) on keyboards. Pappo also played on the album, and was his job to rename all the songs of the LP -with titles that sometimes have nothing to do with what the lyrics say.
This superb record -lead by great guitar work- opens with now classic "Hombre de mala sangre" and includes "Tema para Luis", where he aim his guns towards Spinetta, the furious instrumental "Envases de todos", the rock and roll -style that Lebón likes the most- "Treinta y dos macetas" and his classic blues "Copado por el diablo".
In the following year, David formed a devotional group called Lila (El Fuego Cósmico) featuring followers of Guru Mahara-Ji's Mission of the Divine Light, among them Carola and Carlos Cutaia (ex-Pescado Rabioso). Lila released an extremely hard to get single "Amanece la verdad" b/w "Ah, Mahara-Ji" (Carmusic CM 3061).
Afterwards, Lebón would pick the guitar as his primary instrument. He formed classic power rock trio Polifemo, and later on Serú Girán with Charly García. (Serú Girán turned into the most popular band of all time in Argentina during the late 70s and early 80s). Lebón also released many other solo albums of no interest for this book. Times (and music) they are a changing!
His debut LP is very rare, but has been reissued on vinyl and CD.
