Rhythm & blues italian style playlist
Rhythm & blues italian style
The success of styles which originated in Black America dates back at least to the ‘doo-wop’ hits of the Platters from the 1950s. But it wasn’t until the next decade that these styles definitively took their place as essential features of the contemporary music scene. This anthology spans over half a century of sounds, covers and arrangements, presenting world-famous hits as well as original songs, some of which were recorded in Italian by African American singers. The most prolific period was probably the second half of the 1960s, when the Sanremo Music Festival included foreigner singers in its competitions, thus allowing the new trends from such record labels as Motown and Atlantic to take root in Italy, alongside other genres such as English beat and American folk-rock. ‘Pregherò’ (1962) is the Italian version of ‘Stand by Me’ by Ben E. King, and ‘Gira gira’ (1966) that of ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’ by the Four Tops. Rocky Roberts was one of the few Black artists to become well-known in Italy, thanks to radio and television. ‘Pugni chiusi’ (1967) is a soul ballad which brings out the ‘Black’ voice of Demetrio Stratos. In its 1968 and 1969 editions, Sanremo welcomed two stars of the R&B scene: Wilson Pickett (who together with Fausto Leali sang ‘Deborah’, by Pino Massara and Giorgio Conte, Paolo’s brother) and Stevie Wonder (who partnered with Gabriella Ferri to sing ‘Se tu ragazzo mio’). The song ‘Dio mio no’ (1971) foregrounds Battisti’s penchant for soul, while the influence of blues behind ‘Neapolitan Power’ broke through in the early 1980s with Pino Daniele and Enzo Avitabile. Zucchero, Italy’s best-known soul singer on the international scene, teamed up with Solomon Burke in ‘Diavolo in me’ (1989). Neffa parrots Marvin Gaye in ‘La mia signorina’ (2001), while Andrea Mingardi – at the age of nearly 80 – lends his raw voice to ‘Anima soul’ (2018).
