[1] Piero Ciampi was born in Livorno, on Via Roma, facing the birthplace of Amedeo Modigliani, from his father's second marriage, a leather merchant.
[2] During the Second World War, following the bombings on the city, the Ciampi family evacuated to the countryside near Pisa, returning to Livorno only several years after the end of the conflict.
He performed his military service in Pesaro, where, during free evenings, he played in local venues with three fellow soldiers, including Gian Franco Reverberi.
Later, he moved to Paris, where he started shaping his own musical style characterized by "twilight atmospheres, sparse verses, pathos," and performed with a hoarse and cavernous voice.
Nevertheless, he made a name for himself in some Parisian cultural circles where they began to call him "l'italianó";[6] in this context, he met Louis-Ferdinand Céline and became an admirer of Georges Brassens.