Lucio Dalla
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Lucio Dalla (born March 4, 1943) is a popular Italian singer-songwriter and musician. He also plays clarinet and keyboards.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Beginnings
Lucio Dalla was born in Bologna on 1943-03-04.
He began at an early age to play the clarinet in a jazz band in Rome. The singer-songwriter Gino Paoli noticed Dalla's vocal qualities and suggested he attempt a solo career as an Italian soul singer. However, Dalla's debut at the Cantagiro festival in 1965 was unsuccessful, probably due to his appearance and to his music, which was considered too experimental for the time. His first album, 1999, was released the following year. His next album, Terra di Gaibola (from the name of a suburb of Bologna) was released in 1970, and contained some early Dalla classics.
His first hit was "4 Marzo 1943", which garnered some success at the Sanremo Festival. Regardless of its title, the song became popularly known as "Gesu bambino". Also successful was "Piazza grande", which Dalla would sing again at Sanremo.
[edit] Albums with Roversi
At this point Dalla made a decisive move in his career, starting a collaboration with the Bolognese poet Roberto Roversi. Roversi wrote the lyrics to Dalla's next three albums Il giorno aveva cinque teste (The Day Had Five Heads) (1973), Anidride solforosa (1975) and Automobili (Automobiles) (1976); although these albums did not sell in large numbers, they were noted by critics for the unusual mix of Roversi's weird lyrics with Dalla's improvisatory, and sometimes experimental, compositional abilities.
The duo had already broken up by the time the concept album Automobili was released. Roversi, who had been against the album's release, chose the pseudonym "Norisso" when it was time to register the songs. The album, however, included one of Dalla's most popular songs, "Nuvolari", named after the famous 1930s Italian racer.
[edit] Singer-songwriter
Affected by the end of the collaboration, Dalla decided to write the lyrics of his next albums himself. This decision proved to be surprisingly good, and he soon emerged as one of the most intelligent and musically cultured of the Italian singer-songwriters. The first album of this new phase was Com'è profondo il mare (1977), in which Dalla was accompanied by some members of the future pop band Stadio. The title track or "Quale allegria" are today ranked among the best Italian songs.
Dalla's poetic inspiration was confirmed by the following albums, all entitled Lucio Dalla or Dalla and all best-sellers. They contain classics like "Anna e Marco", "L'anno che verrà", "Futura", and "Cara".
In 1979 his popularity was confirmed by the success of the Banana Republic tour and album of 1979, together with singer-songwriter Francesco De Gregori, his faithful band, and his friend Ron.
[edit] "Caruso" and pop
The early 1980s confirmed Dalla's popularity and talent, but started to mark a change in inspiration. DallAmeriCaruso (1986), although containing the famous "Caruso" song, is generally regarded by critics as the beginning of a decisive move towards easier, if more successful, songs.
In 1988 he collaborated with Gianni Morandi on a pop album entitled DallaMorandi containing new and old songs by both Dalla and Morandi, and by other songwriters like Franco Battiato, Mogol and Francesco Guccini. The single "Vita" was Dalla's first international hit.
Cambio of 1990 is the best-selling Italian album ever, with the single "Attenti al lupo" reaching an unprecedented popularity even for Dalla. However, the autobiographical and sometimes melancholy inspiration of the late 1970s and early 1980s albums was completely lost by this time.
His latest albums, like Ciao of 1999 and Lucio of 2003, confirm this tendency.
[edit] Albums
- 1999 (1966)
- Terra di Gaibola (1970)
- Storie di casa mia (1970)
- Il giorno aveva cinque teste (1973)
- Quel fenomeno di Lucio Dalla (1973)
- L'album di... Lucio Dalla (1974)
- Anidride solforosa (1975)
- Automobili (1976)
- 4 Marzo 1943 (1976)
- Come è profondo il mare (1977)
- Lucio Dalla (1978)
- Banana Republic (1979, with Francesco De Gregori and Ron)
- Lucio Dalla (1980)
- Dalla (1980)
- Torino, Milano e dintorni (1981)
- Gli anni Settanta (1981)
- 1983 (1983)
- Viaggi organizzati (1984)
- Bugie (1985)
- The best of Lucio Dalla (1985)
- DallameriCaruso (1986)
- Dalla/Morandi (1988)
- Cambio (1990)
- Il motore del 2000 (1990)
- Il primo Lucio Dalla (1990)
- Amen (1992)
- Henna (1993)
- Le origini (1996)
- Canzoni (1996)
- Ciao (1999)
- Luna Matana (2001)
- Live@RTSI - 20 dicembre 1978 (2001)
- Dal vivo - Bologna 2 settembre 1974 (2001)
- Caro amico ti scrivo... (Best of) (2002)
- Tosca. Amore disperato (2003)
- Lucio (2003)
- 12000 Lune (Best of/Box Set) (2003)
