Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso (English: Bank of Mutual Relief) is an Italian rock band. A popular progressive rock band in the 1970s, they continued making music in the 1980s and 1990s. Recently, they were still active, playing live in 2001 and 2008 at NEARfest. Their charismatic frontman, Francesco Di Giacomo, died in 2014.
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso | |
|---|---|
 Francesco Di Giacomo of Banco, at a concert in Frascati, 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Banco, BMS |
| Origin | Rome, Italy |
| Genres | Progressive rock, art rock |
| Years active | 1969–current |
| Labels | Ricordi, Manticore, EMI, Sony |
| Website | bancodelmutuosoccorso.it |
| Members | Vittorio Nocenzi Rodolfo Maltese Tiziano Ricci Maurizio Masi Filippo Marcheggiani Alessandro Papotto Nicola Di Già Tony D'Alessio |
| Past members | Francesco Di Giacomo Gianni Nocenzi Claudio Falco Fabrizio Falco Franco Pontecorvi Marcello Todaro Renato D'Angelo Pierluigi Calderoni Gianni Colaiacomo Karl Potter |
History
Inspired by progressive rock acts from England, in particular Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, keyboardists Vittorio Nocenzi and his brother Gianni founded Banco del Mutuo Soccorso in Rome, Italy. They later recorded their eponymous debut album in 1972, soon to be followed by Darwin!, and in 1973 Io sono nato libero. The most prominent features of their sound are the complex textures provided by the piano, Hammond organ and synthesizers played by the Nocenzi brothers, along with the vocals of former frontman Francesco Di Giacomo. A careful balance of electronic and acoustic instruments, with the use of reeds (played by some of the members of the band, in addition to their usual instrument), made Banco's sound increasingly original and innovative, with a blend of rock, jazz and classical music which did not, however, forsake the Italian melodic tradition.
Proving popular in Italy and becoming known abroad, the band signed with Manticore Records together with the Premiata Forneria Marconi. In 1975 Banco was released, a collection of translated songs together with new material, targeting the international market. Come in un'ultima cena was also translated as As in a Last Supper. The late 1970s saw Banco del Mutuo Soccorso going in new directions, with a film soundtrack in 1976's Garofano rosso and recordings with an orchestra in 1978's ...di terra. They changed their name to the simplified Banco.
The 1980s saw Banco's musical direction change towards lighter pop and shorter songs, producing some hits. This is due to the limited success they had abroad with their albums with English lyrics (also due to the shutdown of Manticore in 1977), which led to the decision to exploit Di Giacomo's remarkable vocal gifts with more marketable songs. Gianni Nocenzi left the band for a solo career. Other members came and went.
In the 1990s and now back to using the longer name, they started playing their 1970s material again. They performed unplugged versions of their songs live and re-recorded their first albums. New material was also produced.
Today, the band continues to play live.
On 21 February 2014, Francesco di Giacomo died in a car accident, in Zagarolo, at the age of 67.[1]
On 3 October 2015, the band guitarist Rodolfo Maltese died too after a long battle with cancer.
In September 2016 some Italian newspapers claimed that the band has taken on Tony D'Alessio, best known from the Italian edition of X-Factor, as the new lead singer.[2]
On 13 January 2019, a press release announced that a new album called "Transiberiana" will be released in April.[3] It will be their first new release after "Nudo", which was published on 1997.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Italian Chart | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Banco del Mutuo Soccorso | 5 | |
| 1972 | Darwin! | 4 | |
| 1973 | Io sono nato libero | 10 | |
| 1975 | Banco | 10 | includes English versions of songs from previous albums |
| 1976 | Garofano rosso | 9 | film soundtrack |
| 1976 | Come in un'ultima cena | 8 | also recorded in English (As in a Last Supper) |
| 1978 | …di terra | with Orchestra dell'Unione Musicisti di Roma | |
| 1979 | Canto di primavera | 36 | |
| 1980 | Urgentissimo | 11 | |
| 1981 | Buone Notizie | ||
| 1983 | Banco | 23 | |
| 1985 | ...e via | 42 | |
| 1994 | Il 13 | ||
| 1997 | Nudo | ||
| 2019 | Transiberiana | 19[4] |
Live albums
| Year | Title | Italian Chart | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Capolinea | 28 | |
| 2003 | No Palco | 30th anniversary live album | |
| 2005 | Seguendo le Tracce | live recording from 1975 |
Other releases
| Year | Title | Italian Chart | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | As In A Last Supper | English version of Come in un'ultima cena | |
| 1989 | Donna Plautilla | compilation of previously unreleased pre-1972 material | |
| 1989 | Non Mettere le Dita nel Naso | under the name of Francesco Di Giacomo | |
| 1991 | Darwin | reworking of the original 1972 album | |
| 1991 | Da qui Messere si Domina la Valle | re-release of the first two albums | |
| 1993 | La Storia | compilation | |
| 1996 | Banco d'Accusa | compilation boxset, released under the name of Francesco Di Giacomo | |
Singles
- 1973 - Non mi rompete/La città sottile (Dischi Ricordi, SRL 10713)
- 1979 - Canto di primavera/Circobanda (Dischi Ricordi, SRL 10896)
- 1979 - Niente/Sono la bestia (Dischi Ricordi, SRL 10908)
- 1980 - Il ragno/Capolinea (Dischi Ricordi, SRL 10915)
- 1980 - Paolo Pà / Ma che idea
- 1980 - Dove sarà / Ma che idea
- 1980 - Il ragno / Rip
- 1981 - Baciami Alfredo / Buone notizie
- 1981 - Tommy/Mississippi (pubblicato come La banda di Tom)
- 1983 - Moby Dick / Velocità
- 1983 - Lontano da
- 1985 - Grande Joe / Allons enfant
- 1989 - Padre Francesco/Vedo il telefono/La mia libertà (Contempo, PT 42926 EP)
- 1994 - Brivido
- 1997 - Nudo
- 1997 - Ragno
- 2019 - I ruderi del gulag
Videos
- Ciò che si vede è (1992, DVD release in 2004)
- Live 1980 (2007)
References
- Sbardella, Massimo (February 21, 2014). "Scontro frontale, muore Francesco Di Giacomo Era la voce del Banco del Mutuo Soccorso" [Francesco di Giacomo dies in frontal crash, was the voice of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso] (in Italian). Retrieved February 22, 2014.
- Pagine, Otto (September 20, 2016). "Tony D'Alessio sarà la voce del Banco del Mutuo Soccorso" [Tony D'Alessio will be the new Singer of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso] (in Italian). Retrieved September 22, 2016.
- Musicarteam (18 January 2019). "MAT2020: COMUNICATI STAMPA: Banco del Mutuo Soccorso: in arrivo il nuovo album..." MAT2020. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
- "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 20 (dal 10.05.2019 al 16.05.2019)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- "Official band history". Archived from the original on 2008-01-09. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
Authority control  |
|---|