''Radici'' is an album of Italian singer-songwriter
Francesco Guccini
Francesco Guccini (, born 14 June 1940) is an Italian singer-songwriter, considered one of the most important '' cantautori'' of his time. During the five decades of his music career he has recorded 16 studio albums and collections, and 6 live a ...
. It was released in 1972 by
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
.
The album
''Radici'' ("Roots") deals mainly with Guccini's rediscover of his roots, as symbolized by the cover's picture, portraying his grandparents and family. This includes personal roots, but also cultural and political roots.
The opening song, "Radici", is about Guccini's family's house in
Pavana, on the Tuscan
Apennines.
"La locomotiva" (the locomotive) tells the story a failed suicide attack by a 19th-century
Bolognese anarchist against a luxury train; the latter song has since then ended many Guccini shows.
"Piccola città" (small town) is about Guccini's youth in
Modena, where his parents had moved after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
Incontro" (encounter) deals with the melancholy of a late rendez-vous between Guccini and an old friend.
"Canzone dei dodici mesi" (song of the twelve months) is about his cultural roots. In particular it is about the various periods of the year which is something extremely important for the small farmer villages in the country.
"Canzone della bambina portoghese" (the song of the Portuguese girl) is about how we think we understand the reality about us but we never get the essence of things.
"Il vecchio e il bambino" (the old man and the child), the last track, is one of the most famous Guccini's ballads. It is about a dialog between a child born after an hypothetical atomic disaster and an old man who tries to describe the world how it was before.
Personnel
*Francesco Guccini - voice and guitar
*
Ares Tavolazzi - bass
*
Ellade Bandini - drums
*
Vince Tempera
Vince Tempera (born 18 September 1946) is an Italian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and conductor.
Born in Milan as Vincenzo Tempera, he graduated in piano and composition at the Conservatory, then he started his musical activity co ...
- piano, keyboards
*Deborah Kooperman - flute, guitars, banjo
*Maurizio Vandelli - mellotron, moog
Track listing
*"Radici" (7:12)
*"La locomotiva" (8:17)
*"Piccola città" (4:38)
*"Incontro" (3:37)
*"Canzone dei dodici mesi" (5:33)
*"Canzone della bambina portoghese" (7:03)
*"Il vecchio e il bambino" (4:19)
External links
Album review
{{Authority control
1972 albums
Francesco Guccini albums