Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco

Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco better known with the name León Gieco was born on the 20 th November 1951 on a farm beside the Canada Rosquin i...

Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco better known with the name León Gieco was born on the 20^thNovember 1951 on a farm beside the Canada Rosquin in the northern Santa Fe region of Argentina. He is a rock performer, a composer and an interpreter. He is popular for the mixing of the popular folkloric genre with the rock and roll music of the country as well as the lyrics with the social and political connotations and that gave the name, ‘the argentine Bob Dylan’.

source of picture: whatsuprevistaeventos.blogspot.com

Biography

Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco was born on the 20^th November 1951 in Santa Fe region of Argentina. At the age of 6, León Gieco moved to with his family from the field to the village center because of the economic problems of the country.

At the age of 8, León Gieco purchased his first guitar on credit and soon he started playing music at the local events with his father’s band. All through his childhood, León Gieco played with the local band like folkloric ensemble known as Los Nocherosand Los Moscos, a rock band that became famous within the country. In the year 1965, León Gieco travelled to Bolivia as an exchange scholar and he studied music and played the guitar at the local festivals of the country.

At the age of 18, he went to Buenos Aires and became a full-time musician. It was there that he received lessons on the guitar from Gustavo Santaolalla, who got him introduced to crucial people in the musical community of Buenos Aires like; RaúlPorchetto, CharlyGarcía, NitoMestre, and María Rosa Yorio, members of the Argentine supergroup, Porsuigieco. He was handed the opportunity to play at the Buenos Aires Rock Festival in the year 1971, 1972 and 1973. In the year 1973, he recorded his debut album called León Gieco. A hit from the album called "En el País de la Libertad" showed his concern for change in the country, his desire for social justice in the country.

In the year 1976, León Gieco dropped another album called El Fantasma de Canterville. The record suffered a great deal of censorship from the military regime of the country and they forced him to alter the lyrics of 6 tracks and remove 3 others entirely. Meanwhile, the record never flopped. León Gieco had concert in and outside the country. Two years after dropping the album, he dropped IV LP with one of his most famous tracks called "Sólo le pido a Dios". Because of the political situation of the country, he left the country to Los Angeles, California in the year 1978 for a year.

On the 20^th December 1979, the Minister of Education in the country announced the closing of the National University of Lujan in Buenos Aires. León Gieco took part in the protest against the closing of the school by dropping a track called "La Culturaes la Sonrisa". He was arrested and threatened with death by the military government of the country.

In the year 1981, León Gieco began a three-year, 110,000 KM long series of the independent concertsin the entire country for 420,000 people in the country. He gathered materials from many places he visited at the time of his travel and he recorded the first volume of de Ushuaia a La Quiaca in Buenos Aires with different autochthonous musicians in the country in the year 1985. The following Day Ushuaia a La Quiaca 2 and De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 3 were both recorded in the mobile studio in several locations of the nation.

In the year 1985, León Gieco travelled to Moscow for the 12^th World Youth and Students’ Festival together with Juan Carlos Baglietto and LittoNebbia, representing the country. In the year 1986 and in the year 1987, he hosted a concert in Germany with his friend Mercedes Sosa.

León Gieco went back to his country ad performed concerts for free, the first for 40,000 audiences at the National Flag Memorial in Rosario and the second for having more than 35,000 audience in Bueno Aires. At the stadium of Boca Junior, he had a concert with Pablo Milanes and Chico Buarque and the invited musicians Mercedes Sosa, FitoPáez, NitoMestre, Juan Carlos Bagliettoand SixtoPalavecino. At the end of the year, he went on a world tour that consisted of the following countries, Mexico, Peru, Brazil,Sweden, Germany and Denmark.

In the year 1988, León Gieco performed in Germany and Austria. Back in his country, he took part in the final concert of the Amnesty International Human Rights Now Tour at the River Plate Stadium of the country with the following artists; CharlyGarcía, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen andSting. Eight years after his world tour, he dropped the album called Semillas del corazón, and that marked his return to the studios in the year 1989. That same year, he performed at the Teatro Opera in Buenos Aires with the U.S folk music legend called Pete Seeger. The next year, Seeger asked him to join a travel that took him to Washington D.C., Boston and New York City, and there he performed with David Bryne.

In the year 1992, he performed with Milton Nascimento,OsParalamas do Sucesso, Gilberto Gilas well asRubén Rada at the inauguration of the Latin American Parliament in Sao Paulo. In the year 1997, León Gieco took part in the memorial concert for the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo with the bands like Divididos, La Renga, Los Piojos, and Attaque 77.

León Gieco started his most recent tour for the social justice of the country, Munso Alas in the year 2007. The disabled musicians, dancers, singers and painters of the country performed with him and expressed their distinctive talent and communicating with audience. He handed them the chance to live out their dream as he is doing. León Gieco made a documentary from the road travel that was produced in March of the year 2009. The documentary features rock music, the folk music and the tango music together with his original hits.