Bertoncelli, Guccini, and the story of the first diss track: “I went to his house to make peace”

In an interview with Il Resto del Carlino, critic Riccardo Bertoncelli revisited the famous episode in which he and Francesco Guccini found themselves at the center of controversy.

The story dates back to 1975, when Bertoncelli, then a young critic for the monthly magazine Gong, panned Guccini's "Stanze di vita quotidiana", deeming it too withdrawn into a personal dimension at a time when singer-songwriters were expected to show explicit political commitment.

Guccini responded without mincing words in "L'avvelenata", with a line that has since become famous: “Tanto ci sarà sempre, lo sapete/ Un musico fallito, un pio, un teorete/ Un Bertoncelli, un prete a sparare cazzate”.

Bertoncelli recounted that the reference caught him off guard and pushed him to seek a direct clarification: "I found out by chance that I'd been mentioned by Guccini, who was then at the height of his fame, especially among fans of politically engaged singer-songwriter music, and I decided we needed to clear the air," the critic told Resto del Carlino. "So I did something that today would seem like science fiction: I got the phone book, found his number and address, via Paolo Fabbri 43, took a train and went to see him in Bologna."

And the outcome was the opposite of what you might expect from Italian music's first, historic act of "dissing": "Not only did we talk it out, but a friendship was born. Francesco has invited me several times to take part in public conversations about his work."

Looking back years later, Bertoncelli traces that review to the cultural climate of the time: "Those of us at Gong were all very young and armed with a sacred fury that took the form of politics. Singer-songwriters were expected to prove their social commitment. In my eyes, Francesco had set that aside, choosing instead to tell his own story, in a private rather than public dimension. And that was seen as a sin."

Along the same lines, we might also recall the story of Pintor's invective against "Rimmel" by Francesco De Gregori, and the subsequent "trial" the Roman singer-songwriter faced at the Palalido in Milan.

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