Artist
RACCOMANDATA CON RICEVUTA DI RITORNO
(RACCOMANDATA RICEVUTA RITORNO)
Luciano Regoli (vocals, acoustic guitar)
Nanni Civitenga (guitar)
Stefano Piermarioli (keyboards)
Damaso Grassi (flute, sax)
Manlio Zacchia (bass)
Francesco Froggio Francica (drums, percussion)
RRR (as they were often referred to at the time due to their long difficult name) were from Rome, all coming from various minor groups, only Luciano Regoli had a significant experience with Il Ritratto di Dorian Gray.
The only album by the original line-up, Per... un mondo di cristallo,was housed in a curious gatefold cover containing a nice drawing from the Up&Down Studio (as in Procession's Fiaba), and mixed a typical Italian prog sound with acoustic guitar, flute and keyboards in evidence, with jazz influences, and the result is sometimes disjointed, with great tracks such as Un palco di marionette mixed with less convincing jazzy tunes like Il mondo cade su di me.
The band played in the main Italian pop festivals in
1972-73 before splitting due to the pressure from their record company that
wanted them to participate in the Sanremo Festival. Roberto Gardin (from
Il Ritratto di Dorian Gray) had
replaced Manlio Zacchia on bass at this time.
Singer Regoli and guitarist Civitenga formed Samadhi,
while drummer Froggio Francica played with Procession on their 1974 second album
Frontiera, and for a short time with Kaleidon.
Luciano Regoli has pursued his interest in art becoming
a popular painter.
In 2010 a new album has revived the Raccomandata name. Formed by Luciano Regoli with Nanni Civitenga, Roberto Gardin and Walter Martino, the reunited line-up is helped on Il pittore volante by some big names of the Italian prog such as Claudio Simonetti (Goblin), Lino Vairetti (Osanna), Nicola Di Staso (Libra).
The reborn group also released a live album recorded at the Elba island in 2013 and issued in 2015 with the name Live in Elba, and a new studio mini-LP in 2019, In rock.
| LP | |||
| Per... un mondo di cristallo | Cetra (LPX 15) | 1972 | gatefold laminated cover |
| Fonit/VinylMagic (LPP 433) | 1991 | gatefold cover | |
| BTF/Vinyl Magic (VMLP 117) | 2006 | gatefold cover, black vinyl - later issued with blue (2011) and clear (2022) vinyl | |
| Cetra/De Agostini (VMLP 117) | 2018 | gatefold cover with 8-page insert - no.32 in the De Agostini "Prog Rock Italiano" series | |
| Il pittore volante | AMS/BTF (AMS 25LP) | 2010 | credited to "La Nuova Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno" - limited 300 copies issue- black vinyl - also in 33 copies limited pressing on multicoloured vinyl signed by Luciano Regoli (cat.AMS 25-2 LP) and as a box set in 66 numbered copies with LP, CD, a DVD, a book and a painting by Luciano Regoli |
| Live in Elba | AMS/BTF (AMSLP 89) | 2015 | credited to "La Nuova Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno" - gatefold cover - black vinyl - also in limited edition on orange vinyl |
| In rock | AMS/BTF (AMS LP 148) | 2019 | gatefold cover, orange vinyl and poster - issued for the Record Store Day 2019 |
CD |
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| Per... un mondo di cristallo | Fonit Cetra (CDM 2026) | 1989 | reissue of 1972 album |
| Warner/Fonit (28186-2) | 1999 | as above | |
| BTF/Vinyl Magic (VMCD 117) | 2006 | as above with mini LP gatefold cover | |
| BTF/Vinyl Magic (VMCD 117) | 2023 | as above with jewelcase | |
| Il pittore volante | AMS/BTF (AMS 170CD) | 2010 | credited to "La Nuova Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno" - mini-LP gatefold cover - the first 666 copies contain a numbered lithography by Luciano Regoli |
| Live in Elba | AMS/BTF (AMS 242CD) | 2015 | credited to "La Nuova Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno" - gatefold mini-LP cover |
VARIOUS ARTISTS COMPILATION ALBUMS |
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| Italian Prog bonus CD (with Io e lui pt.I & II) | AMS/BTF (AMS CD 100) | 2008 | two unreleased tracks - bonus CD sold with the ItalianProg book |
| Prog Exhibition - 40 anni di musica immaginifica (with Il cambiamento, Le anime, Suspiria / Profondo rosso, L'uomo nuovo, Thijs intro, House of the king, Un palco di marionette) | Immaginifica/Edel (ARS IMM 1004) | 2011 | 7 CD + 4 DVD box set also featuring Sinestesia, The Trip, La Maschera di Cera, Tagliapietra-Pagliuca-Marton, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Periferia del Mondo, Osanna, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso |
PROMOTIONAL AND JUKEBOX SINGLES (with blank cover) |
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| L'ombra Immagini, sogno e realtą (da Sogni di cristallo) |
Cetra (SP 1493) | 1972 | both tracks from Per... un mondo di cristallo - probably only issued as promo with blank cover |
| L'ombra |
Fonit (EPD 172) | 1972 | promotional EP - also includes New Trolls/Black hand, Delirium/Treno, Delirium/È l'ora |
Not particularly difficult to find, Per... un mondo di cristallo was originally released with a gatefold laminated cover as most of Fonit Cetra current releases (this particular one had the Cetra logo on label). The Fonit/Vinyl Magic reissue has a standard gatefold cover reproducing the original but with different number and blue label.
Two different cover issues exist, one with the "per..." writing on front cover in black type, the other having it in blue. Original or what? Apart from this doubt, no counterfeits exist.
The only foreign issue reported on vinyl comes from Japan, on Nexus (K25P-426), dated 1984. Japanese CD issues came out on Crime in 1991 (KICP 2156), on Strange Days in 2004 (WAS-1004) and again in 2009 (SNS-5009) and on Warner in 2016 (WPCR-17342).
The rare single L'ombra was probably only issued as a promo with blank cover, and it contains an odd B-side, entitled Immagini, sogno e realtą. This is in fact an excerpt from the long Sogni di cristallo, taken from the LP.
Il pittore volante, the record comeback for the new Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno, was issued in 2010 on CD and LP. The latter was issued in 300 copies on black vinyl and in a limited pressing of 33 copies on multicolour vinyl, signed by Luciano Regoli.
The same album was also issued as a box set in 66 numbered copies, containing the CD and LP versions along with a DVD, a book, an autographed picture and a painting by Luciano Regoli. This issue was only available through the BTF website and immediately sold out.
The 2019 album, In rock, a 28-minute mini-LP, came out in limited pressing for the Record Store Day; it is on orange vinyl and has a gatefold cover and a poster.
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Per un mondo di cristallo - LP |
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Per un mondo di cristallo - inner gatefold |
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| Il pittore volante - box set |
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| Il pittore volante - standard LP |
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| Live in Elba- LP |
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| In rock- LP |
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| Immagini, sogno e realtą - promo 7" single |
Click on pictures to enlarge
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| Luciano Regoli | Nanni Civitenga |
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| Walter Martino | Claudio Simonetti |
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| Thijs van Leer | Raccomandata with Thijs van Leer |
| Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno at
ProgExhibition 2010 Teatro Tendastrisce, Roma, 6-Nov-2010 |
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| Le Radici del Rock - Viterbo 21-Jul-2012 | |
Thanks to Francesco Ricci for information and pictures
