Massimo Cotto
Il Rock di padre in figli*

After winning the Bancarella Prize 2023 with the intriguing noir novel “The King of Memory”, Massimo Cotto returns with what he claims will be his last of many books dedicated to rock: “The Rock from Father to Children*”.

Journalist, writer, disc jockey (notably the voice of Virgin Radio) and since 2021 a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Cotto has written seventy-three books, including the official biographies of Luciano Ligabue, Pierò Pelù, Francesco Guccini, Ivano Fossati, Nomadi and Leonard Cohen, among others. He is also the author of interview books with prominent figures in entertainment and culture and was the curator of the “Encyclopedia of Blues and Black Music”.

As mentioned, besides this latest publication, he has dedicated several titles to rock, including, recently, “Decamerock”, “Rock Bazar” (both also brought to the stage) and “Rock is the answer”.

“The Rock from Father to Children*” is a book that exudes passion and devotion towards a musical genre that, starting from the blues, has found its massive identity and become culture.

In this long monologue divided into twenty-five chapters (we will also understand why precisely twenty-five, nothing is left to chance), Massimo Cotto addresses a specific interlocutor, his son Francesco Danilo, now a teenager. It seems superfluous to emphasize how the meeting between what is a lifelong passion and the love for his son stands out in every paragraph. The author does not want to impose anything on the young novice but takes him by the hand on a journey made of anecdotes, curiosities, and events long since consigned to history. There are all the eccentricities but also the stoic gestures of the most iconic figures of rock. Their weaknesses and madness but also their greatest achievements, generated by good will but also by the inevitable path traced by destiny. From the Rolling Stones and Beatles, with their fake rivalry, wanted more than anything else by rock enthusiasts, evidently needing to lose themselves in perpetual confrontation and competition, to Jim Morrison's Doors. Passing through Janice Joplin, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, to bring to the reader's attention the “27 Club” and the tragic and premature end of the brilliant minds and voices of rock.

And then Lynyrd Skynyrd (and the reasoning behind their name), Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, up to the more recent Nineties with Nirvana and Queen. The story of punk and the interpreters of the first wave is told, leading to the desire for a new genre identity brought by Californian bands like Green Day. Devouring every page you learn and remember, get emotional and celebrate something experienced firsthand. Because somewhere in this book every rock lover will find something of theirs, narrated masterfully by someone who has lived it in contact with the protagonists.

Because Massimo Cotto has traveled, and he has traveled a lot, to know and interview those who gave voice and notes to the rock of the last forty years. And so there are original, funny, and also astonishing stories, which most of the time bring to light the fragilities and heavy dependencies of those who have been genius and recklessness. Essential elements for rock, characteristic traits that give it that roughness that, if absent, would betray its charm.

So we ask ourselves how exciting it must have been to dine with Eric Clapton, chat with Bruce Springsteen or handle the wavering responses of Morrissey. And we understand how lucky Francesco is and how perhaps he is not yet fully aware of what his father has done in his long rock journey, enclosed entirely in this story disguised as a dedication. As parents, we all think how nice it would be for our children to follow in our footsteps or make our greatest passions their own, giving them continuity and echo. But we know very well that it is our right to tell these passions but it is equally our precise duty to leave our heirs the possibility to choose their own path independently. Always providing good advice. Always with the right musical background. Possibly rock.