Luis Alberto Spinetta

Biography

Luis Alberto Spinetta was born on 23 January 1950 as the second of three siblings: Ana María and Carlos Gustavo, the latter of which also became a musician, to Luis Santiago and Julia (née Ramírez), and grew up in the neighborhood of Núñez in Buenos Aires. His childhood home was only two blocks away from the Estadio Monumental. Luis Santiago was an amateur tango singer who formed a group accompanied by guitarists and performed on several radio stations. Through his father, Spinetta was of Italian descent, as his great-grandfather was from the municipality of Carrega Ligure in the Piedmont region.

Amid the counterculture of the 1960s and the political turmoil in Argentina, several artists during this time would develop Luis Alberto's musical range, especially the work of the Beatles. In one such case for example in 1964, during the height of Beatlemania, after winning a local music competition, Spinetta used the earnings to purchase their recently released album, Beatles for Sale. Spinetta also credited Los Shakers, a Uruguayan rock band heavily influenced by the look and sound to that of the Beatles, and their leader, Hugo Fattoruso. With these personal and cultural influences, Spinetta began to compose songs from a very young age, even before learning to play an instrument, even composing a hymn about Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. In a 1988 interview, Spinetta said, "I had fun imitating singers, copying sounds. That's why music was born in me before words." Spinetta also began singing tango songs and, from the age of four, his family, especially his uncles, encouraged him to sing at family gatherings. The influence of tango would be noticeable throughout Spinetta’s work. Three of his uncles worked at Columbia Records which allowed him access to a wide variety of musical expressions at a time when access to records was very expensive. Spinetta said several times that his artistic debut took place in 1964 in a television contest called Escala Musical on El Trece, although his father mentions that year he also sang in a children's program called La pandilla One and Two, later known as Pandilla Uanantú, which was broadcast on El Nueve between March and May 1964. Spinetta attended San Román high school.

Having grown near Estadio Monumental, Spinetta was a lifelong supporter of Club Atlético River Plate, having mentioned the club in his song, "El anillo del Capitán Beto," a track from the album El jardín de los presentes during his tenure with Invisible.

Music

1960s and 1970s

In 1969, Spinetta's band, Almendra, recorded their self-titled first album. They started recording and playing intensively, becoming successful almost overnight. Almendra composed their own songs and their lyrics were written in Spanish, something which was still new for Argentine rock music. After two albums that were received with critical acclaim and continuous radio exposure, the band split.

After a lengthy stay in Europe, Spinetta returned to Argentina and afterwards formed a new band, named Pescado Rabioso. With a far more powerful sound and expressing through their songs the tension of the streets in an increasingly violent Argentina, Pescado made their album debut in 1972. It was both a continuation of the creative stream of Spinetta and a drastic change in the style of his own music and lyrics. Later, the band recorded a second album named Pescado 2. Although a third album, released in 1973 and called Artaud, carried the band's name, the band had actually already dissolved. Therefore, it was mostly a solo album by Spinetta himself. Partly inspired by the writings of Theatre of Cruelty creator Antonin Artaud, particularly his essays Van Gogh, le suicidé de la société ("Van Gogh, the suicide by society") and Héliogabale ou l'Anarchiste couronné ("Heliogabalus, or the anarchist crowned"), Spinetta exorcised many of the demons of his past in this album. He simultaneously released a manifesto entitled Rock: música dura, la suicidada por la sociedad ("Rock: tough music, suicided by society"), a reference to Artaud's essay, in which he denounced the nihilistic hedonism and commercialisation he saw as having corrupted rock music. This process would open the door to a new era in his music.

In 1974, Spinetta formed a new band, Invisible, whose music was based in progressive rock and psychedelia. With his new band he recorded three albums: Invisible, Durazno Sangrando and El jardín de los presentes. In the latter, Spinetta took a novel approach, incorporating elements of tango and jazz into his sound.

After recording and editing a failed album in the United States in 1979, with lyrics in English and destined to the U.S. market, Spinetta returned to Argentina to record two albums with a short-lived Almendra revival (one with original songs and the other live), and embarked on a new project, Spinetta Jade.

1980s and beyond

Spinetta Jade would prove to be a successful and innovative band; Spinetta was joined by some of the most acclaimed Argentine musicians to help him build the new sound he was building since Invisible. The product: a blend of jazz and rock that was unseen in Argentina drawing away from the symphonic rock that dominated the middle 70s, and escaping the boom of new wave, punk, reggae, glam pop etc that reached both the world and Argentina in the 1980s. These four albums, Alma de Diamante (1980), Los Niños que Escriben en el Cielo (1981), Bajo Belgrano (1983) and Madre en Años Luz (1984), represent a defined style as well as the footprints of Spinetta's evolution. Spinetta and Charly García (with their respective bands at the moment, Jade and Serú Giran) joined efforts and gave what was considered amongst the most important shows in the history of Argentine rock. After dissolving Spinetta Jade in 1984, Spinetta worked on an album with Charly, but eventually they abandoned their efforts. Only two songs remain of the ill-fated effort, "Rezo por Vos" and "Total Interferencia".

By 1982, Spinetta had restarted his solo projects. Kamikaze (1982) puts together a number of previously unreleased songs (one gem is an early song he composed in 1965 called "Barro Tal Vez"). In Mondo Di Cromo (1983) Spinetta's new production, from 1986 to 1993, would include four solo albums (Privé, 1986), Téster de Violencia (1988), Don Lucero (1989), *Pelusón of Milk *(1991), a joint album with Fito Páez, another Argentine great (La La La, 1986), and the soundtrack of the movie Fuego Gris (named after the film, 1993).

After a long hiatus, largely due to Spinetta's conflicts with recording companies, he finally opened a new period in his music with his new band: Spinetta y los Socios del Desierto. Over three years (1997–1999) the band released four albums. Two studio albums, the double Socios del Desierto (1997) and Los Ojos (1999) would bring a new sound. The band made an MTV Unplugged live album, Estrelicia (1998), which, because of its soft acoustics, contrasts with their live album, San Cristóforo (1998). As Spinetta said at the beginning of the first concert, "Fans de lo acústico, abstenerse" ("Fans of acoustic music, refrain"). In 1998, he selected the featured songs and artwork of a greatest hits album called Elija y Gane, which was released the same year.

The band dissolved quietly towards the end of 1999. Spinetta started a solo career, including Silver Sorgo (2001), Obras en Vivo (2002), a live album, Para Los Árboles (2003), Camalotus (2004), a single of three unreleased songs and one remix, Pan (2006) and Un Mañana (2008). In 2005, he received the Platinum Konex Award for best rock soloist of the 1995–2005 decade. A number of books and TV documentaries have been devoted to him, like Argentine writer Eduardo Berti's, which includes a long conversation with Spinetta, among many others

Spinetta celebrated his 40 years in music with a five-and-a-half-hour concert called "Spinetta y las Bandas Eternas" (Spinetta and The Eternal Bands) in front of 40 thousand fans at Vélez Sarsfield Stadium in Buenos Aires. It was later considered by Argentine music critics as "the greatest gig of the decade".

Personal life and Death

Spinetta was married to Patricia Salazar from 1976 until 1995. The couple had four children: Catarina, Dante, Valentino and Vera. Salazar died in 2021. He was in a relationship with Carolina Peleritti from 1996 to 2000. Spinetta died of lung cancer at 62 years of age on 8 February 2012.

Recognition

Spinetta was awarded the Gardel de Oro in 2009. On 23 January 2020, Google celebrated his 70th birthday with a Google Doodle.

Discography

Almendra

Studio albums

• Almendra (1969)
• Almendra II (1970)
• El Valle Interior (1980) Live albums
• Almendra en Obras I/II (1980)

Pescado Rabioso

• Desatormentándonos (1972)
• Pescado 2 (1973)
• Artaud (1973)

Invisible

Studio albums

• Invisible (1974)

• Durazno Sangrando (1975)

• El jardín de los presentes (1976) Non-album singles

• "Estado de coma" (1974)

• "La llave del Mandala" (1974)

• "Viejos ratones del tiempo" (1974)

Live albums

• En Vivo Teatro Coliseo 1975 (2022)

Spinetta Jade

• Alma de Diamante (1980)
• Los Niños Que Escriben En El Cielo (1981)
• Bajo Belgrano (1983)
• Madre en Años Luz (1984)

Spinetta y los Socios del Desierto

Studio albums

• Socios del Desierto (1996)

• Los Ojos (1999) Live albums

• San Cristóforo (1998)

Solo

Studio albums

• Spinettalandia y Sus Amigos - La Búsqueda de la Estrella (1971)

• Artaud (1973, edited as an album of Pescado Rabioso)

• A 18´ del Sol (1977)

• Only Love Can Sustain (1980) (Solo el Amor Puede Sostener)

• Kamikaze (1982)

• Mondo Di Cromo (1983)

• Privé (1986)

• La La La (1986, con Fito Páez)

• Téster de Violencia (1988)

• Don Lucero (1989)

• Pelusón of Milk (1991)

• Fuego Gris (1993, soundtrack)

• Silver Sorgo (2001)

• Para los Árboles (2003)

• Camalotus (2004)

• Pan (2006)

• Un Mañana (2008)

• Los Amigo (2015, posthumous) Live albums

• Exactas (1990, live)

• *Estrelicia *(1997, MTV Unplugged)

• San Cristóforo: Un Sauna de Lava Eléctrico (1998, live)

• Argentina Sorgo Films Presenta: Spinetta Obras (2002, live)

• Spinetta y las Bandas Eternas (2010, live)

• Presentación ARTAUD - 1973 - Teatro Astral (2020, official bootleg)

• Presentación ARTAUD - 1973 - Teatro Astral Vol. 2 (2021, official bootleg)

Compilations

• Elija y Gane (1999, greatest hits)
• Ya no mires atrás (2020, unreleased material) (recorded 2008–09)

Poetry

• 1978: Guitarra negra (English: "Black Guitar"). Buenos Aires: Ediciones Tres Tiempos.

References

References

1. (2021-02-08). "Spinetta: el pionero buscador de una poesía en español para el rock".
2. "Día Nacional del Músico".
3. López, Alberto. (2020-01-23). "Luis Alberto Spinetta 'El Flaco', el padre del rock en español". El País.
4. (January 23, 2021). "Spinetta: el indómito instinto de transformación".
5. [http://www.terra.com/musica/gustavo-cerati/influencias.html ''Influencias'']
6. (December 23, 2011). "Carta pública".
7. (December 23, 2011). "La carta del Flaco".
8. (February 8, 2012). "Murió Luis Alberto Spinetta".
9. (February 16, 2012). "PAZ".
10. "Entrevista a Gustavo Spinetta, hermano del Flaco "Luis nunca paraba de crear"".
11. "Spinetta íntimo, entrevista online del año 2011".
12. Berti, Eduardo. (1988). "Spinetta: crónica e iluminaciones". Editora AC.
13. Berti, Eduardo. (1988). "Spinetta: crónica e iluminaciones". Editora AC.
14. (January 14, 2020). "Spinetta, ruido de magia".
15. Ronnie Arias. (1985). "Luis Alberto Spinetta: negro". Reportaje a Spinetta publicado por la revista Venus-Arte, reproducido en 1992 por la revista Ahora, y reproducido parcialmente en 2000 por el sitio Rebelde.
16. Spinetta, Luis Alberto. (14 December 2002). ""Apuntes sobre la creatividad del Fatto". La Nación.
17. Berti, Eduardo. (1988). "Spinetta: crónica e iluminaciones". Editora AC.
18. (February 4, 2022). "Mi recuerdo es el del amigo inseparable de la niñez y la adolescencia".
19. Berti, Eduardo. (1988). "Spinetta: crónica e iluminaciones". Editora AC.
20. (8 February 2012). "El manifiesto escrito por el Flaco en 1973, un documento que definió su obra".
21. (2022-04-29). "Invisible: la magistral banda de Spinetta que se gestó en un Fiat 600 y hoy revive en grabaciones inéditas convertidas en un disco".
22. (15 May 2022). ""Invisible en vivo 1975″, una maravillosa muestra de Luis Alberto Spinetta en pleno apogeo creativo".
23. (2022-05-24). ""A Spinetta no solo lo frustró la experiencia de Invisible, sino del rock": la mirada del autor de "Tigres en el Lluvia"".
24. (6 March 2019). ""El jardín de los presentes", el disco de Spinetta que salió en medio de la peor tragedia {{!}} Sociedad".
25. Ortega, Rubén. (2021-09-29). "A 45 años de 'El Jardín de Los Presentes' de Invisible".
26. Natale, Hernani. (25 April 2020). "La Generación del 80: el grupo de artistas que desafió a los 'padres' del rock argentino".
27. (2012-06-04). "Las voces de los '80: Conversaciones con los protagonistas del fenómeno pop-rock". RIL Editores.
28. (12 August 2020). "Invasión Argentina: si Gerli fuera Nueva York".
29. Zunini, Por Patricio. (23 January 2020). "7 libros para conocer el legado de Luis Alberto Spinetta".
30. (June 16, 2016). "Por el Flaco: Dante, Catarina, Valentino y Vera Spinetta, en el mejor homenaje a su papá". La Nación.
31. (February 21, 2020). "Vera Spinetta y el duelo por su padre". Clarín.
32. (August 20, 2021). "Murió Patricia Beatriz Salazar, la madre de los hijos de Luis Alberto Spinetta". Clarin.
33. (August 20, 2021). "Murió Patricia Salazar, el gran amor de Luis Alberto Spinetta y madre de sus cuatro hijos". La Nacion.
34. (April 19, 2025). "Qué es de la vida de Carolina Peleritti: fue modelo top y actriz, salió con Spinetta y a los 53 es cantante folklórica".
35. (February 9, 2012). "Argentine rock musician Luis Alberto Spinetta dies".
36. (February 10, 2012). "Luis Alberto Spinetta, Argentine Rock Pioneer, Dead at 62".
37. (July 23, 2009). "Luis Alberto Spinetta Awarded Gardel de Oro".
38. (23 January 2020). "Luis Alberto Spinetta's 70th Birthday".