Dove... quando Pt. I + Pt. II (Premiata Forneria Marconi, 1972)

"Storia di un minuto" was the first and celebrated album by PFM and it included two parts of the song "Dove... quando..." ("Where... when..." in English), the first one closing the original A side and the second one opening the B side. The two parts sum up some 10 minutes of delicate and charming music. The strong acoustic flavour of this double track will be one of the best known trademarks of PFM and so will be their melodic inspiration.

The first period of PFM's career is a very special prog time...

 

I'm in love with the flute, the guitars, the keyboards (both organ and piano) and the violin opening the second part and announcing the liveliest movement of the mini-suite. In fact, the following jazz section beautifully changes the mood and the tempo of "Dove... quando...", introducing another strong features of this manifold band. Always a pleasure to listen to that...

Josephine Baker (Premiata Forneria Marconi, 1987)

"Josephine Baker" is IMHO one of the finest prog songs from Italy during the '80s. Nevertheless, it is a greatly underrated track, probably because of the somewhat deceiving "Miss Baker" album it comes from or even because the band had lost in those years their progressive fandom. For sure, everything is moving and well done in "Josephine Baker", from the opening guitar to the closing violin. And in between there are a beautiful sung theme, a classy arrangement and a nostalgic set of lyrics about an African  beauty, the very icon of the Parisian dance halls, the famous Afro-American dancer quoted in the title, or - more probably - only her poster on the wall of a lonely room.

"Miss Baker" was the twelfth studio album by PFM.

The atmosphere of this song is full of melancholy but not necessarily sad, as I breathe a warm mood all along the track, combining Old Europe, Africa and some smoky cafés of a long forgotten Parisian Street. Such a pity this had to remain the last PFM's prog song until their coming back many years later...

Il banchetto (Premiata Forneria Marconi, 1972)

Another excellent track from PFM's second album "Per un amico". This is a longish one, starting like a gentle, folkish ballad, featuring well found satyrical lyrics about courtiers and opportunism... and probably that's why the band didn't translate this track in English in their first International release. They actually found their way to political song in a Renaissance disguise. 

 

PFM: The way we were...

This first section is followed by a long instrumental interlude, where the listener is somewhat unsettled and trasported into more adventurous dimensions: fake improvisations, synth embroideries, suggestive piano lines, liquid suggestions and a slow crescendo transform the opening ballad into a challenging still enjoyable prog trip, until the main theme is restored in the reassuring finale. For all those reasons I'd say this song is a true "banchetto" (that's a "feast") for old and new progfans. And the main course is music, of course.

Appena un po' (Premiata Forneria Marconi, 1972)

Years ago, someone asked me the title of the track that, in my opinion, would perfectly represent Italian prog at his best. I couldn't reply then, but in time I found a good aswer: PFM's "Appena un po'" ("Just a little") taken from the album "Per un amico" ("For A Friend"). Why is this? Well, because you'll find here a catalogue of all the things Italian prog. Acoustic passages, Medieval or Renaissance touches, Mediterranean dances, a good deal of Mellotron, and then, of course, a lot of flutes and choral arrangements.

"Per un amico" was the second PFM's album.

Sure, if I put it here, it isn't just for this anthology side: this track features a gorgeous melody and so many good musical changes and moods. Acrtually, it's one of my favourite Premiata's songs and I do hope you'll enjoy it too. Oh, I forgot to say that the band also released an English version of "Appena un po'", titled "River of Life" - the opening track of "Photos of Ghosts" - featuring Pete Sinfield's lyrics. A good alternate listening...

Impressioni di Settembre (Premiata Forneria Marconi, 1971)

This was the first PFM's single, released in 1971, some months before their first album with "La Carrozza di Hans" on the B side. Please note that the album version of this song is a re-recorded and longer version, and also the most known one on  the Italian market. "The World Became The World" is the English version of "Impressioni di Settembre" (meaning "September Impressions") and was released as the title track of their 1974 album conceived for the International market and featuring Pete Sinfield's lyrics.

 

This single represents PFM's first release.

That said, the song is a little prog pearl, sweet and sensitive, but also innovative in its structure, including two different themes and some instrumental passages, arranged in a balanced way with some differences depending on the version you're listening to. Both the Italian and the English lyrics are based on the influence of season changes on human soul and emphasize the wet side of autumn (it's dew in Italian lyrics and rain in Sinfield's ones). Perhaps that's why the music itself has a liquid nature and the song flows like a fresh and sparkling stream out of the prog forest.

La terra dell'acqua (Premiata Forneria Marconi, 2006)

"Stati di immaginazione" ("Imagining States" in English) is my favourite PFM's album after their reunion in the late '90s. This "La terra dell'acqua" ("Water's Ground") is the opening track, an istrumental trip of more than 8 minutes intended to comment the images coming from an Italian TV program and concerning Venice and its destiny. Of course, this music can't be limited to a descriptive use and this track is a real prog masterpiece, starting with dreming keyboards and evolving into a polirhytmic and flushing composition with so many different moods and tempos.

"Stati di immaginazione" was PFM's 16th studio album.

I recommend the violin solo by guest Lucio Fabbri and the stunning Franz Di Cioccio's drumming, creative and unpredictable. Sure, I can't forget the electric guitar solo Franco Mussida mounts in the finale like a shining gem in a precious crown. Precious, yes, this is the word for such a beautiful, both romantic and aggressive track, showing once again how great PFM are.

L'Isola di niente (Premiata Forneria Marconi, 1974)

This is one of the most intriguing tracks in the '70s Italian prog scene, and it's the title track of PFM's third Italian album. It also exists in English, titled "The Mountain" as the opening track of the album "The World Became The World", also released in 1974. As usual, I introduce here the original language version. The stunning choral intro is probably the most known feature of the song, even if I'm fond of its elecric guitar work, including the first sharp riffs that completely change the track mood after the above-mentioned arcane and classical choir.

An early PFM's line-up. Good music from good musicians...

The following vocal arrangements are beautiful too and so are the keyboard / guitar plots enriching the instrumental passages. That said, the main feature of this song, IMHO of course, is its magic and suspended atmosphere, something the Italian title suggests (L'Isola di niente means The Isle of Nothing) with not so hidden references to Neverland and to so many islands from our childhood's dreams.

La carrozza di Hans (Premiata Forneria Marconi, 1971)

Here's another of the major classic tracks from the golden era of Italian progressive rock. Not only that: "La carrozza di Hans", taken from the first PFM's album "Storia di un minuto" (1972), but composed, recorded as a single (along with "Impressioni di Settembre) and publicly performed in 1971, some months before the LP release, is also one of the first acoustic guitar driven songs in its period. That's why guitarist Franco Mussida is the main character of this book of wonders, also including Mauro Pagani's melancholic violin and adorned flute, an icredible choice of keys by Flavio Premoli and, of course, all the typical rock paraphernalia provided by Franz Di Cioccio and Giorgio Piazza.

This song was the first PFM's release in 1971 as a 7" single,

featuring "Impressioni di Settembre" as A-side.

The strange vocal intro, midway between sung and recited, immediately marks the originality of a composition featuring quasi-medieval slow passages and more rythmic sections, all separated by dramatic changes. This song is a brilliant example of the early Premiata charming sound, so different from anything else the music fans of the '70s had listen before and yet so perfectlty in tune with its time. Pure magic, I daresay.

È festa (Premiata Forneria Marconi, 1972)

This track, "Celebration" in its English version, is a manifesto of the so-called "Italian Progressive rock", one of the most known songs of that early period, when Italy created its own interpretation of the new British genre. This is taken from the first PFM's album, "Storia di un minuto" while the English version graces the 1973 international release "Photos of Ghosts". Apart from four lines, sung with a choral arrangement, the track is mostly instrumental and definitely up-tempo. 

PFM today. Long live the prog!

The keyboards an guitars phrasing drives an uproarious rythm not far from a mediterranean dance, in two crescendos separated by the calm sung section. I reckon it's impossible to stay still when listening to this track, a burst of energy and progressive glory. For those loving "Celebration": please note that the recent Esoteric Recordings "The World Became The World" reissue also features an until then unreleased single edit of the song.

La luna nuova (Premiata Forneria Marconi, 1974)

I don't know if this is the most famous and celebrated PFM's song, but IMHO it perfectly represents the kind of music this group wanted to make back in the seventies. As you probably remember, an english version of this track, titled Four Holes in The Ground also exists, featuring Pete Sinfield's allegoric lyrics. What I always liked in this song is the mediterranean soul, a warm athmosphere resulting in the perfect depiction of a summer night. The rythm has something ethnic in it, but the vocal parts are sweety european and you could get four good songs with the musical ideas of this track.

This is the album cover of "L'isola di niente".

 

I'll certainly spend some more words on other tracks taken from "L'isola di niente", for now I warmly invite you to a careful listening of this song: each time you put it in your CD reader you'll find something new. And this is exactly what a prog song should do.