The Trip self-titled debut album, from 1970.
“The Trip”, released in mid-1970 by RCA Italiana, is the debut album by The Trip and one of the first examples of Italian progressive rock.
The band was born in 1966 in London, when Italian singer Riki Maiocchi formed a group with British musicians, including a young Ritchie Blackmore, who would later play with Deep Purple and Rainbow.
Once they arrived in Italy, however, the lineup changed radically: both Blackmore and Maiocchi left the project.
The Trip were discovered by producer Alberigo Crocetta at Rome’s Piper Club and recorded their first album by blending English rock-blues with the new psychedelic, symphonic and avant-garde sounds.
In 1970, they released their self-titled debut album, a mix of rock blues and psychedelia with symphonic shades. That same year, they also appeared in the film “Terzo canale - Avventura a Montecarlo”.
The band that recorded the 1970 album consisted of four members: Joe Vescovi on Hammond organ and vocals, Arvid “Wegg” Andersen on bass and vocals, Billy Gray on electric guitar and vocals, and Pino Sinnone on drums and percussion. Vescovi, in particular, was considered the group’s creative and stylistic mind.
The following year, in 1971, “Caronte” came out, their masterpiece I talked about recently. It is a concept album centered on the mythological figure of Charon, blending hard rock with classical influences.
After “Caronte”, the band radically changed musical direction, embracing symphonic prog. Billy Gray and Pino Sinnone left the group, while the young and talented drummer Furio Chirico joined, who would later found Arti e Mestieri. Now a trio (Vescovi, Andersen, Chirico) released “Atlantide” in 1972, another concept album, this time dedicated to the legendary lost island.
In 1973, with the arrival of Nunzio “Cucciolo” Favia on drums, they recorded “Time of Change”, an album strongly influenced by jazz-rock and the style of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
Unfortunately, the group broke up at the end of 1973 due to the crisis in the prog record market and the drop in public interest. Joe Vescovi would briefly join Acqua Fragile and later Dik Dik.
After many years of silence, Joe Vescovi and Furio Chirico re-formed the band in 2010 for some historic concerts and prog festivals. Despite Andersen’s passing in 2012 and Vescovi’s in 2014, Furio Chirico continued to carry the band’s name forward, releasing in 2023 the album “Equilibrio da equilibrare” under the name Furio Chirico’s The Trip.
Their first album is not yet pure progressive rock (which would explode the following year with the masterpiece Caronte), but it is already marked by long instrumental suites, the result of the tight dialogue between Gray’s guitar and Vescovi’s classical keyboards. Another distinctive element is the alternation between lyrics in English and in Italian.
The album consists of five imposing and experimental tracks:
Prologue: a long instrumental introduction that defines the group’s avant-garde sound.
Nightmares: a track with dark atmospheres, also released as the B-side of their first single.
Visions of the Afterlife: a track rich in jazz and symphonic pop influences.
Reflections: a piece where the band’s blues vein emerges.
A Colored Stone: the most accessible song, released as a single on 45 rpm.
The album cover, created by the Up and Down studio, is a splendid psychedelic sleeve, which became iconic in Italian pop of the time.
That same year, the four musicians took part as actors and soundtrack authors in the musical film and surreal comedy “Terzo canale - Avventura a Montecarlo”. The film documents their participation in the 1970 Caracalla Pop Festival, where they performed with great success in front of over 30,000 people, consecrating them on the national scene.
The album is excellent and fascinating, one of the first pillars of Italian progressive rock.
Among the most important aspects stand out innovation, the keyboard-guitar dialogue, lysergic atmospheres, and a still wonderfully raw soul.
The album brings an Anglo-Saxon hardness into the Italian music scene, then dominated by beat and melodic song. The dialogue between Billy Gray’s acid guitar and Joe Vescovi’s Hammond organ, influenced by classical music, is extraordinary.
Tracks like “Prologue” and “Nightmares” show great maturity in creating dark psychedelic atmospheres and sonic expansions. However, the album is also a work in which the progressive intentions are not yet fully developed; these will be seen better in “Caronte”.
A fundamental album to understand the evolution of Italian psychedelia toward progressive rock.
My Version
Label: Sony Music – 19658704861, RCA Italiana – 19658704861
Series: Italian Prog Rewind
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Stereo, Red [Transparent], 180 Gr.
Country: Italy
Released: 30 Sep 2022
Tracklist
A1 Prologue 8:09
A2 Nightmares 8:23
B1 Visions of the Afterlife 8:50
B2 Reflections 5:46
B3 A Colored Stone 2:26
Lineup
Bass, Vocals – Arvid "Wegg" Andersen
Guitar, Vocals – Billy Gray
Organ, Vocals – Joe Vescovi
Percussion – Pino Sinnone
