Francesco Guccini
Folk Beat N.1

A small low-budget recording studio, a couple of guitars, a harmonica, and there you have it.

The album I'm about to review may not be among Guccini's most famous, yet it is in this record, the very first one, that many of the "maestrone's" masterpieces are contained, albeit with a rather sparse arrangement, reduced to the essentials. In fact, the lineup is very limited: Guccini (vocals and rhythm guitar), Antonio Roveri (lead guitar), and Alan Cooper (harmonica and rhythm guitar). I suggest listening to this record while you're in the car or at home on a rainy day or during thick mist, a typical winter or autumn day. The cover shows a photo of a young, clean-shaven Guccini turned away from the camera, smoking a cigarette.

Before I begin describing the songs, however, I want to point out that on the back of the record you'll find written: "Lyrics and music by Pontiack/Verona except etc.", this is because Francesco was not registered with SIAE, so the pieces were deposited by other authors, also some songs had already been played by Equipe 84 with whom he collaborated in the early years of his career.

Having said that, let's pop in the CD, and when the player displays the first track, we turn up the stereo volume and find ourselves facing the first song on the album, "Noi non ci saremo", a well-known track except that the lyrics are not exactly the same as the version everyone knows: it's longer by two whole stanzas. At the beginning, the voice seems typical of Guccio (not exactly the same as now, obviously, but the style is there), until we reach a solemn "come un sudario si stenderà, fra il cielo e la terra per mille secoli almeno...", at that point, I jump from my seat, - It's not possible - I say to myself - Is it really Guccini? - His voice becomes clear like that of a castrato (although the term doesn't quite suit Guccini). He hits really high notes, and all around echoes a sound that makes you feel like you're inside a crypt. The initial melody with the guitar is slightly different from the more familiar one.

It is followed by the famous albeit less light-hearted here "Canzone per un amica" where, in the first album, it’s called by its original title: "In morte di S.F.", again with a guitar intro and the addition of a background harmonica as interlude between one verse and another. Beautiful song, nothing to add.
Then come various successful tracks such as "Auschwitz" and "L'Atomica cinese" (or "Atomica" as it will be renamed later), which we all know and thus I won't dwell on, separated only by "Venerdì Santo", a less known track, a love song, something unusual for the Guccini of the time. Particular mention to "Auschwitz", accompanied only by the guitar and harmonica really conveys the idea of concentration camps.

In the second part of the CD, there are the lesser-known tracks such as "Talkin' Milano" (an evident reference to "Talkin' New York" by Bob Dylan), "Il 3 dicembre del 39" (which does not indicate his birth since he is from '40 ed.) is a humorous waltz with a critique of the Italian politics of the time. "La ballata degli annegati", this song with a De Andrè-like title and lyrics seemingly influenced by French chansonniers narrates the tales of a river recalling stories, stories of people who once drowned no longer fear to say what they think "perché le loro parole d'amore nell'acqua sono sincere", just to quote a verse of the song adapted for the occasion, or that their dreams never come true since "da quanto tu dormi qua sotto hai sognato che mai lui ti ha lasciato". A kind of "Spoon River" in modern style.
It ends with "Il sociale e l'antisociale" which, despite being united in a single track, are two songs, two sarcastic ballads telling two opposing lifestyles. Guccini also clarified later that the two characters in the song did not represent him, but it was purely sarcastic.

What can I say, a bare album by a still immature Guccini but who already at the time showcased his marked talent. Certainly, maybe not musically comparable to his other masterpieces (even though I must admit, some of these tracks please me a lot with the original arrangement) but that wants to convey something to the listener, send a message like those contained in "Noi non ci saremo", "Auschwitz" or in "Atomica", he tries, without pretension, to make them understand something, and that's no small feat.

And meanwhile, the masterpieces follow one another and the road to be traveled is "long and straight"...

...and there you have it.