Gianfranco Caliendo, 'long-haired' frontman of Giardino dei Semplici, dead
The singer and guitarist passed away in Naples at the age of 70. Among the band's hits were 'M'innamorai' and 'Miele'
"Hello, Dad. The best concert awaits you. It will be wonderful. It will be perfect. The stage is yours. And there will be an endless audience to applaud you. You, for me, will come alive every time we listen to your voice and your music. I love you, Big Hair'. With an emotionally charged message on social media, his son Tiziano bade farewell to his father Gianfranco Caliendo, frontman, lead vocalist, guitarist, author and creative soul of Il Giardino dei Semplici, one of the symbolic groups of 1970s Italian pop music.
Caliendo died in Naples at the age of 70 and the funeral will be held today, 1 April, at 5pm, in the church of Sant'Antonio in Fuorigrotta. With 14 albums, more than 2,000 concerts and 4 million copies sold, Il Giardino dei Semplici mixed Italian melody with multiple musical influences and accompanied generations of listeners and fans with hits such as M'innamorai, Tu, ca nun chiagne, Vai, Miele, Concerto in La Minore, Silvie, ...And let's love each other. The musical group Il Giardino dei Semplici was founded in 1974 in Naples by Caliendo together with drummer Gianni Averardi, later joined by Andrea Arcella on keyboards and Luciano Liguori on bass.
Born in Florence in 1956, the guitarist was the nephew of the Neapolitan musician Eduardo Caliendo, with whom he undertook his studies in the Campania capital. Gianfranco Caliendo was a very young 'longhair' when in 1969, with a group of friends from the neighbourhood between Vomero and Arenella, he formed his first band, Stars 69. In the following years, the 'band' changed its name to I Diapason and began performing every Saturday at the Banco di Napoli club and at Cantaestate, a travelling festival in the most beautiful places in Campania. In 1973 he again created a new group, the Gung, which became the official band of the Queen Elizabeth, Naples' biggest discotheque at the time. Until the decisive meeting in 1974 with Gianni Averardi, who involved him in the project that was to characterise his entire artistic career: Il Giardino dei Semplici.
The project took shape thanks also to the support of producers Giancarlo Bigazzi and Totò Savio (both mainstays of the Squallor) who led the group to their recording debut with M'innamorai in 1975. The song marked the band's immediate success, consolidated in the same year by the success of Tu, ca nun chiagne, which reached gold disc status. From that moment on, a long period of success and great satisfaction began for the Giardino dei Semplici, specialists in vocal mixtures and Mediterranean sounds.
A protagonist of the band's golden age, at the turn of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Caliendo also guided the line-up through difficult times, such as the severe car accident in 1977 shortly before their participation in the Sanremo Festival with Miele. Despite the injury, the band nevertheless took the stage at the Ariston Theatre, confirming their position as one of the public's favourite acts. They reached the final of an edition dominated by the bands: on the podium, in order, Homo Sapiens, Collage and Santo California.
