- León Gieco
Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco, better known as León Gieco (born on
November 20 1951 on a farm nearCañada Rosquín in northern Santa Fe,Argentina ) is a pop-folk music composer and interpreter. He is known for mixing popular folkloric genres withArgentine rock , and for lyrics with social and political connotations. This has led to him being called "the ArgentineBob Dylan ".Biography
Gieco started working at the age of 8. With his own money he bought a
guitar , and soon started playing at school at patriotic holiday commemorations, and with "Los Nocheros", a folkloric music group. He also played with a rock band called "Los Mocosos", that soon gained some popularity within the neighbouring towns. They played songs ofThe Beatles , theRolling Stones and theSpencer Davis Group , when they won a competition to play onRosario TV Channel 5 in 1965.When he was 18 he went to
Buenos Aires to try his luck. There he became acquainted withLitto Nebbia andGustavo Santaolalla , who found him some chances to play as an opening act for better-known musicians.He got to play with different people, including
David Lebón , and in the Buenos Aires Rock Festival in 1971, 1972, and 1973. That same year his first album was released, recorded independently with Santaolalla during the previous two years. Its main song was "En el país de la libertad" ("In the country of freedom"), and the record acquired certain recognition.A year later, the second LP "La Banda de los Caballos Cansados" ("The Tired Horses' Band"), followed the same style of trying to "understand the destiny of the peoples, the reason of injustice" ("entender el destino de los pueblos, el por qué de las injusticias").
León had a series of concerts with a stable group of musicians, as well as other presentations with
Porsuigieco , the supergroup formed withRaúl Porchetto ,Charly García ,Nito Mestre andMaría Rosa Yorio . They had relative success and released an eponymous record in 1976.At the same time, he continued to play with his other group and had a contract for two shows, but the breakup of the band forced him to perform solo at those shows. The audience seemed to like the one-man show, and Gieco decided to continue his path alone. In 1976 he released "El Fantasma de Canterville" ("The Ghost of Canterville"). The record suffered a great deal of
censorship from the military government; he had to change the lyrics of six songs and remove three others altogether. Nevertheless, the record was a success, and he had concerts not only aroundArgentina but also in other countries ofSouth America . Two years later he released "IV LP", with one of his most famous songs: "Sólo le pido a Dios" ("I only ask of God"). Because of the political situation in Argentina, he moved toLos Angeles, California for a year.In 1981 he had a concert in Buenos Aires alone on stage, with a guitar,
harmonica , andcharango . He then released "Pensar en nada" ("To Think About Nothing"). That same year he started a 3-year, 110,000-kilometre-long series of independent concerts all over Argentina, playing for a total of 420,000 people. He gathered material from the different places he visited in during the tour, and recorded in Buenos Aires with various autochthonous musicians the first volume of "De Ushuaia a La Quiaca" ("FromUshuaia toLa Quiaca ") in 1985. The following "De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 2" and "De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 3" were recorded in a mobile studio in different locations of the country.In 1985 he went to
Moscow for the 12th "World Youth and Students' Festival" alongsideJuan Carlos Baglietto andLitto Nebbia representing Argentina. He also had concerts inGermany with his good friendMercedes Sosa , and upon his return to Argentina he had another tour around the country during 1986. In 1987 he returned to Germany for seven concerts, including that ofBerlin 's Political Song Festival.When he returned, he performed for free in two concerts: for 40,000 spectators at the National Flag Memorial in Rosario, and for 35,000 in Buenos Aires. At
Boca Juniors ' Stadium he did a concert withPablo Milanés andChico Buarque , and guest musiciansMercedes Sosa ,Fito Páez , Nito Mestre, Juan Carlos Baglietto andSixto Palavecino . At the end of the year he went on a world tour that included countries such asMexico ,Peru ,Brasil ,Sweden ,Germany andDenmark .In 1988 he performed in Germany and
Austria . Back in Argentina he participated in the final concert of theAmnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour at River Plate Stadium, withCharly García ,Peter Gabriel ,Bruce Springsteen , Sting, and others.After eight years of touring, "Semillas del corazón" ("Seeds of the heart") of 1989 marked his return to the studio. That same year he performed at the "Teatro Ópera" in Buenos Aires with
United States folk legendPete Seeger , material that was edited in the 1990 "Concierto en vivo". The following year, Seeger asked him to join a tour that took him toWashington, D.C. , Boston andNew York City . There he played with David Byrne, whom he had already met in Buenos Aires shortly before.In 1992 he played with
Milton Nascimento , Mercedes Sosa,Os Paralamas do Sucesso ,Gilberto Gil andRubén Rada at the inauguration of theLatin American Parliament in São Paulo. He also released "Mensajes del Alma" ("Messages of the Soul").In 1994 he edited "Desenchufado" ("Unplugged"), an ironic name mocking the popular
MTV "unplugged" concerts, with a recompilation of old songs. Even though the 1997 "Los Orozco" had a few songs that did not follow Gieco's folkloric past, the rest of the disc had his style, and many guest musicians participated in the recording, among themMercedes Sosa ,Ricardo Mollo (Divididos ),Santaolalla andRicardo Iorio .Also in 1997 he participated in the 20 year memorial concert for the
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo , with bands such asDivididos ,Las Pelotas ,La Renga ,Los Piojos , andAttaque 77 .Discography
*"León Gieco" (1973)
*"La Banda de los Caballos Cansados" (1974)
*"El fantasma de Canterville" (1976)
*"IV LP" (1978)
*"Siete años" (1980)
*"Pensar en nada" (1981)
*"Corazón americano / El gran concierto" (1985)
*"De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 1" (1985)
*"De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 2" (1985)
*"De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 3" (1985)
*"Semillas del corazón" (1989)
*"Ayer y hoy" (1989)
*"Concierto en vivo con Pete Seeger" (1990)
*"Mensajes del alma" (1992)
*"Desenchufado" (1994)
*"Orozco" (1997)
*"En el país de la libertad" (1999)
*"De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 4" (1999)
*"40 obras fundamentales" (2000)
*"Bandidos rurales" (2001)
*"Por partida doble" (2001)
*"El vivo de León" (2003)
*"De Ushuaia a La Quiaca" (re-edition) (2005)
*"Por favor, perdón y gracias" (2005)External links
* [http://www.leongieco.com/ Gieco's official page]
* [http://www.rock.com.ar/bios/0/117.shtml Biography] es icon
* [http://www.lafabricadeideas.net/principal.php?carga=management.php|LEON%20GIECO Biography] es icon
* [http://www.diagonal.org.ar/per_edicion-det.php?id=248 León Gieco - Interview to Diagonal] es icon
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.