In his youth Mozart wrote minuets, waltzes, simple and entertaining pieces that already made one understand his genius. It came to mind while listening to Goodnight little flower. Even a giant of local songwriting like Francesco De Gregori allowed himself his moment of leisure in a light love song, with an almost childish poetry. With fairly (but not entirely) simple chords and only one tone modulation (from E to F#) to give richness. De Gregori and Mozart, Mozart and De Gregori. I believe that the Austrian would have loved the Roman for his harmonious constructions dressed in apparent simplicity. I don't think he would have ever appreciated music that didn't have chords in it, that didn't have harmony in it. Harmony, more than melody, provides character to music, creates images, moves emotions. Music without chords is like salt without soup.
De Gregori knows a lot about chords, and takes good care of them, in his first successful album, Rimmel of 1975, to embellish his songs with random C turns (for those unfamiliar with the subject: the most classic and obvious of harmonic turns, the one on which 99% of the current mainstream is based, the few times he decides to use chords), instead look for the unexpected passage, sometimes forcing the harmonies into solutions that are unacceptable for those who have studied music theory and respect the rules. But as with all self-taught people (I'll just mention one other rather famous one: Paul McCartney) the rules don't exist. Who decided them? Why can't I put all the chords I want in the sequence I want?
You feel that tremor inside Pablowhen De Gregori sings “My father / Buried a year ago”, that transition from A-7 to D? In treatises on harmony this interval is not usual, but for De Gregori it is, it creates a tension that immediately glues ears and spirit to his creation. And what about all the decreased in Pieces of glass? Does anyone use diminished chords in the music of the present anymore? D minor ninth, E minor seventh… You listen to the piece and those passages touch on something. There you understand that it is not just about clusters of notes but about moments in which the soul breaks. And there are also the jazz revolts of Four dogsthe impervious passages of the title track, the harmonic shadows of Yesterday's storiesthe folk ones of Small apple (inspired by a Sardinian song). In short, when we talk about De Gregori we have always focused on his poetics, but also pay attention to the musical architectures he uses, all expedients that make the words even more insightful, correct, true. The word together with melody and harmony: this is the recipe. The sound substrate is able to elevate the message, making it poetry.
Other things that are rarely talked about: the arrangements and the musicians. In his fresh 50s RimmelDe Gregori strums and arpeggiates in his own way. It's good, it couldn't be better. He doesn't need to show his skills as an instrumentalist, from his fingers to the strings what he wants to communicate is the strength of the songs. And there will be no other guitarist in the world, even the most expert, to play those songs the way he plays them. Perhaps with little skill, but with truth. Do you know Battisti? Was he perfect vocally? No. Did it work? Big time. Francesco then, like Lucio, does not skimp on musicians, excellent ones, who in this case do not exceed anything. Renzo Zenobi arrives where the leader fails, gets busy with the acoustic soloist and embellishes everything. Then there is a thoroughbred jazzman like Mario Schiano, there is the double bass of another jazzman like Roberto Della Grotta, there is the Italian-English group Cyan to provide the bases, with the rhythms at the tip of Franco's baton Di Stefano. In Rimmel everything proceeds by subtraction, between pop, jazz and folk. The arrangements become minimal, there is nothing but the essentials to create paper boats that sail smoothly on a lake at sunset.
The voice defines everything. In my house, when I was a child, De Gregori's singing echoed constantly. An older brother listened to it and played it, imitating its timbre. De Gregori was the voice of home, the comfortable place in which to take refuge. Beyond what he sang, it was his way, the colors of a song without any kind of virtuosity, light as a summer breeze, intimate as a fireplace lit on a snowy night.
All this and much more has decreed the success of Rimmelalmost half a million copies sold in a historical moment in which there wasn't any easy listening pop in the charts. A quick look at the hit parade of January 1975 sees the parade A body and a soul by Wess & Dori Ghezzi, Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas, Sugar Baby Love of the Rubettes, Serene it is of Drupi, Happiness ta ta by Raffaella Carrà. In the sense: commercial music has always existed, but when works of the caliber of Rimmel no one could remain indifferent. Their ears immediately pricked up, as if to say: ok, let's dance and have fun with the songs, but you need De Gregori to get excited. The desire to get excited, this is the only thing that makes the difference between then and today.
In a panorama of muzak and works of great depth, De Gregori will pay dearly for his success. Those who saw him as a champion of political commitment are forced to interface with his alleged commercialization. It occurred only by virtue of the copies sold, certainly not by the content of the songs Rimmelwhich do not differ much from those of the previous ones Alice doesn't know (1973) e De Gregori (1974), only they become clearer, more direct in order to excite in many ways, both at the level of feelings and that of commitment. But anyway, many extremists of the time saw all this as a betrayal, with the consequence of the “trial” in public square (on 2 April 1976 at the Palalido in Milan) of the poor singer-songwriter who was forced to turn in on himself and disappear from the stage for three years. When he returns to perform the world will already be something else.
