Everything about Sui Generis totally explained
Sui Generis is one of the most important
rock and roll (or
folk rock) bands in
Argentine history, enjoying enormous success and popularity during the first half of the 1970s and a following that has lasted to the present. Although long since disbanded, Sui Generis reunited in
2000 for a concert in
Boca Juniors’ stadium in
Buenos Aires.
Hello Sui Generis
Sui Generis was formed in 1969 by the merging of two bands: "To Walk Spanish", originally led by
Carlos Alberto "Charly" García Moreno and "The Century Indignation", originally led by
Carlos Alberto "Nito" Mestre. The newly-formed band's member list consisted of, Charly (piano), Nito (flute) Alberto Rodríguez (drums), Alejandro Correa (bass) (later replaced by Rolando Fortich), Juan Carlos Bellia (guitar) and Carlos Piégari (guitar and vocals).
In its early life, Sui Generis experimented with
psychedelic music but would eventually refine and change its sound and is generally now classified as
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, Garcia 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.
Soon after Sui Generis started to gain fame, García, then 20 years old, had to take a hiatus from the band to fulfill a stint in Argentina's 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 ingested a large dosage of
amphetamines and faked a
heart attack, in an apparent attempt to cut his military service short. Garcia wound up in the hospital, and it was there that he composed two of the band more 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 showcased higher production values and better studio equipment, and was also a huge commercial success.
Innocence Lost
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
Rinaldo Rafanelli and
Juan Rodríguez respectively. The new album was originally titled
Instituciones (
Institutions), but Sui Generis' producer suggested they change the name to
Pequeñas anécdotas sobre las instituciones (
Little anecdotes about the Institutions), reflecting the unstable nature of Argentine social and political institutions at the time.
Charly's initial concept was to write a song for every influential traditional institution: the
Catholic Church, the
government, the
family, the
judicial system, the
police, the
Army, and so on. However, two songs, "
Juan Represión" ("John Repression") about the police, and "
Botas locas" ("Crazy Boots") about the army, were eliminated from the album by the music label, afraid of the growing political violence of the time. Two more had to be partly changed, "
Las increíbles aventuras del Señor Tijeras" ("The incredible adventures of Mr. Scissors") and "
¿Para quién canto yo entonces?" ("Who am I singing for, then?"), both about censorship itself. While
Charly achieved a different, more mature sound with
Instituciones, the public rejected the change. They preferred the old sound, and the album sold poorly.
In these years,
Charly met
María Rosa Yorio, who later bore his son, Miguel García. Miguel released a solo album in December, 2005 as
Migue García.
Has been: the LP that wasn’t
García kept composing songs, and during 1975, he prepared for Sui Generis'
Ha sido (
Has been) album. The name is a pun on
ácido (acid), a reference to
LSD. Later,
Charly would say that the LP definitely referenced
LSD, because the songs spoke about going to the sea and looking at the colorful fishes – that is, an
acid trip.
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
Ha 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".
Goodbye, Sui Generis
Finally, on
September 9,
1975, Sui Generis said goodbye, in the
Luna Park Stadium, with two shows for 20 thousand people, the biggest in the history of Argentine rock at the time. Many years later, Charly said that before the show he was going around the stadium, intimidated by the huge crowd. He claimed to have smoked 24
joints to calm his nerves. "In the 70's,
weed was like a religious thing", he later commented. A double LP was released that year, recording the live shows
Adiós Sui Generis, volumes I, II and III (
Goodbye Sui Generis).
In
1976, Sui Generis also recorded an LP with Argentine musicians León Gieco and Raúl Porchetto (whose music resembled Gieco's in a softer pop version) as well as María Rosa Yorio. The LP was called "
Porsuigieco" (Mix of Raúl
Porchetto,
Sui Generis, León
Gieco)
Discography
- Vida (1972)
- Confesiones de invierno (1973)
- Pequeñas anécdotas sobre las instituciones (1974)
- Adiós Sui Generis (1975)
- Adiós Sui Generis, Parte III (1995)
- Antología de Sui Generis (1992)
- Sinfonías para Adolescentes (2000)
- Sí (2001)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sui Generis'.
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