Artist
CHERRY FIVE
Tony Tartarini (vocals)
Claudio Simonetti (keyboards)
Massimo Morante (guitar)
Fabio Pignatelli (bass)
Carlo Bordini (drums)
Though the LP cover notes only list two musicians' names, singer Tony Tartarini (previously known as Toni Gionta and former singer with L'Uovo di Colombo) and drummer Carlo Bordini (that also played in a duo Rustichelli & Bordini), the group also included three members of Goblin, keyboard wizard Claudio Simonetti, guitarist Morante and bass player Pignatelli, with the first two of them being credited as composers for all the album tracks.
In fact the group, named Oliver, had been created by
Simonetti and Morante, that also went to England in late 1973 to audition a
singer, and englishman Clive "Artman" Haynes (or Clive Heinz, as he was then known) was briefly in the band, recording some
tracks with them. He was sacked then, and didn't appear on the album.
With new singer Tartarini the group recorded what was to become their first and
only album in 1974, after a name change to Goblin,
but it was soon shelved when Carlo Bordini refused to sign a contract with
Cinevox as it could damage his career as session musician. The others went on
with a new drummer, leaving out Bordini and Tartarini and recorded Profondo
rosso.
The unreleased album was shelved for a couple of years,
and only released in early 1976 with the name of Cherry Five (a name that
really didn't belong to any real group), and only Tartarini and Bordini were
credited on the cover, maybe someone thought that it could damage the Goblin's
career!
Even if it's not particularly representative
of the italian prog sound, the LP is a genuine rarity due to the great world
success Goblin achieved with some of their soundtrack works, and is in many
collectors' want lists.
A keyboard based album, sung in english, Cherry Five has strong influences by the likes of Genesis and Yes, especially in the fluid keyboard parts and powerful bass sound. It contains six long tracks with the opening Country graveyard and The picture of Dorian Gray. This last title, translated in italian as Il Ritratto di Dorian Gray was in fact the name of Claudio Simonetti's first band.
(the trolley icon 
lets you order the CD from BTF website)
| LP | |||
| Cherry Five | Cinevox (SC 33/27) | 1976 | gatefold cover |
CD |
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| Cherry Five | Vinyl Magic (VM 035) | 1993 | reissue of 1974 album - now deleted |
| Cinevox (MDF 349) |
2002 | as above | |
A genuine rarity, due to the Goblin
connection and the
small number of copies pressed, Cherry Five album has never been reissued on
vinyl.
It was pressed in 1975, as demonstrated by the date on the label,
but released in January 1976. By the way the recording dates on the cover are
false, it had been recorded in 1974, not 1975.
The first CD reissue by Vinyl Magic, that was out-of-print for many years, has been recently replaced by a new one by Cinevox.
The album also had a japanese vinyl and CD issue (Nexus/King K25P 614).
A new vinyl reissue has been released in 2006 by the german Amber Soundroom
label (cat.no. AS 052) with the same gatefold cover as the original.
The latest japanese CD reissue is by Arcangelo (ARC 7224), issued in 2007 with
mini-LP gatefold cover.
No counterfeits exist of this album.
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Cherry Five - LP |
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Cherry Five - LP label |
Click on the picture to enlarge
Thanks to Clive "Artman" Haynes for information on his experience with Cherry Five and the picture above.
