The original core members of PFM were Franco Mussida (guitars, vocals), Flavio Premoli (keyboards), Luciano Dovesi (bass), who preceded Giorgio Piazza (bass), and Franz Di Cioccio (drums, vocals).
They came together in the mid-1960s while playing together as backup musicians for many different Italian pop, rock and folk singers such as Lucio Battisti, Mina, Adriano Celentano and Fabrizio De André.
They appeared on many recordings for other artists during this period and quickly established themselves as top players on the Italian scene before forming the group 'I quelli' (deliberately ungrammatical, roughly translates to 'The Them', or 'Those Guys') in 1968.
I Quelli released one album and some successful Italian singles.

Premiata Forneria Marconi was officially formed in Milan in 1970 when the members of I Quelli met Mauro Pagani from the group Dalton.
Pagani helped the group expand their sound to include violin and flute.
By this time they were already highly experienced musicians who could play the kind of complex progressive heavy rock played by the leading English and American groups.
Their early live performances included songs by groups such as King Crimson and Jethro Tull.
Other early influences included Chicago, Ekseption, and The Flock.

After rejecting Isotta Fraschini (an Italian car maker) as a name the group finally settled on Pagani's suggestion, 'Forneria Marconi' (meaning 'Marconi Bakery'), borrowed from the sign of a shop in the small town of Chiari, near Brescia.
However, record producer and friend Alessandro Colombini suggested the name was not strong enough, so the title 'Premiata' (award-winning) was added.
Some objected that 'Premiata Forneria Marconi' was too long a name, but the group's philosophy stated that the more difficult to remember a band's name, the more difficult it was to forget it.
Italian progressive bands tended to have long names back then (Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno, etc.),
and so they were usually referred to as 'La Premiata', and later 'PFM'.
The original core members of PFM were Franco Mussida (guitars, vocals), Flavio Premoli (keyboards), Luciano Dovesi (bass), who preceded Giorgio Piazza (bass), and Franz Di Cioccio (drums, vocals). They came together in the mid-1960s while playing together as backup musicians for many different Italian pop, rock and folk singers such as Lucio Battisti, Mina, Adriano Celentano and Fabrizio De André. They appeared on many recordings for other artists during this period and quickly established themselves as top players on the Italian scene before forming the group 'I quelli' (deliberately ungrammatical, roughly translates to 'The Them', or 'Those Guys') in 1968. I Quelli released one album and some successful Italian singles.
Premiata Forneria Marconi was officially formed in Milan in 1970 when the members of I Quelli met Mauro Pagani from the group Dalton. Pagani helped the group expand their sound to include violin and flute. By this time they were already highly experienced musicians who could play the kind of complex progressive heavy rock played by the leading English and American groups. Their early live performances included songs by groups such as King Crimson and Jethro Tull. Other early influences included Chicago, Ekseption, and The Flock.
After rejecting Isotta Fraschini (an Italian car maker) as a name the group finally settled on Pagani's suggestion, 'Forneria Marconi' (meaning 'Marconi Bakery'), borrowed from the sign of a shop in the small town of Chiari, near Brescia. However, record producer and friend Alessandro Colombini suggested the name was not strong enough, so the title 'Premiata' (award-winning) was added. Some objected that 'Premiata Forneria Marconi' was too long a name, but the group's philosophy stated that the more difficult to remember a band's name, the more difficult it was to forget it. Italian progressive bands tended to have long names back then (Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno, etc.), and so they were usually referred to as 'La Premiata', and later 'PFM'.
Premiata Forneria Marconi