Artist

GLEEMEN / GARYBALDI / BAMBIBANDA E MELODIE

GLEEMEN/GARYBALDI
1969-72
Bambi Fossati (guitar, vocals)
Lio Marchi (keyboards)
Angelo Traverso (bass)
Maurizio Cassinelli (drums)

1973
Marchi and Traverso quit, replaced by:
Sandro Serra (bass)

BAMBIBANDA E MELODIE
Bambi Fossati (guitar, vocals)
Roberto Ricci (bass)
Maurizio Cassinelli (drums)
Ramasandiran Somusundaram (percussion)

A band from Genova, Gleemen were formed around 1965 by Pier Nicolò "Bambi" Fossati, guitarist extraordinaire and Hendrix lover, and also included long time members Cassinelli and Traverso along with guitarist Marco Zoccheddu (later with Nuova Idea).

Their only album, issued in 1970, is a good rock album, with strong 60's influences and some typical elements of later Garybaldi work: the wild, Hendrix-inspired guitar playing of Bambi, the organ background and a solid rhythm section. 
Some bluesy tracks are present, like the longest track on the LP Chi sei tu uomo, and the album has a very good average level, though by no means a progressive work.

The same line-up changed name to Garybaldi in 1971, the only difference being a slighly more progressive oriented sound, keeping the same style as previous band, and the wild Hendrix-inspired guitar playing of Bambi Fossati above all.

They had a very interesting debut with the single Marta Helmuth in 1971, the back cover of it stating "from now on we're not Gleemen, we're Garybaldi" to declare their change of style.
Nuda, a year later, is a much more mature album than Gleemen, with the long beautiful suite Moretto da Brescia taking the whole of side two and the four tracks on side one also on a very good level. A very important album, housed in one of the best covers of the era, designed by cartoonist Guido Crepax.

The band had an intense live playing,  supporting the likes of Uriah Heep, Van der Graaf and even Santana in their italian tours, and theirs was a constant presence at the most important italian pop festivals in the early 70's.

Second album, Astrolabio, released on Fonit label, is a lesser work than Nuda, with just two side-long tracks, Sette? (recorded live) and Madre di cose perdute, both tracks also issued on a single in shortened form. The tracks contain long improvised parts that confirms the high level of Fossati's playing but seem less inspired and can't be compared with the first album. Keyboard player Lio Marchi is also present on the album though not a member of the band, that kept playing as a trio until the end of 1973.

In 1974 a new incarnation of Garybaldi was formed by Bambi Fossati along with old cohort Maurizio Cassinelli, bassist Roberto Ricci and indian percussionist Ramasandiran Somusundaram as Bambibanda & Melodie. Their only album has the usual leading role for Bambi's guitar, but the use of percussion gives a more latin-inspired feel that sometimes reminds Santana.

Percussionist Ramasandiran Somusundaram, previously active as session musician, also released an album and no less than three singles (in a more commercial vein) between 1974 and 1976 on the Magma label.

Bambi Fossati kept playing under the name of Bambibanda for some years before reforming the old group in late 80's with a new line up including Marco Mazza (guitar) and Carlo Milan (bass) along with Maurizio Cassinelli, and they released an album, more song-oriented, in 1990, as Bambi Fossati & Garybaldi.

A new album has been released in 2000, called La ragione e il torto.

(the trolley icon lets you order the CD from BTF website)

GARYBALDI LP
Nuda	CGD (FGL 5513)	1972	triple gatefold laminated cover
	BTF/Vinyl Magic (VM 114LP)	2007	new reissue with glossy triple gatefold cover and white vinyl
Astrolabio	Fonit (LPQ 09075)	1973	gatefold laminated cover
	Fonit / Vinyl Magic (LPP 415)	1991	available as gatefold as above or single cover with inner
	BTF/Vinyl Magic (VM 116LP)	2007	new reissue with gatefold cover and red vinyl
Bambi Fossati & Garybaldi	Artis (ARLP 009)	1990	single cover
CD
Bambi Fossati & Garybaldi	Artis (ARCD 014)	1990	now deleted
Astrolabio	Fonit Cetra (CDM 2036)	1991	reissue of 1973 album - now deleted
	Warner/Fonit (28187-2)	90's	as above - now deleted
	BTF/Vinyl Magic (VMCD 116)	2006	as above with mini LP gatefold cover
Nuda	CGD (75262-2)	1992	reissue of 1972 album - now deleted
	BTF/Vinyl Magic (VMCD 114)	2006	as above with mini triple gatefold cover
Bambi comes alive	Mellow (MMP 174))	1993	1993 live recording
Blokko 45	Musicando (MUS 020)	1996
La ragione e il torto	Private pressing	2000
VARIOUS ARTISTS COMPILATION ALBUMS
Festival di successi n.2 (with Marta Helmuth)	CGD (FG 5095)	1971	label sampler, also includes tracks by Marcella, I Camaleonti, Le Particelle and others
SINGLES (with picture sleeve)
Marta Helmuth Corri, corri, corri	CGD (CGD 130)	1971	both unreleased tracks
Sette? Madre di cose perdute	Fonit (SPS 0430)	1973	excerpts from the second album

Gleemen has never been reissued on vinyl, hence its rarity, and only had a CD reissue by Mellow. 
It originally came with a gatefold laminated black cover with the record inserted from the inside centre of the sleeve. The record still had the 60's black/silver CGD label design.
In the Gleemen production the rarest item is surely the 1967 promo single issued for the Royal Hotel Paolino in Cavareno. This was apparently released in 100 copies only and distributed to the hotel guests, and had a red cutout cover with the Polydor logo and the hotel name.

Also on CGD, Nuda was released in a stunning triple gatefold laminated sleeve, one of the best covers of the italian prog of the 70's, designed by Guido Crepax (father of the erotic cartoon character Valentina), and was first reissued only in 2007 by BTF. It's a highly regarded album, though not among the most expensive ones.

Astrolabio was originally released on the Fonit LPQ series in a very dark looking gatefold laminated cover, and it's rarer than Nuda. It's been re-released in the Fonit / Vinyl Magic series in 1991 both in gatefold and single cover (in this case with an inner sleeve reproducing the inside part of the original gatefold), and again in 2007.

Bambibanda e Melodie is also rare and again part of the Fonit LPQ series; it has been reissued in 1991 along with many other Fonit/Cetra rarities with the same single sleeve (but non-laminated in this case) as the original.

No counterfeits or other vinyl issues exist.
Japanese CD's exist, on Strange Days (1008 and 1009), with mini-LP cover, of both Nuda and Astrolabio.

Gleemen - gatefold cover
Lady Madonna - 7" single cover	Shilaila - 7" single cover
Nuda - triple gatefold cover
Nuda - inner gatefold
Astrolabio - gatefold cover
Astrolabio - inner gatefold
Marta Helmuth - 7" single LP	Marta Helmuth - 7" single back cover
La ragione e il torto - CD cover
Bambibanda e melodie - LP

Thanks to Laura Albergante for information on one of the promo singles