Francesco Di Giacomo (1,546 views)

[ProgBoi]

Francesco Di Giacomo (22 August 1947 – 21 February 2014)
Member Of: Banco del Mutuo Soccorso (1971-2014)
Vocal Range: B♭2 – C5

Francesco Di Giacomo was the lead singer of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, one of the most popular Progressive Rock groups to come out of Italy. Giacomo is known for his powerful, opera-inspired vocals and theatrical performances with Banco, which became a trademark of the group’s sound. 
As previously mentioned, Giacomo’s style is greatly influenced by classical vocal styles, such as opera (I affectionately call him “Pavoratti Jr.”), but he is also influenced by Italian Pop as well as American Blues and R&B artists. His upper register is strongest, being able to comfortably and powerfully belt around the upper 4th octave, but I have found that he used some softer falsetto and can easily hit a C5 (although I have not yet heard any more 5th octave notes, yet). His lower range is a bit shakier: he struggles with lower passages on their first album, but seems more comfortable in the lower 3rd and upper 2nd octaves on subsequent albums. However, he prefers to stay in the classical tenor range and favors higher passages in Banco’s music. 
So far, I have listened to the first three Banco records and Giacomo’s cover of “Hey Joe” with Sam Moore, but most of Banco’s music isn’t on streaming services, so I’ve got a few albums on Apple Music to check then I’m gonna have to dig through YouTube to find more of their stuff.

Significant High Notes:
C5 (“Cento Mani e Cento Ochi”)
B4 (“Hey Joe”, “Il Giardino del Mago”, “La Città Sottile”, “Metamorfosi”, “R.I.P. (Requiescant In Pace)”, “750,000 Anni Fa… L’amore?”)
B♭4 (“L’Abero del Pane”, “Dopo… Niente È Più Lo Stesso”)
A4 (“L’Abero del Pane”, “La Città Sottile”, “Canto Nomade Per Un Prigioniero Politico”, “Hey Joe”, “Il Giardino del Mago”, “La Conquista Della Posizione Eretta”, “Metamorfosi”, “R.I.P. (Requiescant In Pace)”, “750,000 Anni Fa… L’amore?”)
G♯4 (“Il Giardino del Mago”, “La Conquista Della Posizione Eretta”)
G4 (“L’Abero del Pane”, “Metamorfosi”)
F♯4 (“Dopo… Niente È Più Lo Stesso”, “L’evoluzione”, “R.I.P. (Requiescant In Pace)”, “750,000 Anni Fa… L’amore?”)

Significant Low Notes:
E3 (“Cento Mani e Cento Ochi”, “Dopo… Niente È Più Lo Stesso”, “La Conquista Della Posizione Eretta”)
D3 (“Il Giardino del Mago”, “La Città Sottile”, “Non Mi Rompete”)
C3 (“Cento Mani e Cento Ochi”, “La Conquista Della Posizione Eretta”)
B♭2 (“Cento Mani e Cento Ochi”)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}
E5 (”Hey Joe’[1])

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1. Yelps, shrieks, and trills in high range
2. Aimless whistle notes
3. Poor-quality low notes (weak vocal fry, short dips, spoken passages)
4. Possible pitch-shifting
5. Identity (possibly sung by someone else)

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• Blue denotes falsetto and whistle notes.
• Green denotes harshly distorted notes.
• Grey denotes growl and fry notes.
• Boldface denotes outstanding passages.
• Italics denote non-melodic and spoken notes.
• Underlines denote obscured and background notes.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Album Ranges}
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso (1972): D3-B4
Darwin! (1972): B♭2-C5
Io Sono Nato Libero (1973): D3-B♭4-B4

SPOILER: Click to show

{Notewatched Material}
ProgBoi
Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso (1972)
Darwin! (1972)
Io Sono Nato Libero (1973)

[ProgBoi]

Been listening to Banco a lot over the past couple years, so I’ve found most of this stuff from just repeated listens. Gonna start properly digging into their later stuff (which is when most fans typically tap out), but I did some listening to Francesco’s solo album, Non Mettere le Dita nel Naso, and their compilation Banco d’Accusa, where I found this cover of “Hey Joe”:

It’s not great, but plenty of upper 4th octave notes by Giacomo. The dodgy E5 is 3:19 when he does the little yelp at the end of a little run he does, hence why it’s in the questionable note section.