In April 2015 I posted a blog titled Why I wrote Angel with Drumsticks http://anunlikelyone.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/why-i-wrote-angel-with-drumsticks.html.
As explained in that blog, Angel with Drumsticks is a true story. The
information was drawn from recollections of the band’s founder and leader,
Angelo Ferrari as well as extensive research. It is a story you won’t find factually
represented on the internet in full.
Since publishing the book there have been some interesting responses to
the story.
The subtitle of Angel with Drumsticks is The rock that shook the foundations of the Vatican and I think this
accurately sums up the series of events that followed the first performance of
La Messa Dei Giovani; the First Rock Mass.
The Catholic church has been under a lot of criticism in recent years
for its cover up of a variety of scandals and attitudes and, I guess, this book
could be seen is just another one. But, it needs to be remembered that, like so
many other scandals, it impacted on the lives of innocent followers.
Firstly, it has been interesting to note reactions of people reading
the back cover (see below). Some will eagerly purchase the book wanting to know
more about how a revered and long-standing institution has played with the
beliefs of its followers. Others, devout members, have scoffed at its claims
and even verbally abused me for publishing such “rubbish” and “lies”.
I am aware of at least one bookshop that refused to stock the book
based on its subject matter.
More extreme religiously zealous people have written abusive and
condemning comments on the Angel and the Brains Facebook page. ( https://www.facebook.com/Angel-and-the-Brains-116358388538911/)
and sent personally offensive emails. Some demanded the withdrawal of the book
from circulation.
I don’t know if the Vatican has seen or even heard of the book, but it
would surprise me if they were not aware of it. To my knowledge there has been
no comment or response to the claims.
I should also point out that many of the facts of the story have been
confirmed by other former band members on the Angel and the Brains Facebook
page and in personal emails.
If anyone would like to know more about the story they can contact me
by email on pam@pam.id.au.
Back cover
This is the story as it was told to the author by Angelo Ferrari,
drummer, singer and founder of the Italian Beat rock group Angel and the
Brains.
After recounting how the band was formed and its music ambitions, it
continues to tell the true story about the aftermath of La Messa Dei Giovani (La Messa).
La Messa was conceived to
fulfil the desires of the Vatican II to make the Catholic Church more appealing
to young people but, because of resulting bitter and vicious arguments within
the church and the media, the Vatican took a course of action that was inconsiderate, hurtful and cold hearted.
The story describes how these young musicians, who had responded to an
invitation from the church to perform the first rock mass in Rome had their
fledgling careers destroyed by the Vatican.
The reader will discover that many articles written in recent years are
wrong in their descriptions of what happened following La Messa and falsely acclaim the event as being a successful
innovation of the Catholic Church at the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment