John Frusciante in the City of Music
RAVELLO – Once more, the city of music confirms itself a good retreat for V.I.P.s of international fame. It is now a well know fact that members of the international jet set find refuge in these parts to escape from the limelight, assured of the fact that they will enjoy total anonymity. The last one to appear in Ravello’s guest book is the italian-american John Frusciante, the guitarist of the Californian band The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Frusciante has reached the coastal town to meet his friend Woody Harrelson, the Texan actor who has been residing in Ravello for some time, since the latter has become a father for the third time on the 3rd of June at a sumptuous villa in the coastal town.
“I didn’t know Ravello – starts Frusciante – and it is thanks to Woody that I’m here. My paternal great-grandfather was Italian, and my parents often spoke to me with nostalgia about Italy and Benevento. He was an immigrant who departed from here with many hopes, and a carton suitcase. This is all I know about my legacy to Italy.†In fact Frusciante never knew anything else about his origins, of the Sannio, of Campania, and of the story of his family. A homonym (1, see below) of his, Giovanni Frusciante from Benevento, who has been working in Ravello since a year, has taken steps to rectify this. When Giovanni presented himself to his more famous ‘cousin’, the latter could not believe his ears. It took an identity card to clarify the situation with the artist, who then literally interrogated Giovanni throughout the whole evening, forcing him to open the family album written by their great-grandfather Generoso Frusciante, who left wife and children at the beginning of the war seeking fortune on the other side of the Atlantic, where he had a ‘second’ family.
During his three-day stay at Ravello, Frusciante, together with his partner Emily and his inseparable Fender Stratocaster, came to appreciate the place a lot. Like his colleague Richie Sambora (guitarist with Bon Jovi), he was unable to resist the temptations of the Rossellini’s restaurant at Palazzo Sasso, where he was residing, and where he was able to give free rein to his passion for good wine by putting to the test Nando Papa, one of the best sommeliers of the ‘belpaese’ (2, see below), choosing a vintage bottle of Solaia Super Tuscan, which were produced between 1990 and 1997. These same years were the most difficult and tormenting for Frusciante, who first left the group (1992) to return in 1998 after an extensive detoxification program, having overdosed eight times.
Not exactly the life of a Swiss college student the one he lived, but who, like Harrelson, mingled with the crows of Ravello with great ease, between a photo here and an autograph there. “I like Ravello, I’ve spent three very calm days here – stated Frusciante before leaving – This place transmits a lot of positive energy, and it is perhaps thanks to this vacation that I discovered the value of belongingness and the value of one’s origins. I’m proud of having a bit of Italy inside me, and I will surely return whenever I can.†Last Tuesday the rock star returned to Brussels, where tonight he will meet the rest of the band to resume the worldwide ‘Stadium Arcadium’ tour, the latest success of the Los Angeles group. Those who know him do not exclude the possibility that backstage, he’ll have with him a bottle of Aglianico or Falanghina wine, strictly made in Sannio…
—Emiliano Amato
