Pappo
" 'Norberto Aníbal Napolitano' " (Buenos Aires, March 10, 1950- Luján, Buenos Aires province; February 25, 2005), popularly known as " 'Pappo' ", was an Argentine rock musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter . He was and is one of the most influential figures in Argentine music, and in addition to being one of the forerunners of Argentine rock. Besides, he was one of the first to venture into heavy metal in his country and blues of the same. He is considered by various musicians in his country, by the public and by the specialized press as the best guitarist in the entire history of  argentine rock, while B. B. King considered him one of the best guitarists of all time. He was a member of important Argentine rock bands such as Los Abuelos de la Nada, Engranaje, Los Gatos and Billy Bond y La Pesada del Rock and Roll. He also founded the legendary blues rock band, Pappo's Blues. Another hard rock: Aeroblus in the 1970s, and the historic heavy metal Riff band in the 1980s. He also founded a band in United States called The Widowmakers. His pseudonym arose from a deformation of an abbreviation of his surname (Napo), which was mutating  until it reached the stylized Pappo. Another nickname with which he was popularly known was " Carpo ", alluding to the dominance he possessed when moving the carpus of his hand to execute Guitar. Likewise, the popular guitarist B. B. King nicknamed him "The Cheeseman", due to a gift made by Pappo to the American guitarist, consisting of an Argentine cheese and a red wine. Biography. Pappo was born in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. Since his youth he showed interest in blues and rock 'n' roll music, his early influences being The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Freddie King, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix , Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, and Manal. During the late 1960s and through the 1970s, he was a pivotal part of the Argentine rock scene. Pappo started playing as an occasional guitarist for Manal but soon joined Los Abuelos de la Nada and later Los Gatos, with whom he recorded two albums in 1969 and 1970. He formed his own band Pappo's Blues in 1970, releasing a first album in 1971 The band was also part of the 1973 rock documentary "Hasta que se ponga el sol", filmed during the third edition of the historic "B.A. Rock" festival. During the  first era of Pappo's Blues in the 1970s, there were constant line-up changes with Pappo being the only permanent member of the band and main songwriter. Between 1975 and 1980, Pappo lived alternately in England and Argentina. In the United Kingdom he made contact with new genres such as punk rock and the new wave of British heavy metal. He formed the power trio Aeroblus in 1977 with ex-Manal bassist Alejandro Medina and Brazilian drummer Castello Jr. Pappo relocated to Argentina permanently in 1980 and formed the band Riff. In 1990, he appeared as a guest guitarist  in Sandra Mihanovich and Celeste Carballo's album "Mujer contra mujer". The musician returned with Pappo's Blues in the 1990s, alternating the activity of this group with eventual reunions of Riff. Pappo released a solo album with a classic blues and hard rock sound, "Buscando un amor" in 2003, which turned out to be his last record. Pappo died in February 2005 in a motorcycle accident. The municipality of Buenos Aires dedicated a monument in his honour. Discography. Pappo's discography encompasses almost four decades, from the late 60s with Los Gatos and Los Abuelos de la Nada until  his death in 2005.