Abdias - Forró em Petrolina & Botão Variado from Botão Variado - CBS 1975

Abdias - Forró em Petrolina from Botão Variado - CBS 1975

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Abdias - Botão Variado from Botão Variado - CBS 1975

Click on the video above to play the song.

iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/X0fcAkSl010

Abdias blew the doors off on Botão Variado. Forró em Petrolina had it all: a catchy riff, gutsy delivery and great production. The song was written by the illustrious performer / songwriter team Dominguinhos and Anastácia. They recorded at least one version of it, but Abdias's casual, off-the-cuff, rip-roaring take is definitive. There is nothing like a tight band in a good room. The audible clicking and clacking sounds are the buttons on Abdias's oito baixos accordion, which was usually buried in the mix.  The 'noise' adds a bit of intimacy. In an era of overly clean recordings (which started in the 80s with forró), Forró em Petrolina is proof that ambient noise, or noise in general, can add a lot of life to a record. The song references the city of Petrolina, nestled in western Pernambuco off of the São Francisco river. For some reason, the riff reminded me of a sea chanty. I would have sworn that the song was about the ocean when I first heard it. Botão Variado (Bau – Ivan Bulhões) is a driving instrumental from the same LP.

Abdias dos Oito Baixos & CBS direção artística

Osvaldo Oliveira - Fruteiro Ta Matinha from Secretária do Diabo - CBS 1967

Osvaldo Oliveira - Fruteiro Ta Matinha from Secretária do Diabo - CBS 1967

Click on the video above to play the song.

iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/SEN9kwidQkM

Secretária do Diabo, from 1967, is a classic crown jewel from the golden age of Abdias / Direção Artística 60s/70s CBS forró. Secretária do Diabo is considered by many to be Osvaldo Oliveira's artistic peak, featuring one of the best album covers in the history of forró. The title track was famously first recorded by Jackson do Pandeiro on O Cabra Da Peste in 1966. Fruteiro Ta Matinha (Osvaldo Oliveira – Fernando Silva) is my favorite Oliveira song. It's an exceptional example of 60s pop glory.

The Devil's Danish Modern desk reappeared on at least 2 later CBS album covers. Was the desk full of black magic? Was the desk ultimately a curse for those unlucky forró souls? Was it a coincidence that it haunted so many forró LP covers? Was it a low budget hunk of office furniture? Hopefully, Osvaldo made a reasonable deal with the man downstairs and I wonder... who ultimately ended up with the Devil's Danish Modern desk?

CBS Presents... the same desk on multiple album covers. The Devil's Desk (A Mesa Do Diabo)

Osvaldo Oliveira (with secretary) from Secretária do Diabo

Geraldo Correia - No Forró Do Seu Vava from Agora Vai - SOM 1977

Geraldo Correia - No Forró Do Seu Vava from Agora Vai - SOM 1977

Click on the video above to play the song.

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No Forró Do Seu Vava is hidden away on the mostly instrumental 1977 album Agora Vai, by the illustrious Geraldo Correia. His career dates back to at least the early 60s, with a string of LPs on Polydor. Geraldo rubbed shoulders and even wrote songs with some of the greatest composers of the genre, including Jackson do Pandeiro. No Forró Do Seu Vava earns a 10 on the earworm scale. I whistle this one for days after hearing it. Get down with the funky throb.

A recent picture of Geraldo Correia.