Almendra (band)

Almendra
(Left-to-Right) Emilio Del Guercio, Rodolfo García, Luis Alberto Spinetta, and Edelmiro Molinari
Background information
Origin	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Genres	Progressive rock Rock Folk rock Psychedelic rock
Years active	1967–1970
Labels	RCA
Associated acts	Vox Dei, Los Gatos, Manal, Los Shakers
Past members	Luis Alberto Spinetta Edelmiro Molinari Emilio del Güercio Rodolfo García

Almendra was one of the most important rock groups from Buenos Aires, Argentina in the late 1960s.

Led by guitarist and lyricist Luis Alberto Spinetta, Almendra released between 1968 and 1971 a few singles and two albums that revolutionized the sound of Argentine rock for the remainder of the 20th century and almost single-handedly changed the way local rock music was perceived by critics and audiences. Widely compared to The Beatles by their local contemporaries, Almendra did not survive the 1960s and the making of the difficult second album, though all individual members went on to form the backbone of Argentine rock in the 1970s.

Almendra was formed in 1968 after the breakup of three teenage school groups, Los Sbirros, Los Mods and Los Larkins. The initial rehearsals were held at Spinetta's house in Belgrano (an upper-middle-class neighbourhood of Buenos Aires). By mid-1968, they met producer Ricardo Kleiman, who signed them for a single. Kleiman was the owner of an important clothing shop -Modart- and ran a radio show -Modart en la Noche/Modart at Night- that aired the latest editions of beat and rock music of the world.

On September 20, 1968, "Tema de Pototo" (a.k.a. "Para saber cómo es la soledad") b/w "El mundo entre las manos" was released. "Tema de Pototo" is a beautiful beat ballad about a friend they thought was dead. Both sides feature orchestral arrangements by Rodolfo Alchourrón, a request by the producer. By the end of the year, "Hoy todo el hielo en la ciudad" with a great fuzz guitar work by Edelmiro, hit the stores. The b-side features "Campos verdes" from which a promotional film was made.

Almendra played during the summer at the beginning of 1969 in Mar del Plata a resort city 400 km south of Buenos Aires. Their debut in Buenos Aires was on March 24, at the DiTella Institute, the avant-garde cultural centre of the 60s. Almendra spent the rest of the year performing at different venues, until September 21, first day of Spring and Student’s Day in Argentina, when they played at the Pinap Festival. Pinap was the name of a beat magazine, and this Festival was the first major event of Argentine rock.

Meanwhile, the group was recording their debut album. An odd event marked the completion of it. Spinetta had drawn an original enigmatic face character for the cover. Days afterward, the record company told the boys that the drawing had been lost, so they were planning to use a photo of the group instead. Obviously upset, the musicians looked for the lost drawing and eventually found it discarded in the garbage. Spinetta had stayed up all night reproducing his original artwork and took it to the record company the following day. The company offered no excuses the second time. The extraordinary debut album was finally released on November 29, 1969. Along with the infamous drawing, it included an insert with lyrics and technical information. The black & white back cover pictured the group live at the Pinap Festival.