Norberto Aníbal Napolitano (10 March 1950 – 25 February 2005), popularly known as Pappo, was an Argentine rock musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter. One of the most influential figures in Argentine music, he was a forerunner of

Argentine rock Argentine rock (known locally as ''rock nacional'' , "national rock" in the sense of "local", "not international") is rock music composed or performed by Argentina, Argentine bands or artists mostly in Spanish. Argentine rock was the earliest inc ...

, heavy metal and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

. He is considered by various Argentine musicians, by the public and by the specialized press as the best guitarist in the history of Argentine rock, while B. B. King considered him one of the best guitarists of all time. He was a member of popular Argentine rock bands such as Los Abuelos de la Nada, Engranaje, Los Gatos and Billy Bond y La Pesada del Rock and Roll. He also founded the

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

band Pappo's Blues; the hard rock band Aeroblus, in the 1970s; and the heavy metal band

Riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

in the 1980s. He also founded a band in United States called The Widowmakers. His pseudonym came from various deformations of the abbreviation of his surname, Napo. Another nickname with which he was popularly known was ''Carpo'', alluding to the dominance he possessed when moving the carpus of his hand while playing guitar. B. B. King nicknamed him "The Cheeseman" due to a gift he received from Pappo consisting of an Argentine cheese and a red wine.

Biography

Pappo was born in

La Paternal La Paternal or Paternal () is a ''Barrios of Buenos Aires, neighborhood'' or district in the centre of Buenos Aires city, Argentina. It was founded in 1904 by a city decree (''decreto'') and was named 'La Paternal' after the San Martín Line (Buen ...

, Buenos Aires. He showed interest in

and

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

music starting at a young age, with his early influences being

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

Freddie King Freddie King (born Fred Christian; September 3, 1934December 28, 1976), also billed as Freddy King, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King a ...

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

, and

Manal Manal was an Argentine rock group formed in 1968. Together with Almendra and Los Gatos, they are considered founders of Argentine rock. The band members were Claudio Gabis on guitar, Javier Martínez on drums and vocals, and Alejandro Med ...

. During the late 1960s and through the 1970s, he was a pivotal part of the

scene. Pappo started playing as an occasional guitarist for Manal but soon joined Los Abuelos de la Nada and later Los Gatos, with whom he recorded two albums in 1969 and 1970. He formed his own band, Pappo's Blues, in 1970 and released its first album in 1971. The band was also part of the 1973 rock documentary ''

Hasta que se ponga el sol ''Hasta que se ponga el sol'' ( Spanish for "Until the sun sets") is 1973 Argentine documentary film of the foundational stage of the '' rock nacional'' (Spanish for "national rock") movement. It was filmed in the third edition of the historic B. ...

'', filmed during the third edition of the B.A. Rock festival. In the 1970s, Pappo's Blues saw constant line-up changes, with Pappo being the only permanent member of the band and main songwriter. Between 1975 and 1980, Pappo lived alternately in England and Argentina. In the United Kingdom, he made contact with new genres such as

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

and the

new wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (often abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that began in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Editor Alan Lewis (music journalist), Alan Lew ...

. He formed the

power trio A power trio is a rock band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit, leaving out a dedicated vocalist or an additional rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...

Aeroblus in 1977 with ex-Manal bassist Alejandro Medina and Brazilian drummer Castello Jr. Pappo relocated to Argentina permanently in 1980 and formed the band

. In 1990, he appeared as a guest guitarist on

Sandra Mihanovich Sandra Mihanovich (born April 24, 1957) is an Argentina, Argentine singer, musician, and composer of Rock (music), rock, blues, and Tango music, tango rhythms. Biography She was born in the Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Recoleta neighbourhood of Bueno ...

and Celeste Carballo's album '' Mujer contra mujer''. He revived Pappo's Blues in the 1990s, alternating the activity of this group with eventual reunions of Riff. Pappo released a solo classic blues and hard rock album called ''Buscando un amor'' in 2003, which turned out to be his last record.

Controversies

In a televised interview in 1985 on the programme ''Noche de Brujas'', journalist Alicia Barrios confronted Pappo over an attempted sexual attack when the journalist was 20 years old at Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires. In the duration of the interview conducted in Spanish, Pappo admitted to semi-violacion (semi-raping), and responded that "one always has ideas of raping people as pretty as you."

Death

Pappo died in February 2005 in a motorcycle accident.

Tandil Tandil is the main city of the homonymous partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, just north-northwest of Tandilia hills. The city was founded in 1823, and its name originates from the '' Piedra M ...

dedicated a monument in his honour.

Discography

Pappo's discography encompasses almost four decades, from the late 1960s with Los Abuelos de la Nada and Los Gatos until his death in 2005.

Los Abuelos de la Nada

* "Diana Divaga / Tema En Flu Sobre El Planeta" (1967) - 45rpm single * "La Estación" (recorded 1968) - only released on compilations

Los Gatos

* ''Beat Nº1'' (1969) * ''Rock De La Mujer Perdida'' (1970) - (co-wrote "Invasión")

Pappo's Blues

* ''Pappo's Blues'' (1971) * ''Pappo's Blues, Volumen 2'' (1972) * ''Pappo's Blues, Volumen 3'' (1972) * ''Pappo's Blues, Volumen 4'' (1973) * ''Triángulo'' (1974) * ''Pappo's Blues, Volumen 6'' (1975) * ''Pappo's Blues, Volumen 7'' (1978) * ''Pappo's Blues, Volumen 8 – Caso Cerrado'' (1995) * ''El Auto Rojo'' (1999)

Aeroblus

* ''Aeroblus'' (1977)

Patrulha do Espaço

* ''Patrulha 85'' (1985) * ''El Riff'' (1990) - reissue of ''Patrulha 85'' with bonus tracks

Solo

* "Nunca Lo Sabrán" (recorded in 1969) - only released on compilations * ''Pappo En Concierto'' (1984) - live * ''Plan Diabólico'' (1987) - as Pappo y Hoy No Es Hoy * ''Pappo & Widowmaker'' (1989) * ''Blues Local'' (1992) * ''Pappo with Deacon Jones – July '93 Los Angeles'' (1994) - live * ''Pappo Sigue Vivo'' (1994) - live * ''Pappo y Amigos'' (2000) * ''Buscando Un Amor'' (2003) * ''Juanito y El Carposaurio'' (2021) - with Juanse

References

External links

*
Biography
Rock.com.ar * {{Authority control 1950 births 2005 deaths Argentine guitarists Argentine male guitarists Argentine heavy metal musicians Argentine people of Italian descent Electric blues musicians Musicians from Buenos Aires Road incident deaths in Argentina Motorcycle road incident deaths 20th-century Argentine guitarists 20th-century Argentine male musicians