In Concerto - Arrangiamenti PFM

Fabrizio De André in Concerto - Arrangiamenti PFM ["In Concert - Arrangements by PFM"] is a 1979 live album by Fabrizio De André featuring Italian progressive rock band Premiata Forneria Marconi, also known as PFM, as his backing band, recorded during their successful 1979 tour of Italy and Europe. Built on powerful, complex and carefully crafted rock arrangements, either by single band members or by the band as a unit, the album marked a significant stylistic and musical departure for De André, whose production up to that point had always employed acoustic-based, folk arrangements, occasionally branching into pop but never overtly using rock structures and instrumentation. Upon release, the album became immediately very popular and paved the way for other Italian singer-songwriters (notably Francesco Guccini) for their own transition from a folk style into a more rock-oriented one. The album was followed by a Volume 2 the next year, recorded during the same shows.

Fabrizio De André in Concerto - Arrangiamenti PFM
Album cover
Live album by
Fabrizio De André and PFM
Released1979
RecordedTeatro Tenda, Florence; Palasport Casalecchio (currently Unipol Arena), Bologna, 13-14-15-16 January 1979
GenreRock
Length46:16
LabelRicordi
ProducerFabrizio De André, PFM
Fabrizio De André in Concerto - Arrangiamenti PFM, Vol. 2°
Album cover for the second volume
Live album by
Fabrizio De André and PFM
Released1980
RecordedTeatro Tenda, Florence; Palasport Casalecchio (currently Unipol Arena), Bologna, 13-14-15-16 January 1979
GenreRock
Length38:30
LabelRicordi
ProducerFabrizio De André, PFM

Background and overview

De André and the members of PFM had known each other since 1969, when the band, then known as Quelli ("Those ones") and mainly active as session musicians, had played on his album La buona novella. In a 1979 interview, as testified in the eighth and last disc (Poesia in forma di canzone - "Poetry as songs") of the 2011 8-DVD documentary series Dentro Faber [i.e. "Inside Faber", about De André's life and career, "Faber" being his nickname in Genoese], De André explained that he was talked into bringing a "rockier" feel to his music by drummer Franz Di Cioccio, guitarist Franco Mussida and, especially, multi-instrumentalist Mauro Pagani, who, although he was no longer a PFM member by then, had played on La buona novella and was still friends with all of the band's then-current members. (In later years, Pagani became one of De André's most trusted collaborators, composing and arranging most of the music for the latter's albums Crêuza de mä and Le nuvole, also playing a number of ethnic instruments on both albums.) The Genoan songwriter, who at the time was also suffering from a lack of motivation and stimuli, enthusiastically accepted the band's proposal, and the tour, later immortalized by the two-volume live album, was born.[1]

All of the tour dates were very successful in terms of ticket sales and of popularity, although some of De Andre's early "purist" fans viewed his move into rock as selling out, or simply as De André "pandering" to a more contemporary music style in order to have a broader appeal. However, music critics at the time, comparing the tour to Bob Dylan "going electric" in 1965, lauded the tour itself, and its resulting live albums, for their great originality, and praised De André's audacity in going beyond the commonly accepted "minimal" attitude of 1970s singer-songwriters (according to which the number of instruments which were played alongside the singing, and the quality of the playing itself, had a much lesser importance than the lyrics) and "dressing up" his songs in beautiful musical arrangements, which thus became just as relevant as his lyrics.[2]

Track listing

Fabrizio De André in Concerto
  1. "Bocca di Rosa" ["Rose-mouth"] (De André; main arrangers: Franco Mussida and Flavio Premoli) - 4:32
  2. "Andrea" (De André/Massimo Bubola; main arranger: Mussida) - 5:24
  3. "Giugno '73" ["June '73"] (De André; main arrangers: Franz Di Cioccio, Premoli) - 4:24
  4. "Un giudice" ["A judge"] (De André/Giuseppe Bentivoglio/Edgar Lee Masters [lyrics], De André/Nicola Piovani [music]; main arranger: Premoli) - 3:23
  5. "La guerra di Piero" ["Piero's war"] (De André; arranged by PFM) - 3:30
  6. "Il pescatore" ["The Fisherman"] (De André [lyrics], Gian Piero Reverberi/Franco Zauli [music]; main arrangers: Di Cioccio, Premoli) - 3:58
  7. "Zirichiltaggia" [literally "Lizards' den" in Gallurese] (De André/Bubola; main arranger: Lucio Fabbri) - 2:27
  8. "La canzone di Marinella" ["Marinella's song"] (De André; main arranger: Mussida) - 4:02
  9. "Volta la carta" ["Turn the page"] (De André/Bubola; main arrangers: Premoli, Fabbri) - 3:56
  10. "Amico fragile" ["Frail friend"] (De André; main arranger: Mussida) - 9:35

Fabrizio De André in Concerto, Vol. 2
  1. "Avventura a Durango" [a translation of Bob Dylan's "Romance in Durango", from his 1976 album Desire] (De André/Bubola [Italian lyrics], Bob Dylan/Jacques Levy [music]; main arrangers: Mussida, Premoli) - 5:20
  2. "Presentazione" [Band and crew intros, by Franz Di Cioccio] - 3:42
  3. "Sally" (De André/Bubola; arranger: Roberto Colombo) - 5:05
  4. "Verranno a chiederti del nostro amore" ["They will come to ask you about our love"] (De André/Bentivoglio [lyrics], De André/Piovani [music]; main arranger: Premoli) - 5:06
  5. "Rimini" (De André/Bubola; arranged by PFM, main arranger: Premoli) - 5:00
  6. "Via del Campo" [literally "Field Street" - a street in Genoa] (De André/Enzo Jannacci; arranger: Roberto Colombo) - 2:44
  7. "Maria nella bottega del falegname" ["Mary in a carpenter's workshop"] (De André [lyrics], De André/Reverberi [music]; main arranger: Premoli) - 4:37
  8. "Il testamento di Tito" ["Titus's testament"] (De André [lyrics], De André/Corrado Castellari [music]; arranged by PFM, main arrangers: Mussida, Premoli) - 6:34

2012 bonus tracks

The 2012 re-release of both albums, within the 16-CD live box set I concerti ["The concerts"] by Sony Music, features four bonus tracks entitled "Contestazione Roma PalaEUR" (1-4) [i.e. "Jeering in Rome PalaEUR"], which consist in various excerpts from a 1980 show in Rome's PalaLottomatica (formerly PalaEUR); in the show, De André performed the same setlist as in the live albums, but he was verbally attacked, jeered and booed throughout by some of the local audience, who, as several other early fans of De Andre's, viewed the coupling between a singer-songwriter and a rock band as almost sacrilegious, implying a sell-out of the former; large groups of people shouted out "sell-out, sell-out" and chanted "idiot, idiot" between songs. The singer responded (in the second excerpt, track 10 on the CD) by claiming that there are no such things as good ideals and bad ideals, but that ideals are seen as good or bad depending on them being accepted by a majority or a minority of people. Di Cioccio, on his own turn, defended the combination on the ground that PFM were merely functioning as De Andre's backing band for that tour, as opposed to a full-fledged rock band with their own personality; he then proceeded to introduce the band members, as he did on Volume 2.[3]

Song changes

With PFM imprinting their own progressive rock stamp on all songs, all of the arrangements are notably different from their respective original studio recordings. Some of the changes are subtle, others more radical.

Fabrizio De André in Concerto
  • "Bocca di Rosa", originally from Volume 1, is given a new intro and a new solo by Mussida and keyboardist Flavio Premoli, with additional violin passages by violinist Lucio "Violino" Fabbri. The tarantella rhythm on the original recording is removed, and the song is played instead as a fast shuffle in 12
    8    .
  • "Andrea", originally from Rimini, is played faster than the original, and Massimo Bubola's passionately Mediterranean instrumental melody (functioning as an interlude between verses) is more prominent.
  • "Giugno '73" adds a new intro, but remains otherwise faithful to its original recording on Volume 8; only, keyboards are more prominent and the instrumental interlude is played by Franz Di Cioccio on crotales.
  • "Un giudice" is played very slightly slower than its original recording on Non al denaro non all'amore né al cielo and it is given a Cajun feel by Premoli, who adds a new solo on accordion.
  • "La guerra di Piero" is relatively unchanged from its original recording on Volume 3; the song's military march feel is emphasized by Di Cioccio's percussion and additional keyboards by guest musician Roberto Colombo, one of which is played with a harpsichord timbre.
  • "Il pescatore", originally released in 1970 as a standalone single, features one of the most striking changes: the simple folk arrangement in the original version is transformed into a rousing rock anthem, featuring heavy drums, percussion (both engaged in a short solo/break towards the end), electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards and violin. The hook, originally consisting in a whistled melody, is joyously sung as a choir ("La-la-la-la, la-la, la-la..." etc.) by the entire band - except for bassist Patrick Djivas, who does not sing.
  • "Zirichiltaggia" is, again, played much faster than its original recording on Rimini. Fabbri emphasizes the song's bluegrass feel by playing a longer fiddle solo. The harmony vocals, originally sung by Bubola as one of the two shepherds comically arguing in the song, are here sung by Mussida. In his introduction to the song, De André stated that living in Gallura for four years meant that he at least managed to learn the local language - which allowed him to write the song.
  • "La canzone di Marinella" is transposed from the 4
    4     beat of its original recording, on Volume 3, to a 6
    8     beat, and the arrangement, led by piano and acoustic guitar, is softer and calmer than the original - thus adding even more sweetness to De André's already sugar-coated, fairytale-like lyrical treatment of Marinella's rape and tragic death.
  • In "Volta la carta", the Irish gig elements of the original recording, on Rimini, are given more prominence, with the main interludes being played on violin and keyboards. Mussida sings Dori Ghezzi's part from the original version, and the final operatic tenor high note is omitted, played instead as a held note on the violin. Di Cioccio starts the song by singing "Branca, Branca, Branca!", to which the band responds "Leòn, Leòn, Leòn!" - a reference to the main theme from the 1966 film L'armata Brancaleone.
  • "Amico fragile" is much longer than its original recording on Volume 8, with a new intro by Premoli and two new guitar solos by Mussida. De André sings the second verse an octave higher than the original, and in a much more impassioned tone, highlighting the overall resentful attitude of the whole lyric.

Fabrizio De André in Concerto, Volume 2
  • "Avventura a Durango" is a slightly faster adaption of the original recording on Rimini, which was itself faithfully adapted from the Dylan recording. Although the general tone of De André's delivery remains lightweight, he sings with a more direct and focused tone than on the studio version. During the Neapolitan chorus, De André harmonizes with Colombo (in lieu of Bubola) and Di Cioccio punctuates it with a disco beat, still being aware of the rhythmical irregularities in the main song.
  • In "Sally", the interlude melody, played on acoustic guitars in the original studio version on Rimini, is complemented by Colombo's prominent Moog synth (Colombo arranged the song by himself). In the last verse, De André sings: "Mia madre mi disse: «Non devi giocare con gli Svizzeri nel bosco»" ["My mother told me: «You shouldn't play with the Swiss people in the woods»"], instead of the correct word zingari (i.e. gypsies, used at the time in Italy as a slightly deprecating epithet for Romani people). Years later, he attributed this mistake to his being intoxicated on stage, as he used to drink half a bottle of whisky immediately before each show in order to win his severe stage fright.[4]
  • In "Verranno a chiederti del nostro amore", a new piano introduction is added; the orchestration on the original recording, on Storia di un impiegato, is simplified and played on keyboards and synths.
  • The choir singing the titular word in "Rimini" is here sung by the entire band - except for Djivas - with Fabbri taking the highest note in a falsetto voice; Premoli adds a new synth solo at the end. After performing the song, De André states that a similar story to that in the song was told much better in «I Vitellini» by Felloni, referring to the 1965 film I Vitelloni by Federico Fellini. The unintentional spoonerism was later referred to by De André as another mistake due to intoxication.
  • "Via del Campo", another Colombo arrangement, is led by the guest keyboardist's harpsichord-like synth. He also adds an instrumental interlude in order to modulate between the second and third verses. (In the original recording, on the 1967 Volume 1 album, the modulation is carried out on guitars.)
  • In "Maria nella bottega del falegname" the choral parts, representing the townspeople, are sung by Di Cioccio, Mussida and Fabbri in unison, without any harmonizations and, unlike the original recording on La buona novella, obviously without any female vocals. Premoli adds a new synth solo at the end. Before the song starts, Di Cioccio acts out the role of the carpenter by shouting to "Mary" in Milanese.
  • Similar to "Il pescatore" on the 1979 release, "Il testamento di Tito", originally from La buona novella, features a full-on rock performance by the whole band, including heavy, prominent drums, acoustic and electric guitars, an electric violin part by Fabbri, a new guitar intro by Mussida and a new synth solo by Premoli. De André's vocal delivery is, again, slightly angrier in tone than the detached attitude of his original vocals on the studio recording.

Legacy

De Andrè was immediately appreciative of the new slant given by PFM to his songs (especially the older ones), to the point that he kept using identical arrangements to PFM's in all of his subsequent tours, up to his very last concerts in 1998, regardless of the musicians he played with. When asked in 1991 by his longtime lighting and theatrical director Pepi Morgia why he kept using the PFM versions instead of his own ones, De André half-jokingly replied: "Belin,[5] because they are so damn good that nobody has ever done any better - and nobody ever will, most of all myself!" [6]

Personnel

PFM

(Note: At the time, Colombo and Fabbri were not official members of PFM or any other bands; they had joined the band as guests for the duration of the tour, with Fabbri replacing former member Mauro Pagani. While Fabbri stayed with the band throughout the 1980s and from 1997 to the present, Colombo left them in 1980 to pursue a career as a music producer and arranger, which he still is as of 2020.)

Crew
  • All songs arranged by PFM (Main arrangers as detailed above.)
  • Produced by Fabrizio De André and PFM
  • Recorded live in Florence and Bologna with the Manor Mobile Recording Studio from Virgin Records, London.
  • Recording engineer - Peter Greenslade
  • Recording assistants - Chris Blake, Ken Capper
  • Mixed in February 1979 at "Il Mulino" Recording Studio, Milan, by Franco Mussida
  • Mix assistant - Franco Pellegrini
  • Front-of-house and stage monitors engineer - Piero Bravin
  • All photos by Guido Harari

Credits for 2007 reissue
  • Remixed by Paolo Iafelice at Adesiva Discografica Studio, Milan.
  • Mastered by Antonio Baglio at Nautilus Mastering Studio, Milan.
  • "Cooperative" supervision by Dori Ghezzi, Franz Di Cioccio and Patrick Djivas.
  • Art direction and all photos by Guido Harari.
  • Graphic design by Guido Harari and Roberto Capussotti.
  • Thanks to Yukio Takahashi from Sonopress GmbH for providing the original live tapes.

Reissues and artwork

The two albums were remastered and reissued several times by Ricordi, BMG and Sony Music, starting from 1995. In 2007, sound engineer Paolo Iafelice, who took care of field recordings for De André's 1994 album Anime salve and later worked as a technical engineer on his posthumous releases (as well as on live recordings by De André's firstborn son Cristiano), undertook an extensive remix of both albums, by carrying them through a process of "de-mastering" - i.e. going back to the original 1979 tapes and removing all subsequent layers of remastering to obtain a flat transfer of the tapes themselves, then carefully mixing them anew in order to bring out previously obscured details. Also, when originally recorded, some of the songs were sped up for unknown reasons; Iafelice's remix brought all recordings back to their correct speed.

Artwork

Expert concert photographer Guido Harari took all the photos for the artwork. The front cover of both albums is a shot of the audience in Florence taken from above the stage, without De André (his chair is empty); the photo has an orange-red tint on the first 1979 release, and a light green tint on Volume 2. The gatefold cover of the first album includes more onstage pictures of single members, and the album also features a booklet consisting of black-and-white stills of De André and band members relaxing and having fun backstage. The booklet includes, on its second-to-last page, a poem by De André entitled "Blues di altre date" ["Blues from other dates"], which he never set to music, written as a letter to Djivas. Two short handwritten parodies by De André are used as captions on three photos:

  • A picture of De André seemingly asleep on the ground next to a heater is captioned with a parody of the first two lines from "Il pescatore": "Col culo esposto a un radiatore/s'era assopito il cantautore..." ("With his ass exposed to a heater, the singer-songwriter had fallen asleep...").
  • Two ugly-looking pictures of Colombo and Fabbri holding their identity cards are captioned with a parody of the first verse from "Delitto di paese" (De Andrè's 1965 translation of "L'assassinat", a Georges Brassens original from 1962): "Non tutti all'ombra di un ideale/sbocciano i fiori del male;/due terroristi malgrado tutto/ci abbiamo anche noi nel gruppo..." ("It's not always in the shadow of an ideal/that the flowers of evil blossom;/even we, in spite of everything/have got two terrorists in our band...")

The 2007 reissue features a reworked sepia-toned band photo by Harari on the front cover, overlaid with "Fabrizio De André & PFM" in a large white type and "In Concerto" in a smaller dark brown type. The booklet within the reissue features all of Harari's photos from the previous issues, and more previously unreleased ones.

40th anniversary tribute concert

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original 1979 live album, a tribute concert took place at Verona Arena on 26 September 2019. It featured Cristiano De André on lead vocals, accompanied by the current members of PFM (i.e. Di Cioccio, Djivas and Fabbri - Premoli and Mussida having left the band respectively in 2005 and 2015), plus several guest musicians. The show consisted in a faithful live re-creation of the album and of its second volume, both in their original running order.[7]

References
  1. Dentro Faber, DVD 8: Poesia in forma di canzone.
  2. As told by De André and Guido Harari in their book Una goccia di splendore: un'autobiografia per parole e immagini ["A drop of brightness: an autobiography for words and pictures"], published posthumously by Rizzoli in 2010.
  3. I Concerti 2012 box set, CD 4, tracks 9-12.
  4. Also from Una goccia di splendore.
  5. Genoese slang for penis, here used as an equivalent of fuck! or fuck it!.
  6. Told by Pepi Morgia in Dentro Faber, Vol. 8.
  7. Live broadcast by Rai 1 on 26 September 2019.
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