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Roma, Italy · 1968 — present

Banco del Mutuo Soccorso

The Banco del Mutuo Soccorso did not start as a band, but as an improvised solution. In 1968, keyboardist Vittorio Nocenzi, just seventeen years old, convinced RCA to give him an audition by presenting himself as the leader of a nonexistent group. The maneuver — according to legend — worked because Nocenzi had already worked with Gabriella Ferri and managed to sell the idea of a band that did not yet exist. By the day of the audition, he had assembled a lineup with friends and family capable of holding an instrument, naming it with a title that sounded like a financial institution but was, in reality, an absurd nod to their surroundings: Banco del Mutuo Soccorso. The rehearsal space they chose, in Marino — a town in the Castelli Romani — was an old stable turned into a den of amplifiers and distortions, where the mangiatoie stored cables instead of hay.

The first step was to record three tracks for a compilation titled Sound '70, released only on cassette. Among them were Vedo il telefono, La mia libertà, and Padre Francesco, songs that already showcased the style that would define them: melodies with classical foundations and lyrics that strayed from the commonplace. But the turning point came in 1971, during the II Pop Festival of Caracalla in Rome. There, the group met musicians from Esperienze and Fiori di Campo, bands they shared the stage with, and by the end of the day, they incorporated Francesco Di Giacomo (vocals), Renato D’Angelo (bass), Pierluigi Calderoni (drums), and Marcello Todaro (guitar). This lineup solidified their sound: long pieces, complex structures, and texts by Di Giacomo that elevated the compositions to another level.

Progressive rock symphonic prog 1960s
1 Albums
5 Songs
70K Listeners/mo
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Essential songs

01

Canto nomade per un prigioniero politico

Io sono nato libero · 1973

15:46 02

Non mi rompete

Io sono nato libero · 1973

5:07 03

La città sottile

Io sono nato libero · 1973

7:13 04

Dopo... niente è più lo stesso

Io sono nato libero · 1973

9:55 05

Traccia II

Io sono nato libero · 1973

2:39

1 album|s · 1973

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Io sono nato libero 1973 ★ Essential

Io sono nato libero

5 song|s · Rock progresivo

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More about Banco del Mutuo Soccorso

Biography

In 1972, they released their debut album, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, featuring R.I.P., an instrumental suite with an unexpected vocal finale, and Il giardino del mago, a nearly fourteen-minute piece that became an anthem of Italian progressive rock. The cover, designed like a cardboard piggy bank, reinforced the idea of keeping something valuable inside the record. That same year saw the release of Darwin!, their first concept album, where each song explored Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. The cover, with a drawing of a monkey transforming into a human, was as provocative as the musical content: suites over twenty minutes long, abrupt tempo changes, and keyboard solos reminiscent of Bach filtered through a seventies amplifier.

The lineup remained stable until 1973, when Rodolfo Maltese replaced Todaro on guitar. This change marked the beginning of a period where the group solidified its identity, but also the prelude to the adjustments that would come later. What began as a ruse to enter a record label ended up being the foundational act of one of the most distinctive groups in Italian progressive rock.

Details

Born
1 Jan 1968
Country
🇮🇹 Italy
Genre
Progressive rock

Members

keyboards · actual
Alessandro Esseno
founder · 1968–present
Vittorio Nocenzi
vocals · 1971–2014
Francesco Di Giacomo
· 1973–2015
Rodolfo Maltese
clarinet, keyboards, piano, founder · 1968–1983
Gianni Nocenzi
· 1971–1972
Pierluigi Calderoni
acoustic guitar
Marcello Todaro
bass
Renato D'Angelo

Links

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