I Gufi ("The Owls", also spelled just as Gufi) was an Italian musical and comedy ensemble, mainly successful in the second half of the 1960s.

Career

The group formed in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

between 1963 and 1964, and debuted on stage with the show "I Gufi cantano due secoli di Resistenza" (i.e. "The Owls sing Two Centuries of Resistance"). With a repertoire which mixed cabaret and songs and characterized by satirical themes and black humor, I Gufi had their breakout in 1966 with the show "Il teatrino dei Gufi" (i.e. "The Little Theater of the Owls"), which extensively toured across Italy. The same year they started appearing in a number of

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television shows, where their blue material encountered some censorship issues.Enzo Giannelli. "Gufi". Gino Castaldo (ed.). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990. After undergoing a legal complaint for foul language for the song "Sant’Antonio allu desertu" (St. Anthony in the Desert), from which they were acquitted, between 1967 and 1969 the group got further success with the shows "Non so, non ho visto, se c'ero dormivo" (I don't know, I didn't see anything, and if I was there, I was asleep) and "Non spingete, scappiamo anche noi" (Don't push, we are running away too). Following the album ''Il Balilla'', in 1971 the group disbanded because of some personal conflicts among the members. For about a decade, the four Gufi pursued solo projects. Gianni Magni embarked on a successful career as stand-up comedian and film actor. Nanni Svampa recorded a few albums re-interpreting songs by

Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and a ...

in the Milanese dialect. Lino Patruno became a full-time jazz guitarist, recording and performing with musicians such as

Dan Barrett Dan Barrett is an American musician from Connecticut, New England. He is a member of the rock duo Have a Nice Life. Outside of this, he has released solo work primarily under the names Giles Corey and Black Wing. In 2003, he founded the record labe ...

, Bill Coleman,

Bud Freeman Lawrence "Bud" Freeman (April 13, 1906 – March 15, 1991) was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing tenor saxophone, but also the clarinet. Biography In 1922, Freeman and some friends from high sc ...

and Frank Tate; Roberto Brivio continued to work in theatre. In 1981 Gufi briefly reunited in 1981 for "I Gufi a colori" (The Owls in Colour), a series of television shows on

Antenna 3 Lombardia Antenna 3, formerly known as "''Antenna 3 Lombardia''" and also known as "Antennatre" is a private TV station. It was founded in 1977 by Renzo Villa, a clerk of the municipality of Varese, who became a self made TV publisher. Enzo Tortora, a fa ...

Personnel

* Roberto Brivio (Milan, 21 February 1938 - 22 January 2021) – guitar, accordion and vocals * Gianni Magni (Milan, 16 May 1941 – Milan, 16 July 1992) – vocals * Lino Patruno ( Crotone, 27 October 1935) – guitar, banjo, bass and vocals * Nanni Svampa (Milan, 28 February 1938 – Varese, 26 August 2017) - guitar, piano and vocals

Discography

;Albums * 1965 – ''Milano canta'' * 1965 – ''Il cabaret dei Gufi'' * 1965 – ''I Gufi cantano due secoli di resistenza'' * 1966 – ''Il teatrino dei Gufi'' * 1966 – ''I Gufi'' * 1966 - ''Milano canta n° 2'' * 1966 – ''Il teatrino dei Gufi n°. 2'' * 1967 – ''Il cabaret dei Gufi n. 2'' * 1967 – ''Il teatrino dei Gufi in TV'' * 1967 – ''Non so non ho visto se c'ero dormivo'' * 1968 – ''Milano canta n°. 3'' * 1968 – ''Il cabaret dei Gufi, vol. 3'' * 1969 – ''Non spingete, scappiamo anche noi'' * 1971 – ''La Balilla'' * 1981 – ''I Gufi''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gufi Italian pop music groups Living people Musical groups established in 1963 Musical groups disestablished in 1971 Comedy musical groups Musical groups from Milan Year of birth missing (living people)