Robert Caruso

Robert Caruso is a singer-songwriter-guitarist from London, UK. He started in Italy in his early teens as Rob Leer, touring all over Italy and appearing on TV, radio programs and films. 3 documentaries about him were broadcast on Italian TV while Robert was still a teenager. Robert moved to London for good aged 19, befriending ex-Velvet Underground Nico, Johnny Thunders and Stiv Bators. After leading the band The Electric Kids, he started performing under his real name, mostly solo and acoustic, playing Dobro slide guitar and rack-harmonica. He signed with Acetone Records and recorded the album Robert Caruso. Robert then toured all over Britain and in France, Germany, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Italy and the US throughout the 1990s. He received rave reviews in the music press for his live performances. He played as opening act for Rock acts like Johnny Thunders, Steve Marriott, Wilko Johnson, Alan Vega, and American bluesmen such as Ray Charles, BB King, John Lee Hooker, Pops Staples, Taj Mahal, John Hammond, Louisiana Red and many others in London's clubs and Blues Festivals throughout Europe. Later Robert had a break, studied at UCL (BA, MA) and wrote the poetry collections 'Transcendence' (2003) and 'Sublimations' (2005).

In 2009-2017 Robert performed regularly in London and abroad and got some great reviews, with some writers hailing him as 'The King Of Rock and Roll". He sang with The Yardbirds who considered him as a possible front-man, and also with Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana from Elvis Presley's original band.
In 2012 he released the album The Best-kept Secret In Rock'n'Roll. His "records" are released as downloads on iTunes and all other major digital music platforms and as CDs on amazon.com. His recordings and live repertoire contain much variety and became popular with digital radio listeners on the internet worldwide. Robert kept performing live in London, sometimes solo and also abroad with his 3-piece backing band The Shades. His singles so far are: Red Pills (03/2013) Sugar Baby Doll (08/2013) When I Drink My Pint (12/2013) Get Crazy (02/2014) his best-selling song I Don't Want To Fall In Love With You (06/2014) Nobody's Girl (09/2014) You're Driving Me Insane (02/2015) Sooner Or Later (05/15) Shallow (07/2015) Nowhere Fast (10/15) Diabolical (06/2016) Burn Baby Burn (02/2017) Real Cool Cat (05/2017). In 2017 -2019 Robert released three covers: Heroin by Lou Reed/The Velvet Underground, followed by his cover of Jacques Brel's Amsterdam (11/2018) with his own English lyrics and legendary Rock producer Kim Fowley's Born To Make You Cry (11/2019) after Fowley broadcast Robert's songs on US Radio and reached #1 in ReverbNation's UK's Indie Rock charts.
His albums The Best-kept Secret In Rock'n'Roll (11/2012), Love And Death (10/2014, which includes Boulevard Of Broken Dreams originally written for Nico, who passed away before she could record it) and Three Minutes To Midnight (09/2016) are in "video format" and can be watched as films, something that no other artist has done to date, on YouTube's Robert Caruso (Official) channel. On his albums Robert usually plays all instruments - vocals, guitars, piano, organ, synthesizers, bass, drums, pedal steel guitar, harmonica - and produces them too.

Robert's latest album is When My Train Comes, an acoustic, bluesy album recorded live in the studio with a 4-piece acoustic band and released 11/2020. Videos of songs Downtown, The Distance, Baby I Wonder and a cover of Robert Johnson's Last Fair Deal Gone Down got Robert to #2 in ReverbNation's UK Indie Rock charts.
His latest release is the single Days Of Wine And Roses (07/2021).
Robert's following is always growing, with the recognition as a compelling and charismatic live performer and his originality as songwriter and guitarist with an extensive and varied repertoire which combine supersonic Rock and Roll with lyrics about a desire for transcendence through love, drugs and spirituality. Some critics wrote of Robert Caruso as an iconic Rock'n'Roll performer for the 21th century: a streetwise, "cool" attitude that goes back to '50s Rockers and Punk Rock, using influences from the Blues, early Rock'n'Roll, the 1960s, Garage Rock, Funk and Post-Punk with a "Pop sensibility" and lyrics which include "torch songs", Gothic imagery and sometimes a "social commentary", with a sound characterized by his "buzz-saw guitar", metronome-like drums and funky basslines. Likewise his look made of black leather, shades, cowboy shirts and iconic instruments like his Vox Teardrop guitar and '60s Vox organ has its roots in the best Rock'n'Roll tradition. Robert Caruso's music is Rock'n'Roll in the widest sense of the term.
Some writers described him as a bona-fide visionary artist; with professional management and the right industry support his chances to obtain mainstream success would be assured.
There is a Robert Caruso (Official) channel on YouTube, a profile on Spotify and Pages on Facebook, ReverbNation, Twitter, Soundcloud, LinkedIn and internet digital radios like Jango.
Bio, songs, videos, photos, reviews, poetry and links can be found on https://www.robertcaruso.site/