Yesterday I announced today's chapter in my blog as "JAZZ/ROCK", but now we have a change, as something happened yesterday in my life and the "JAZZ/ROCK" chapter will surely be here, in Beppe's Blog for Japan at chapter number 4.
I tell you one thing before goin' on and starting today's chapter and I want to specify that I want Beppe's Blog for Japan be exciting, adventurous, moving and unpredictable, so ... everything can happen here!
Not just that! I'm treating it like a... table, with you, as friends, on the other side, talkin' about my greatest love, Music, in various aspects, focusing on my music, Me, my label's music, and so on, and focusing on Life, Freedom of expression, Love... in a musical way! I'm Putting all my cards on this "table", called Beppe's Blog for Japan!
So, today, in front of my friend I would have talked of what I'm goin' to talk with you, right now!.. These are today's cards I put on the table.
...I tell you now, what's happened, suddenly!
Yesterday morning when I went home I switched on my answering machine and I heard the voice of Rinaldo, a very close friend of mine, saying: "Beppe, I wanted to tell you that.. my father is dead!".
You can't imagine the sadness in my heart and some tears appeared on my face: Ermes was dead!
Ermes was Rinaldo Santi's father and Rinaldo was the guitarist and lead singer in the first band with which I performed a lot, The Mystics, in the Sixties, in 1968, 40 years ago and Ermes was surely the person that more than any other followed and listened to our music, definitely he was our greatest fan and friend.
THE MYSTICSBeppe (in front) and from left to right:
Mario Ortalda, Rinaldo Santi, Alessandro Vannicola and Enrico Cagliero
The Mystics have been really important in my musical life, they have had a great importance in my decision of wanting to be a musician in this lifetime and I like to share this story and this moment with you.
There's a precise moment in which I know I decided to be a musician, and that's when with the Mystics I participated to a competition between bands, in 1969, in a city called Chivasso, near Turin.
On that night, for that competition, there was a jury formed by a quite famous italian beat band. "The Rogers" that had a hit on Italy called "Guarda".
I tell you, I really wanted to win the competition and as final piece we performed "Save me" by Brian Auger and I really gave my best..on my Bauer Combo organ!, doing the best capturing, emotional solo I had ever done till then!!! and all the band was playing so good!!!
I had never felt such "vibrations" before, around my body, such a deep emotion and.. at the end of the piece I raised my head and I saw the votes from the Jury (the highest vote was 10); and the votes were "10! 10! 10! 10! 10! and so on, everyone gave us the maximum votes and so WE WON the competition, WOW!
At that time it was the fullest moment of my life, and it was so "emotionally" intense and strong that the I decided: This is my life! it is soooooooo beautiful!
I can experience really strong emotions and I can transmit them to the audience!
For the first time in my life, the sky had no limits, I was in heaven!!!
I decided: "I have to be a musician!" , absolutely!, and that's what happened!
In following months the emotions, vibrations, sensations of that night were "stable" in my performances, confirming the DECISION of that night, and I also made another decision that Has influenced all my life in the same way.
In those days I knew that drugs were around, but I took another extremely important decision, as I had a life-changin' consideration: "With Music i've got the most intense way of living this life, with Music I'm in heaven and so I HAVE MUSIC and I don't need drugs at all!!! Life can be absolutely beautiful without "experimenting" with drugs, so I never took them, I didn't need them at all, ...I HAD AND I HAVE MUSIC!
A funny thing is that the Mystics often spent whole afternoons, improvising, for hours, with lights of different colours, creating really a...
Psychedelic scene!.. and without any drugs and without having seen a psychedelic "something", such as events, documentary or whatever...
The experimental intention ...was there in some ways, in the 60's there was ..."something in the air!".!
Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian used to say that the 70's started in 1967 and lasted till 1977 and I like this viewpoint.
In 1967, and in the years after, we saw the roots of progressive and jazz rock, gradually movin' progressively towards ..."adventurland"!
So at the end, I can say that without "The Mystics" I don't know if today I would be here to talk to a Japanese audience. It all started there!
The Mystics were Rinaldo Santi, Mario Ortalda, Sandro Vannicola and Gastone Santi at the beginning, the line-up on "that night" and later Enrico Cagliero came in, on Guitar. Enrico Cagliero later became Alluminogeni's guitarist, he was on "Scolopendra" and unfortunately, he died in the 90's.
I was inspired to choose this name, by the tile of a Van Morrison's tune, "Mystic Eyes" (originally performed by he THEM, that in Italy was the B-side of "GLoria", a standard tune between beat groups in the 60's)
In the Sixties the concept of a band was so rooted in every member of the band itself, and in our case I tell you, that today there are never ending echoes of those days for us, we're still great friends and we love to meet sometimes, talking about those wonderful times, telling the same old stories, that even if they have been repeated 1.000 times don't ever loose their emotional content, as in those years, when strong emotions were always switched on!!!
I really hope you enjoy this stories about my start, with a band that definitely has a part in a corner of my heart and that gives me such good feeling when I'm talking about: The Mystics!
So thank you Mystics, thank you Mario, Rinaldo, Sandro, Gastone ed Enrico and Thank you and Goodbye, Ermes, our Greatest fan and friend! Your smiling face will be with us forever!
PS. see you tomorrow with Beppe's Blog for japan, Chapter 4 : "Jazz-rock".
1 comment:
I think Ermes is your best fan!and friend for ever☆
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