Sui Generis

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Sui Generis
folk pop
Years active1971–1975
2001–2002

Sui Generis is one of the most influential rock bands in Argentine history, enjoying enormous success and popularity during the first half of the 1970s and a following that lasts to the present throughout South America. Its youthful songs, classical at sing-along gatherings, became hymns for successive generations of Argentines and are part of the national cultural landscape.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Charly Garcia was author of most of the songs and arrangements, which went from the simple folk style guitar, piano and flute (incorporating small elements of classical music, taking advantage of Garcia's conservatory training) of their greatest hits in the first and second album,[7] to the more developed symphonic/prog rock of their last concept album. Sui Generis disbanded on September 5, 1975, in a mythical concert which was turned into a popular record and film,[8][9][10] and, despite concerts that took place in 1980 and 2001, a permanent re-formation has been ruled out.

Early years

Sui Generis was formed in 1969 from the merger of two bands: To Walk Spanish, originally led by Charly García and The Century Indignation, originally led by Nito Mestre. The newly formed band's members were Charly (piano), Nito (flute), Alberto Rodríguez (drums), Alejandro Correa (bass guitar) (later replaced by Rolando Fortich), Juan Carlos Bellia (guitar) and Carlos Piégari (guitar and vocals).

In its early life, Sui Generis experimented with

folk-rock
. Infamously, at Sui Generis' first big performance, none of the members but Charly and Nito appeared. Despite the poor showing, they went ahead with the show, García playing the piano, with Nito accompanying on the flute. Amazingly, the audience still loved them. García's simple songs of adolescence contained substantial poetic elements that showed through the limited instrumentation. After this they decided to continue as a duet with Charly composing songs and playing the piano, Nito playing the flute and both at vocals and guitar.

Soon after Sui Generis started to gain fame, García, then 20 years old, had to take a break from the band to fulfill his mandatory military service. Unhappy in the service, he pulled outrageous stunts, such as reportedly taking a corpse in a wheelchair for a walk in the sun because "he was too pale". Eventually, García swallowed a large dose of

amphetamines and faked a heart attack
, in an apparent attempt to cut short his military service. Garcia was hospitalized, and it was there that he composed two of the band's most famous songs: "Botas Locas" ("Crazy boots"), censored when first released, and "Canción para mi muerte" ("Song for my death"). Garcia was released from the military due to "mental health problems".

In 1972, Sui Generis released its first

LP, Vida (Life), which became instantly popular, especially among Argentine teenagers. Confesiones de Invierno
(Winter Confessions), their second LP, was released in 1973. This album had higher production values and better studio equipment and was also a huge commercial success.

Change of direction

1974 was a turning point for Sui Generis: Charly was sick of "the piano and the flute" sound and decided that Sui Generis needed a change. He pursued a more traditional rock sound, with bass and drums, for which purpose he recruited

Instituciones
, the public rejected the change. They preferred the old folk-rock sound, and the album sold poorly.

In these years, Charly met María Rosa Yorio, who later bore his only son, Miguel García. Miguel released a solo album in December 2005 as Migue García.

Há Sido

García kept composing songs through 1975 for an eventual new album which would be called Há sido (Has been). The name is a pun on ácido (acid), a reference to

acid trip.[citation needed
]

In 1975, Sui Generis' members began to have conflicts. "Nito" Mestre wasn't enthusiastic about the new style and project, the new members weren't accepted by the public, and Charly was tired of Sui Generis' old style, which the fans and producers wanted. The Há sido LP was never recorded, but some of the songs were included in the band's farewell live album, such as "Bubulina" and "Eiti Leda".

Breakup

Finally, on 5 September 1975, Sui Generis bid its final goodbye in the

Adiós Sui Generis
(Goodbye Sui Generis).

In 1976, Sui Generis recorded an LP with Argentine musicians

Porsuigieco
(a mix of the names Raúl Porchetto, Sui Generis, León Gieco).

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

  • Adiós Sui Generis
    (1975)
  • Adiós Sui Generis, parte II (1995)
  • Adiós Sui Generis, parte III (1995)
  • Si - Detrás de las paredes (2001)

Compilation albums

  • Antología (1992)

References

  1. ^ "Un clásico con buena salud". Diario de Cuyo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  2. ^ Mostrador, El (2000-12-09). "Sui Generis reunió generaciones tras 25 años de receso". El Mostrador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  3. ^ MalevaMag (2015-09-20). "ESTAS SON LAS TRES CANCIONES QUE NO PUEDEN FALTAR EN UN FOGÓN / POR LEO GARCÍA". MalevaMag (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  4. ^ "Charly García y la máquina de hacer música". www.cultura.gob.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  5. ^ "50 años de Vida un álbum que cambió la historia del rock nacional - Diario Hoy En la noticia". diariohoy.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  6. ^ "SUI GENERIS. Cuando el Rock Nacional se volvió Popular -". labocina.info (in Spanish). 2015-09-04. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  7. S2CID 202529522
    .
  8. ^ CORBALAN, Miguel (2020-09-05). "A 45 años del concierto "Adiós Sui Generis"". Tango Diario (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  9. ^ de 2020, Por Gastón Calvo24 de Septiembre. "Cómo será la celebración de los 45 años del Adiós Sui Generis". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2022-09-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Hubo un tiempo que fue hermoso". Nota Al Pie (in Spanish). 2021-09-05. Retrieved 2022-09-23.

External links