| La prima cosa bella | |
| Cover: | La prima cosa bella (song).jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Nicola Di Bari |
| Album: | Nicola Di Bari |
| B-Side: | ...e lavorare |
| Released: | February 1970 |
| Label: | RCA Italiana |
| Prev Title: | Eternamente |
| Prev Year: | 1969 |
| Next Title: | Vagabondo |
| Next Year: | 1970 |
"La prima cosa bella" (Italian for "The first beautiful thing") is a song composed by Nicola Di Bari and Mogol. The song ranked second at the twenth edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, with a double performance by Nicola Di Bari and Ricchi e Poveri.[1] The Di Bari's version peaked at first place on the Italian hit parade.[2]
Lucio Battisti, heard the song, offered to Di Bari to record a demo, in which he played the guitar, being accompanied by Franz Di Cioccio, Damiano Dattoli, Andrea Sacchi and Flavio Premoli, musicians who often collaborated with Battisti for his recordings.[3] The arranger Gianfranco Reverberi eventually decided to use this version as the base, just adding the string orchestra conducted by the Reverberi.[3] The song was initially planned to be performed at the Sanremo Music Festival by Di Bari together with Gianni Morandi, who after recording an audition eventually gave up.[4]
In 2008 the Ricchi e Poveri's version was included in the musical score of the Paolo Sorrentino's film Il Divo.[5] In 2010 the song named an award-winning film directed by Paolo Virzì; a new version of the song performed by Italian-Moroccan singer Malika Ayane was included in the soundtrack of the film[6] and reached the fifth place on the Italian hit parade.[7]
| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Argentina (CAPIF)[8] | 8 |
| Italy (Musica e dischi)[9] | 1 |