Following last month’s Induction Ceremony for Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—an event that welcomed Guns N’ Roses, The Beastie Boys, Donovan, Laura Nyro, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among others, into illustrious company—we at the Indy decided to take a look at the top 5 guitarists in the history of Argentina’s Rock Nacional.
Such an undertaking, liable as always to inflame the passions of loyalists, has been strategically predicated on the bias that guitarists are the coolest members of a band. This way, no one forgets how subjective the mythology of popular music really is, despite emotionally vehement protest. We get that.
To judge the field strictly on the basis of technical skill is impossible. Many incredible musicians never change the course of trends in music, even if they are better than the artists recognised for doing so. Since all of the guitarists below formed part of the same rock genesis, however, it is possible to view this list as the founding generation of Argentine national rock: “gods” who collaborated literally and figuratively at a time when the guitar remained the pillar of contemporary music.
Eduardo 'Skay' Beilinson (courtesy of Wikimedia)
Eduardo “Skay” Beilinson
Given the nickname “Skay” (a transliteration of “sky”) on account of his blue eyes, Eduardo Beilinson began playing guitar at the age of 12. By his late teens, he had become a member of the artists’, intellectuals’, musicians’ collective La Cofradía de la Flor Solar (The Brotherhood of the Solar Flower), based in La Plata.
In the final years of the 1960s, the Brotherhood, whose idealist culture mirrored similar social formations in France and the United States, had begun to play shows in Buenos Aires, where Skay gained recognition as a talented guitarist.
When the band dissolved in 1974, the life of the movement went with it, and Beilinson began his vastly influential partnership with Carlos “Indio” Solari. Together, Skay and Indio led the underground rock scene as frontmen for the seminal band Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, also known as Los Redondos.
Famous for their dark, powerful, and at times operatic sound, Los Redondos were instrumental in creating the underground ethic of early Argentine rock and setting the tone for new areas of experimentation. With Skay’s sinuous, larger than life solos and thrash distortion tone, Los Redondos signified something bold, wild, and destined to be big.
As the band reached mass appeal in the mid to late 80s, their concerts began to exceed the capacity of their venues, creating chaos and exposing the limits of excess itself. If any guitarist had the distinct pleasure—and difficult position—of conveying Argentine rock’s spirit to the mainstream, it was Skay Beilinson.
Since the fractious dissolution of Los Redondos in 2001, Skay has continued to work as a successful solo artist.
Ricardo Mollo (Photo: Gonzalo Saenz)
Ricardo Mollo
Born in Pergamino, Buenos Aires in 1957, Ricardo Mollo is best known for his contribution to the development of Argentine reggae-rock, as both a musician and a producer. Deeply influenced by the expressive techniques of Jimi Hendrix, Mollo’s youthful obsession with the guitar would eventually land him in bands such as underground legends Sumo during the 80s, and in the current band Los Divididos, for which he is also lead vocalist.
After learning to play guitar under the tutelage of his older brother Omar (singer and guitarist of rock-tango fusion band MAM), Ricardo became a contributor in Italian-born Luca Prodan’s post-punk band Sumo, accentuating the reggae and ska elements in the group’s experimental sound.
Despite Prodan’s predominantly English lyrics and the band’s minimal radio play, Sumo became instrumental in a growing underground scene in Argentina, alongside bands such Los Redondos and Los Violadores. After entering the permanent line-up in 1984, Mollo’s influence would be strongly present in the elaborate compositions and concepts to surface on Sumo’s subsequent releases.
With the untimely death of Luca Prodan in 1987, Mollo formed one of two bands comprising Sumo’s remaining members, Divididos (the other, Las Pelotas). Known for mixing various rock sounds with Argentine folk music, Mollo’s obscure lyrics and frayed flourishes on the guitar helped the band win the Platinum Konex Award for Best Rock Group of the 1995-2005 decade, a distinction shared with none other than Los Redondos.
Gustavo Cerati (Photo: Reavel)
Gustavo Cerati
One of Argentina’s most internationally acclaimed musicians, Gustavo Cerati served as the iconic front man of Soda Stereo, blending the new wave aesthetic of bands such as The Cure, The Police, and Deep Purple into the burgeoning Latin Rock of the 1980s.
Soda Stereo emerged in 1983 with shows at underground venues such as Café Einstein and Zero, where the fateful creative vision of Cerati and bassist Héctor “Zeta” Bosio firmly took root. Notable for his skill as both a singer and a guitarist, Cerati deftly managed to play intricate riffs and solos while keeping his soaring vocals in key.
Perhaps more than most of his contemporaries, Cerati possessed the grandiose and endearing stage presence typically associated with the 80s pop star. Pairing high fashion with a maximal, chorus-drenched guitar tone, Cerati symbolised innovation and the increasing global exposure for music coming out of Argentina and Latin America more broadly.
From ‘Nada Personal’ (1985) to ‘Sueño Stereo’ (1992), Cerati and Soda Stereo displayed musical maturity and the sharp sense to cross the divide existing in Latin music culture between pop and rock. Following the band’s dissolution in 1997, Cerati continued his solo career begun in the early 90s, incorporating more synthesiser and electronic music into his sound (including alter egos Plan V, Ocio, and Roken).
In 2010, at the age of 50, Cerati suffered a stroke that produced extensive brain damage. Though still alive in a coma, the loss to the music world has been felt far and wide, as many touring musicians with stops in Argentina pay homage to Cerati and his enduring influence.
Pappo (courtesy of Wikimedia)
Norberto Napolitano (“Pappo”)
Arguably the most prolific and recognised artist in Argentine rock, Norberto Napolitano (also known as “Pappo” and “El Carpo”) figures among the most influential guitarists to emerge from Argentina at the height of rock music worldwide.
Born in 1950 in Santa Isabel, Santa Fe province, Pappo’s early interest in music centred on blues and hard rock. With idols such as The Rolling Stones, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton, Pappo’s style developed into an expansive range of both mellow and aggressive sounds, making him a widely adaptable musician who frequently surprised audiences as a guest for acts both new and established.
In Argentina, Pappo’s early years are best known for his contribution to bands such as Abuelos de la Nada and Los Gatos, the latter active between 1967-1970. Los Gatos’ final album, 1970’s ‘Lost Woman’s Rock’ (changed from ‘Rotten Woman’s Rock’ due to government censorship) featured the band’s heaviest guitar tones yet, with Pappo driving familiar blues progressions alongside Litto Nebbia’s melodic, storytelling vocals.
In the decade after Los Gatos disbanded, Pappo formed two groups that would become the basis for his later international recognition: Pappo’s Blues and Riff.
Each capturing one of his favoured tendencies, the success and growth of Argentine rock led Pappo to accompany acts such as B.B. King and Guns N’ Roses in Buenos Aires, including a follow-up performance with King at Madison Square Garden in August of 1993.
Tragically, Pappo’s life was cut short by an automobile accident in February 2005, prompting the city of Buenos Aires to commemorate him at La Paternal’s plaza Roque Saenz Peña. Now called Plaza Pappo, more than 700 people gathered there for a March 2008 concert celebrating what would have been El Carpo’s 58th birthday.
Luís Alberto Spinetta (“El Flaco”) in1985 (courtesy of Wikimedia)
Luís Alberto Spinetta (“El Flaco”)
Another prolific artist, regarded by many as the Father of Argentine rock, Luís Alberto Spinetta was among the first aspiring Argentine musicians to write lyrics and sing in Spanish. Born in 1950, Spinetta came of age in an increasingly violent and unstable political climate, forming his first band, Almendra, in 1967 at just 17 years old.
Spinetta’s place in the era that brought on Argentine rock can be identified in the temperament of his music. An intellectual at heart and a dedicated bibliophile, Spinetta’s contemplative, melodic songs gave voice to the underground culture then in its infancy, meanwhile pushing boundaries with novel musical arrangements.
Almendra combined folk balladry with the subtle tempo shifts and arpeggiated riffs that would become characteristic of Spinetta’s bands throughout his career. Though it is rare for artists to transcend their genres, Spinetta simultaneously helped construct and deconstruct Argentine rock in subsequent bands Pescado Rabioso, Invisible, and Spinetta Jade, bringing jazz, psych, and funk into the traditional dance and folk elements of his music.
In September of 1980, “El Flaco” famously collaborated with Serú Girán’s Charly García in a show at Estadio Obras Sanintarias, often considered the most significant concert in Argentine rock history. Usually contrasted as rivals, Spinetta and García would appear together and provide tracks on each other’s solo albums throughout the decade. Spinetta, meanwhile, had already directed his focus exclusively on his solo career by 1982, cementing his place in Argentine rock history as an incomparably thoughtful and trenchant songwriter.
After battling lung cancer for more than six months, Spinetta died in February 2012 at the age of 62. According to his last wish, his ashes were spread in the Río de la Plata next to the Memory Park memorial constructed for the desaparecidos of the last dictatorship.
