Biography
Piero Ciampi ranks among the foremost cult presences in the Italian singer-songwriter landscape, a figure whose stature received broad recognition solely after his passing. A romantic poet of maudit temperament, he is routinely likened to the equally tragic Luigi Tenco, the latter undone by spleen and the former by alcoholism. Born in Livorno on September 18, 1934, Ciampi assembled his first group with his two brothers and assumed the role of lead singer. During military service in Fano he encountered musician and future producer Gianfranco Reverberi, and together they formed a quartet; after returning to Livorno he played double bass in several local orchestras. In 1957 he relocated to Paris, where he began composing his own material and performing it in Latin Quarter bistros, meeting writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline and existentialist philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre.
Ciampi returned to Italy in 1959, and Reverberi summoned him to Milan to launch a professional career as musician and singer. There he formed friendships with Luigi Tenco and Gino Paoli, issuing his earliest recordings under the name Piero Litaliano. His debut single “Conphiteor” appeared in 1961, while his most successful single, “Lungo Treno del Sud,” followed in 1963. That same year Piero Litaliano also released his self-titled first album, which sold modestly yet displayed a forceful artistic and poetic personality; it remained his sole release of the decade. Restless by nature and dangerously attached to alcohol, he wandered across Europe for the rest of the 1960s, married and divorced, and briefly served as artistic director of the Italian Ariel record label. In 1967 he wrote and produced the album Lucia Rango Show for the largely unknown singer Lucia Rango. Throughout this period Ciampi chose to be identified first as a poet rather than a musician.
In 1970 he met arranger and producer Gianni Marchetti, with whom he would create his strongest work. Their partnership began with the single “Barbara Non C’È,” followed in 1971 by the album Piero Ciampi, his first true masterpiece and home to several signature compositions, among them “Il Vino,” an explicit declaration of affection for both red and white wine. Although now regarded as one of the most important Italian albums of its decade and beyond, it sold poorly, as did its equally accomplished successor Io e Te Abbiamo Perso la Bussola, issued two years later. Planned collaborations with Carmen Villani and Ornella Vanoni were abandoned because of Ciampi’s unreliability, yet productive work occurred with fellow citizen Nada, for whom he supplied the songs on her 1973 album Ho Scoperto Che Esisto Anch’Io. Released in 1975, Andare Camminare Lavorare e Altri Discorsi was an anthology that included two previously unreleased tracks, one of them the title song “Andare Camminare Lavorare”; 1976’s Dentro e Fuori was a double LP containing only new material. That same year he gave a celebrated performance at the Club Tenco festival in Sanremo, a recording later issued in 1995 within the collection Live al Tenco ’76, Inediti e Provini.
By the close of the 1970s Ciampi’s public appearances had grown increasingly rare owing to deepening struggles with alcoholism. Contrary to expectation, throat cancer rather than cirrhosis of the liver ended his life on January 19, 1980, in Rome. From that point onward numerous colleagues began paying tribute, the first being Gino Paoli with his 1980 album Ha Tutte le Carte in Regola, and critics together with listeners gradually acknowledged the stature of his output, ultimately regarding his poetic and melancholic recordings as milestones.
Ciampi returned to Italy in 1959, and Reverberi summoned him to Milan to launch a professional career as musician and singer. There he formed friendships with Luigi Tenco and Gino Paoli, issuing his earliest recordings under the name Piero Litaliano. His debut single “Conphiteor” appeared in 1961, while his most successful single, “Lungo Treno del Sud,” followed in 1963. That same year Piero Litaliano also released his self-titled first album, which sold modestly yet displayed a forceful artistic and poetic personality; it remained his sole release of the decade. Restless by nature and dangerously attached to alcohol, he wandered across Europe for the rest of the 1960s, married and divorced, and briefly served as artistic director of the Italian Ariel record label. In 1967 he wrote and produced the album Lucia Rango Show for the largely unknown singer Lucia Rango. Throughout this period Ciampi chose to be identified first as a poet rather than a musician.
In 1970 he met arranger and producer Gianni Marchetti, with whom he would create his strongest work. Their partnership began with the single “Barbara Non C’È,” followed in 1971 by the album Piero Ciampi, his first true masterpiece and home to several signature compositions, among them “Il Vino,” an explicit declaration of affection for both red and white wine. Although now regarded as one of the most important Italian albums of its decade and beyond, it sold poorly, as did its equally accomplished successor Io e Te Abbiamo Perso la Bussola, issued two years later. Planned collaborations with Carmen Villani and Ornella Vanoni were abandoned because of Ciampi’s unreliability, yet productive work occurred with fellow citizen Nada, for whom he supplied the songs on her 1973 album Ho Scoperto Che Esisto Anch’Io. Released in 1975, Andare Camminare Lavorare e Altri Discorsi was an anthology that included two previously unreleased tracks, one of them the title song “Andare Camminare Lavorare”; 1976’s Dentro e Fuori was a double LP containing only new material. That same year he gave a celebrated performance at the Club Tenco festival in Sanremo, a recording later issued in 1995 within the collection Live al Tenco ’76, Inediti e Provini.
By the close of the 1970s Ciampi’s public appearances had grown increasingly rare owing to deepening struggles with alcoholism. Contrary to expectation, throat cancer rather than cirrhosis of the liver ended his life on January 19, 1980, in Rome. From that point onward numerous colleagues began paying tribute, the first being Gino Paoli with his 1980 album Ha Tutte le Carte in Regola, and critics together with listeners gradually acknowledged the stature of his output, ultimately regarding his poetic and melancholic recordings as milestones.
Albums
