Though nobody thought about it when the whole thing started, nowadays everybody agrees that the Argentine rock movement was established by three groups: Los Gatos, Manal, and Almendra.
While Los Gatos played beat-pop, and Manal played urban blues, Almendra (Almond) played something completely creative, innovative and... different. None of the other groups had sounded that way before! Almendra played beautiful melodies and magnificent lyrics, sometimes mixed with extremely moody sounds and sometimes mixed with extremely furious –but always melodic– lines.
Almendra was formed in 1968 after the break up of three teenage school groups: Los Sbirros, Los Mods, and Los Larkins. The initial rehearsals were held at the Spinetta's house in Belgrano (an upper-middle class neighbourhood of Buenos Aires). By mid-1968, they met producer Ricardo Kleiman, who signed them for a single. (Kleiman was the owner of an important clothing shop –Modart– and ran a radio show –Modart en la Noche [Modart at Night]– that aired the latest editions of beat and rock music of the world).
On September 20th, 1968, "Tema de Pototo" (a.k.a. "Para saber cómo es la soledad") b/w "El mundo entre las manos" was released. "Tema de Pototo" is a beautiful beat ballad about a friend they thought was dead. Both sides feature orchestral arrangements by Rodolfo Alchourrón (a producer's request). This was the starting point of the brief career of one of the most wonderful groups in the world!
By the end of the year, "Hoy todo el hielo en la ciudad" with a great fuzz guitar work by Edelmiro hit the stores. The b-side features "Campos verdes," from which a promotional film was made.
Due to their performance at the Festival of Aucán in Peru (something completely unusual at that time), the single became a huge success in that country. They even appeared on a TV show in Lima.
Back in Argentina, Almendra played during the summertime –that is, beginning of 1969– in Mar del Plata (a beach city 400 km south of Buenos Aires). Their debut in Buenos Aires was on March 24th, at the DiTella Institute (the avant-garde cultural centre of the 60s). Almendra spent the rest of the year performing at different venues, until September 21st (the first day of Spring –also Student's Day) when they played at the Pinap Festival. Pinap was the name of a beat magazine, and this festival was the first major event of Argentine rock.
click to enlargeMeanwhile, the group was recording their debut album. An odd event marked the completion of the album. Spinetta had drawn an original enigmatic face character for the cover. Days afterward, the record company told the boys that the drawing had been lost, so they were planning to use a photo of the group instead. Obviously upset, the musicians looked for the lost drawing and eventually found it discarded in the garbage! Spinetta stayed up all night reproducing his original artwork and took it to the record company the following day. They offered no excuses the second time!
The extraordinary debut album was finally released on November 29th, 1969. Along with the infamous drawing, it included an insert with the lyrics and technical information. The black and white back cover pictured the group live at the Pinap Festival.
This LP is astonishingly beautiful. All the songs are excellent. It is really hard to try to explain them!
The opening track is an Argentine rock hymn: "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", an acoustic Spinetta song devoted to an old girlfriend that still thrills the listener. Next comes the superb 9-minute long "Color humano", written by Edelmiro, featuring his now famous long fuzz guitar solo. Molinari would name his next group after this song.
"Figuración" is a soft tune brilliantly sung by Spinetta with Pappo on backing vocals and Emilio del Güercio on flute. The energy and fuzz guitar returns with the superb "Ana no duerme", one of the best tracks of the album. Santiago Giacobbe guests on organ.
Side two begins with the sweet "Fermín", another beautiful song where everything is well done: the guitar, the organ (played by Edelmiro), the vocals... followed by a lullaby tune "Plegaria para un niño dormido" with yet another inspired Spinetta lyric.
I am personally fond of "A estos hombres tristes", a song with changing rhythmic and melodies. Emilio wrote and sung lead in the next one, the pleasant "Que el viento borró tus manos".
The LP ends with the slow and beautiful "Laura va", yet another great Spinetta song full of urban moods. Rodolfo Alchourrón was called on again for his fruitful orchestral arrangements and Rodolfo Mederos played the bandoneón to complete the sound of Buenos Aires.
This indisputable masterpiece is one of the best albums ever recorded in South America and a must to anybody interested in the music of these latitudes.
By the end of 1969 the record company released a new single featuring "Tema de Pototo" and "Final". The latter was originally scheduled to end their debut album, but could not make it due to time length limitations. The group wanted "Gabinetes espaciales" to be the a-side of this next single, but RCA wished to promote "Pototo" instead. "Gabinetes espaciales" was eventually included in the compilation LP Mis conjuntos preferidos (RCA Vik 3836).
In early 1970, another single was released with two songs from the album. Meanwhile, Spinetta was working on a highly ambitious –though not original at that time– project: a rock opera about mankind's inner search. But while they were working on this new album, the group split.
click to enlargeOn December 19th, 1970, Almendra (a.k.a. Almendra Double Album) was released, along with a new single taken from it. The 2-LP set included only traces of the unfinished opera but was full of songs that previewed what the members of the group (noteworthy Emilio and Edelmiro) would do next. Although Luis Alberto Spinetta was the main composer of the first album and most of the singles, it was clear that his fellow musicians had their own ideas as well.
The brilliant double album is, thus, pretty heterogeneous. The music is more complex and has much organ and guitar playing. Side A begins with "Toma el tren hacia el sur" featuring a great Edelmiro guitar solo. Next to the short and simple "Jingle", a powerful Molinari guitar composition ("No tengo idea") follows. "Camino difícil", written by Emilio, would fit in any Aquelarre album. The steady rock of "Rutas argentinas" (a very popular song on live shows), the dark "Vete de mí, cuervo negro", and another two Molinari compositions: "Aire de amor" (advancing the Color Humano style) and the excellent "Mestizo" completes this side.
Side B features the chirping hard-psycho 14-minute-long "Agnus Dei" and the cute "Para ir".
Side C includes the powerful "Parvas", "Cometa azul", my favourite "Florecen los nardos", –all with great guitar work– and Del Güercio's rhythm ballad "Carmen".
Side D begins with "Obertura" (obviously the ill-fated opera's overture), followed by the country-folk "Amor de aire" and "Verde llano" (both written by Edelmiro). This last side continues with "Leves instrucciones", a nice tune sung by Emilio and Luis Alberto and the outstanding "Los elefantes". "Un pájaro te sostiene" –a rock number written by Del Güercio– and the great Spinetta's guitar-oriented "En las cúpulas" close this highly recommended album.
Almendra's split produced these wonderful outcomes: The famous groups Aquelarre, Color Humano, and Pescado Rabioso.
click to enlarge click to enlarge Years later, on December 7th and 8th, 1979, Almendra reunited to play live at the Obras Sanitarias Stadium in Buenos Aires. These highly successful shows led to a big tour including various cities of Argentina and Uruguay. A 2-set live album –Almendra en Obras (Almendra ML 712 & 713)–, and a studio album of new material –El valle interior (Almendra ML 135)– were also released, this time on their own independent label. My advice: forget these and stick to the old stuff!
Luis Alberto Spinetta (g, v)
Edelmiro Molinari (g, v)
Emilio del Güercio (b, V)
Roldolfo García (d, v)
Albums
1969 - Almendra (RCA Vik LZ-1160)
1970 - Almendra (double) (RCA Vik LZ-6001)
Singles
1968 - Tema de Pototo (Para saber cómo es la soledad)/El mundo entre las manos (RCA Vik 31Z-1368)
1968 - Hoy todo el hielo en la ciudad/Campos verdes (RCA Vik 31Z-1413)
1969 - Tema de Pototo/Final (RCA Vik 31Z-1565)
1970 - Muchacha (ojos de papel)/Ana no duerme (RCA Vik 31Z-1633)
1970 - Hermano perro/Mestizo (RCA Vik 31Z-1813)
Discografía
Tema de Pototo (simple) (1968)
Almendra (1969)
Tema de Pototo (simple) (1969)
Hoy todo el cielo en la ciudad (simple) (1969)
Almendra II (1970)
Muchacha (ojos de papel) (1970)
Hermano perro (simple) (1970)
Almendra en Obras 1 (1980)
Almendra en Obras 2 (1980)
El valle interior (1980)
Almendra 68/70 (1999)
RCA Victor 100 años (2003)
