Gianni D’Errico

Gianni D’Errico (Sept. 16, 1948 — Sept. 7, 1975) was an Italian singer/songwriter who released a string of singles on CGD and Ariston during the first half of the 1970s. In 1975, while recording what would have been his first album, he was fatally struck by a passing vehicle. The album, Antico Teatro da Camera, was posthumously released in 1976 on Ariston.

Gianni D’Errico was born in 1948 to a family of six in Brindisi. After graduating at 17, he partook in singing competitions. At the 1969 Castrocaro Festival, he sang two pieces, “L’atheo” and his own “Il fantoccio.”

In 1970, Compagnia Generale Del Disco (CGD) chose him to sing two songs (“L’Arca Di Noè” and “Occhi A Mandorla”) on their compilation Sanremo ’70. Meanwhile, he cut his first CGD single: “Mi Stracci Il Cuore, Mi Stracci L’Anima” (b/w “Anima Nera”). D’Errico co-wrote both songs with composer Giancarlo Bigazzi with additional help from Renato Angiolini (a-side) and Virgilio Braconi (b-side).

D’Errico co-wrote the 1971 single “Il Sorriso, Il Paradiso” for singer Sergio Menegal, who performed it at the 1971 Sanremo Festival with backing by Belgian band Wallace Collection. In 1972, he signed to Ariston Records for his second single, “La Vestaglia” (b/w “Precipitando Verso Dio”). He collaborated on both sides with author Angelo De Luca, who also wrote songs for Equipe 84.

In 1973, D’Errico collaborated with De Luca on a second Ariston single, “L’Ultima Esperienza” (b/w “La Casa di Roccia”). That same year, the pair teamed with Equipe 84 singer Maurizio Vandelli on “Mercante senza fiori,” released by that band as a single and included on their 1974 album Sacrificio.

D’Errico collaborated with writer Rita Sementilli and arranger Gianni Faré on “Fammi entrare nell’anima,” recorded by singer Gilda Giuliani as a 1975 b-side.

That same year, D’Errico recorded Antico Teatro da Camera, an album of assorted co-writes with Vandelli at the producer’s chair. Before it could be released, D’Errico was killed in a roadside accident on September 7, 1975, at age 26.

Discography:

• “Anima nera” / “Mi stracci il cuore mi stracci l’anima” (1970)
• “La vestaglia” / “Precipitando verso Dio” (1972)
• “L’ultima esperienza” / “La casa di roccia” (1973)
• Antico Teatro da Camera (1976)

Sources:

• Discogs: Gianni D’Errico