Murple are one of Italian progressive rock’s most charming hidden gems — a Rome quartet, named after an imaginary penguin, whose sole 1970s album tells that penguin’s story across two side-long suites of melodic, keyboard-led prog. Overlooked when it appeared, “Io Sono Murple” has since been rediscovered as one of the genre’s loveliest one-shot treasures.

The short version

Formed in Rome in the early 1970s, Murple made just one album of the era, “Io Sono Murple” (1974) — a concept work about a penguin who leaves Antarctica for the human world, told through two long, continuous suites of classically tinged symphonic prog. Led by the keyboards of Pier Carlo Zanco, melodic and richly textured, it flopped at the time thanks to poor promotion, but is now treasured as a minor classic of RPI.

Rome, the early 1970s: a band named after a penguin

Murple came together in Rome in the early 1970s, when bassist Mario Garbarino and drummer Duilio Sorrenti, friends since their school days, joined forces with the conservatory-trained keyboardist Pier Carlo Zanco and guitarist Pino Santamaria. The band’s curious name has an equally curious origin: an American friend of theirs claimed to talk to an invisible penguin called Murple, and the group, delighted by the idea, not only took the name but built their whole album around the creature, even performing with an inflatable penguin on stage. Their album was recorded around 1973 but, passed between record labels, only appeared in 1974.

Melodic, keyboard-led symphonic prog

Murple played melodic, classically rooted symphonic prog, led from the front by Pier Carlo Zanco’s keyboards — piano, organ and synthesizer — with Pino Santamaria’s guitar weaving around them. Theirs was a richly textured, atmospheric sound that ebbed and flowed like a symphony, alternating lush, pastoral passages with heavier rock outbursts and the occasional jazzy touch. More melodic and gentle than some of their countrymen, and built around a single, story-telling concept, the music drew comparisons to Camel’s “The Snow Goose” as well as to Genesis and ELP — yet Murple followed a path very much their own.

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Io Sono Murple

The band’s only album, “Io Sono Murple” (“I Am Murple”, 1974), is a concept work spread across two side-long suites, each divided into six movements. It tells the tale of Murple the penguin, who, bored with his unchanging life in Antarctica, sets off for the world of humans, only to be captured and shut away in a zoo — a story carried as much by the music’s shifting moods as by its sparing, slightly naive lyrics. Beautifully packaged with a fantasy cover and lyric insert, it should have found an audience, but its German label did almost nothing to promote it, and a delayed release left it overlooked. Rediscovered in the prog revival, it is now prized as one of the genre’s hidden gems.

Album by album

One melodic, keyboard-led gem of symphonic RPI. Tap the title for its guide.

The players and after

Murple were a quartet of fine, experienced musicians: keyboardist Pier Carlo Zanco, guitarist Pino Santamaria, bassist Mario Garbarino and drummer Duilio Sorrenti. They played the major festivals of the day, including the Villa Pamphili Pop Festival in Rome, and prepared a second album that was never released, before disbanding when their label wound down its pop division. Its members went on to busy musical lives — Zanco and Sorrenti both working with Angelo Branduardi, and Sorrenti playing with many leading Italian artists — and decades later three of them reunited to record again. But it is the album of 1974 for which Murple are loved.

Where to start

There is only one album to start with, and it is well worth it: “Io Sono Murple” (1974). Let its two suites unfold and its melodic, keyboard-driven beauty reveals itself — by turns lush, pastoral and rocking, and quietly captivating. For lovers of melodic, classically inflected Italian prog, it is a delightful discovery.

Why they still matter

Murple matter as a perfect example of just how much treasure lies in the byways of Italian prog. A one-album band named after an imaginary penguin, overlooked in their day and undone by a careless label, they nonetheless made a record of real melodic beauty and charm — a story-telling symphonic suite that has outlived its obscurity to win a devoted following. For anyone exploring beyond the famous names of RPI, “Io Sono Murple” is exactly the kind of gem that makes the journey worthwhile.

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