Fabrizio De André
Encyclopedia
Fabrizio De André was an Italian singer-songwriter
.
Known for his sympathies towards anarchism, libertarianism, and pacifism, he also was a convicted atheist , and his songs often featured marginalized and rebellious people, prostitutes and knaves, and attacked the Catholic Church. Artistically active during almost 40 years, and an author of thirty studio albums, he is renowned for the quality of his lyrics, and often considered a poet. He contributed to the valorization of local italian languages, most notably the ligurian
language, and to a lesser extent, sardinian
, gallurese
and napoletano. Due to his popularity, several institutions throughout Italy had streets, places, parks, schools and public libraries named after him, starting right from his untimely disparition.
, welcomed into the world by Gino Marinuzzi
's "Country Waltz
" on the home gramophone
. Twenty-five years later, Fabrizio De André would set his "Waltz for a Love" to Marinuzzi's waltz tune.
When the war
broke out, the De Andre' family had to seek refuge in a country farm near Revignano (a little town near Asti
), in the Piemonte. Fabrizio's father, who was an Anti-fascista pursued by the police, joined the partisans
. In 1945 the De André family moved back to Genova. Fabrizio went to primary school, first at the Marcellian Sisters' School and, later, at the Cesare Battisti public school. He went on to the Liceo Classico
"Cristoforo Colombo"; after his final examination, he enrolled in the Law School
of the University of Genova; but he did not graduate (he gave up when he had only a few exams left). De Andre' played the violin
first, then the guitar
, and joined a number of local jazz
bands (jazz was his "first love").
In the following years De André wrote a number of songs which made him known to a larger public, soon becoming classic hits: "La guerra di Piero" ("Peter's War"), "La ballata dell'eroe" ("The Hero's Ballad"), "Il testamento di Tito" ("Titus's Will"), "La Ballata del Michè" ("Mike's Ballad"), "Via del Campo" (literally "Field Street", a famous street in Genoa
), "La canzone dell'amore perduto" ("Song for the Lost Love"), "La città vecchia" ("Old Downtown"), "Carlo Martello ritorna dalla battaglia di Poitiers" ("Charles Martel on His Way Back from Poitiers", written together with actor Paolo Villaggio
, one of De André closest friends), and "La canzone di Marinella" ("Marinella's Song").
De André's first LP, Volume 1
, was issued shortly after (1968), followed by Tutti morimmo a stento
("We All Died Agonizingly") and Volume 3
; both LPs soon reached the top of the Italian hit-parade. The former contained a personal version of "Eroina" ("Heroin") by the poet Riccardo Mannerini, entitled "Cantico dei drogati" ("Canticle of the Junkies").
("The Good News" - a literal rendition of the etymology of gospel
), a concept album based on Christ
's life as told in the Apocrypha
. The album was very controversial, especially the song "Il testamento di Tito" ("Titus's Will"), in which one of the thieves crucified together with Jesus violently refutes the Ten Commandments
. He had written a number of songs (like "Preghiera in Gennaio", "Prayer in January", and "Si chiamava Gesù", "His Name Was Jesus") in which he showed a Christian
-like open-minded spirit and in the meantime invited the audience in his own delicate way to think about the manipulation of the church.
's Spoon River Anthology
; in an interview the LP was introduced to Fernanda Pivano
, the first Italian translator of the "Anthology" and one of Cesare Pavese
's most intimate friends. Fabrizio De André's name began to be associated with literature and poetry, and some of his songs found their way into school books.
("Story of an Employee").
The following year, De André issued Canzoni ("Songs"), a collection of his translations from Georges Brassens
, Leonard Cohen
and Bob Dylan
. The album also included a number of his old songs from the 1960s.
) wrote Volume 8 with another famous Italian singer-songwriter, Francesco De Gregori
. With this album, he broke with "tradition" in order to find a new approach to poetry and music. The lyrics show how deep the influence of modern poetry is on De André's work. 1975 marked a real change in De André's life: he began to perform in a series of memorable concerts (after his first performances of the early 1960s, he had always refused to appear in public, except for a couple of TV broadcastings), and planned to move to Sardinia
with his new love. To this purpose, he bought the Agnata homestead, near Tempio Pausania
, in the northern part of the island, devoting himself to farming and cattle breeding.
In 1977 the couple had a daughter, Luisa Vittoria (nicknamed "Luvi"). The following year De André issued a new LP, Rimini
. Most songs included on this album were written together with Massimo Bubola
, a young singer-songwriter from Verona
.
bands, Premiata Forneria Marconi
(PFM); the albums were released as In Concerto (1979), and In Concerto - Volume 2 (1980). At the end of August, however, a most striking episode occurred: De André and Ghezzi were kidnapped for ransom by a gang of bandits in Sardinia and held prisoners in the Alà dei Sardi
mountains. The couple was released four months later; ransom was reportedly paid; as De André states in some interviews he was helped by his father in finding the money, and had to start a tour shortly after the release of the "Indiano" album to repay him. When the bandits were apprehended by the police, De André was called as witness before the Court. He showed compassion for some of his kidnappers, since he was well treated by his "guardians" and declared his solidarity with them. "They were the real prisoners, not I", he said. This declaration is a good example of De André's viewpoint and approach. He said he understood they were driven by need, but he did not show any compassion for the higher echelon of the group that organized his kidnapping, since they were already rich.
This dramatic episode, and the hard life of the Sardinian people, gave him inspiration for his following album, released in 1981. The album
is untitled, but, from the image of a Native American
appearing on the cover, the mass-media call it "The Indian". In De André's poetical vision, the American Indians merge with the poor Sardinian shepherds as an allegory for the marginalization and subjugation of people who are "different". The album contains one of his most famous songs, "Fiume Sand Creek" ("Sand Creek River"): in De André's unique, allusive way it tells the story of the massacre
of defenseless Native Americans
by US Army troops on 29 November 1864.
and wrote, in collaboration with former PFM member Mauro Pagani
, one of his most celebrated albums, Crêuza de mä
("Path to the sea", the term "Crêuza" actually indicates a narrow road bordered by low walls, typical of Genoa
and Liguria
in general). The songs are a tribute to the traditional music from the Mediterranean basin. The album was awarded an unending series of prizes and was greeted as "the best Italian album of the 1980s". It was named by David Byrne
as one of his favourite albums. Wim Wenders
said that it was the album that introduced him to the music of De André, who the director names as one of his favourite artists.
As Pagani has repeatedly stated, De Andrè wrote the lyrics for the album, while the music was almost entirely Pagani's.
("The Clouds"), which included two more songs in the Genoese
dialect, one in the Gallurese dialect of Northern Sardinia
("Monti di Mola") and one in the Neapolitan dialect, the highly ironic "Don Raffaè". A new series of triumphal live concerts followed, from which a double LP, 1991 Concerti ("Concerts 1991"), was drawn.
In 1992 he started a new series of live concerts, performing in a number of theatres for the first time.
De André's last original album, Anime salve
("Saved Souls"), was issued in 1996. Written in collaboration with Ivano Fossati
, it represents a sort of "spiritual will", and includes songs such as "Khorakhané" (dedicated to the Muslim Roma
people), "Disamistade" (a return to his beloved Sardinian themes, which has been translated into English and sung by The Walkabouts
) and "Smisurata preghiera" ("An Infinite Prayer"), based on the Colombia
n writer and storyteller Álvaro Mutis
's The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll
. De André also sang a Spanish version of this song, Desmedida plegaria.
In 1997, he started a new tour of theatre concerts and a new song collection, called M'innamoravo di tutto ("I Used to Fall in Love with Everything", a quote from one of his older songs, Coda di Lupo - Wolf's Tail), was issued. The Anime salve concert tour went on up to the late summer of 1998, when De André stopped at the first symptoms of a serious disease, which was later diagnosed as lung cancer
.
De André died in Milan
on 11 January 1999, at 2:30 am. Two days later, he was buried in his native town, Genoa; the ceremony was attended by an immense crowd of about 20,000. He rests in the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno
, in the De André family chapel.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
.
Known for his sympathies towards anarchism, libertarianism, and pacifism, he also was a convicted atheist , and his songs often featured marginalized and rebellious people, prostitutes and knaves, and attacked the Catholic Church. Artistically active during almost 40 years, and an author of thirty studio albums, he is renowned for the quality of his lyrics, and often considered a poet. He contributed to the valorization of local italian languages, most notably the ligurian
Ligurian
Ligurian may mean:* Ligurian, pertaining to modern Liguria* Ligurian, pertaining to the ancient Ligures* Ligurian , a modern language spoken in parts of Italy, France, Monaco and Argentina...
language, and to a lesser extent, sardinian
Sardinian
Sardinian can refer to:* Sardinia* Sardinian people* Sardinian language* Sardinian...
, gallurese
Gallurese
Gallurese is a Italo-Dalmatian Romance language spoken in the northeastern part of Sardinia. It is often considered as a variety of Corsican, or a transitional language between Corsican and Sardinian....
and napoletano. Due to his popularity, several institutions throughout Italy had streets, places, parks, schools and public libraries named after him, starting right from his untimely disparition.
Biography
De André was born in GenovaGénova
Génova may refer to:* Spanish spelling of the city of Genoa, Italy* Génova, Quindío, a municipality in the department of Quindío, Colombia* Génova, Quetzaltenango, a municipality in the department of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala...
, welcomed into the world by Gino Marinuzzi
Gino Marinuzzi
Gino Marinuzzi was an Italian conductor and composer, particularly associated with Wagner and the Italian repertory....
's "Country Waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
" on the home gramophone
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
. Twenty-five years later, Fabrizio De André would set his "Waltz for a Love" to Marinuzzi's waltz tune.
When the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out, the De Andre' family had to seek refuge in a country farm near Revignano (a little town near Asti
Asti
Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...
), in the Piemonte. Fabrizio's father, who was an Anti-fascista pursued by the police, joined the partisans
Italian resistance movement
The Italian resistance is the umbrella term for the various partisan forces formed by pro-Allied Italians during World War II...
. In 1945 the De André family moved back to Genova. Fabrizio went to primary school, first at the Marcellian Sisters' School and, later, at the Cesare Battisti public school. He went on to the Liceo Classico
Liceo classico
Liceo classico is a secondary school type in Italy. The educational curriculum lasts five years, and students are generally about 14 to 19 years of age....
"Cristoforo Colombo"; after his final examination, he enrolled in the Law School
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
of the University of Genova; but he did not graduate (he gave up when he had only a few exams left). De Andre' played the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
first, then the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, and joined a number of local jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bands (jazz was his "first love").
First recordings
In 1961 De Andre' recorded his first two songs, "Nuvole barocche" ("Baroque Clouds") and "E fu la notte" ("And There Was Night"); in 1962 he married Puny Rignon, a Genoese woman nearly ten years older. That same year the couple had their first and only son, Cristiano, who would follow in his father's footsteps and become a musician and songwriter as well.In the following years De André wrote a number of songs which made him known to a larger public, soon becoming classic hits: "La guerra di Piero" ("Peter's War"), "La ballata dell'eroe" ("The Hero's Ballad"), "Il testamento di Tito" ("Titus's Will"), "La Ballata del Michè" ("Mike's Ballad"), "Via del Campo" (literally "Field Street", a famous street in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
), "La canzone dell'amore perduto" ("Song for the Lost Love"), "La città vecchia" ("Old Downtown"), "Carlo Martello ritorna dalla battaglia di Poitiers" ("Charles Martel on His Way Back from Poitiers", written together with actor Paolo Villaggio
Paolo Villaggio
Paolo Villaggio is an Italian actor, writer, director and comedian.-Life:Villaggio was born in Genoa in 1932. His jobs included being a clerk for the Italsider steel major which inspired his character "Il ragioniere Fantozzi Ugo", "the accountant Ugo Fantozzi"...
, one of De André closest friends), and "La canzone di Marinella" ("Marinella's Song").
Volume 1
Volume 1 (Fabrizio De André album)
Volume 1 is the second album released by Fabrizio De André, though it was his first true studio album.|It was issued in 1967 on Bluebell Records, in two different versions, the first with a brown cover, and the second with a cover featuring a photograph of Fabrizio's face.It was reissued in 1970 by...
, was issued shortly after (1968), followed by Tutti morimmo a stento
Tutti morimmo a stento
Tutti Morimmo a Stento is the third album released by Fabrizio De André. It was issued in 1968 both by Bluebell Records and Produttori Associati. It was reissued several times by Ricordi and BMG...
("We All Died Agonizingly") and Volume 3
Volume 3 (Fabrizio De André album)
Volume 3 is the name of an album released by Italian singer/songwriter Fabrizio De André. It was first issued in 1968 on Bluebell Records. The album was re-released several times by Produttori Associati, Ricordi and BMG...
; both LPs soon reached the top of the Italian hit-parade. The former contained a personal version of "Eroina" ("Heroin") by the poet Riccardo Mannerini, entitled "Cantico dei drogati" ("Canticle of the Junkies").
La buona novella
In 1970 De André wrote La buona novellaLa buona novella
La buona novella is the name of a concept album released by Italian singer/songwriter Fabrizio De André. It was first issued in 1970 on Produttori Associati and then re-released several times by Ricordi and BMG...
("The Good News" - a literal rendition of the etymology of gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
), a concept album based on Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
's life as told in the Apocrypha
Apocrypha
The term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", ancient Chinese "revealed texts and objects" and "Christian texts that are not canonical"....
. The album was very controversial, especially the song "Il testamento di Tito" ("Titus's Will"), in which one of the thieves crucified together with Jesus violently refutes the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
. He had written a number of songs (like "Preghiera in Gennaio", "Prayer in January", and "Si chiamava Gesù", "His Name Was Jesus") in which he showed a Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
-like open-minded spirit and in the meantime invited the audience in his own delicate way to think about the manipulation of the church.
Non al denaro non all'amore né al cielo
In 1971 he wrote another celebrated concept album, Non al denaro non all'amore né al cielo ("Neither to money, nor to love, nor to Heaven"), based on Edgar Lee MastersEdgar Lee Masters
Edgar Lee Masters was an American poet, biographer, and dramatist...
's Spoon River Anthology
Spoon River Anthology
Spoon River Anthology , by Edgar Lee Masters, is a collection of short free-form poems that collectively describe the life of the fictional small town of Spoon River, named after the real Spoon River that ran near Masters' home town. The collection includes two hundred and twelve separate...
; in an interview the LP was introduced to Fernanda Pivano
Fernanda Pivano
Fernanda Pivano was an Italian writer, journalist, translator and critic.Born in Genoa, as a teenager she moved with her family to Turin where she attended the Massimo D'Azeglio Lyceum. In 1941 she received a bachelor's degree with a thesis on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, which earned her a prize...
, the first Italian translator of the "Anthology" and one of Cesare Pavese
Cesare Pavese
Cesare Pavese was an Italian poet, novelist, literary critic and translator; he is widely considered among the major authors of the 20th century in his home country.- Early life and education :...
's most intimate friends. Fabrizio De André's name began to be associated with literature and poetry, and some of his songs found their way into school books.
Storia di un impiegato and Canzoni
In 1973 he wrote his most "political" album, Storia di un impiegatoStoria di un impiegato
Storia di un impiegato is the title of an album released by Fabrizio De André. It was issued in 1973 by Produttori Associati and reissued several times by Ricordi and BMG.-Overview:It is a concept album based on the Protests of 1968...
("Story of an Employee").
The following year, De André issued Canzoni ("Songs"), a collection of his translations from Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens , 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981), was a French singer-songwriter and poet.Brassens was born in Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier...
, Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. The album also included a number of his old songs from the 1960s.
Volume 8
In 1975 De André (who, meanwhile, had divorced his wife Puny and begun a relationship with the folksinger Dori GhezziDori Ghezzi
Dori Ghezzi is an Italian singer who was active as a recording artist between 1966 and 1989. In the 1970s, Ghezzi worked mainly in a duo with American singer Wess, and the couple represented Italy in the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest....
) wrote Volume 8 with another famous Italian singer-songwriter, Francesco De Gregori
Francesco De Gregori
Francesco De Gregori is an Italian singer-songwriter. He is popularly known as "Il Principe Poeta" , a nickname referring to the elegance of his lyrics.-1970s:...
. With this album, he broke with "tradition" in order to find a new approach to poetry and music. The lyrics show how deep the influence of modern poetry is on De André's work. 1975 marked a real change in De André's life: he began to perform in a series of memorable concerts (after his first performances of the early 1960s, he had always refused to appear in public, except for a couple of TV broadcastings), and planned to move to Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
with his new love. To this purpose, he bought the Agnata homestead, near Tempio Pausania
Tempio Pausania
Tempio Pausania is a town c. 14,000 inhabitants in the Gallura region of northern Sardinia, Italy, the administrative capital of the province of Olbia-Tempio.- History :...
, in the northern part of the island, devoting himself to farming and cattle breeding.
In 1977 the couple had a daughter, Luisa Vittoria (nicknamed "Luvi"). The following year De André issued a new LP, Rimini
Rimini (album)
Rimini is the name of an album released by Italian singer/songwriter Fabrizio De André. It was first issued in 1978 on Ricordi and then re-released by BMG...
. Most songs included on this album were written together with Massimo Bubola
Massimo Bubola
Massimo Bubola is an Italian singer-songwriter, record producer and arranger.During his career, he cooperated with lot of Italian musicians in writing lyrics and musics, and his most significant cooperation was with Fabrizio De André...
, a young singer-songwriter from Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
.
Concerts with PFM and kidnapping
1979 was another milestone in De André's life. The year began with a series of famous live concerts from which a double LP is compiled; De André was accompanied by one of the most renowned Italian progressive rockProgressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
bands, Premiata Forneria Marconi
Premiata Forneria Marconi
Premiata Forneria Marconi is an Italian progressive rock band. They were the first Italian group to have success abroad, entering both the British and American charts. Between 1973 and 1977 they released five albums with English lyrics...
(PFM); the albums were released as In Concerto (1979), and In Concerto - Volume 2 (1980). At the end of August, however, a most striking episode occurred: De André and Ghezzi were kidnapped for ransom by a gang of bandits in Sardinia and held prisoners in the Alà dei Sardi
Alà dei Sardi
Alà dei Sardi is a comune in the Province of Olbia-Tempio in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 160 km north of Cagliari and about 35 km southwest of Olbia....
mountains. The couple was released four months later; ransom was reportedly paid; as De André states in some interviews he was helped by his father in finding the money, and had to start a tour shortly after the release of the "Indiano" album to repay him. When the bandits were apprehended by the police, De André was called as witness before the Court. He showed compassion for some of his kidnappers, since he was well treated by his "guardians" and declared his solidarity with them. "They were the real prisoners, not I", he said. This declaration is a good example of De André's viewpoint and approach. He said he understood they were driven by need, but he did not show any compassion for the higher echelon of the group that organized his kidnapping, since they were already rich.
This dramatic episode, and the hard life of the Sardinian people, gave him inspiration for his following album, released in 1981. The album
Fabrizio De André (album)
Fabrizio De André is the name of an album released by Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio De André, released in 1981. The songs were written by Fabrizio De André and Massimo Bubola. It is better known as L'Indiano due to the picture of a Native American on the cover...
is untitled, but, from the image of a Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
appearing on the cover, the mass-media call it "The Indian". In De André's poetical vision, the American Indians merge with the poor Sardinian shepherds as an allegory for the marginalization and subjugation of people who are "different". The album contains one of his most famous songs, "Fiume Sand Creek" ("Sand Creek River"): in De André's unique, allusive way it tells the story of the massacre
Sand Creek Massacre
As conflict between Indians and white settlers and soldiers in Colorado continued, many of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, including bands under Cheyenne chiefs Black Kettle and White Antelope, were resigned to negotiate peace. The chiefs had sought to maintain peace in spite of pressures from whites...
of defenseless Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
by US Army troops on 29 November 1864.
Crêuza de mä
In 1984 he turned to his native Genoese dialectGenoese dialect
Genoese is a dialect of the Ligurian language, the one spoken in Genoa .Ligurian is listed by Ethnologue as a language in its own right, of the Romance branch, and not to be confused with the ancient Ligurian language...
and wrote, in collaboration with former PFM member Mauro Pagani
Mauro Pagani
Mauro Pagani is an Italian musician and singer.Pagani was born in Chiari, Lombardy. A multi-instrumentalist, he made his debut in the music world in 1970 as violinist and founding member of the progressive rock band Premiata Forneria Marconi. In 1977 he left the band to follow a solo career, but...
, one of his most celebrated albums, Crêuza de mä
Crêuza De Mä
Crêuza de mä is the eleventh studio album by Fabrizio De André. It is sung in the Genoese dialect.- Track listing :# Crêuza de mä - 6:16# Jamin-a - 4:52# Sidún - 6:25# Sinàn Capudàn Pascià - 5:32# Â pittima - 3:43# Â duménega - 3:40...
("Path to the sea", the term "Crêuza" actually indicates a narrow road bordered by low walls, typical of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
and Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
in general). The songs are a tribute to the traditional music from the Mediterranean basin. The album was awarded an unending series of prizes and was greeted as "the best Italian album of the 1980s". It was named by David Byrne
David Byrne (musician)
David Byrne is a musician and artist, best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography,...
as one of his favourite albums. Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
said that it was the album that introduced him to the music of De André, who the director names as one of his favourite artists.
As Pagani has repeatedly stated, De Andrè wrote the lyrics for the album, while the music was almost entirely Pagani's.
1990s
In 1989 De André married Ghezzi; the following year a new album was issued, Le nuvoleLe nuvole
Le nuvole is the name of an album released by Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio De André, released in 1990. The songs were written by Fabrizio De André and Mauro Pagani.-Overview:...
("The Clouds"), which included two more songs in the Genoese
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
dialect, one in the Gallurese dialect of Northern Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
("Monti di Mola") and one in the Neapolitan dialect, the highly ironic "Don Raffaè". A new series of triumphal live concerts followed, from which a double LP, 1991 Concerti ("Concerts 1991"), was drawn.
In 1992 he started a new series of live concerts, performing in a number of theatres for the first time.
De André's last original album, Anime salve
Anime salve
Anime salve is the final album released by Italian singer/songwriter Fabrizio De André in 1996. It was written together with Ivano Fossati, who co-sings in "Anime salve" and " Â cúmba".-Overview:...
("Saved Souls"), was issued in 1996. Written in collaboration with Ivano Fossati
Ivano Fossati
Ivano Alberto Fossati is an Italian pop singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and percussionist born in Genoa. Fossati has several albums to date and has worked with such musicians as Fabrizio De André, Riccardo Tesi,Anna Oxa, Mia Martini, Ornella Vanoni, Francesco De Gregori and...
, it represents a sort of "spiritual will", and includes songs such as "Khorakhané" (dedicated to the Muslim Roma
Muslim Roma
Muslim Roma or Muslim Gypsies are Romani people who adopted Islam. Romanies have usually adopted the predominant religion of the host country. Islam among Romanies is historically associated with life of Romanies within the Ottoman Empire...
people), "Disamistade" (a return to his beloved Sardinian themes, which has been translated into English and sung by The Walkabouts
The Walkabouts
The Walkabouts is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1984. The core members are vocalist Carla Torgerson and vocalist and songwriter Chris Eckman...
) and "Smisurata preghiera" ("An Infinite Prayer"), based on the Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n writer and storyteller Álvaro Mutis
Álvaro Mutis
Álvaro Mutis Jaramillo is a Colombian poet, novelist, and essayist and author of the compendium The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll.-Early life:...
's The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll
The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll
The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll is a compilation of novellas by Colombian author Álvaro Mutis...
. De André also sang a Spanish version of this song, Desmedida plegaria.
In 1997, he started a new tour of theatre concerts and a new song collection, called M'innamoravo di tutto ("I Used to Fall in Love with Everything", a quote from one of his older songs, Coda di Lupo - Wolf's Tail), was issued. The Anime salve concert tour went on up to the late summer of 1998, when De André stopped at the first symptoms of a serious disease, which was later diagnosed as lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
.
De André died in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
on 11 January 1999, at 2:30 am. Two days later, he was buried in his native town, Genoa; the ceremony was attended by an immense crowd of about 20,000. He rests in the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno
Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno
The Cimitero monumentale di Staglieno is an extensive cemetery located on a hillside in the district of Staglieno of Genoa, Italy, famous for its monumental sculpture...
, in the De André family chapel.
Albums
- Tutto Fabrizio De AndréTutto Fabrizio De AndréTutto Fabrizio De André is the first album released by Fabrizio De André.It was issued in 1966 on Karim label, and it is an anthology of the tracks contained in Fabrizio's first ten singles which were issued from 1962 to 1966...
(1966) - Volume 1Volume 1 (Fabrizio De André album)Volume 1 is the second album released by Fabrizio De André, though it was his first true studio album.|It was issued in 1967 on Bluebell Records, in two different versions, the first with a brown cover, and the second with a cover featuring a photograph of Fabrizio's face.It was reissued in 1970 by...
(1967) - Tutti morimmo a stentoTutti morimmo a stentoTutti Morimmo a Stento is the third album released by Fabrizio De André. It was issued in 1968 both by Bluebell Records and Produttori Associati. It was reissued several times by Ricordi and BMG...
(1968) - Volume 3Volume 3 (Fabrizio De André album)Volume 3 is the name of an album released by Italian singer/songwriter Fabrizio De André. It was first issued in 1968 on Bluebell Records. The album was re-released several times by Produttori Associati, Ricordi and BMG...
(1968) - Nuvole baroccheNuvole baroccheNuvole barocche is the name of an album released by Italian singer/songwriter Fabrizio De André. It is a compilation of tracks from his first singles and from two of his LPs: Tutto Fabrizio De André and Volume 1.-Track listing:# "Nuvole barocche" # "E fu la notte" Nuvole barocche is the name of...
(1969) - La buona novellaLa buona novellaLa buona novella is the name of a concept album released by Italian singer/songwriter Fabrizio De André. It was first issued in 1970 on Produttori Associati and then re-released several times by Ricordi and BMG...
(1970) - Non al denaro non all'amore né al cielo (1971)
- Storia di un impiegatoStoria di un impiegatoStoria di un impiegato is the title of an album released by Fabrizio De André. It was issued in 1973 by Produttori Associati and reissued several times by Ricordi and BMG.-Overview:It is a concept album based on the Protests of 1968...
(1973) - CanzoniCanzoni (album)Canzoni is the seventh album released by Fabrizio De André. It was issued in 1974 by Produttori Associati and reissued several times by Ricordi and BMG.-Track listing:All tracks written by Fabrizio De André, except where noted.Side A...
(1974) - Volume 8 (1975)
- RiminiRimini (album)Rimini is the name of an album released by Italian singer/songwriter Fabrizio De André. It was first issued in 1978 on Ricordi and then re-released by BMG...
(1978) - Fabrizio De AndréFabrizio De André (album)Fabrizio De André is the name of an album released by Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio De André, released in 1981. The songs were written by Fabrizio De André and Massimo Bubola. It is better known as L'Indiano due to the picture of a Native American on the cover...
(1981) - Crêuza de mäCrêuza De MäCrêuza de mä is the eleventh studio album by Fabrizio De André. It is sung in the Genoese dialect.- Track listing :# Crêuza de mä - 6:16# Jamin-a - 4:52# Sidún - 6:25# Sinàn Capudàn Pascià - 5:32# Â pittima - 3:43# Â duménega - 3:40...
(1984) - Le nuvoleLe nuvoleLe nuvole is the name of an album released by Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio De André, released in 1990. The songs were written by Fabrizio De André and Mauro Pagani.-Overview:...
(1990) - Anime salveAnime salveAnime salve is the final album released by Italian singer/songwriter Fabrizio De André in 1996. It was written together with Ivano Fossati, who co-sings in "Anime salve" and " Â cúmba".-Overview:...
(1996)
Compilations & Lives
- In Concerto - Arrangiamenti PFM (1979)
- In Concerto - Arrangiamenti PFM Vol. 2 (1980)
- 1991 Concerti (1991)
- Mi innamoravo di tutto (1997) (anthology)
- De André in concerto (1999)
- Da Genova (2000)
- Peccati di gioventù (2000)
- Ed avevamo gli occhi troppo belli (2001)
- Fabrizio De André in Concerto Volume II (2001)
- In direzione ostinata e contraria (2005)
- In direzione ostinata e contraria 2 (2006)
Singles
- Periodo Karim (1961-66)
- Il pescatore (1970)
- Suzanne/Giovanna d'Arco (1972)
- Una storia sbagliata/Titti (1980)
External links
- Via del campo tribute website to Fabrizio De André. It hosts the http://viadelcampo.com/html/translations.html English translations of some of his songs.
- Antiwar Songs by Fabrizio De André translated in many different languages
- Simon Evnine, a philosophy professor at the University of Miami, has translated some of De André's songs in singable rhyme.
- "The other Fabrizio", with videos, songs, Italian/English lyrics and comments on Fabrizio's songs as well as articles on Fabrizio's anarchy.