Ricky Gianco (born Riccardo Sanna on 18 February 1943), formerly known as Ricky Sann, is an Italian singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer, considered one of the founders of Italian rock music.

Career

Born in Lodi, Gianco started playing guitar as a child, and at 11 years old he won a music contest for amateur musicians, soon gaining some popularity thanks to his participation to numerous Mike Bongiorno's shows.[1] In 1958 he was guitarist of the band "Pepe, Pietruccio & Lallo", an early incarnation of Dik Dik.[1][2] He first adopted the stage name Ricky Sann as a tribute to Ricky Nelson.[1][3] He made his recording debut with the single "Ciao ti dirò", which is regarded by some critics as the first original rock song.[4] In 1960, he formed "Ricky Sanna e il suo complesso", a band with Enzo Jannacci and Luigi Tenco.[2] His 1960 song "Dubbi" is considered an early example of comedy rock song.[4]

In 1961, Gianco co-founded Clan Celentano, but after some disagreements with Adriano Celentano one year later he left the record label and moved to England, where he knew the Beatles (taking part in their 1963 Christmas Show at the Astoria Cinema in Finsbury Park) and collaborated with Ivor Raymonde.[1][4] Returned to Italy, he reprised his singing career with the label Jaguar and started a fruitful collaboration as songwriter with Gian Pieretti, having his major success with "Pietre", a song launched by Gian Pieretti and Antoine at the Sanremo Music Festival 1967.[1][4] In this period he also served as producer for I Ribelli and I Quelli, a rock band that was the nucleus of Premiata Forneria Marconi.[1][4] In 1970, he took part in the 20th Sanremo Music Festival with his song "Accidenti" as a member of the supergroup Il Supergruppo.[4] In 1972, he founded the label Intingo and two years later he co-founded the label L'Ultima Spiaggia.[1]

Following the semi-retirement of Gian Pieretti, in the mid-1970s Gianco started a long professional association with Gianfranco Manfredi, in music and on stage.[1][4] His production of the time became more ironical and more politically and socially committed.[1] In 1989, he recorded one of his better knew song, "Parigi con le gambe aperte", a duet with Gino Paoli, with whom he toured the same year.[1] His 1991 album È rock & roll had among its guests Paoli, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Lukather, Pino Donaggio, James Burton, Enzo Jannacci and Giorgio Gaber.[1] His 1992 and 2000 albums Piccolo è bello and Tandem also mainly consisted of duets and collaborations, notably Fabrizio De André, Franco Battiato, Robert Wyatt, and Ornella Vanoni.[1]

As a songwriter, Gianco's collaborations include Mina, Adriano Celentano, Patty Pravo, Peppino di Capri, Equipe 84, and Don Backy.[1] In 2003, he received a Premio Ciampi [it] for his carer.[1]

Discography

Albums

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Deregibus, Enrico (2006). "Ricky Gianco". Dizionario completo della canzone italiana. Giunti. pp. 217–8. ISBN 978-88-09-04602-3.
  2. ^ a b m.pizz. (15 March 2014). "Ricky Gianco «La mia vita fra rock e canzoni»". La Provincia Pavese (in Italian). Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  3. ^ Pedrinelli, Andrea (30 July 2016). "The song tells its story/4. Ricky Gianco tells his 60s". Avvenire. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Cotto, Massimo (1990). "Gianco, Ricky". Castaldo, Gino (edited by). Dizionario della canzone italiana. Curcio Editore. pp.772-3.
Allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Gianco
No tags for this post.