To begin the presentation conference of his new album “Canzoni da osteria” by Francesco Guccini he presents himself at the Statale di Milano with the Orobica Alpini Choir singing Hello beautiful.
A precise, not random choice, which is also the first track of his new album.
In the lectio magistralis Guccini talked about the album through anecdotes of taverns, little money, songs, American students, Vietnam and social rights.
THE STORY OF THE RECORD
I have frequented very few taverns in my life, I remember the Osteria dei Poeti and the Osteria da Gandolfi
The real taverns were very sad places frequented by elderly, semi-alcoholic gentlemen. Inside there was wine of two broad categories: white and red.
A glass of wine cost 25 lire and if you were hungry there was a boiled egg.Later came the young people! It was the sixties and we arrived with the guitar and cheered up the environment.
There were many foreign students in Bologna. Americans, Greeks, Somalis… we were a group of young people who spent the evening playing and having fun.We were penniless and went to taverns because the other places were posh and cost too much.
We didn’t talk much about politics but we talked about the Vietnam War and civil rights.The tavern, in those days, was a cultural space. We always sang these songs that I included in this record.
With Hello beautiful I paid a small tribute to Iranian women. In the text I changed small words in the text to adapt it to the Iranian situation.
There are very few Italian songs on the album. The repertoire was missing. The songs of the fifties were quite ignoble, quite useless.
Luckily someone rebelled and everything changed… I have always been a great collector of songs and in these two albums I collected some of them.
THE DISC
Francesco accompanies us once again among his heartfelt melodies and the evocative images of his memories with Canzoni da tavern, the new recording project of the Master of Italian songwriting out today, Friday 10 November, for BMG exclusively in physical format.
Natural continuation of “Canzoni da intorto” (READ THE REVIEW), certified Platinum, winner of the Targa Tenco for the “Performer of songs” category and best-selling physical album of 2022 which marked Francesco Guccini’s return to singing 10 years after his last studio project – Canzoni da osteria is a collection of popular songs selected by the Maestro, true jewels of the national and international repertoire revisited in a strictly personal key.
A sound journey along 14 tracks between culture, hidden traditions and history, which has as its starting point the Italian resistance anthem Bella ciao, continues in South America with Jacinto Chiclana, El caballo negro, La chacarera del 55 and Sur, up to sing about love in all its forms with Amore dove sei, Maria la guerza and La tieta; there is no shortage of the traditional Il canto dei batteli in Veneto, La maduneina from Baurgh ‘d San Pir in Bolognese, Hava nagila in Hebrew, the nostalgic The last thing on my mind and the American folk in Cotton fields; to close the album between Greek and Italian, the bilingual song 21 April.
The arrangements of Canzoni da tavern are by Fabio Ilacqua who also followed the artistic production supported by Stefano Giungato. A wide variety of instruments and sounds accompanies the unmistakable voice of Francesco Guccini, ready to range between languages and musical genres.
THE FORMATS
Canzoni da tavern is available in 5 different formats: CD, limited edition CD – maxi format, vinyl, special edition vinyl (numbered and colored limited edition), and for true connoisseurs a special double vinyl exclusive edition with instrumental tracks – recorded directly by the mix (limited and numbered edition).
SONGS FROM OSTERIA – TRACKLIST
Guccini_CanzoniDaOsteria_album-2023
1. Hello beautiful
2. Jacinto Chiclana
3. Love where you are
4. Maria la guerza
5. The black horse
6. The tieta
7. The song of the pile drivers
8. Hava Nagila
9. The last thing on my mind
10. The chacarera of ’55 (with Flaco Biondini)
11. The maduneina from Baurgh ‘d San Pir
12. Cotton fields
13. Sur
14. April 21st
