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Saturday, September 21, 2019

Walter Damasceno - Maria Do Amparo (baião) from Columbia 78rpm (1950s)

Walter Damasceno and Ary Lobo represented an interesting era in Northeastern Brazilian music. Compared to some of the softer baião singers who recorded middle-of-the-road music, Damasceno and Lobo sounded modern and vital. The United States had a similar period in the 1950s. 50s pop had a marshmallow quality until what we now call rhythm and blues and upbeat country and western helped shape a new vitality for the music. While Ary Lobo's career continued until his death in 1980, Damasceno disappeared in the early 1960s.

Both Damasceno and Lobo lived through a time when the 78rpm was fading and vinyl was on the rise. Damasceno's 78s seem to be rarer than Lobos from this period, depending on the label. Odeon 78s are nearly impossible to find, but most appeared on his lone Odeon LP. He has a short stack of 78s on Columbia and a rare one on CBS. 

Damasceno and Lobo also recorded songs listed as rojão (the a side of this 78), but this does not seem to be a distinct rhythmic form. Songs weren't usually listed this way after the early 1960s. Rojão may simply be slang for upbeat baião or forró tunes.

The tuba sounds amazing. 

Walter Damasceno - Maria Do Amparo (baião) from Columbia 78rpm (1950s)

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