The Railroad’s Men was a group formed around the early 70s, whose name refers to the railway near which the musical activity was mainly carried out. A place that is very risky to define a “recording studio”! It is actually a union between members of two musical groups active in previous years and “antagonists” between them. “The strange company of the lonely souls of Clausius” and the “EmptySouls“.
The result is a musically eclectic formation, whose repertoire appears unexpectedly varied. It ranges from pop / rock, to blues, to “love songs”, to classic, to electronic, concrete and functional music. A group with a very limited economic and technical “budget” available and with a predominantly self-taught baggage of “technique and musical notions”. They however showed off a remarkable and prolific creative imagination, also taking into account that at the time it did not exist a “mass” diffusion of musical and electronic instruments, as happens today, not to mention the possibility of audio processing.
The Band’s Story
The central fulcrum around which all the musical activity of the “Railroad’s Men” took place is represented by Gualtiero Lemmi, the group’s main composer, author, performer and audio technician. Stefano Martini also played a fundamental role in the composition, lyrics and performance.
Together they formed a strongly propulsive couple towards the other components who were: Andrea Sereni (co-author, composer, performer) who was entrusted with a primary role in the arrangement of the songs and in the construction of some electronic devices, including a Synth, used in recordings; Paolo Peruzzi (co-author / composer, performer) also the creator of electronic instruments and Valerio Amati (co-author / composer, performer) who had undertaken the study of classical guitar which was interrupted too soon. Among the entourage of the group, sporadic appearances as performers (percussion and various sound effects) were also made by Emilio Lazzerini and Gianni Mattioli.
Discography
Below we propose an unreleased song, played by Gualtiero Lemmi (lead guitar and drums) with Stefano Martini (rhythm guitar and voice) and Paolo Peruzzi (bass).
A few years ago a CD entitled “A Bottle of Water” was released containing a selection of songs composed by the “Railroad’s Men“. That does not exhaust their repertoire but which has the merit of highlighting both the creative and musical peculiarities and the “analogical sounds”, typical of those years, often recreated by resorting to solutions of ingenuity and imagination. A slightly different version ihas been also available on the Internet on major online music stores including iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and Tidal. It was subsequently withdrawn and is available for high-quality audio streaming at this link.
From 13 November 2020 the second album of this group “The Railroad’s Men 1970 ′ Collection” is also available. The songs on both albums were composed and performed mainly in the 70s and these young people (at the time), small precursors of Home Recording, despite their limitations, show off a varied and unexpected repertoire. In the second album, both traditional and jazz “covers” are mainly re-proposed, while in the first the repertoire ranges from rock-pop, to blues, to “love songs”, up to classical, electronic, concrete almost functional music. All the songs on this second album are instrumental, except the live blues on track 4.
Suite of Dreamers
Finally, a third album, “Suite of Dreamers“, released online on December 11, 2020. It was subsequently withdrawn and is available for high-quality audio streaming at this link. The songs played on this latest EP they are from the 80s and late 70s and were composed mainly by Gualtiero Lemmi, sometimes called “Walter”, with the help of some members of the group but also with the use of many overdubs. But let’s get to the individual songs.
“Suite for Dreamers” (1979-1980) is an atmospheric composition in 4 parts. “Roana Village” (1983) is a musically descriptive piece that should highlight the poem written and recited by AnnaLisa Alderighi and dedicated to the town of Roana, near Asiago. “Liza” (1982) is a melodic piece played entirely by Walter. “Antico Cantore” (1987) is a meditative piece whose text, similar to a poem, is written by Michele Montagnini. The other two songs are instrumental, recorded in the late 1970s; “Nightmare and Joy” and “Tribute to Andrew”. For more info see specific articles on home page.
IT Version
