Artist

FABIO CELI E GLI INFERMIERI

Fabio Celi (keyboards, vocals)
Ciro Ciscognetti (keyboards)
Luigi Coppa (guitar, mouth harp)
Rino Fiorentino (bass)
Roberto Ciscognetti (drums, percussion)

One of many bands active in the Naples area, originating from S.Giorgio a Cremano, Fabio Celi & gli Infermieri (a very 60's sounding name) released at the end of the sixties a commercial pop single, as Fabio Celi & i Pop, and a mysterious album for a small neapolitan private label connected with the Studio 7 recording studio. The album carries no release year but it's said to have been issued for the first time in 1969.

The band leader Fabio Celi (whose real name was Antonio Cavallaro) assembled a twin keyboards five-piece band much influenced by the organ driven british psych and pop sounds of the 60's, all mixed with funny and outrageous lyrics. Due to these lyrics it was allegedly banned by the italian TV company RAI, and couldn't receive any national promotion.
Their live acts were particularly impressive, with large use of dry ice smoke, and the singer, who was brought on stage in a coffin, was restrained in a straitjacket during the final song, L'artista sadico [The sadistic artist].

Follia contains six long tracks, with piano, organ (a modified Farfisa which sounds like a moog) and fuzz guitar to the fore and a reverbed voice recorded well above the musical background. The group has a very good sound but some rhythms are typical of late sixties italian pop.
Surely a nice listen even if the strange lyrics, which sound still relevant sometimes, and the dissonant voice can be slightly difficult to accept at first.

Celi also released a solo single in 1971 with the same line-up as the album except for guitarist Coppa being replaced by Silvio Feo.
In 1973 the group played at "Festival d'Avanguardia e Nuove Tendenze" held in Naples, and in 1975 their Uomo cosa fai appeared on TV in a popular program, Adesso Musica, as if the group was going to be back on the musical scenes. Around the same time as these events, the Follia LP was reissued, but the band was never able to come back from oblivion.

Drummer Roberto Ciscognetti has played since 1980 with Popularia, and still also plays with Renzo Arbore & his Orchestra Italiana, with a repertoire of old songs from the italian and neapolitan tradition. His brother Ciro Ciscognetti played with Napoli Centrale.

A rare and expensive album, Follia was originally issued in a very small quantity, with a gatefold laminated cover. 
The first issue should be from 1969, as claimed by Celi himself and by the record company which currently owns the Studio 7 in Naples. A later reissue appeared around 1973-75, with slight differences on the cover, and sold in a low number of copies. Some of these had a sticker on the cover with the writing "Disco censurato dalla RAI!" ("Record banned by RAI", the italian TV company).
The record only had a limited local distribution, but many brand new copies of the second pressing were frequently offered on sale since the 90's, still at very high prices.

Regarding the many mysteries that surround this record, it needs to be added that the LP issue commonly sold has some odd aspects:
- the cover carries the catalogue number A.G.1101, and the same code is stamped on the vinyl, but the cover seam and the label have a different catalogue number, L.G.1101.
- on the cover the record company logo is written "studio 7" in white type. The same logo was used on the labels of other records issued by this record company around 1972-73. The label of "Follia" has a "STUDIO SETTE" logo in red letters, different from the one on the cover, as if this was an old label design later replaced.
- the label has the SIAE writing but no stamp. The SIAE name was introduced on the italian record labels since around 1970.

The CD reissue also contains two bonus tracks, from their 1974 single. No counterfeits exist.

Follia - gatefold cover
LP label
stickered cover
T'ho vista piangere - 7" single cover	Via Gaetano Argento 80141 Napoli - 7" single cover

Information on keyboardist Ciro Ciscognetti can be found at www.edizionimusicali.com/cirociscognetti/index.htm 

Drummer Roberto Ciscognetti's group Popularia has a website at www.popularia.net 

Thanks to Luigi Papi for the precious help and detailed information