Digging in Brazil, Part 3: MPB Unplugged

This is one of the more interesting records I picked up on this last trip. I've never seen it before and never heard of it either. It's the kind of record that only someone really geeky like me could enjoy as it includes some rare performances by some of my favorite artists arguably from one of the greatest years for Musica Popular Brasileiro (MPB) . . . 1972. This is one of those annual recap records documenting the biggest news stories in short segments, including a small bit on Caetano and Gil returning from exile, but musically that's the only good part on disc 1. Thankfully disc 2 is chock full of interviews with famous musicians with something like 20 different artists ranging from bossa nova legends Tom Jobim, Johnny Alf and Carlo Lyra to MPB stars Milton Nascimento, Gal Costa and Edu Lobo.


Not only are there interviews, but in many cases the interviewer asks the artist to perform something live in the studio, sometimes accompanied by guitar or maybe just a matchbox for percussion. I've picked my favorites from these interviews for my nerdiest readers.



Erasmo Carlos - Quem Mandou Levar (Samba da Preguiça)
This one is the real treasure in my opinion. It doesn't get much better than Erasmo accompanying himself on guitar in the prime of his career. I don't think he ever recorded this song elsewhere. Anyone know if anyone else ever recorded this songs and if so, what's the actual title?

Paulinho da Costa - Gaurdei Minha Viola
Here we have a Paulinho da Viola classic with his sweet as honey voice and accompanied only by some matchbox percussion. This is the pure essence of Paulinho da Viola.

Gal Costa - Untitled Song
Gal sound drunk and/or high in the interview section, but this little song is sweet.








Caetano Veloso - Tropicália (Live)
This is the one interesting musical section from the news of 1972 from Disc 1. I like his 1972 reinterpretation of Tropicalia.

Luiz Gonzaga - Accordeon Solo
Man, can Luiz wail on accordeon. I wish somebody who makes beats would cut this up and make something cool out of it. Holler if you want a wav file and I'll hook you up.







Rosinha da Valença - De Conversa Em Conversa
Maybe Rosinha recorded this lovely number on one of her albums, but I recognize this tune from João Gilberto's 1969 album recorded in Mexico. Nice stuff.











Milton Nascimento - Untitled Song
I was marginally dissappointed with this one just because I would think that Milton in 1972 would be 24/7 mind-blowing. I think this is a version of another song he does, but can't place it. Little help people?








Edu Lobo - Candeias
Wow. Really digging this one. I guess Edu wrote it, but I know it from the lovely Gal & Caetano album "Domingo".

Tim Maia Mania - Raridades, Part 2

Back with some more Tim Maia rareness, this time from a little later in his career and again limited to "covers" or guest vocal spots for the Brazilian Soul Brother Number One. At the end of last "episode" our hero was on the verge of becoming one of Brazil's biggest pop stars. His first four albums sold extremely well and he was regularly sending singles into the Brazilian top-40 orbit. So much so that his style and even his songs were getting play from other established and up and coming artists.

Brazilian Boys - Nossa Senhora do Tim
The Brazilian Boys were a group of mostly white dudes playing portuguese language cover versions of Simon & Garfunkel and Johnny Nash and dabbling in the dancable "Samba Rock" style coming out of Sao Paulo. Their best song from this album (I believe their first, though they do have another one) is a cover/adaptation of Tim Maia's "Salve Nossa Senhora" from his second album. They basically cover the song but add the line "que Tim Maia falou" which means "what Tim Maia said."

During Tim's golden years he declined nearly every offer to guest on other people's a semi-official position based on two factors: 1) Tim's ego was too large to play second-fiddle to anyone, and 2) Tim had his own style that no one else really came close to and he was notoriously difficult to work with. So it was only at the beginning of his career, when he needed the boost, and as his career started losing steam that he teamed up with other artists for some notable duets or collaborations.

Rosana - Chegou a Hora (with Tim Maia)
Thanks to Elan aka DJ E-Zinho for this one. I had never even heard of this 1979 collaboration and the otherwise exhaustive Nelson Motta book makes no mention of it either. This was from Rosana's first album and despite being a fairly major recording artist, this album is poorly documented online, hence the poor cover image. It makes some sense that Tim would be on this recording as the players, producers and song-writers on her album were basically the same people on his albums from the period: Lincoln Olivetti, Robson Jorge, Tiberio Gaspar, etc. And the sound is pure Lincoln Olivetti & Robson Jorge - the Quincy Jones of late 70s and early 80s R&B. What is strange about this is that initially Tim only agreed to guest on songs of his close friends, first Fabio and Hyldon and then (as we shall see below) Erasmo Carlos . . . but, Rosana?!? He must have had the hots for Rosana, or was financially in pinch, which was usually the reason for any collaboration during the second half of his career (1980 and on . . .)

Erasmo Carlos - Alem do Horizonte (with Tim Maia)
Erasmo's last decent album features the Brazilian king of rock dueting on every track with a veritable who's who of Brazilian superstars. Tim joins Erasmo on a classic Roberto & Erasmo composition that once again shows obvious signs of Olivettiana. The sounds might be a bit dated, but I love the horns and Tim really does wonders on this track, making Erasmo sound like the guest vocalist.

Check back soon for some deep cuts from the man himself.