Edoardo Bennato
| Edoardo Bennato | |
|---|---|
Bennato in 2013
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edoardo Bennato |
| Born |
July 23, 1946 Naples, Italy |
| Origin | Italian |
| Genres | Pop rock, folk |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, harmonica |
| Associated acts | Gianna Nannini |
| Website | www |
| Notable instruments | |
| Eko Ranger J56 | |
Edoardo Bennato (born July 23, 1946, Naples, Campania, Italy) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He is the brother of the singer-songwriter Eugenio Bennato.
Edoardo Bennato began his music career in the early Sixties (the first single was published on 1966) as one of the most creative and innovative songwriters of his time. His music distinguished itself for being an imaginative blend of blues, rock and roll, folk influences and even hints of opera.
After his first album Non farti cadere le braccia ("Don't let your arms fall", 1973), where he was still finding his way between tradition and innovation, Bennato decidedly chose the latter, many of his songs being performed by himself as a one-man band, with a 12-string acoustic guitar, harmonica, kazoo and foot-drum.
During this early period, Bennato's lyrics were characterised by biting satire and irony, often addressed at the establishment and those self-proclaimed as "the good". His second album, I buoni e i cattivi ("The good and the bad ones", 1974), was an attack against the common-sense distinction between good and evil, between the righteous and the villains. "Arrivano i buoni" ("Here come the good ones") was particularly significant: "Here come the good ones, they are resolute and they've already made a list of all the bad guys to eliminate... so now the good have declared war against the bad but they guarantee that it will be the last war ever to be fought...". With Io che non sono l'imperatore ("I, who am not the Emperor", 1975) Bennato pushed his music more towards experimentation, still mainly playing his acoustic guitar. The cover of the album shows a plan for the Naples light-rail system that Bennato had developed for his final project as a university student. While it was highly praised by his lecturers, the plan was never approved by the city council, giving him even more reason to deride and mock the powers to be.
"Meno male che adesso non c'è Nerone" ("Fortunately there's no Nerone now") and "Signor censore" ("Mister censor") are among Bennato's best examples of pungent criticism of the system. With La Torre di Babele ("The Tower of Babel", 1976) Bennato's music became more sophisticated – more musicians contributed to the album, which contains tracks of a very wide range of styles. Bennato was clearly evolving rapidly and this album reflects this process. "Cantautore" ("Songwriter") is an amusing piece mocking those songwriters who, at the time, were taking themselves too seriously.
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Wikipedia