GRAZIE / CERCHII

Claudio Rocchi's second Ariston Records single came out in 1971, the same year as his acclaimed "Volo Magico #1" album. The material however sounds more like the debut album "Viaggio" with acoustic guitar, gentle flute, piano, standard bass/drums, and traditional Italian melodic pop song structure. Both tracks are similar and quite good if you enjoy the Italian songwriter tradition, the mood of the music is warm and romantic. In this period Rocchi was not so different from fellow songsmith Lucio Battisti, albeit with a more folky feel to the songs. This would be the end of the line for this kind of Rocchi music, as Volo Magico would send him into the era of much longer, more "mystical" music. These first two Ariston singles are largely for serious fans of the RPI or general Italian-pop fans. Rather than trying to track down very rare vinyl singles, there was a Vinyl Magic compilation from 1995 which had the four tracks from these two Rocchi singles, along with tracks from three or four other bands. ("Progressive Rock VM-058)