“I left him standing in the snow”

They were friends, yet he left Francesco De Gregori on foot, in the snow, after he had gotten out of the car to push. Claudio Baglioni in a long interview given to Aldo Cazzullo for the Corriere della Sera among other things, he recounts the relationship with his colleague which began with a long-distance argument. At the time there were no social and the artists gave statements to the newspapers to have their say. Sort of dissing ante litteram De Gregori, says Baglioni, “said in an interview, a Naked King or to Wild Bunch, of wanting to ‘pollute the calm and soothing sea of ​​Mino Reitano and Baglioni’. I replied to him, not from an alternative magazine but from Smiles and Songswhich neither Goodnight sweetheart It was a revolutionary anthem.”

But then they met thanks to an impresario from Cesena, Free Venturo, and they immediately became friends. “We went to Jesi to listen to a then unknown singer-songwriter, Angelo Branduardi. Then we stopped by the manager in Cesena, to stock up on some money, and decided to continue on our own journey. on the road, there was also a photographer friend, Luciano, known as Lucky. De Gregori wanted to go to Paris”, Baglioni tells Cazzullo. “I took them to the mountains, on the Marmolada. The car stopped, the others got out to push, we set off again. After a couple of kilometers I realized I had forgotten De Gregori in the snow. Princestanding, stiff as a puppet, he was quite annoyed. The next day the news of the death of PasoliniFrancesco immediately said: they killed him.”

Baglioni also remembers when they played in Pantheon square, in Rome. “We were thinking of a happening; no one recognized us. We tried with the best-known songs: a Japanese man threw us a coin. And here they are versions diverge. De Gregori claims that I was more hurt. I say the opposite”. But it wasn’t the only time Baglioni played incognito. “In the gallery in Naples” reveals the singer-songwriter, “I scraped together 12,500 lire; and I thought my father would scold me for doing so black money. In Grosseto, Elio and the Tense Stories they signed me up incognito for one of their karaoke competitions. I sang mine Along the wayand I was beaten by two little girls singing So much desire for her“. Baglioni also talks about a competition in VeniceThe Silver Gondola. “There was also Ron. On the jury, the sailors of a ship anchored in the port, who didn’t care much to hear Christmas night: “God, you are being born, and I am dying.” I arrived last; Ron, second to last. I contemplated letting myself fall into a canal. An elf who played at singing opera saved us: it was Lucio Dalla“.