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Argentine Groups - R-S
- EDUARDO BERINSTEIN (sax,per)
- MARCELO MORANO (k)
- ANDRES GOLDSTEIN (g,v)
- GUILLERMO NOJECHOWICZ (d,v)
- WILLIE CAMPINS (b,v)
This short-lived outfit recorded an interesting symphonic jazz-rock oriented LP, sometimes resembling Arco Iris.
The ballad "Los últimos grillos", "Vendré con el viento" -featuring a piano and synthesizer introduction- and the instrumentals "Aéreo" and "Acaso tu crees (que no me dí cuenta que te fuiste hace diez años)" are good examples of the musicians' skills.
The album is scarce, and has not been reissued.
- JUAN ESCALANTE (v,d,k) A
- LUIS ALBORNOZ (g,v) AB
- ESTEBAN CERIONI (b,v,k) AB
- OSCAR IMHOFF (v) B
- MARCO PUSINERI (d) B
- JUAN "POLLO" RAFFO (k) B
This outfit was formed after La Pequeña Banda de Trícupa, an early 70s group that played several gigs in Buenos Aires (even at the BARock Festival) but that could never cut a record.
Redd, like their predecessors, were from Tucumán (1300 Km Northwest from Buenos Aires, Capital City of the Province of the same name). By the end of the 70s they got in touch with the people from MIA and recorded their first album in 1979.
Tristes noticias del imperio was released through their own private label Cavoclo. The album was a very good symphonic rock effort highly influenced by early Invisible with a couple of songs resembling King Crimson's second period. "Reyes en guerra’’ and "Matinée’’ are about the best tracks. Psychologist and writer Ricardo Gandolfo wrote all the lyrics.
Then Juan Escalante quit and Oscar Imhoff (original vocalist of La Pequeña Banda de Trícupa) joined. Later on, with new members Raffo and Pusineri, Redd cut a second album (Cuentos del Subsuelo); but due to economic reasons the LP was never released. It was still a good effort, though the first album was somewhat better.
The private pressing of Tristes noticias del imperio sold out and was scarce even by the time it was actually released! It is highly collectable now, especially among symphonic rock followers. This fact -and also the very good quality of the music played- justifies the inclusion of Redd in this book, although their recordings go beyond the date limit.
Both albums are available on CD with bonus tracks through a progressive Brazilian label.
- DANIEL GRASSO (g,v,fl)
- HÉCTOR GRASSO (b,v)
- RUBÉN CAMPAS (g)
- JORGE RAÚL RODRIGUEZ (d)
This is an absolutely unknown group that never performed live. They recorded an average hard rock LP, released through a private pressing, that for some reason is now highly desired by collectors.
"Padre, un amigo que se fue’’ is possible the best track of this mediocre album that has even been counterfeited in Europe. Beware!
- WILLY GARDI (lg) ABC
- EDUARDO FREZZA (b,v) ABC
- LUIS VALENTI (k) ABC
- JUAN ESPÓSITO (d) ABC
- OSVALDO ZABALA (g) B
- CARLOS MIRA (g) C
Born in the early 70s, El Reloj was highly influenced by hard rock bands like Deep Purple and Uriah Heep.
Their early singles (1973/74) are excellent. Their best work is there: lots of guitars, Hammond organ and high pitched screaming vocals.
It was not until 1975 that they managed to release their first album. With bigger production their sound turned more elaborate, more complex, but ultimately not more satisfying. New longer versions of their early hits "Alguien más en quién confiar" and "Blues del atardecer" were included. But the single versions are far much better. Anyway, it is a good album.
El Reloj's next recording was another excellent single of harder rock.
For the second album they turned somewhat symphonic with heavy keyboards, though still keeping the classic hard rock guitar harmonies. It is another good record, with a nice cover drawing by multifaceted Horacio Fontova, poorly received by fans. (A single with two songs from the album was released the following year).
Due to internal problems El Reloj split. They shortly returned (with minor line-up changes) in 1983 with a new album. Then again, in late 1994, El Reloj released a new CD with all original members. Unfortunately, the death of leader Willy Gardi in a car accident aborted future projects. Nevertheless the group kept working and releasing albums.
The first album was reissued on vinyl with a new title (Blues del Atardecer [RCA APG-1515]). Both albums are available on CD featuring all the singles as bonus.
- ROCKY RODRIGUEZ (lg,v)
- JORGE SACCHI (b)
- LUIS DE LA TORRE (d)
Pioneer La Cueva club attendant Rocky "Rockal" Rodríguez formed a group called La Cría Rockal. (His mate Pajarito Zaguri was an alternate member).
With new name Rockal y la Cría, he recorded a good rock & blues album a la Pappo’s Blues, full of superb electric guitar playing. The lyrics were socio-political related (in the style of Piel de Pueblo, the group of Zaguri, who also produced and played on one track of the album).
The LP sold poorly and the group soon split. Never reissued, the vinyl is extremely hard to get and sought after. It is available on CD.
- ALFREDO TOTH (g,v)
- CIRO FOGLIATA (k)
- RICARDO JELICIE (b,acus. g,v)
- ROBERTO "CORRE" LOPEZ (d)
Toth and Fogliatta (both ex-Los Gatos) joined drummer López (ex-Walkers) and bass player Jelicié to form Sacramento.
They released a magnificent beautiful record reminiscent of Santana and The Grateful Dead in late 1972. Local references would be Huinca or Aquelarre, though Sacramento had less instrumental development.
"Despiértate y cree en mí", with a superb Hammond sound, the excellent "Cruza el Monte" (also released on single), "Reunidos en el cuarto" (an Aquelarre-style tune), and the psycho-folk "Pedro vuela por los campos" are good examples.
The album received poor critics (undeserved in my opinion) and sold badly; (however, it was also released in Uruguay). It is said that Sacramento actually recorded a second album -allegedly titled Tirando la carreta- but unfortunately neither the record company nor the musicians own a copy of it.
The album is rare but is available on CD.
- JORGE ALBERTO MIGOYA (lg)
- JUAN CARLOS RICCI (b)
- JULIO ALBERTO CUSMAI (d)
Formed in Rosario (city 300Km North of Buenos Aires), this unknown group recorded an album in March 1976 -only in two days!
The LP features six instrumental tracks raging from progressive to symphonic, but mainly jazz-rock. The trio is joined by Sergio Polizzi (next Soluna and Bubu) on violin, Oscar Tissera on flute, Mariano Zarich and Chachi Ferreyra on saxes and Santiago Aldana on clarinet.
This monotonous album was released through a private pressing with an aptly drawn fold out cover. It was never reissued and is hard to get.
- GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA (g,v)
- MONICA CAMPINS (v,org)
- OSCAR AMANTE (acus.g, v)
- RICKY LIBMAN (b)
- ALEJANDRO LERNER (k)
- SERGIO POLIZZI (volin)
- HORACIO "DROOPY" GIANELLO (d)
- ROBERT VALENCIA (per)
Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is possibly -along with Luis Alberto Spinetta and Litto Nebbia- the most important composer of the music discussed in this book.
In 1976 he left Arco Iris to form Soluna, a folk rock group with vast vocal arrangements. He recruited young unknown musicians and drummer Horacio Gianello (who left Arco Iris as well).
Credited to Gustavo Santaolalla only, Soluna released a single that same year: "Energía natural" b/w "Mañana puede ser el día". In 1977 they recorded an LP also titled Energía natural (although the self-named song was not included). This good debut features songs like "Espérame encendida" and "Voy a hacer las paces".
The military coup and the new political situation forced Santaolalla to move with wife Campins to Los Angeles, USA. There, he turned into a very important producer of Latin-American groups. He can be considered the father of many 90s successful Mexican rock bands.
Obviously, Soluna split. Polizzi later played with Bubu, and Alejandro Lerner is now one of the biggest ballad composers and performers of Argentina.
The album is scarce. It was released on CD with the single as bonus.
The most important artist involved in the music discussed in this book, Luis Alberto Spinetta was born on January 23rd, 1950 in Buenos Aires. He was founder and leader of extremely important groups like Almendra, Pescado Rabioso and Invisible.
When Almendra split he participated on the Billy Bond y La Pesada's debut. Then he went to studios to cut a solo LP for contractual reasons. His friends Pappo, Miguel Abuelo, Pomo, Víctor Kesselman and Elizabeth Viener, joined him for this effort.
In just 30 studio hours he recorded an excellent mind blowing experimental album, full of wide creativity and improvisation. Spinetta was credited as composer of all tracks, but it is known that "Castillos de Piedra" and the hard psycho "Era de tontos" were actually written by Pappo; (Pappo later recorded his own version of "Castillos de Piedra" for the Pappo's Blues Volúmen 2 album). Both songs were a sort of preview of the first Pescado Rabioso LP. Other songs like "Ni cuenta te das", "Dame, dame pan" or "Vamos al bosque" are more hippie psycho-folk oriented.
Spinetta's will was to call the album Spinettalandia y sus amigos (Spinettaland and his friends); but RCA had a "better" idea: they called the album Almendra (!) and designed a cover featuring a photo of all former members of the late group, omitting details about the musicians involved in the recording. All this was done behind Spinetta's back (he was visiting Europe at this time). Eventually, Emilio del Güercio and Rodolfo García (from Almendra) sued the company and won. The LP was reissued with a different title and photo. Later on it was re-released as La búsqueda de la estrella with a totally different photo (Luis Alberto's face). (It had yet another re-reissue with this same title, but with a cover photo of Spinetta standing).
After Pescado Rabioso and Invisible, Luis Alberto went solo. He released a jazz-rock oriented album in 1977 (A 18' del Sol [CBS 119773]) and with the help of tennis player Guillermo Vilas he managed to record in the USA with important American session musicians and producers. The album (influenced by the likes of Gino Vanelli) was called Only Love Can Sustain (released on CBS) as is undoubtedly the weakest point of his career.
In 1980 he of course participated in the Almendra's comeback. With manager Alberto Ohanian he created his own record label and formed a jazz-rock group called Spinetta-Jade; he released four albums with them until 1984. During this period he also recorded solo albums, among them Kamikaze (Ratón Finta 3318), an intimate album from 1982 that I recommend to his followers.
Spinetta kept recording as a solo artist, mostly jazz-rock oriented LPs, during the 80s and early 90s. In 1995 he went back to rock and formed a power trio -Los Socios del Desierto- and recorded a double CD.
Luis Alberto Spinetta is a unique artist; to me, he is the most brilliant Argentine musician of the last 30 years. His albums with Almendra, Pescado Rabioso and first Invisible (all done between his 19 to 24 years of age) are the best ever recorded in South America.
The first edition of his first solo album is rare, but it is available on CD (with yet a new different cover and the original title that never was: Spinettalandia y sus amigos). All his other recordings are available on CD as well.
- CHARLIE GARCIA (k,v)
- NITO MESTRE (ft,g,v)
Carlos Alberto García Moreno (better known as Charly García) was born on October 23rd, 1951. He was a prodigy child piano player. In high school, he convinced Carlos Alberto Mestre (better known as Nito) to form a group they called Sui Generis.
Early versions of Sui Generis also included Alberto Rodríguez on drums, Alejandro Correa on bass (later replaced by Rolando Fortich), Juan Carlos Bellia (next Mesías) on guitar and Carlos Piégari on guitar and vocals. But they all eventually quit, leaving Charly and Nito as a duo (playing piano, acoustic guitar, flute and vocals).
Their first manager, legendary "El Gordo" Pierre Bayona, got them a record contract with legendary producer Jorge Álvarez for their first LP: Vida.
Vida was recorded with the help of La Pesada members (the usual Álvarez staff) like: Claudio Gábis on guitar, Alejandro Medina on bass, Jorge Pinchevsky on violin, drummer Paco Pratti and of course Billy Bond at the mixing console.
The duo was filmed at the BARock Festival for the movie Rock Hasta que se ponga el Sol. Their live performance of the mega hit "Canción para mi muerte" ("Song for my own death") is included on the soundtrack album (Talent I-382).
Vida is a good album. With catchy folk-rock tunes and lyrics that dealt with teen´s everyday troubles (all written by García), Sui Generis became an overnight sensation. Their audience consisted mostly in middle class high school teenagers. Looking back, "Dime quién me lo robó’’ and "Cuando comenzamos a nacer’’ are possibly the best tracks of this LP.
Their second album, Confesiones de Invierno -also entirely composed by García-, had better production but basically repeated the formula. Tracks like "Aprendizaje" (about school and the use of learning) or "Rasguña las piedras" (dedicated to an imaginary dead girlfriend) were enormous hits that still everybody remembers. Once again, the usual friends of Jorge Álvarez and Billy Bond played on the record.
Soon afterwards Sui Generis bought new equipment (like synthesizers and a mellotron) and the duo turned a quartet with the inclusion of Rinaldo Rafanelli (ex-Color Humano) on bass and Juan Rodríguez (ex-Los Mentales) on drums as steady members. With this new line-up the music turned symphonic and the lyrics became more adult and satirical-social concerned, as on Pequeñas anécdotas sobre las instituciones (Little Stories about Institutions), their third LP.
Pequeñas anécdotas... had lots of troubles with censorship. Some songs had to be rewritten and others plainly removed (like one that dealt with the Armed Forces Draft). Anyway it is a good symphonic oriented LP, with tracks like "Tango en segunda" or "Tema de Natalio". The closing "Para quien canto yo entonces", on the other hand, still keeps the old style. David Lebón (guitar), Carlos Cutaia (organ), Alejandro Correa (bass), Oscar Moro (drums), Jorge Pinchevsky (violin), León Gieco (harp) and María Rosa Yorio (vocals) also play on the album.
Despite the huge success Charly and Nito decided to split with a mega concert that was held at the Luna Park Stadium in Buenos Aires on September 5th, 1975. The sold out 2-show night was filmed for a movie and a 2-LP set titled Adiós Sui Generis (available separately).
Later, Nito returned to the roots with a group called Los Desconocidos de Siempre and pursued an unsteady solo career. Los Desconocidos de Siempre recorded three albums (two homonymous Nito Mestre y los Desconocidos de Siempre, in 1977 and 1978; and Saltaba sobre las nubes in 1979).
Charly formed La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and later on Seru Giran with Lebón, Moro and Pedro Aznar. Seru Giran was another big success. It was the top group of the late 70s/early 80s in Argentina. When Seru Giran split Charly went solo and became the top selling rock artist of all time. (But this is another story).
A rare 4-song EP with PS featuring the unreleased "Alto en la Torre" exists. In 1986, the record company released a various artists compilation LP of unreleased tracks called Out Takes (Microfón SUP-S 80325) including the censored songs from the third Sui Generis album. All their LPs have been widely reissued and are available on CD.
In 2000, Charly and Nito reunited. They toured and released two albums (Sinfonía Para Adolescentes, on studio, and Sí, live). The comeback was not succesful from an artistict point of view and both albums failed.
Summers was one of those few artists from Mandioca label that sung in English. She was a soul-pop singer that someone (out of his mind) compared with ...Julie Driscoll!
Her song "You" was included on the compilation Mandioca Underground (MLP 331) and released on a highly collectable PS single. The b-side has Spanish lyrics. Then she faded from the scene.
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