One of the bands mentioned here that had no records released during their lifespan, Buon Vecchio Charlie had an album ready, but it was only recently unearthed, first on CD then on LP, and it's a very good one, well worth buying, even because of its availability at low prices!
The band was formed in Rome in 1970 with a five-piece line-up featuring, along with Calabrò, Centofanti and Sangiorgio, bass player Walter Bernardi and percussionist Carlo Visca.
After some first demos they could record with the new six-piece line-up the tracks for an album in Suono label's (of Opus Avantra fame) recording studio near Venice in 1972, with the help of Venetian Power guitarist Claes Cornelius, also an important session man at the time.
Despite the good quality, and the interest shown for the band by many producers, the album never saw the light and was shelved until its first CD release in 1990 in a limited pressing.
The LP is very well made, and with a better production it could have been a classic in its style. Dominated by the flute, with strong classical influences, like in the opening Venite giù al fiume it's still an original work, with very interesting moments.
The band split after the recording, probably disillusioned by the lack of chances connected to their album release.
Almost all the musicians kept playing: guitarist Benson released some solo albums and is still active and popular in the Rome area, keyboardist Centofanti followed his career with singer-songwriter Claudio Baglioni and in Libra, while three of the others, Calabrò, Sangiorgio and Damiani, formed with two other musicians a jazz-rock group called Bauhaus.
This group, that received the Best Italian Band prize at the Rome Villa Pamphili festival in 1974, was strongly influenced by Miles Davis' jazz-rock fusion experiments, and only produced a 7-track recording that has been recently issued by Akarma on CD for the very first time. With a very good quality the instrumental-only group has much in common with Perigeo and similar Italian bands, but very little traces left of their progressive rock past.
1. Venite Giù Al Fiume (12:06)
2. Evviva La Contea Di Lane (6:35)
3. All'Uomo Che Raccoglie I Cartoni - 5 parts (15:01) :
a) Prima Stanza
b) All'Uomo Che Raccoglie I Cartoni
c) Terza Stanza
d) Beffa
e) Ripresa
Bonus Tracks :
4. Rosa (4:33)
5. Il Guardiano Della Valle (2:38)
Richard Benson / lead vocals, guitar
Luigi Calabrò / guitar, backing vocals
Sandro Cesaroni / saxophone, flute
Sandro Centofanti / keyboards
Paolo Damiani / bass
Rino Sangiorgio / drums
