Artist
TITO SCHIPA JR.
The son of the popular tenor Tito Schipa, the young Tito Jr. started his career in 1967 with a show based on Bob Dylan's songs, arranged like a sort of rock opera. Fascinated by this formula he repeated it many times in his later works.
His recording debut came in 1972 for Fonit Cetra, with the single Sono passati i giorni, but his first proper work was the ambitious opera Orfeo 9, that he had concentrated on since 1969, and that was first represented in theatre in Rome in 1970. A TV film also came in 1973, and the double album was one of the first examples of pop operas in Italy. Influenced by classical music, Schipa released a beautiful work that can be hardly described as a proper rock album, but surely falls into the progressive music field.
Orfeo 9 included among the others, the first record appearance by two italian artists soon to become very popular, Renato Zero and Loredana Bertč, but many important musicians are listed in the cast, including Brainticket's leader Joel Vandroogenbroeck and drummer Tullio De Piscopo. The rock opera style can be boring to some listeners, with multivocal parts and orchestral arrangements, but the album is an interesting early example of this kind.
Second album came in 1974, this time much in a singer-songwriter style, and Io
ed io solo was much less successful than its predecessor.
The pop opera format was again used in 1978, for a reworking of Donizetti's Don
Pasquale, re-titled Er Dompasquale, released as a 3-LP box set. The show
was represented all over the world until the end of the 80's.
Another interesting album by Tito Schipa Jr. has been released in 1982. Dylaniato is a collection of eight Bob Dylan songs translated in italian by Schipa himself, and it features the help of former Apoteosi member Massimo Idą, among the others.
| LP | |||
| Orfeo 9 | Cetra (LPX 16/17) | 1973 | laminated gatefold cover with 24 page lyric booklet - black labels |
| Cetra (LPX 16/17) | 1975 | as above - orange labels | |
| Fonit Cetra/Double Music (DPU 91) | 1978 | reissue with different gatefold cover - lyric insert | |
| Fonit Cetra (LPD 1002) | 1979 | reissue with different gatefold cover - lyric insert | |
| Fonit Cetra (LPP 427) | 1991 | reissue with original gatefold cover - no booklet | |
| Io ed io solo | Cetra (LPX 31) | 1974 | laminated cover |
| Fonit Cetra/Fonit 3000 (SFC 218) | 1979 | Fonit 3000 series - reissue of the above | |
| Er Dompasquale | RCA (ZNLN 31445-3) | 1978 | 3LP box set with lyric booklet |
| Concerto per un primo amore | Gattacicova (LP 33604) | 1982 | |
| Dylaniato | It (ZL 71804) | 1988 | |
CD |
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| Orfeo 9 | Fonit (CDLP 427) | 1991 | 2CD reissue of 1972 album - now deleted |
| Fonit/Warner (3984 28326-2) | 1999 | as above | |
| Dylaniato | MP (MPRCD 005) | 1997 | reissue of the 1987 album |
SINGLES (with picture sleeve) |
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| Sono passati i giorni Combat |
Fonit (SPF 31290) | 1972 | both unreleased tracks |
| Eccotela qui Per la strada |
Cetra (SP 1514) | 1973 | both tracks from Orfeo 9 |
| Io ed io solo Non siate soli |
Cetra (SP 1565) | 1974 | both tracks from Io ed io solo |
PROMOTIONAL AND JUKEBOX SINGLES (with blank cover) |
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Per la strada Da te per te |
Cetra (JB 722) | 1973 | white label promo single - both tracks from Orfeo 9 |
| Venditore di felicitą Scusi ha visto una ragazza |
Cetra (JB ???) | 1979 | white label promo single - both tracks from Orfeo 9 |
Only Orfeo 9 is moderately rare in its original issue with the elusive lyric and pictures booklet, reissues are more common. Many sources mention the album as released in 1972, but the vinyls and labels carry the date 1973.
No counterfeit exists, nor foreign vinyl issues. Io ed io solo has been reissued on CD in Japan (Warner/Arcangelo ARC-7144/WQCP-374).
Among the singles it has to be mentioned Venditore di felicitą, one of the most sought after tracks of the album as it was sung by a young Renato Zero, a very popular artist in Italy since the mid 70's. The single only came out as a promo, according to Tito's own website this was only released in 1979.
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Orfeo 9 - LP |
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Orfeo 9 - LP (1978 reissue) |
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Orfeo 9 - LP (1979 reissue) |
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Io ed io solo - LP |
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Sono passati i giorni - 7" single cover |
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Io ed io solo - 7" single cover |
Tito Schipa Jr. career is detailed in part of a website
dedicated to his father and family, this can be visited at http://www.titoschipa.it
A whole site devoted to Orfeo 9 can be visited at www.orfeo9.com
