Gleemen
Oltre... lontano, lontano

From the mists of ancient times return the Gleemen, a historic and seminal rock group – they became known with a surprising cover of the Beatles' “Lady Madonna”  - formed in Genoa in 1968. The guitarist of the Gleemen was the legendary Bambi Fossati, later leader of the legendary Garybaldi - musically oriented towards prog - and unfortunately just recently passed away.

The album in question, entitled “Oltre…lontano, lontano”, was born from the will of Maurizio Cassinelli and Angelo Traverso – 2 of the original members – who, together with Bambi, decided to dust off the old name thanks also to the support of Black Widow and Massimo Gasperini, the undisputed deus ex machina of the Genoese label. “Oltre…lontano, lontano” thus takes on the symbolic meaning of a sort of spiritual testament of Bambi Fossati.

The album features prestigious names of the Italian prog scene such as Marco Zoccheddu (who later became part of Nuova Idea) and Martin Grice (Delirium). The Gleemen released, in 1970, a groundbreaking rock album with strong blues influences, highlighted by Bambi Fossati's "Hendrixian" guitar: the same sound is heard in the present “Oltre…lontano, lontano”. The magic seems the same as then, although, inevitably, some moments sound too dated and lackluster, as in “Il venditore di palloni” and “Nel mio cortile”. However, the musicians' skill is undisputed as can be heard in tracks like “Anima di gomma”, “Schizoid Blues” and “La grande carovana”, a track with strong hard influences.

“Oltre…lontano, lontano” is an act of love towards a highly creative musical period  as well as a tribute to the immortal blues. Probably only the nostalgic will fully appreciate the emotions that emanate from these songs but nonetheless, it remains a document of certain interest.