Il Barattolo

When it came to recording Il barattolo, we all agreed immediately: we would have to turn to one of the best Italian musicians for the arrangement. Meccia’s previous records had received mixed reviews for being too original. But this time everyone liked Il barattolo so much that we decided to use a 40-piece orchestra to produce it in the best possible way. We also all immediately agreed on the name of Ennio Morricone. However, it was Morricone, at this point, who disagreed with us about the large orchestra.

“Meccia,” he said, “is a singer sui generis, as are his songs. So during the recording, Gianni needs to stand out as much as possible, while the orchestral background has to be as humble and functional as possible”. In the interim however, it was Morricone again who came up with the solution. “Here,” said the Maestro, “we need a real jar, a jar whose precise function is as accompaniment, in short, used as a musical instrument”.

Having said this, the thing could have seemed really simple: in reality, reproducing in the studio the rolling of a jar in time with the music is no small matter. So It was decided that a special “device” should be built. Based on a design by Morricone himself, the device was concretely built by one of Rome’s most talented artisans. This instrument consists of a slide about 1.20 metres long whose surface, which runs between two small railings, is covered with cement and gravel, along which the jar is made to slide horizontally with the help of a wooden baton. It can be viewed at RCA’s Museum of Curious Objects.

The various parts of the arrangement were then distributed as follows: organ, double bass, guitar, drums, harmonica, bongos, first jar and second jar. Incidentally, I would have loved you all to have seen the face of the musician chosen to play the jar when he was faced with the two previously mentioned scores. . . I’m not telling you anything else: you can understand the rest by listening to the record.

Personally, I have a lot of respect for Meccia for writing this song, and also for the others he wrote: Folle banderuola for Mina, Alzo la vela for Jenny Luna, Primo sguardo for Nilla Pizzi, Così, a poco, a poco for Teddy Reno, L’altalena dell’amore, and many others, up to the famous Odio tutte le vecchie signore, an innocent joke that in its day caused arguments that still haven’t died down. I respect him for the new vein that runs through all his songs, for that subtle humour that appears in some of them, for that sense of delicate poetry that shines through almost all of his compositions. Gianni doesn’t believe in the song-drama: he thinks that songs should hover lightly above our heads, and therefore he imagines them as little angels with light wings that flutter happily around us, like butterflies around flowers. The fact is that recording Meccia is fun, just as recording Il barattolo was especially fun, also for the reasons I mentioned to you. I hope you have just as much fun listening to it”.

Micocci, Vincenzo, Introduction on the back cover of the 45 single Il barattolo/Quanta Paura, RCA Camden, CP 71, 1960