Francesco De Gregori
Francesco De Gregori (born April 4, 1951 in Rome ) is an Italian cantautore (songwriter).
Little noticed at the beginning, De Gregori has been able to make a name for himself in the Roman singer-songwriter scene at the latest since his collaboration with Fabrizio De André in 1974 and also achieve considerable public success. Since his debut in 1972 he has topped the Italian album charts nine times. His multiple collaborations with Lucio Dalla have been particularly successful . Because of his introverted dealings with the press, the Cantautore was nicknamed Il principe ("The Prince", "The Prince"). In his songs, De Gregori combines a diffuse hermeticism in the lyrics with easily accessible melodies. As well as Fabrizio De André, Leonard Cohen and especially Bob Dylan are considered to be his musical role models . De Gregori has received numerous awards for his work, including six Targhe Tenco .
Career
Beginnings
De Gregori began his musical career at the age of 17 with a few appearances in the well-known Roman local folk studio , which had developed into a meeting place for young, aspiring musicians. Together with his fellow musicians Giorgio Lo Cascio , Ernesto Bassignano and Edoardo De Angelis , he also appeared at the I giovani del folk event . On the It label he finally released the album Theorius Campus in 1972 together with Antonello Venditti . While this was a stepping stone for Venditti to a new record deal and greater success, De Gregori was initially denied recognition. However, it developed into an insider tip within left-wing cultural associations.
Breakthrough and setbacks
It was not until 1973 that the musician was able to draw lasting attention to himself with the song Alice at the summer hit competition Un disco per l'estate and to reach a mass audience for the first time. The song entered the Italian single charts and was included on the album Alice non lo sa . After this success De Gregori switched to the big label RCA , where he made his debut in 1974 with the album Francesco De Gregori . In the same year he worked with Fabrizio De André on his album Vol. 8 . In 1975 he performed with Ron , Renzo Zenobi and Lucio Dalla in Milan and released the album Rimmel , with which he had his big breakthrough, initiated by the success of the single of the same name. The album also contained the song Buonanotte fiorellino , which Konstantin Wecker later recorded in German in 2011. The following year the album Bufalo Bill was released , the content of which dealt with mythically inflated human models.
During this time the political discourse hardened in the Italian public and concerts in particular became the scene of protests with increasing frequency. One of the high points of these clashes occurred on April 2, 1976 at a De Gregoris concert in Milan: Aggressive left-wing demonstrators accused the musician of his high salary and lack of solidarity with the labor movement, and suggested that he should commit suicide like Mayakovsky (a reference to the suicide of Luigi Tenco in 1967). The incident plunged De Gregori into an artistic crisis and it was only in 1978 that he returned after a break with the album De Gregori . He achieved great success with the anti-war song Generale .
successes
Then the Cantautore began a joint project with Lucio Dalla: This resulted in the successful single Ma come fanno i marinai / Cosa sarà in 1979 and the live album Banana Republic , the fruit of an extensive tour. Banana Republic was the first number one album for both musicians. Lucio Dalla also appeared on De Gregori's next studio album, Viva l'Italia , which was released that same year. The title song from it was again a great success. In 1982 the album Titanic followed , on which De Gregori played with motifs and metaphors around the sinking of the RMS Titanic . A year later the Cantautore contributed the EP La donna cannone for the soundtrack of the film Flirt by Roberto Russo (with Monica Vitti ) ; this could reach the top of the album charts. Two years after this success, De Gregori released the next album Scacchi e tarocchi , which was received very differently. In 1986 the asteroid (6114) Dalla-Degregori was named after the successful duo.
After switching to the label CBS ( Columbia Records , later Sony ) De Gregori's album Terra di nessuno was released in 1987 , with which he stylistically came closer to the folk-rock Bob Dylans . It was awarded the Targa Tenco album of the year. In 1989, in the album Miramare April 19 , 1989, he again focused increasingly on socio- critical topics from contemporary Italian times ; this album was also awarded the Targa Tenco. At the end of the decade, De Gregori published a trilogy of three live albums in 1990, Niente da capire , Catcher in the Sky and Musica leggera . The musician remained active throughout the 1990s, with the two studio albums Canzoni d'amore (1992) and Prendere e lasciare (1996; both number one in the charts) as well as the three no less successful live albums Il bandito e il campione ( 1993), Bootleg (1994) and La valigia dell'attore (1997). The song La valigia dell'attore was awarded a Targa Tenco song of the year in 1998.
In the new millennium De Gregori reported back in 2001 with the studio album Amore nel pomeriggio , which earned him a Targa Tenco for the third time, and then went on tour again. This resulted in the next live album Fuoco amico (2002). In the summer of 2002 he undertook another tour with Pino Daniele , Fiorella Mannoia and Ron, which led to the album Dal vivo . In the same year he also released the studio album Il fischio del vapore , on which he interpreted Italian folk songs together with Giovanna Marini ; the project was awarded a Targa Tenco for "Performers of the Year". After the live best of mix (2003; with a cover of the Dylan song I Shall Be Released ), the studio albums Pezzi (2005), which received another Targa Tenco, and Calypsos (2006) were released in quick succession . In 2005, President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi awarded De Gregori the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Officer). In 2006 the three-part Best-of Tra un manifesto e lo specchio was also released , which also included Diamante , a song whose lyrics De Gregori had written for Zucchero in 1989 . Another live album followed ( Left & Right - Documenti dal vivo , 2007).
Later years with Dalla and Dylan
In 2008 De Gregori released the studio album Per brevità chiamato artista , the title of which refers to his first record deal with RCA. He then revived the project with Lucio Dalla from 1979 and went on tour with him between 2010 and 2011. The new joint live album was titled Work in Progress and was supposed to represent the last collaboration between the two musicians (Dalla died in early 2012). In 2012 De Gregori was involved in the folk song album Vola vola vola by Ambrogio Sparagna and published a live album as well as the new studio album Sulla strada (released on the Edel label ), the title of which alludes to Jack Kerouac's Unterwegs . In the same year director Stefano Pistolini presented the documentary Finestre rotte about the life of De Gregoris at the Venice International Film Festival . In the 2014 album Vivavoce , however , the Cantautore presented new versions of some of his most famous songs, including a version by Alice with the participation of Ligabue .
In 2015 the song Sei mai stata sulla luna? , which De Gregori had written for the soundtrack of the film of the same name by Paolo Genovese , was awarded a Nastro d'argento for the best film song. In addition, this year the musician received the Premio Chiara in the Le parole della musica category . In the summer of 2015 De Gregori performed as the opening act for Bob Dylan at a concert in Lucca . Based on this, he published the cover album De Gregori canta Bob Dylan - Amore e furto in the same year , in which he interpreted Italian versions of well-known songs from his American role model. The album peaked in Italy. In 2017 the next live album Sotto il vulcano was released , in 2018 the cantautore could be heard in the song Quelli che restano by Elisa .
Discography
Studio albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
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|||
1972 | Theorius Campus | - | - |
with Antonello Venditti
It |
1973 | Alice non lo sa | - | - |
It
2000 number 74 (1 week) on the FIMI charts |
1974 | Francesco De Gregori | - | - |
RCA Italiana
2012 number 55 (2 weeks) on the FIMI charts |
1975 | Rimmel |
IT3 ![]() (56 weeks)IT |
- |
RCA Italiana
2000 place 23 (8 weeks) on the FIMI charts 2010 place 84 (3 weeks) on the FIMI charts |
1976 | Bufalo Bill |
IT2 (31 weeks) IT |
- |
RCA Italiana
2001 number 64 (2 weeks) on the FIMI charts |
1978 | De Gregori |
IT2 (27 weeks) IT |
- |
RCA Italiana
|
1979 | Viva l'Italia |
IT2 (29 weeks) IT |
- |
RCA Italiana
|
1982 | Titanic |
IT4 (23 weeks) IT |
- |
RCA Italiana
|
1983 | La donna cannone |
IT1 (25 weeks) IT |
- |
EP (Q Disc)
RCA Italiana |
1985 | Scacchi e tarocchi |
IT2 (20 weeks) IT |
- |
RCA Italiana
|
1987 | Terra di nessuno |
IT12 (11 weeks) IT |
- |
CBS
|
1989 | Mira Mare April 19, 1989 |
IT4 (19 weeks) IT |
- |
CBS
|
1992 | Canzoni d'amore |
IT1 (21 weeks) IT |
- |
Columbia
|
1996 | Prendere e lasciare |
IT1 (22 weeks) IT |
- |
Columbia
|
2001 | Amore nel pomeriggio |
IT1 (27 weeks) IT |
CH95 (2 weeks) CH |
Columbia
|
2002 | Il fischio del vapore |
IT5 (22 weeks) IT |
- |
with Giovanna Marini
Columbia / Caravan |
2005 | Pezzi |
IT2 (28 weeks) IT |
- |
Columbia / Caravan
|
2006 | Calypsos |
IT1 (17 weeks) IT |
- |
Columbia / Caravan
|
2008 | Per brevità chiamato artista |
IT1 (21 weeks) IT |
- |
Sony
|
2012 | Sulla strada |
IT6th ![]() (35 weeks)IT |
- |
Noble / caravan
|
2014 | Vivavoce |
IT4th ![]() (46 weeks)IT |
- |
Sony
|
2015 | De Gregori canta Bob Dylan - Amore e furto |
IT1 ![]() (39 weeks)IT |
CH54 (1 week) CH |
Cover album
Sony |
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
Live albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
![]() |
|||
1979 | Banana Republic |
IT1 ![]() (43 weeks)IT |
- | |
1990 | Musica leggera |
IT13 (8 weeks) IT |
- |
Serraglio / CBS
|
Catcher in the Sky |
IT16 (8 weeks) IT |
- |
Serraglio / CBS
|
|
Niente da capire |
IT10 (11 weeks) IT |
- |
Serraglio / CBS
|
|
1993 | Il bandito e il campione |
IT1 ![]() (22 weeks)IT |
- |
Serraglio / Columbia
2010 number 95 (1 week) on the FIMI charts |
1994 | Bootleg |
IT5 (6 weeks) IT |
- |
Serraglio / Epic
|
1997 | La valigia dell'attore |
IT2 (16 weeks) IT |
- |
Serraglio / Columbia
|
2002 | Fuoco amico |
IT6 (10 weeks) IT |
- |
Columbia
|
In tour |
IT5 (16 weeks) IT |
- | ||
2003 | Mix |
IT12 (11 weeks) IT |
- |
Columbia
|
2007 | Left & Right - Documenti dal vivo |
IT19 (6 weeks) IT |
- |
Caravan
|
2010 | Work in progress |
IT4th ![]() (60 weeks)IT |
CH80 (2 weeks) CH |
with Lucio Dalla
Pressing |
2012 | Pubs and Clubs - Live @ the Place |
IT31 (9 weeks) IT |
- |
Caravan
|
2017 | Sotto il vulcano |
IT4 (15 weeks) IT |
CH54 (1 week) CH |
Caravan
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More live albums
- 1975 - Bologna 2 September 1974 (dal vivo) (RCA Italiana; with Lucio Dalla, Antonello Venditti and Maria Monti )
- 2012 - Vola vola vola (Egea; with Ambrogio Sparagna and Maria Nazionale )
Compilations (selection)
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
![]() |
|||
1987 | La nostra storia |
IT5 (15 weeks) IT |
- |
RCA Italiana
2011 number 58 (8 weeks) on the FIMI charts |
1992 | All the best |
IT22 (3 weeks) IT |
- |
RCA Italiana
|
1996 | Le origini |
IT9 (9 weeks) IT |
- |
RTI
|
1998 | Curve nella memoria |
IT28 (3 weeks) IT |
- |
Columbia
|
1999 | I miti musica: Francesco De Gregori |
IT27 (2 weeks) IT |
- |
BMG Ricordi
|
2006 | Tra un manifesto e lo specchio |
IT6 (22 weeks) IT |
- |
Caravan
|
2013 | Oggi |
IT45 (1 week) IT |
- |
Caravan
|
Singles (selection)
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
![]() |
|||
1973 | Alice Alice non lo sa |
IT21st ![]() (3 weeks)IT |
- |
B-side: I musicanti
|
1975 | Rimmel Rimmel |
IT18th ![]() (5 weeks)IT |
- |
B-side: Piccola mela
|
1978 | Generale De Gregori |
IT4th ![]() (19 weeks)IT |
- |
B-side: Natale
|
1979 | Ma come fanno i marinai Banana Republic |
IT6 (19 weeks) IT |
- |
B-side: Cosa sarà
with Lucio Dalla |
Viva l'Italia Viva l'Italia |
IT3 (19 weeks) IT |
CH8 (7 weeks) CH |
B-side: Banana Republic
|
|
2006 | Diamante Tra un manifesto e lo specchio |
- | - |
28th place (4 weeks) on the download charts
|
2012 | Cosa sarà Work in Progress |
IT42 (2 weeks) IT |
- |
with Lucio Dalla
|
Sulla strada Sulla strada |
IT60 (3 weeks) IT |
- | ||
Guarda che non sono io Sulla strada |
IT100 (1 week) IT |
- | ||
2014 | Alice Vivavoce |
IT38 (4 weeks) IT |
- |
with Ligabue
|
La donna cannone Vivavoce |
IT47 (4 weeks) IT |
- | ||
2018 | Quelli che restano Diari aperti (Elisa) |
IT38 (1 week) IT |
- |
with Elisa
|
More singles
- 1982 - La leva calcistica della classe '68 (
Platinum (2019) )
- 1983 - La donna cannone (
× 2Double platinum (2017) )
- 1975 - Buonanotte fiorellino (
Gold (2017) )
bibliography
- Passo d'uomo. With Antonio Gnoli. Laterza, 2016, ISBN 978-88-581-2115-3 .
literature
- Michelangelo Romano, Paolo Giaccio, Riccardo Piferi (eds.): Francesco De Gregori. Un mito. Lato Side, Rome 1980.
- Massimo Cavezzali: A ovest di De Gregori. L'Isola Trovata, Bologna 1981, ISBN 88-7225-000-5 .
- Alberto Stabile: Francesco De Gregori. Gammalibri, Milan 1987.
- Giorgio Lo Cascio: De Gregori. Franco Muzzio, Padua 1990, ISBN 88-7021-500-8 .
- Mario Bonanno: Francesco De Gregori. Cercando un altro Egitto. Giunti, Florence 2001, ISBN 88-8185-392-2 .
- Pino Casamassima: Francesco De Gregori. La valigia del cantante. De Ferrari, Genoa 2002, ISBN 88-7172-428-3 .
- Enrico Deregibus: Francesco De Gregori. Quello che non so, lo so cantare. Giunti, Florence 2003, ISBN 88-09-03231-4 .
- Andrea Podestà: Francesco De Gregori. Camminando su pezzi di vetro. Zona, Civitella in Val di Chiana 2003, ISBN 88-87578-54-0 .
- Vincenzo Mollica: Francesco De Gregori - Parole e Canzoni. Einaudi Stile Libero, 2004, ISBN 978-88-06-17201-5 .
- Giommaria Monti: Francesco De Gregori. 1972-2004: Dell'amore e di altre canzoni. Editori Riuniti, Rome 2004, ISBN 88-359-5593-9 .
- Antonio Piccolo: La storia siamo noi. Francesco De Gregori. Bastogi, Foggia 2007, ISBN 88-8185-925-4 .
- Andrea Podestà: Francesco De Gregori. A piedi nudi lungo la strada. Zona, Civitella in Val di Chiana 2007, ISBN 978-88-89702-83-3 .
- Paolo Jachia: La donna cannone e l'agnello di Dio. Tracce Cristiane in Francesco De Gregori. Con un intervento sui construction site. Ancora, Milan 2009, ISBN 978-88-514-0706-3 .
- Claudio Fabretti: Francesco De Gregori. Fra le pagine chiare e le pagine scure. Arcana, Rome 2011, ISBN 978-88-6231-148-9 .
- Silvia Viglietti, Alessandro Arianti: Francesco De Gregori. Guarda che non sono io. SVpress, Turin 2014, ISBN 978-88-909930-0-8 .
- Enrico Deregibus: Francesco De Gregori. Mi puoi leggere fino a tardi. Giunti, Florence 2015, ISBN 978-88-09-80572-9 .
Web links
- Official website (Italian)
- Francesco De Gregori at Rockol.it (Italian)
- Francesco De Gregori at Allmusic (English)
- Francesco De Gregori at Discogs (English)
supporting documents
- ^ A b Marisa Brown: Francesco De Gregori, Biography & History. In: Allmusic . Retrieved May 26, 2020 (English).
- ↑ a b c De Gregòri, Francesco. In: Enciclopedia Treccani. Retrieved May 26, 2020 (Italian).
- ↑ Leonardo Colombati (Ed.): La canzone italiana, 1861-2011 . Mondadori, Milan 2011, p. 1328, 1477-1479, 1933 .
- ^ Jacopo Tomatis: A Portrait of the Author as an Artist: Ideology, Authenticity, and Stylization in the Canzone d'Autore . In: Franco Fabbri, Goffredo Plastino (Ed.): Made in Italy: Studies in Popular Music (= Global Popular Music ). Routledge, London 2016, ISBN 978-1-138-21342-5 , pp. 95 .
- ^ Canzoni contro la guerra: Francesco De Gregori - Generals. In: Antiwarsongs.org. Retrieved May 26, 2020 (Italian).
- ↑ (6114) Dalla-Degregori = 1978 QS2 = 1984 HS1. IAU Minor Planet Center, accessed May 26, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Albo d'oro Targhe Tenco. Club Tenco, accessed May 26, 2020 (Italian).
- ↑ Onorificenze De Gregori Sig. Francesco. In: Quirinale.it. Presidenza della Repubblica, accessed May 26, 2020 .
- ^ Il Club Tenco sceglie Francesco De Gregori per il 'Premio Chiara - Le Parole della Musica'. In: Sanremo News. April 24, 2015, accessed May 26, 2020 (Italian).
-
↑ a b c Chart sources (albums):
- Guido Racca: M&D Borsa Album 1964-2019 . Self-published, 2019, ISBN 978-1-09-470500-2 , pp. 149, 153 (IT to 1995).
- Guido Racca & Chartitalia: Top 100 FIMI album . Lulu , 2013, p. 95, 96, 98 (IT 1995-2012).
- Albums by Francesco De Gregori. In: Italiancharts.com. Hung Medien, accessed on May 25, 2020 (IT since 2000).
- Albums by Francesco De Gregori. In: Hitparade.ch . Hung Medien, accessed May 25, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c d Certificazioni. FIMI, accessed May 25, 2020 .
-
↑ Chart sources (singles):
- Guido Racca: M&D Borsa Singoli 1960-2019 . Self-published, 2019, ISBN 978-1-09-326490-6 , pp. 176, 180 f . (1960-1997).
- Guido Racca & Chartitalia: Top 100 FIMI Singoli . Lulu, 2013, p. 84, 173 (1997-2012).
- Archivio classifiche Top Singoli. FIMI , accessed on May 25, 2020 (Italian, from 2011).
- Songs by Francesco De Gregori. In: Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien, accessed May 25, 2020 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | De Gregori, Francesco |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian Cantautore (songwriter) |
DATE OF BIRTH | April 4, 1951 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Rome |