Banco del Mutuo Soccorso

Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
Francesco Di Giacomo of Banco, at a concert in Frascati, 2009
Background information
Also known as	Banco
Origin	Italy
Genres	Progressive rock, Italian progressive rock, art rock
Years active	1969–current
Labels	Ricordi, Manticore, EMI, Sony
Members	Vittorio Nocenzi Rodolfo Maltese Tiziano Ricci Maurizio Masi Filippo Marcheggiani Alessandro Papotto
Past members	Francesco Di Giacomo Gianni Nocenzi Claudio Falco Fabrizio Falco Franco Pontecorvi Marcello Todaro Renato D'Angelo Pierluigi Calderoni Gianni Colaiacomo Karl Potter
Website	bancodelmutuosoccorso.it

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, 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 Vittorio Nocenzi and his brother Gianni founded Banco del Mutuo Soccorso in Rome, Italy. They later recorded their eponymous debut in 1972, soon to be followed by Darwin!, and in 1973 Io sono nato libero. Right from the start the most striking features of their sound was the complex texture provided by the piano, Hammond organ and synthesizers played by the Nocenzi brothers, plus the original vocals delivered by Francesco Di Giacomo. A careful balance of electronic and acoustic instruments, plus the use of reeds (played by some of the members of the band, in addition to their usual instrument), made the sound of Banco 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 (also due to the shutdown of Manticore in 1977), 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, although no new material has been recorded since 1997.

On 21 February 2014, Francesco di Giacomo died in a car accident, in Zagarolo, at the age of 67.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Title	Italian Chart	Notes
1972	Banco del Mutuo Soccorso	5
1972	Darwin!	4
1973	Io sono nato libero	10
1975	Banco	10	includes English versions of songs from previous albums
1976	Garofano rosso	9	film soundtrack
1976	Come in un'ultima cena	8
1978	…di terra		with Orchestra dell'Unione Musicisti di Roma
1979	Canto di primavera	36
1980	Urgentissimo	11
1981	Buone Notizie
1983	Banco	23
1985	...E Via	42
1994	Il 13
1997	Nudo

Live albums

Year	Title	Italian Chart	Notes
1979	Capolinea	28
2003	No Palco		30th anniversary live album
2005	Seguendo le Tracce		live recording from 1975

Other releases

Year	Title	Italian Chart	Notes
1976	As In A Last Supper		English version of Come in un'ultima cena
1989	Donna Plautilla		compilation of previously unreleased pre-1972 material
1989	Non Mettere le Dita nel Naso		under the name of Francesco Di Giacomo
1991	Darwin		reworking of the original 1972 album
1991	Da qui Messere si Domina la Valle		re-release of the first two albums
1996	Banco d'Accusa		compilation boxset, released under the name of Francesco Di Giacomo

Videos

• Ciò che si vede è (1992, DVD release in 2004)
• Live 1980 (2007)

See also

• Il Balletto di Bronzo
• I Cervello
• La Locanda delle Fate
• Le Orme
• Osanna
• Nova
• La Premiata Forneria Marconi
• Il Rovescio della Medaglia

References

• "Official band history". Retrieved 2007-10-20.