Banco del mutuo soccorso

The group began in 1968, when the brothers Vittorio Nocenzi (keyboards) and Gianni Nocenzi (keyboards), together with Franco Coletta (guitar), Fabrizio Falco (bass) and Mario Achilli (drums) settled in Rome, where the Nocenzi brothers had their own a small studio “Stalla”, and, giving its group the name Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, began rehearsals. The first recordings of the group, dated 1970, were released only in 1989 in the form of a retrospective collection Donna Plautilla . A little later, vocalist Francesco Di Giacomo joined the musicians.

The band released their first ( eponymous ) official album (albeit in a slightly different composition) in early 1972. The record came out in an envelope decorated in the form of a piggy bank and even had a small slot with a flap in which coins could actually be placed. In the same year, the second album of the group was released - conceptual album Darwin! . The lyrics of the album, highly valued by the public-speaking public, as described on the BdMS official website, “is a thousand hints depicting Primordial Chaos, the birth of Humanity and the life of primitive people - the first creatures on Earth who have the ability to think and feel, with the desire for love, still half-livestock "semi-humans who are destined to become the highest beings on the planet . " These records deservedly brought the group the status of one of the best rock bands in the country. If you somehow try to describe these records, then we can say that this is something like a harmonious synthesis of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Pink Floyd (Dark Side ... sample) with a strong Italian "musical accent", but the description will still be somewhat strained and contrived, since the group certainly has its own face. You can also compare it with the early works of Queen , but here the music is much more diverse and there is no bluish-sugary glamor in it that repels many from Mercury & Co. The complex and interestingly structured compositions of both albums are perfectly arranged, the skill of the instrumentalists is not in doubt, the vocals, although inferior in performance to the Queen group, are still very good, and the elegant orchestrations make the music even more beautiful without depriving the drive and power.

The next album, Io sono nato libero , recorded with the new guitar player (who, by the way, was very good at managing with brass) Rodolfo Maltese , “stolen” from the Homo Sapiens group, was maintained in a different way, and indeed, the previous two the works became the most "rocker" in the discography of the team. The music is mainly built around beautiful piano passages, which are perfectly combined with very interesting and unusual synthesizers, and the guitar parts (often acoustic) fit perfectly into the general sound. The rhythm section is also not far behind, and the vocalist is on top. In general, a very melodic, beautiful and refined, complex and dramatic blend of rock, jazz, classical music and traditional Italian melody.

In 1975, Banco , which gained the highest popularity in Italy, is trying to enter the international music market. Under the patronage of musicians from the congenial ELP, the group signs a contract with Manticore LTD - a company that successfully promotes another Italian “prog-monster” in Europe, the PFM group. The result was the album Banco , containing an English translation of the tracks from the first three records, as well as three more songs that were not previously published in Italian. The presentation of the album took place in the “Malibrean Theater” in Venice. Keith Emerson himself acted as an entertainer. This work was widely and very sympathetically covered in the international music press, but it didn’t have much commercial success, and the band’s US and UK tours didn’t go as well as expected.

The fourth album, Come in un'ultima cena of 1976 (with conceptual lyrics on biblical themes), was again a step to the side. Jazz intonations appeared in the music, and the sound turned out to be more “rocker”. In the same year, this album was also translated into English and released under the name As In a Last Supper . The multipage booklet contained an English translation of the group's lyrics.

In the same year, 1976, the band toured with Gentle Giant and recorded the soundtrack for the film Garofano Rosso , which was soon released on vinyl. This is purely instrumental work. Stylistically, it is very diverse, even somewhat "torn" and uneven. Changed the sound of keyboards, and the whole group as a whole. Less fervor and emotion, more rationality, the guitar is much less active, much is based on the winds that have appeared, including even more obvious appeals to jazz. The record is very good, although it lacks the wonderful voice of Francesco Di Giacomo there . The next work of the group ... di terra of 1978 demonstrated another change of stylistics - the group stepped towards jazz and orchestral music "a-la classics" ( Orchestra dell'Unione Musicisti di Roma took part in the recording). Despite the cardinal change in style, there was no change in the quality of music - it was, as before, at a height. The arrangements do not cause any complaints, the structure of the compositions is elegant and interesting, the instrumental parts are complex and magnificent. But this is not a rock at all.

Unfortunately, at the end of the seventies, the art-rock boom in Italy drops sharply, and for groups like Banco, it becomes increasingly difficult to survive in the changing world of show business, and, obviously, what is called a “creative crisis” begins to sneak up on the team. . The Canto Di Primavera record still contains some interesting prog material, and then ...

After the release of the Capolinea live , the sound of Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso was noticeably relieved, and the long instrumental compositions were replaced by a song-radio format. In the eighties, this is a completely different group. Simultaneously with the "castration" of music to the level of high-quality, but banal pop music, the name of the group was truncated to "Banco".

In the early 80s, the team was not stable, and in 1985 the group’s activities completely disappeared. The exception was the disk Non mettere le dita nel naso , published as a solo album by Francesco, but recorded with the participation of other members of the group. By the beginning of the nineties, Banco is far from being at its best. Her commercially oriented production of the eighties is less and less in demand, and from the former authority in music circles are mostly memories. At the same time, the early recordings of the group are again in progress, and public interest in art rock in Italy, and indeed in the whole world, is beginning to slowly revive. On this wavelength, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso , having returned to the formerly “expanded” name by that time, is releasing a collection of Da Qui Messere Si Domina La Valle with re-recorded material borrowed from the first two plates.

In the future, the team tried to revive the early sound, but there were also innovations. For example, in the mid-nineties, a new project of Banco musicians called “Acustico” appeared , where they performed in the format of an acoustic band. The live performances of the project received mostly very warm reviews from the public, and some tracks recorded during the concerts were included in the album Nudo , released in 1997. The music again clearly gave way to the classic albums of the group, but you can't call it bad. This album, as well as the disc Il 13, were two official releases of the period of the 90s (everything else was compilations).

Since then, the group prefers to engage in concert activities, which in 2003 was confirmed by the release of No Palco live .

On February 21, 2014, at the age of 66, Francesco Di Giacomo died as a result of a road accident, who had a heart attack while driving and drove his car into an oncoming lane where a head-on collision with another car occurred. Death occurred during transportation to Palestrina hospital ^[1]

• 1972 - Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso
• 1972 - Darwin!
• 1973 - Io Sono Nato Libero
• 1975 - Banco (English collection of songs from the first albums)
• 1976 - Garofano Rosso
• 1976 - Come In Un'Ultima Cena
• 1976 - As In A Last Supper ( Come In Un'Ultima Cena )
• 1978 - ... Di Terra
• 1979 - Canto Di Primavera
• 1979 - Capolinea (live)
• 1980 - Urgentissimo
• 1981 - Buone Notizie
• 1983 - Banco
• 1985 - ... E Via
• 1989 - Donna Plautilla (material recorded before 1972)
• 1989 - Non Mettere le Dita nel Naso (as the solo album of Francesco Di Giacomo )
• 1991 - Darwin (re-recorded by Darwin! )
• 1991 - Da qui Messere si Domina la Valle (re-recorded debut album by Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso and Darwin! )
• 1994 - Il 13
• 1997 - Nudo
• 2003 - No Palco (live)
• 2005 - Seguendo Le Tracce (live)
• 2012 - Quaranta (live)

• 1992 - Ciò che si vede è ( VHS )
• 2004 - Ciò che si vede è ( DVD )
• 2007 - Banco Live 1980 ( DVD )

• Official site
• Rock encyclopedia
• In the "Cultural Browser" (inaccessible link)
• On "wiki.progmusic.ru"