We have to start from here, from the Jerry Lee Lewis “Great Balls of Fire”. It doesn’t matter If Max Panconi wears comfortable cotton bermuda or a double breasted suit made of Tasmania wool : he will tell you that It is better to eat well than taking a walk to Monte Senario. He will tell you that the wind in his hair doesn’t change his point of view; he will tell you that he saw the precious mosaics of Ravenna, but he was only a kid then. He will tell you that the amplifier’s valves are a good subject to talk about on the highway from Viareggio to Sarzana, and he will also tell you that generally he buys a guitar only If he really likes it. He will finally tell you that Max Panconi has been living inside of him for more than thirty years, and he does it for free. He will tell you all that with a serene and sharp eye. But, watch out! The cat may pee, but not on the blue suede shoes. And now sit down on the bank of the Mississippi and listen: the Steamer Nantchez sails the holy river to the bluesmen, and It leaves a cloud of swollen steam behind itself. We find Max here, seated on a bench, while he holds his guitar and he plays brief and crazy penthatonic scales. Consider this: they calculate that Max Panconi plays approximately 75.000 notes pro-capite per year!!! Such a good business for music production companies!Max lifts up his sweaty head: he beats the time on time with his heel. There’s mud all over and the air is heavy and humid. There’s also an old fisherman who blows his rotten harmonica. Max takes off his hat as a sign of respect and then he goes “Eccoli Diobbono!!!”. Instead we ask him what he is doing on the Mississippi bank with an old fisherman who plays an old rotten harmonica. Too late. Max Panconi has already left. In a cold winter morning, Max Panconi, 6 years old, writes a moving letter to Santa Claus: instead of a predictable and boring present, he asks for some good and precious suggestions about how to become a “Godfather” in Harlem or Chicago. Max Panconi waits for the answer for years. Meanwhile, waiting to organize a steady dirty business, he starts to listen to swing music. He buys hundreds of records by Ellington, Sinatra, Armstrong, Carosone, Patruno. Everytime he listens to that music he goes like “Minghia!”. The guitar was only a sword at that time, and who didn’t believe that, he was a pirate.Some years later still no answer from Santa Claus. Max decides he won’t be a Godfather. Secretly he starts to steal money from his mother’s purse. “I wanna be Americano, Americano, Americano” he explains to his mom; she grabs him by his ear and slaps him on his butt. Max Panconi was born in Italy and he doesn’t believe in Santa Claus anymore.