Ary Lobo - Deixa A Onda Passar & O Vendedor De Sururú from Quem é o Campeão? - RCA 1966

Ary Lobo - Deixa A Onda Passar from Quem é o Campeão? - RCA 1966

Click on the video above to play the song.

iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/FbxUlzf9cjE

Ary Lobo - O Vendedor De Sururú from Quem é o Campeão? - RCA 1966

Click on the video above to play the song.

iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/ZyOCrbIif2k

This week, we re-enter the wonderful world of Ary Lobo with a super rare LP, this time from 1966. My previous Ary Lobo post featured a song from Ary’s first full length LP, Último Pau De Arara (in the short-lived 10” format), from 1958. Although songs from that LP have appeared on CD and LP compilations, it has never been reissued in its entirety. I may be mistaken, because Ary’s catalog is so fragmented, but songs from Quem é o Campeão? have never been compiled or reissued at any time.

Like Jackson do Pandeiro, Ary Lobo had the ability to stretch his talent beyond basic forró and baião.  Deixa A Onda Passar (labeled ‘samba’ on the back sleeve - written by Assumpção Corrêa & José Lima) & O Vendedor De Sururú (labeled ‘sambaião’ on the back sleeve - written by Jaime Silva & Neuza Teixeira) were pleasant surprises when I first heard them because the sound leaned towards jazz and samba. The distortion on Lobo's voice is more noticeable on this album, although it was common on his records. It stands out on Quem é o Campeão?, especially on O Vendedor De Sururú, especially as the song builds. Soul distorts microphones.


LPs from Brazil in the 50s and 60s often labeled the genre of each song next to the song title on the back of the LP sleeve. The description of sambaião, for O Vendedor De Sururú, seemed to suggest that Ary was testing the waters with a new hybrid musical mash up of samba and baião. Regardless of what the music was labeled as, both of these songs were exceptional examples of prime, sophisticated Brazilian music from 1966.  

Quem é o Campeão? was Ary Lobo’s last RCA LP. Ary Lobo recorded 9 LPs and a number of 78s and 45s (compactos) for RCA between ‘58 (possibly before) - ‘66. Although he recorded for lots of other labels until 1980, his most collectible work is his early period. Currently, there is not an available discography (discografia) containing a complete list of his 78 and 45 rpm (compacto) releases.

I am baffled that 5 of the 9 RCA LPs were reissued on CD and 4 were not. The gaps are not chronological: 1958, 1960, 1964 and 1966. Are the tapes missing?  Did RCA consider these albums less important? Lobo’s artistic prowess remained intact, so it seems unlikely that these releases were considered unworthy based on artistic grounds. Perhaps one day, an archivist will be able to snoop around the RCA library and get some answers. Who knows? If my Portuguese improves, maybe I will do it. 

 

Ary Lobo -Quem é o Campeão? - 1966: Calm and cool on his last RCA LP cover.