Banco del Mutuo Soccorso


Banco del Mutuo Soccorso is an Italian rock band. A popular progressive rock band in the 1970s, they continued making music in the 1980s and 1990s. Recently, they were still active, playing live in 2001 and 2008 at NEARfest. Their charismatic frontman, :it:Francesco Di Giacomo|Francesco Di Giacomo, died in 2014.

History

Inspired by progressive rock acts from England, in particular Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, keyboardists :it:Vittorio Nocenzi|Vittorio Nocenzi and his brother :it:Gianni Nocenzi|Gianni founded Banco del Mutuo Soccorso in Rome, Italy. They later recorded their eponymous debut album in 1972, soon to be followed by Darwin!, and in 1973 Io sono nato libero. The most prominent features of their sound are the complex textures provided by the piano, Hammond organ and synthesizers played by the Nocenzi brothers, along with the vocals of former frontman :it:Francesco Di Giacomo|Francesco Di Giacomo. A careful balance of electronic and acoustic instruments, with the use of reeds, made Banco's sound increasingly original and innovative, with a blend of rock, jazz and classical music which did not, however, forsake the Italian melodic tradition.
Proving popular in Italy and becoming known abroad, the band signed with Manticore Records together with the Premiata Forneria Marconi. In 1975 Banco was released, a collection of translated songs together with new material, targeting the international market. Come in un'ultima cena was also translated as As in a Last Supper. The late 1970s saw Banco del Mutuo Soccorso going in new directions, with a film soundtrack in 1976's Garofano rosso and recordings with an orchestra in 1978's ...di terra. They changed their name to the simplified Banco.
The 1980s saw Banco's musical direction change towards lighter pop and shorter songs, producing some hits. This is due to the limited success they had abroad with their albums with English lyrics, which led to the decision to exploit Di Giacomo's remarkable vocal gifts with more marketable songs. Gianni Nocenzi left the band for a solo career. Other members came and went.
In the 1990s and now back to using the longer name, they started playing their 1970s material again. They performed unplugged versions of their songs live and re-recorded their first albums. New material was also produced.
Today, the band continues to play live.
On 21 February 2014, Francesco di Giacomo died in a car accident, in Zagarolo, at the age of 67.
In September 2016 some Italian newspapers claimed that the band has taken on Tony D'Alessio, best known from the Italian edition of X-Factor, as the new lead singer.
On 13 January 2019, a press release announced that a new album called "Transiberiana" will be released in April. It will be their first new release after "Nudo", which was published on 1997.

Discography

Studio albums

YearTitleItalian ChartNotes
1972Banco del Mutuo Soccorso5
1972Darwin!4
1973Io sono nato libero10
1975Banco10includes English versions of songs from previous albums
1976Garofano rosso9film soundtrack
1976Come in un'ultima cena8also recorded in English
1978…di terrawith Orchestra dell'Unione Musicisti di Roma
1979Canto di primavera36
1980:it:Urgentissimo|Urgentissimo11
1981:it:Buone Notizie|Buone Notizie
1983:it:Banco |Banco23
1985:it:...e via|...e via42
1994:it:Il 13|Il 13
1997Nudo
2019Transiberiana19

Live albums

YearTitleItalian ChartNotes
1979Capolinea28
2003No Palco30th anniversary live album
2005Seguendo le Traccelive recording from 1975

Other releases

Singles