Due to legal whims, bureaucracies, lawsuits and record company problems, there is a
Charly García
album that not everyone knows and that
It could well be
the best of a discography full of unique gems
that made him number one in Argentine rock.
It's called
Música del alma
and it's like
García's Bandas Eternas
.
Because just as Spinetta brought together all his groups (Almendra, Pescado, Invisible, Jade) in the same show and spent his entire career in Vélez, Charly brought together
Sui Generis, La Maquina de Making Pájaros, PorSuiGieco
and a first sketch of what would be
Serú Girán
.
It is Charly's first solo album
, recorded five years before his famous official debut with the double
Yendo de la cama al living/Pubis angelical
that he presented live at Ferro '82.
The original screen print of the cover art for "Música del alma", made by Renata Schussheim and now included as a poster on the vinyl reissue.
However,
Música del alma
was only released in 1980 and
was not reissued on vinyl until now
.
In between there were two CD releases, one with a plastic DVD case and another with a cardboard cover.
In short:
it was unavailable in physical format
, although now it is on YouTube and digital platforms.
The origin of the concert
In September 1977, Charly García announced the separation of his group La Maquina de Hace Pájaros and declared in the magazine Expreso Imaginario that "
I am going to organize a monster recital at Luna Park
and immediately travel to Brazil."
The advertisement that Charly García himself put together to promote the recital at Luna Park.
At that point of events, the place with the greatest attendance was the Corrientes and Bouchard boxing stadium.
Nobody imagined that local rock could fill a soccer field or that García would make two Rivers in 1992.
A month later,
Charly himself drew an advertisement to publish in rock magazines
.
He named the show "Charly García, pianist and friend" and announced the date: November 11.
García's idea was to have a kind of stable band formed by
David Lebón
and two former members of Crucis: the bassist
José Luis Fernández
and the Uruguayan drummer
Gonzalo Farrugia
.
The three of them were going to be in the new group that Charly wanted to put together in Brazil, which would later be known as
Serú Girán
.
But it couldn't be: Fernández ended up going to Los Angeles and Farrugia to Mexico.
Finally Charly traveled to Buzios only with Lebón, and after a while Pedro Aznar and Oscar Moro joined him in the recording studio in San Pablo.
The guest list for Luna Park would allow Charly to recreate his previous bands live, because from Sui Géneris there would be
Nito Mestre
, from PorSuiGieco he summoned
María Rosa Yorio, León Gieco
and
Raúl Porchetto
, and from La Maquina
Oscar Moro
and
Gustavo Bazterrica
.
Gustavo Santaolalla
also joined
with
Mónica Campins, Golo Cavoti, Juan Rodríguez, Pino Marrone
and
Aníbal Kerpel
.
An authentic
dream-team
of musicians that revolve around the host, with
a quantity and quality never seen in Argentine rock
, only surpassed by Spinetta's gigantic Bandas Eternas in 2009.
The technical problems
Charly's plan was to record the recital and immediately release a double live album, which would allow him to collect an advance royalty to finance his trip and stay in Brazil.
But
there were all kinds of technical setbacks
and the album was only released in 1980, with extensive studio re-recordings.
The 2024 reissue of "Music of the Soul" includes the original label of the independent label Sazam, which belonged to Music Hall.
Basically,
the recording was very bad and many songs were re-recorded in the studio
.
It was also broadcast on the radio on Juan Alberto Badía's program and many fans made pirated recordings during the show.
With all that material available, in addition to the 13 songs on the album, collectors have reconstructed the entire show and it is available on fan sites on the web.
According to the historian, writer and collector Roque Di Pietro, it lasted 3 hours and 23 minutes.
According to
the text that Charly wrote by hand
on the inner envelope, "This album was ready a month after the so-called 'Festival of Love' in November 77. Some songs were re-recorded at the Ion studios, the most 'live' ones, because Of those four or so hours of music (between changing tapes, couplings, etc.) something was lost.
The text handwritten by Charly Garcia in the internal foldout of "Musica del alma".
And he adds: "What remains here are songs by different authors and very similar at the same time, some of these sung for years, others made especially for that occasion."
Important fact: this reissue is possible thanks to the initiative of the National Institute of Music (INAMU), which managed to recover the catalog of the Music Hall label.
The edition was done together with DBN.
Why is it Charly's best album?
Música del alma
shows one of the best Charly García of all time
, as dazzling as the most pop stage of Serí Girán and as impressive as the era of the sound redesign of
Clics moderns
and the rock of
Piano bar
.
The bicolor is more inspired than ever, singing and playing with La Maquina's full arsenal of synthesizers and showing off his unique style of playing the electric piano.
And with so many musicians and possibilities, he ranges from the best progressive rock to the folk vocal arrangements of his beloved Crosby Stills & Nash, typical of his time with PorSuiGieco.
The Bird Making Machine, with Charly García, Carlos Cutaia, Oscar Moro, José Luis Fernández and Gustavo Bazterrica.
Photo courtesy of Carlos Cutaia
The beginning is a 100% García piano display in the improvisation called
Variations on music of the soul
.
Soon his future partner David Lebón appears and they shine in
Two Golden Buildings
and
Hombre de Bad Sangre
.
Side A of Disc 1 closes with more piano so characteristic of Charly, now accompanying Raúl Porchetto in
Sitting on the threshold of God
.
Side B opens with another tone,
more explosive and equally extraordinary
: a master class in funk for an unrecognizable version of
The Canterville Ghost
.
Rarely has a live group been heard that sounded so powerful.
Then León arrives with an evident re-recording in studios of
The Sweet Promises
(later recorded on a solo album as
Un Poco de Comprehension
), the first voice of María Rosa in
Iba abarsen el vino
and an ethereal David in his
Tema de los Devotees
dedicated to the Guru Maharaji.
Charly García live with Serú Girán in 1979 on the Los Andes court.
Another high point of the album is the song that covers the entire Side A of Disc B: a long jam of
Tickets, Passes and Subscriptions
, full of solos and
the virtuosity so typical of those years
.
Sui Generis arrives with an unreleased song that begins Side B:
Gaby
(composed by Pipi Correa and Carlos Piégari, members of the first Sui), with Nito and Charly sparking each other and the piano playing at full volume.
They continue with the hit
Welcome to the Train
and the closing is with the improvisation
Studio Jam
and the title track of the album.
This double vinyl
is an authentic tour de force of the García universe from 1977
, when he had already achieved absolute fame with Sui, recorded with his friends in PorSuiGieco and given free rein to progressive rock with La Maquina de Hace Pájaros.
You could say that he is at his best, if it weren't for the fact that we all know that he later had several other "best moments" in his career.
Coda
I remember that I came across this album almost by chance.
I was bored at a party at a high school classmate's house and I went into the room of his brother, the later DJ and producer Tuti Gianakis.
I looked through his records, looked at the covers and in the middle I found a Pelo magazine, where inside was the notice announcing the launch of
Música del alma
.
At that point, the only thing I knew about so-called "national rock" was a TDK cassette with Serú Girán's
The Fat of the Capitals
.
I thought this double album of "Charly y Amigos" would be a good second taste, given the wide variety of musicians and bands.
A few days later I bought it.
I heard it so many times that I feel like I have it tattooed on
my skin.
And it awakened in me an unconcealable passion for Argentine rock.