Litto Nebbia Corbacho

Félix Francisco Nebbia Corbacho, better known as Litto Nebbia (born 21 July 1948) is an Argentine singer-songwriter, musician and producer, prominent in the development of the early Argentine rock scene.

Life and work Litto Nebbia was born in 1948 in Rosario, Santa Fe to Martha Corbacho and Félix Nebbia, two musicians. During his early teens, Litto left high school to join a friend, keyboardist Ciro Fogliatta, in a band: "The Wild Cats". The duo moved to Buenos Aires in 1963, and lived hand-to-mouth in a Balvanera ward tenement. They appeared in a television show, Escala Musical, a number of times, and became regulars at a popular neighborhood club, La Cueva, one of the cradles of Argentine rock.

Nebbia and Fogliatta formed "Los Gatos" in 1966. The group became known for their all-night performances, and composed most of their own songs, many in the well-known neighborhood café, "La Perla del Once" (facing Plaza Miserere). One such composition, La balsa (The Raft), was written at that location by Nebbia and the ill-fated songwriter Tanguito on May 2, 1967, and following its release on the RCA Victor label on July 3, sold over 250,000 copies.

The album, which also included Moris Birabent's Ayer nomás (Just Yesterday) was the first local rock production to outsell either American or British rock titles locally, and the milestone became known as the birth of Argentine rock. The Argentine edition of Rolling Stone Magazine, in a 2007 retrospective, named the melancholy La balsa number one in the list of the 100 best albums in Argentine rock. Commercially, the album rescued the struggling group. Invited to perform the hit on television following its release, the group could only see themselves when the show aired at the kindness of an appliance store owner, who tuned a window display set to the program at their request. La balsa also aggravated officials in General Juan Carlos Onganía's conservative dictatorship, who stopped short of banning a song they believed encouraged escapism and drug abuse, but retaliated by shuttering La Cueva, whose stage had become the focal point for local rock groups (including Los Gatos). The band itself began losing cohesion, as well: guitarist Kay Galiffi relocated to Brazil, and Nebbia left the group in 1969; by 1970, Los Gatos had dissolved.

Nebbia began a solo career with RCA Records, and his first album, Litto Nebbia, benefited from having a number of its tracks included in local filmmaker Julio Porter's El extraño de pelo largo (The Long Haired Stranger). His work drew from the folklorical Chacarera genre in 1971 and 1972, and in 1973, he founded the Litto Nebbia Trio, whose repertoire centered on jazz. Nebbia produced folk rock duo Pastoral's En el hospicio (In the Hospice) in 1975, enjoying success in his first foray into record production. Los Gatos in 1967. Top row: Ciro Fogliatta (organ), Oscar Moro (drums); bottom row: Litto Nebbia (vocals, harmonica and tambourine), Alfredo Toth (bass), and Kay Galiffi (guitar).

The advent of a new dictatorship in 1976, and his subsequent intimidation and detainment, forced Nebbia to seek exile in Mexico, however. He remained creatively productive in exile, and released some of his most successful albums during this era, including Canciones para cada uno (Songs for Each of You) in 1978, and Sólo se trata de vivir (It's Only About Living), in 1981. Expecting a daughter, Miranda, and heartened by an improving civil liberties climate, Nebbia returned to Argentina in 1982.

His return was followed by the Rosariazo, a May 1983 concert in which he was joined by chanteuse Silvina Garré, Juan Carlos Baglietto, and Fito Páez, among others; his 1986 release, Demasiadas maneras de no saber nada (Too Many Ways to Know Nothing), was his fiftieth. Martha Nebbia, his mother, had recently converted a former Villa Urquiza shoe store into her new residence, and invited her son to install a recording booth there. Reunited with Salvador Barresi, the recording engineer from his days with Los Gatos, they improved and equipped the ad hoc space, which was opened as a recording studio in 1988, and which Barresi named El Nuevo Mundo ("The New World").

Los Gatos, save for drummer Oscar Moro (who had died a year earlier), were reunited for a revival in 2007. Nebbia presented a nine disc anthology of Argentine rock in 2010, and hosted a gathering of fellow Argentine rock greats on 9th of July Avenue as part of official celebrations of the Argentina Bicentennial. Two of the most influential in the genre, Charly García and Luis Alberto Spinetta, acknowledged Nebbia and Los Gatos as inspirations for their own beginnings.

Discography (Studio)

Litto Nebbia, 1969 Litto Nebbia, Vol. 2, 1970 Nebbia's Band, 1971 Huinca (as Huinca), 1972 Despertemos en América, 1973 Muerte en la Catedral, 1973 Melopea, 1974 Fuera del Cielo, 1975 Bazar de los Milagros, 1976 Cosas que No Quieren Morir, 1976 El Vendedor de Promesas. 1977 Canciones para Cada Uno, Vol. 1, 1978 Toda Canción Será Plegaria, with Mirtha Defilpo, 1979 Creer, 1980 Canciones para Cada Uno, Vol. 2, 1981 1981, 1981 Solopiano, Vol. 1, 1981 Solo Se Trata de Vivir. 1982 Llegamos de los Barcos, 1982 Evita: Quien Quiera Oír que Oiga (Soundtrack), 1983 1992, 1984 Para que Se Encuentren los Hombres, with Cuarteto Zupay, 1984 En Brasil, Aquí y Ahora... , 1985 Luna Caliente (Soundtrack), 1985 O Segredo da Vida, 1985 Demasiadas Maneras de No Saber Nada, 1986 The Naked Word (Recorded in 1979), 1987 Musiqueros, (Nebbia-Baraj-González), 1987 Buscando en el Bolsillo del Alma, 1988 El Jardín de la Esquina, 1988 Las Tres Corazonadas (Nebbia-Baraj-Borda), 1989 Homenaje a Gardel y Le Pera, 1990 Los Aviadores (Soundtrack), 1990 Nostalgias del Harlem Español & la Luna Centinela, 1990 Las Aventuras de Rubén Rada & Litto Nebbia, with Rubén Rada, 1990 Esperando un Milagro, 1992 Argentina de América, 1992 Seguro, 1992 Las Boludas (Soundtrack), 1993 Ponto de Encontro (Zé Renato, Litto Nebbia & Victor Biglione), 1994 New York Es una Ciudad Solitaria, 1994 Bolero Afrolatino, with Cacho Tejera, 1994 Nebbia Canta Cadícamo, 1995 Páginas de Vida, Vol. 1-4, 1994 Pequeño Manual de Vos y Yo, 1996 Tangos Argentinos de Enrique Cadícamo, 1996 Malvinas (Soundtrack), 1997 El Hombre que Amaba a Todas las Mujeres, 1997 Matar al Abuelito (Soundtrack), 1998 Romancero Gitano de Federico García Lorca, 1998 Beatles Songbook: A Southamerican Vision, Vol. 1 & 2, 1999 Siempre Bailan Dos, 2000 Beatles Songbook: A Southamerican Vision, Vol. 3, 2001 Corazones y Sociedades, 2001 Las Canciones que Escribí en México (Y las que Aprendí...), 2001 Celebración, 2001 Brian Wilson: Tributo, 2002 Canciones Desde Península Valdés, with Alfredo Lichter, 2002 La Noche del Colibrí, 2002 La Melancolía Vital, with Lito Vitale, 2003 Las Aventuras de Domingo Cura & Litto Nebbia, with Domingo Cura, 2003 Tango & Nocturno, 2004 Una Mirada, 2004 Danza del Corazon, with La Luz, 2007 The Blues, 2007 The Blues-Parte 2, 2007 Bella Madrid, 2008 Soñando barcos..., 2009 La Virtud del Día, with Hugo Diz, 2009 Abandoneado, 2010 A su Aire, 2010 La Canción del Mundo, 2011 11 (Vidas), with Alfredo Lichter, 2011 Aire Fresco (Nebbia-Homer-Ingaramo), 2012 En Medio de los Hombres, with Facundo Cabral, 2012 Colegio Horizontes - Vamos a Escribir una Canción, 2013 Film Music Songbook, 2014 Aire Fresco 2014, 2014 Canto de la Luna, 2016 Archivo Jobim, with Silvina Garré, 2016 Rodar (50 Años de Rock Argentino), with Pez, 2017 Amigos del Litoral, with Los Núñez & Cacho Bernal, 2017 Canciones de Tucumán a Rosario, with Leopoldo Deza, 2018 Alma, 2018 Siempre en Sábado, 2020 Cuadernos del Cine Francés de los 60, 2021 Nunca Encontraré una Casa Como la que Hay en Mí, 2021 Cuadernos de Apuntes Sonoros, 2022 La Suite Rosarina, with Adrián Abonizio, 2022 Temporada 75 Parte I: Silbando en el amanecer, 2023 Temporada 75 Parte II: Serenidad, 2024