Leon Gieco
León Gieco , full name Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco (born November 20, 1951 in Cañada Rosquín , a village in the province of Santa Fe , Argentina ) is one of the most important contemporary musicians in Argentina. In his songs, the influences of Argentine folklore are combined with rock music of western style. Leon Gieco is married and has two daughters.
biography
Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco was born on a small farm in the province of Santa Fe in northern Argentina. Soon after he was born, the family moved to the nearby village of Cañada Rosquín. León Gieco started working at the age of eight. With his earnings, he bought his first guitar and soon after began to perform in his school and a local folklore group. Sometime later, he played covers of the Rolling Stones , Beatles, and Spencer Davis Group with a local rock group, earning modest local fame. In 1965 he won a competition on the local broadcaster Canal 5 in Rosario . Four years later, in the summer of 1969, he traveled to Buenos Aires for the first time , where he came into contact with the rock scene in the Argentine capital. In November 1971 he had his first big appearance at the rock festival BA Rock II with some well-known Argentinian musicians . It was not until 1973 that he released his first record.
The first big breakthrough was his joint appearances with Raúl Porchetto, Charly García , Nito Mestre and María Rosa Yorio - a group that did not have a common repertoire, but improvised the pieces of the individual protagonists in the clubs and theaters of the Argentine capital. The corresponding record was released in 1976.
After that, Gieco performed more often alone. His performances, songs and texts brought him into conflict with the military dictatorship that had ruled since 1976 under General Jorge Rafael Videla . During the production of his third record, some songs were censored. In 1978 he escaped the stalking of the military by spending a year in Los Angeles , USA .
With his fourth album IV LP and the songs Cachito and Solo le pido a Dios published on it , the Argentine human rights movement against the dictatorship of the military and the looming war against Chile received its musical expression. Solo le pido a Dios (1978) was sung by Mercedes Sosa , among others , and developed in the 80s as a protest song of democratic Argentina. In Germany, the songwriter Hannes Wader published his own adaption on the album of the same name in 2001 under the title Wünsche . Another well-known version ("So will it day") comes from Gerhard Gundermann .
Leon Gieco's popularity continued to grow in the 80s and 90s. After the end of the military dictatorship in 1983, it continued to develop. During this time he also made his first appearances and tours in Germany (both countries at the time), Australia and Italy. He played with well-known South American and international artists such as Pete Seeger , Pablo Milanés , Chico Buarque , Peter Gabriel , Bruce Springsteen , Sting , David Byrne and Milton Nascimento . The seven CDs that were released between 2000 and 2005 show that León Gieco is far from the end of his musical career.
Discography
- León Gieco, 1973
- La Banda de los Caballos Cansados, 1974
- El fantasma de Canterville, 1976
- IV LP, 1978
- Siete años, 1980
- Pensar en nada, 1981
- Corazón americano / El gran concierto, 1985
- De Ushuaia a La Quiaca, Vol. 1-3, 1985
- Semillas del corazón, 1989
- Ayer y hoy, 1989
- Live concert with Pete Seeger, 1990
- Mensajes del alma, 1992
- Desenchufado, 1994
- Orozco, 1997
- En el país de la libertad, 1999
- De Ushuaia a La Quiaca, Vol. 4, 1999
- 40 obras fundamentales, 2000
- Bandidos rurales, 2001
- Por partida doble, 2001
- El vivo de León, 2003
- De Ushuaia a La Quiaca (reedición), 2005
- Por favor, perdón y gracias, 2005
- El ángel de la bicicleta (simple), 2005
- El desembarco, 2011
Film music (selection)
- 2004: Familia rodante - traveling in Argentina (Familia rodante)
- 2005: Illuminated by fire (Iluminados por el fuego)
Web links
- León Gieco's website
- Extensive biography in Spanish
- History of the song "Solo le pido a Dios" (PDF file; 54 kB)
- León Gieco in the Internet Movie Database (English)
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Gieco, Leon |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gieco, Raúl Alberto Antonio |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Argentine singer |
DATE OF BIRTH | November 20, 1951 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Cañada Rosquín , Santa Fe, Argentina |