(The full story can be found in THE GREAT ROCK BIBLE)
The origins of BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO (Bank of Mutual Relief) from Rome date back to 1969 when the Nocenzi brothers, Vittorio and Gianni, both keyboard players auditioned for RCA Records with Franco Coletta on guitar, Fabrizio Falco on bass and Mario Achilli on drums. The Nocenzi brothers met singer Francesco Di Giacomo, guitarist Marcello Todaro, bassist Renato D’Angelo and drummer Pierluigi Calderoni at the Caracalla Pop Festival in Rome in 1971 and the first manifestation of the band was formed.
Amongst their best albums included DARWIN! (1972), the group’s second album, a concept work, full of complexity, melody and subtlety. The music was quite theatrical, a kind of bridge between classical, chamber rock and prog rock, as the band created a unique sound that found its ultimate expression on DARWIN!, which peaked at #4 in the Italian albums chart. BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO (also 1972), the band’s debut album, was a #5 hit album, and was just as strong; Di Giacomo’s powerful, operatic voice and the Nocenzi brothers’ imaginative and varied keyboard work graced both albums. The heart of the band’s debut were three long pieces: the four-part ‘R.I.P.’, ‘Il Giardino del Mago’ and ‘Metamorfosi’. IO SONO NATIO LIBERO (1973) completed a trilogy of classic albums; an electric/ acoustic affair, by turns jazz, classical and operatic with much appeal to ‘prog heads’, the Nocenzis making outstanding contributions on piano, Hammond organ and synth. It provided another top ten Italian album, as did the group’s first release for the Manticore label, BANCO (1975), which featured choice previously recorded compositions sung in English alongside some new material, as ELP took notice, as they did with PFM.
The group also ventured into film music with GAROFANO ROSSO (1976). On COME IN UN’ULTIMA CENA AKA AS IN A LAST SUPPER (also 1976) there were no signs of Banco (as they were now called) losing their magical momentum or visceral impact, with Di Giacomo’s singing on ‘John Has a Good Heart, But’ (a la APHRODITE’S CHILD) most moving, while ‘At Supper, For Example’ was heavily suggestive of YES and GENESIS but mimicked neither. DI TERRA (1978) was one of the best examples of rock group/ orchestral collaborations, a natural context for their music. Gianni was a maestro on piano, while brother Vittoria conducted. What resulted was a first class harmonically heterogeneous blend of modern classical, STRAVINSKY in particular, and RAVEL in the more pastoral passages, and jazz. Guitarist Rodolfo Maltese also played trumpet MILES DAVIS style, and along with a guest flautist and contralto sax player blended perfectly with the rock instrumentation. As with the 1976 film soundtrack this was an all-instrumental album.
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