The artist Eliana is new to me. It is possible that this is a different spelling of the female singer Eliane. The earliest recorded work that I can find from "Eliane" is five years after the release of this coletânea, so it is possible that this is a one-off. São João Na Ribeira is a fine example of the arrasta-pé, a galloping style which literally means "foot drag." I believe that this applies to the dance step more than the rhythm. Perhaps more will surface from Eliana in the future.
O Vendedor De Biscoito by Paulo Tito is a legendary rare forró LP. The legend is that this was never supposed to be Tito's LP. Originally, this was supposed to be a Gordurinha album.
Interestingly, according to notes made on Tito's Baiano De Guanabara page on forroemvinil, Tito claims that he fell into the genre by accident. The singer was asked to collaborate on an LP with Gordurinha in the style of baião and forró. Gordurinha had to back out and the project continued without him. Quite accidentally, Paulo Tito became a forró recording star (sort of). Although he was assisted by Luiz Gonzaga in his early career, Tito thought of himself primarily as a romantic singer.
Paulo Tito carries the distinction of having some of the rarest forró LPs, thanks to the high quality of the material and the limited availability of vintage vinyl. It is not entirely clear why this is. It is likely that the negligible number of LPs were pressed of the 3 solo records that Tito recorded in the 60s.* A bit of speculation... Perhaps, because Tito considered himself an outsider to the genre or because his record companies considered him an outsider, he/they did not promote his work as heavily as acts that were trying to make a career out of forró. It is possible that the military coup in 1964 also slowed his career. Although he continued recording, the elusive early 60s material is what gave Tito his legendary status in forró.
Paulo Tito - O Vendedor De Biscoito - MusiColor (1960)
After several glory years of beautifully produced forró masterpiece LPs on Philips, the remaining stable of Philips stars were relegated to a subsidiary label called Fontana. Unlike the albums on Philips, Fontana recordings seemed to be recorded and mixed quickly. In the UK and US, Fontana was a budget label. The same can be said about Fontana in Brazil. In some respects, Fontana was a holding tank for future CBS greats like Jackson do Pandeiro and Messias Holanda (sometimes spelled Hollanda). Hollanda makes a gutsy guest vocal appearance on Zé Calixto's Zóio Medonho. Zé Calixto & Messias Hollanda - Zóio Medonho from Uma Sanfona De Respeito - Fontana (1969)
Zé Calixto & Messias Hollanda - Uma Sanfona De Respeito - Fontana (1969)
