ARGENTINIAN PROGRESSIVE MUSIC : -----------------VOX DEI------------------------ INITIAL FORMATION : Jorge Carlos " Yody " Godoy: guitar and voice Ricardo Soulé guitar and voice Willie Quiroga: low and voice Rubén Basoalto: battery BIOGRAPHY : The group was formed in 1968 in Quilmes (a big suburb beer factory city South of Buenos Aires) and turned out to become one of most important of the decade of the ' 70 and one of the leading pioneers in Argentinian Rock (together with Los Gatos, Almendra, Manal). The first demo which they recorded was " When a man loves a woman ", from Percy Sledge. Their first songs were covers of the Rolling Stones, the Byrds, the Beatles between which larded some own compositions,but all interpreted in English. The first formation of the band counted on Ricardo Soulé (guitar and voice), Willie Quiroga (low and voice), Juan Carlos " Yody " Godoy (guitar and voice) and Rubén Basoalto (battery and choirs). The history of the group did not change until Jorge Alvarez, the producer of the Mandioca seal, organized a concert for the group in the Payró theatre. There Luis Alberto Spinetta approached them and stimulated them to write in their own language. So they started to translate their songs to the Castilian. Their first single (titled "Sin Ropa") was straightforward rock & blues. The a-side ''Azúcar amarga''(by Willie Quiroga : "bitter sugar") was also included on the compilation LP Mandioca Underground (MLP 331). After several gigs in Buenos Aires they released their second single for Mandioca: ''Presente'' ("Present") with b-site the rock & roll ''Dr. Jekill''. ''Presente'', now a big classic, is a beautiful ballad with superb lyrics (about how ephemeral life is, thus the importance of ''living the present time''). Another singel "I want to be" was also released that same year in 1969. At first the group didn't have a name for the band and sung under names like " Mach 4 ", " Nº5 Connection " or " Fifth Dimension ". Their first important performance was in a festival of young music in the Buenos Aires Audience, in June of 1969. They were suggested to change their name after ''Vox Populi, Vox Dei'' (in Latin: ''The word of the people is the Word of God'') into Vox Dei. For that concert they changed it into this new name, Vox Dei (as "Voice of God") and kept it for the rest of their carrier. For Mandioca they recorded their first record "Caliente" (or " Hot ") in 1970, their first disc. This LP included rock & blues numbers such as ''Reflejos'', ''Cuero'', ''Compulsión'' or ''Total qué'', with come soul-rock -''No es por falta de suerte''- and great ballads like the already mentioned ''Presente'' and ''Canción para una mujer (que no está)'',which was also released as a single. By mid 1970 Mandioca bankrupted and Vox Dei went to the Disc Jockey label. Soon they were concentrated in the creation of a conceptual work that was finished in januari and saw the light in February of 1971. " the Bible " soon becoming a landmark in the history of the national rock and creation of Vox Dei in all its race became the most important. In the beginning they didn't know how people should react on such an epos. In the B.A.Rock festival they had presented already a part of the material, the first part of the " Génesis ", but still without text. After registering this work, Yody Godoy moved away of the group, for " personal reasons ". The Archbishop, that had requested to review the letters, recommended to the youth that listened to the disc. "La Biblia" is Vox Dei's indisputable masterpiece and recommended. "La Biblia" is magnificent for both its music and lyrics. Soulé did a terrific job summarising in just a few lines the most important facts of the Holy Book. Musically the band turned hard-psycho, with chirping driven guitars et al. ''Genesis'', ''Las Guerras'', ''Profecías'' and especially ''Libros Sapienciales'' turned into Vox Dei standards. To promote La Biblia live, guitarist Nacho Smilari (ex La Barra de Chocolate, and future Piel de Pueblo and Cuero) joined Vox Dei. With this line-up they also recorded a single with two non-album tracks. The presentation of the Bible was performed in the Alvear Theater, with Ignacio Smilari instead of Godoy with huge success. These four shows followed a tour into the most important capitals of the interior. Of return, Vox Dei was constituted definitively in a trio. In 1972 the first album was reedited and the group recorded "Jeremías Pies de Plomo " ("lead Jeremías' feet "). There the trio went back to hard rock and blues. Another excellent album, Jeremías includes great songs like ''Jeremías'', ''Detrás del vidrio'', ''Ritmo y blues con armónicas'' (another Soulé classic) and the ballad ''Sin separarnos más''. Soulé did a wonderful job both with his guitar and harp (he might be the best rock harmonica player in Argentina). A rare single with picture sleeve was also released from this LP. During the live presentations of this material infernal ship their next record "Cuero Caliente" (1973) was registered, an album which was actually a remake of their debut. The trio recorded therefore all songs from "Caliente minus": ''No es por falta de suerte'', plus ''Azúcar amarga'' and ''Dr Jekill'' (from the singles). The result was good enough to satisfy the needs of those who did not own the original LP (hard to find even in those days). The band was filmed for the movie "Rock hasta que se ponga el Sol" playing ''Jeremías, pies de plomo'' and ''Las Guerras'' (the latter inside a Methodist Church). Being on another label, their performance was not included on the soundtrack album. Soon after, they released their third "Es una nube no hay duda" (" It is a cloud, there is no doubts ") by CBS, for the international market and with a good production. Best moments are the title track (written by Quiroga, now a classic), ''La verdadera historia de Sam, el montañés'' and ''Prométeme que nunca me dirás adiós''. infernal was recorded during a national tour and featured old and unreleased songs. Unfortunately the sound quality is far from being good, but the performance is so energetic that the album is fun to listen to. Live albums were unusual in those days for a rock group in Argentina. At this point we can say that the good days for Vox Dei were over. Under the direction of Billy Bond Raul Porchetto, Sui Generis, Spirit and other groups were united to record one rejuvenated version of the Bible (Talent SE- 515), without at least inviting their authors. So this album was released in 1974 without any of the original members. In that same year Vox Dei recorded a second album for CBS: "Vox Dei para Vox Dei", a mediocre effort. The cover of that disc managed to catch the spirit of the group at that time: a very greasy cover including a photo that shows Vox Dei in a scene, while they themselves are their only spectators, as an omen of which in the coming years, in addition to ideas they would need public. After that album, Ricardo Soulé announced its distance of the group and left to England to dedicate itself completely to his solo carrier (where he met the band The Heavy Metal Kids who recorded some Soulé songs for their debut album). He was replaced by Carlos Michelini (guitar)during the recordings of "Estamos en la pecera" (" We are in trouble") and soon was replaced by Raul Fernandez. Carlos Michelini played guitar and sang, and Ciego de Siglos with Raúl Fernández and Enrique ''Avellaneda'' Díaz played guitar too(both ex-La Máquina). During the recordings also Beto Fortunato left. Soon after, Michelini also emigrated and the Diaz and Raul were united to the group Enrique " Avellaneda " Fernandez, ex- members of the group " the machine ", of the city of the Silver. With this formation they recorded "Estamos en la pecera" ("Blind person of centuries") in 1976. These two albums under lead of Quiroga and Basoalto "Estamos en la pecera" were actually disappointing. The little percussion in the new Vox Dei and the relative importance of the solo carrier of Soulé, decided the musicians to return to meet again. The trio started up and the product was called "Vuelta a Casa", an excellent disc that gave back something to them of the lost fame. It is again a very good hard rock and blues album. At that time they also released a single with two non-LP tracks (''Cuéntame dulce'' b/w ''Inexplicable para mí'' [RCA Vik 31A-2683]). The album was also recorded in English but that was never released at that time (only later it was for the first time released as bonus tracks on the CD version of that album). In 1978 Soulé rejoined Vox Dei and the old trio recorded a new album for Polygram, the satisfactory "Gata de Noche" ("Cat at Night")(Polydor 2387160). However, Vox Dei sort of split again. The following project was " the Valiant Cid according to Vox Dei ": they composed six movements, touched them live, but the record company refused to publish it. At that time the internal differences were already very strong so they decided then to fulfil the contract that bound them until 1981 and soon to separate. The organized goodbye recital was carried out in the stage Sanitary Works the 25 of April of 1981. After this Ricardo concert it returned to travel to Spain, where he remained. Quiroga and Basoalto often tried to rearm the band with diverse members but no of them prospered. Nevertheless, the " returns " became frequent. Willie Quiroga formed a heavy metal group, Destroyer, and released an album in 1982. Soulé recorded two more solo albums in 1982 and 1985. In 1985 they won some prizes for their trajectory in the Argentine pop music. Therefore Soulé and Quiroga took advantage of that in 1986 to recycle " the Bible ", with cooperation of Luis Valenti for the keyboards. They did a successful comeback in the theater Operates, to split once more, after which they initiated again for an extensive tour. Of the good follow ups from the concerts in the Capital a disc was published with some of the live material, called " I am right to follow " (1988). In September of the following year their twenty years with music in the Astral theater was celebrated with Luis Valenti - ex- member of 'the Clock' as special guest. Months later and after some performances, the trio reentered to record "I am right to follow", with its new member. This was presented in November ' 88 in the theater. In the middle of the ' 89 Soulé returned to live in Spain where the band's brilliance blurred and, except for some sporadic performances, it did not register excellent facts; until in 1994, the new trio formed by Quiroga, Basoalto and Carlos Gardellini (guitar and choirs) recorded independently "Without giving more". This release passed without pain nor glory and the band separated again. At that time, the followers of the band were mainly young, reason why they had to move away from nostalgia to become more involved in a more modern sound. Never the less at the beginning of 1996 the original trio (Soulé, Basoalto and Quiroga) met to make a pair of performances in the theater Operates the 31 of May and the 1 of June under the motto "return of the legend". The success achieved in these presentations took to Ricardo Soulé to return this time definitively to Argentina. After this the band began to a national tour that took them to cross the rear area presenting/displaying its new work, the CD "the Return of the Legend" that includes new subjects and multimedia tracks. Again by the end of November they appeared in the theater Great Rex of Buenos Aires, making two shows with important artists invited, like Edelmiro Molinari, Walter Giardino, Alexander Lerner and, coming specially from Spain, Andrés Calamaro. In 1997 the band made several presentations, but the salient point was the reworking of the Bible project by the end of September. With respect to this new Bible, Soulé indicated that: " The second recording of the album from '71 was a stormy history. Mandioca had financial problems and it could not conclude the recording. In a criminal average maneuver, the tapes disappeared, and as well as they were printed. But they lacked things, for example, "the Apocalypse". In the 86 we recorded a complete version live, with keyboards instead of orchestra. Now we have the possibility of recording it in its totality and as it was conceived. It took 27 years to us, but to others it was worse". The new registry of the album included an unpublished subject, "the mantle of Elías", and the participation of Andrés Calamaro, Fito Páez and Alexander Lerner. The album of it was called " the Bible again ", being the third recording of "The Bible". The concert presentation of the new version of the Bible was made in the Luna Park in June of 1998 with remarkable success in a recital that lasted more than 3 hours. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCOGRAPHY : *"Caliente" (or "It warms up"): Mandioca - double album 1969/1970) *"La Biblia" or (" The Bible "):Disc Jockey -1971 *"Jeremias pies de plomo" (or "Lead Jeremías' feet "):Disc Jockey - 1972) *"Cuero Caliente" (or " the infernal ship "):1973 *"Es una nube, no hay nuda" (or " It is a cloud, with no doubt "):1973 *"La nave infernal" (or " hot Leather "): live album Disc Jockey - 1973/1974 *"Vox Dei para vox dei" (or " Vox Dei for Vox Dei "):CBS - 1974 *"Estamos en la pecera" (or " We are in trouble " ):CBS-1975 *"Ciego de siglos" (or " Blind of centuries "): CBS- 1976 *"Gata de noche"(or " Cat at night ") : POLYDOR - 1978 *"La Biblia según" (or " the live Bible "):DBN - 1987 *"Tengo razones para seguir" (or " I am right to follow "): Magnatape Musical 1988 *"Sin darle ya más vueltas" (or " Without already giving more returning "): DBN 1994 *"El regreso de la leyenda " (or " the return of the legend "):BMG - 1996 *"La Biblia" (or " The Bible ") Warner, 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This page is a resume of the content of all the pages which I linked at the name 'Vox Dei' on my "Argentinan progressive music groups" page. In my radio program I played the first version of "La Biblia", A very good heavy psych blues work.**** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can hear some audio fragments of it at http://www.frecuenciaweb.com.ar/htm/rockar/voxdei/disc02.htm To go back to the Argentinian groups page click on the 'return' button when you were there before, or paste the next URL : http://progressive.homestead.com/ARG_GROUPS.html (c) Gerald Johan Van Waes,2001