siLLy puPPy
OSAGE TRIBE was perhaps best known as the Italian band from Genova that Franco Battiato started but left after only singing on one mere pop single before embarking on his solo career of musical experimentations and turning it over to an ever-changing lineup that ultimately fell under the control of drummer / vocalist Ninzio “Cucciolo” Fava. The band experienced significant structural changes and struggled to keep going but finally surrendered to the multi-pronged forces in his opposition after less than two years in existence. OSAGE TRIBE was one of Italy’s earliest bands to jump on the progressive rock bandwagon in 1971 focusing on a penchant for hard rock with strong progressive influences rather than qualifying as a fully indoctrinated prog rock band in its own right.
After acquiring the fiery guitarist Marco Zoccheddu freshly out of Nova Idea and bass guitarist Bob Callero who would go on to play with Duello Madre and Il Volo, the band existed as a power trio only packed a serious punch with Zoccheddu handling not only the scorching guitar duties but offering smatterings of keyboards and harmonica as well as significant songwriting duties. The band engaged in an active albeit live presence in their day and found their sole album ARROW HEAD coming out on the Bla Bla label in 1972 which while focused primarily on the nascent head banging proto-metal effects of early 70s hard rock, still pulled out enough progressive punches in the form of extravagant jazz moves and time signature deviations and elegant use of dynamic mood shifts.
ARROW HEAD featured five heavy tracks and in many emulated the sounds of the heavier sounds of Led Zeppelin as well as displaying the eye-catching album cover art of a Native American woman tempted by the modern world’s lure for money just outside the relative freedoms of her traditional lifestyle which seems to have referred to the band’s pop single being used for a popular TV quiz show of the day. With catchy pop infused hooks OSAGE TRIBE certainly delivered a punch with not only instantly exhilarating melodic ear worms but also with a bluesy guitar style that was reminiscent of Cream and the psychedelic rock giants of the 60s including some Hendrix inspired wah-wah moments. The album’s use of dynamics is its strongest suit with not only pounding hard rock heft thundering like a stamped of American bison roaming the plains but also for its slower contemplative parts as well as the competent vocals performed exclusively in the Italian language.
Also notably different from other hard rockers of the day was Zoccheddu’s use of Native American drumming techniques which made use of the album cover art theme and the deftly blended use of heavy psych in a jazz rock context thus the reason why OSAGE TRIBE despite its hard rock leanings has been indoctrinated into the halls of prog rock as well. Four of the five tracks extend beyond the 7-minute mark and despite some jamming liberties displayed a much wider repertoire of musical ingenuity. The most progressive tracks are expressed on the final tracks “Soffici Bianchi Veli” and “Orizzonti Senza Fine” which gracefully meander through the intricacy of more subdued progressive rock and the more frenetic propensities to let loose into a head banging hard rock banter-fest. In many ways OSAGE TRIBE sounded like the Italian version of what the Canadian band Rush would formulate on its first two albums before Neil Peart took the band into the progosphere.
After the release of ARROW HEAD both Zoccheddu and Callero formed Duello Madre in late 1972, leaving Cucciolo with the name OSAGE TRIBE and a new line-up with former Capsicum Red singer/guitarist Red Canzian and bassist Giampiero Marchiani coming from Forlì. This short-lived lineup was doomed once Cucciolo himself was drafted into the army. Despite this only release seeing the light of day during its initial run, OSAGE TRIBE did find two non-album tracks and “Hajenhanhowa” appearing on the 1972 “Tarzan Compilation” also on the Bla Bla label with Capsicum Red and Black Sunday Flowers. While the band seemed forever lost to circumstance, apparently Cucciolo kept the candle burning and unexpectedly resurrected the band with a completely new lineup and released the 2013 album “Hypnosis.” While many seem to piss all over this one, i actually find it exhilarating! Sure it’s not the proggiest prog of the lot but it’s certainly a very well constructed album and peaks my interest.