BUON VECCHIO CHARLIE

The opener "Venite giù al fiume" is a rock adaptation from "In the Hall of the Mountain King." The track exceeds 10 minutes with a lot of variations and jams. The flute work is really nice, and they even added some vocals. The vocalist Richard Benson was a half-English and half-Italian man who you can barely tell is not fully Italian from the tone of his voice. The song is mainly driven by Hammond which seems to either have an extremely high rotor rate or an effect on it. Saxophone occasionally comes in when the song shifts from a jam back into the main riff. It's a really nice track but, considering the other two tracks on the album, I would say this is the weakest one (even though it's far from bad).

The second song '"Evivva la contea di lane" is my personal favorite song off of the album. It is a beautiful symphonic masterpiece. The first minute begins with a melodic guitar intro which is picked up by the vocals and flute. The saxophonist and flutist, Sandro Cesaroni, really goes off during this song. The end of the song is dominated by one of the dirtiest yet, most astonishingly amazing saxophone solos I have ever heard. I genuinely could not even fathom a saxophone being able to make the noises that it did.

The closing track "All'uomo che racccoglie i cartoni" is a five-movement epic that stretches 15 minutes. It includes some really great guitar soloing and acoustic sections. The vocals throughout the album are pretty subtle but, on this song they definitely shine some more. The translation of the name of the song is "To the man who collects cartoons," which is written about a man from some of the band members' neighborhoods who collected cartoons. My only takeaway from the song is that it's all over the place, even going into a swing section at a point, and is very hard to follow. It is a 15-minute song, so that is probably why.

The keyboardist Alessandro Centofanti went on to collaborate with and play with some famous Italian pop artists as well as forming the fusion group "Libra". Richard Benson, the vocalist, went on to do a bunch of stuff on television like a talk show and as a producer. The rest of the band went on to form the progressive rock group "Bauhaus." Overall a really great album, with great history and some awesome pre-PFM Italian Prog. It's very rare that you will find bands like this before the classic era of Italian prog, and it is unfortunate that they didn't release any others.

The album is a mixed bag of classically influenced and typical Progressive Rock Italiano inspired music.

It starts weakly but peaks towards the end of the album.

The first composition sounds starts like a cheap rip-off of one of the most famous classical music motives, something that one would hope would disappear after a few seconds to be replaced by original composition. "Venite Giù Al Fiume" indeed takes "In the hall of the mountain king" to convert the composition into progressive rock, add a few typical prog- rock hooks and pack it into 12 minutes. I don't have issue with unoriginal bands that copy musical approach but I have an issue if classical music is copied without bringing new dimension to it. Two stars for the first track.

The second composition is laid back and more original. 3 stars

The third track, the epic "All'Uomo Che Raccoglie I Cartoni" is worth of acquiring this album as the band shows the ability to set different moods, switch from rock to jazz and be original.

The short track (?), "Evviva la contea di lane", starts off gently with guitar and drums before a wonderful organ hits the stage. Flute and vocals bringing early King Crimson to mind. The track is beautiful and gentle, which is welcome after the frantic opener. Then there's the majestic last track, "All'Uomo Che Raccoglie I Cartoni", a five part suite lasting 15 minutes. Now, this is brilliance. In a nutshell. It ranges from highly melodic and gentle to frantic and nigh on avant garde at times, with classical guitar, jazzy interludes and hard rocking fury. Oh, my goodness. This track is to die for.

33 minutes can be a lifetime but in the case of Buon Vecchio Charlie's sole album it is like closing your eyes for a minute and then opening them again. 33 minutes passes like a moment in time, too fast. But that is really a compliment. That means you had a really great time and I swear I had. Raw and rough but highly accomplished and deliciously executed this is classic and unmissable RPI.

At a time when bands like Premiata Forneria Marconi or Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso searched for their own challenging sound, Buon Vecchio Charlie played some full-edged Progressive Rock presented in three long tracks.The opening ''Venite giù al fiume'' is a proggy version of ''Peer Gynt'' by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.A track with little space for vocals but plenty of it for some fuzz guitar soling, psychedelic organs, melodic sax leads and raw flute work, close to the likes of JUMBO or OSANNA, but all tightly connected without being excessive at all.''Evviva la contea di Lane'' follows a much softer style, being quite symphonic in nature and based on Centofanti's obscure organ work, Cesaroni's delicate flutes and the huge sax solo of Cesaroni towards the closing section.With the 15-min. ''All'uomo che raccoglie i cartoni'' the band returns to the opening style, close to a mix of Psychedelic and Symphonic Rock.Alternating sections between electric and acoustic passages with good doses of flutes and saxes in a VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR mood, a lust for some more improvisational parts and Centofanti's decent effort on organ and synthesizers offer a variety of soundscapes with influences from Classical, Folk and Jazz Music.

Propably due to the unsuccesful tries of releasing the record the band called it off around 1973 with most of the members remaining in the music industry.Benson followed a personal and quite succesful music career,Centofanti joined Libra a couple of years later, while Calabro, Sangiorgio and Damiani formed the Jazz-Rock act Bauhaus.

It would be a crime if these recordings remained buried and thanks to the Melos' team any prog fan has the opportunity to taste some of this band's talent and pleasant progressive music orientations.Not absolutely essential or masterful like the best of Classic Italian Prog but certainly strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

Like the British second-tier prog band Beggar's Opera in their debut album, a lot of Buon's schtick revolves around playing proggy interpretations of classical music at breakneck speed, as in the opening track (a treatment of In the Hall of the Mountain King) - in fact, take Beggar's Opera, add Jethro Tull-esque flute playing, and you've more or less got the sound of the first track. The other two see a bit more of a Genesis influence creep in but don't really distinguish themselves. A good effort, but not quite enough to really have much hope in an overcrowded prog scene with at least half a dozen bands who could blow these guys off the stage without trying.

"Venite Gui al Fiume" quotes liberally from Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King," but is not a straight up cover like ELO would attempt in 1973 on their third album. There is a very nice sax performance and above average ensemble playing as well. The jazzy tendencies really feel themselves out for a good chunk of the song, but the latter half is all over the map; there are numerous tempo and stylistic changes but nothing out-of-this-world. The drumming does leave a little to be desired - I think this guy uses the same drum fill about 30 times over the course of the album. His playing is far more tasteful on the second tune, "Evviva La Contea di Lane," my favorite on the album. Gone is the jazz and classical sound of the opener...this six-minute masterpiece is a joy, steeped in the Italian tradition but with a bluesy touch. The last two minutes are absolutely brilliant, a symphonic triumph anyone would enjoy.

A nod to Mussorgky's "Night on Bald Mountain" begins "All'uomo Che Raccoglie I Cartoni." A suite comprised of five sections, the song is varied stylistically. But this is a good thing - BVC manage to pull it off quite nicely and it never drifts too far into silly territory. If the album ended here, I would probably give it three stars. For what it is, Buon Vecchio Charlie just can't hold water when compared to the giants of the genre. However, the 1999 Akarma CD release features two bonus tracks, the only other known output of the group besides that of Bauhaus (a jazz-rock album recorded in 1974 by members of BVC). These two tracks alone warrant an extra star, particularly based on the strength of "Rosa." These tracks originally appeared on a solo album by pop artist Beppe Palomba. While I realize the band may not have shared in the compositional or lyrical content of the song, their backing of Palomba is exceptionally tasteful and executed perfectly. A lovely song that doesn't just feel "tacked on," but actually adds value to the album as a whole.

Like many Italian prog bands they draw on classical music for inspiration, indeed the first track, Venite Giù Al Fiumetakes, takes excerpts from Grieg's Hall Of The Mountain King in this lively largely instrumental piece. The band also takes blues and jazz influences over this sadly short album consisting of only three tracks lasting little more than thirty minutes. The shorter and mellower Evviva La Contea Di Lane is bookended by the two longer pieces where the band demonstrates excellent musicianship on the instrumental workouts. Vocalist Richard Benson has a decent voice, generally in the mellower spectrum which is used sparingly. Luckily for him he doubles up on guitar otherwise he'd have very little to do overall. Sax and flute add colour to the more traditional instrumentation of keyboards, drums etc.

This one and only release from the band is certainly not an essential album in the Italian prog genre but is nevertheless an enjoyable way to spend thirty minutes or so. Worth checking out then for those who are already familiar with the premier league of RPI and looking to dig a bit deeper.

One gets the whole shebang here: passionate vocals, subtle fluting, great musicianship and melodic music. I particularly enjoy the first two songs which are truly symphonic as this fantastic genre can generate. It is gorgeous music by all means.

The opening number "Venite giu al Flume" shows some definite Tull affiliation (solid beat and great fluting) and demonstrates all of the band's maestria: drumming is excellent, guitar is sustained and bass is powerful. It is a very good combo indeed. Needless to say that the vocal department is also on par. A highlight for sure.

The fully "Trespass" oriented "Evviva la Contea di Lane" is so subtle and sweet! Melody, fluting, passion, skills. What else do we need? Nothing, I guess! The closing part is more hectic and holds some great sax play.

The epic "All'Uomo Che Raccoglie Cartoni" is mixing the ISP style with a more jazzy oriented music. A la "Banco" should I say? But the combination of both styles is quite enjoyable: perfectly flowing into one another.

The great VDGG influence is also very much noticeable. The alternation of quiet and symphonic passages and wild jazzy moments is quite well achieved. This music is very rich indeed. The last two songs and bonus tracks are somewhat "lighter" and don't add anything to the original recording, on the contrary. Jazzy mood for "Rosa" and a more folkish approach for "Il Guardiano Della Valle". In all, this is a very good album for sure. Let's forget about the bonus tracks and granted this work with four stars.

It is too bad that the band didn't follow with more of this type of music. But we are used to this with the ISP genre, unfortunately. One album, and there you go?

The opening track is the best but it's slightly ruined by the adaptation of Grieg's Hall of the Mountain King theme. It isn't my favourite classic tune to start with, and the rock adaptation doesn't improve matters much. It leads into a fun jamming sessions that kind of bridges the gap between The Nice and ELP.

Evviva La Contea Di Lane takes a more mellow approach. The organ playing and pastoral feel still ties us to the 60's but the instrumental development of the song is very proggy. The VDGG styled sax solo is very fitting.

Another lengthy track follows. It has its moments but never really grabs me. The saxophone is one of the most interesting features again. The flute solo at the end with the typical jazz standard of the bass guitar brings Jethro Tull's debut to mind. Two pop songs are thrown in at the end as CD extras, but they have little to do with what preceded.

A fun little album with nice artwork. No more no less.