Genival Lacerda - Rojão do trapia from No Forró do Limoeiro - Tropicana (1965)

Rojão do trapia is from Genival Lacerda's first album from 1965. The Tropicana version a reissue. The original cover was less attractive, but featured the exact same tracks. Genival recorded some rare 78rpm records that predate this release. Most were featured on a rare LP called Tomaram O Meu Amor featuring most, but not all, of his 78s. 

Genival Lacerda - Rojão do trapia from No Forró do Limoeiro - Tropicana (1965)

Borrachinha - Canjica no Cordeiro from São João No Brejo Vol 2 - Philips (1965)

Borrachinha created some serious magic in the 1960s and earned enough love to share several coletânea (compilation) LPs with Jackson do Pandeiro on Philips in 1960s. Philips were, arguably, among the big 3 labels for forró in the 60s, along with RCA and CBS. Compilation LPs in Brazil almost always contained original music, unlike collections from the US or Europe. Borrachinha was on at least one magical LP, Alegria Do Norte, and multiple collections before disappearing by the late 1960s. A friend of mine swears that he once saw a Borrachinha solo album, but nothing has surfaced.

São João No Brejo Vol 2 - Philips (1965)

Trio Nordestino - Carta Ao Rio from Os Grandes Sucessos Do - Magazine (orig 1965)

This Trio Nordestino, not to be confused with the Trio Nordestino from Alagoas, released a number of strong LPs in the early 1960s that have I foolishly overlooked. Os Grandes Sucessos collects songs from their 1963, 1965 and 1966 LPs. My favorite track from this compilation is Carta Ao Rio. The song is a rip-roaring côco with a killer chorus, reminiscent of some of the best 1960s Ary Lobo tracks. 

Trio Nordestino - Os Grandes Sucessos Do - Magazine

Anastácia - Forró No Salão from Uai Uai & Anastácia No Tarrado - Continental (1965) & Disco Lar (1970)

Anastácia's early catalog features two records with nearly identical covers and nearly identical track listings, but there are variations between the 1965 Continental release, Anastácia No Tarrado, and the 1970 album, Uai... Uai. I can understand using the same cover, but varying the tracks is a bit maddening. This is fairly unusual for forró albums. The French label Sonodisc had a habit of releasing albums with similar covers and entirely different track listings. 

Forrófiá, Conselho da Umbigada, and Tá Nascendo Fio are only available in the original 1965 LP fully titled Anastácia No Torrado - Anastácia Com Conjunto É Côro. 

O Canoeiro, Assucena, and São João Está Chegando are exclusively available on the 1970 Disco Lar LP, Uai... Uai.

Forró No Salão is a brisk track featuring Anastácia's distinctive vocal. Mercifully, it appears on both version of this LP. 

Anastácia - Anastácia No Tarrado - Continental (1965)

Anastácia - Uai Uai - Disco Lar (1970)

Hélio Lacerda - São Jorge from Arrasta-Pé Em Caruaru - Mocambo (1960s)

Mocambo released amazing singles in the 1950s through the 1950s. Arrasta-Pé Em Caruaru is packed with good songs, including São Jorge from Hélio Lacerda and Só Gosto De Um Amor Só by Nerize Paiva, featured here in March of 2018. Although these songs were also released on vinyl as 33 1/3 speed 7" compacto singles, pressings were usually small and these might be impossibly rare if it wasn't for compilations like this one. 

Compilations like Pau De Sebo, started in 1968 by CBS, contained original material. It is possible that they wanted to offer a sampling of contemporary artists or didn't have a back catalog of forró to complete with other labels. Fontana released compilations with old and new material. Mocambo and Rozenblit consistently used material from their considerable back catalog. We are fortunate that they did. These are essential historical documents, especially when they featured 78rpm singles. Arrasta-Pé Em Caruaru is a strong LP, thanks to the number of strong songs. 

 Arrasta-Pé Em Caruaru - Mocambo (1960s)

Nerize Paiva - Só Gosto De Um Amor Só (côco) - Mocambo compacto (1965)

Só Gosto De Um Amor Só (côco) is a 1965 compacto from Nerize Paiva on the Mocambo label. The song also appeared on the Mocambo compilation LP: Arrasta-Pé Em Caruaru. Beautiful, soulful, gorgeously produced and nicely packaged, Só Gosto De Um Amor Só is a rare female-sung track from tough period in Brazilian history. Classic!

Nerize Paiva - Só Gosto De Um Amor Só (côco) - Mocambo compacto (1965)

Jacinto Silva - Côco Na Paraiba & Na Roça É Assim from Ritmo Explosivo - CBS (1965)

Jacinto Silva was one of the first forró artists to release a major album on CBS after Abdias came to the label in 1963. I am uncertain if Abdias is the artistic director for CBS forró at this point. He is not credited as Direção (essentially producer and artistic director) until Jacinto Silva's 1967 LP Só Era Eu, but Abdias and his band backs Silva on Ritmo Explosivo. Ritmo Explosivo was the first of three killer albums recorded by Jacinto Silva between 1965 and 1967. Cantando, his second album from 1965, was posted here. Silva continued to record for CBS through the mid-1970s, but subsequent CBS albums were shared with other artists. Silva also had scattered songs on compilations and released one compacto in 1968, previously posted here. 

It is interesting that Jacinto Silva's golden CBS period was between 1965-1967, because Jackson Do Pandeiro and Ary Lobo were attempting to mix samba into their music around 1965 and 1966, perhaps in an effort to diversify their audiences. Jacinto Silva recorded killer, unrelenting forró and never courted a genre shift. These albums would not be bested by another CBS artist until Jackson Do Pandeiro recorded O Dono Do Forró in 1971. In my opinion, O Dono Do Forró still reigns supreme as the greatest of all forró LPs, but Silva gives Jackson a run for his money and may be the primary artist keeping white hot energy going in the mid-1960s.

Jacinto Silva - Côco Na Paraiba from Ritmo Explosivo - CBS (1965)

Jacinto Silva - Na Roça É Assim from Ritmo Explosivo - CBS (1965)

Jacinto Silva - Ritmo Explosivo - CBS (1965)

Jacinto Silva & Trio Recife - Puxa O Fole Zé from Ritmo Explosivo - CBS (1965) & compacto simples - Maraca (1960s)

Jacinto Silva had a remarkable run of records on CBS in the mid to late 1960s on the Abdias-helmed CBS records in Brazil. Ritmo Explosivo (1965), Cantando (1965) and Só Era Eu (1967) may be the strongest series of forró albums, only bested by the king: Jackson Do Pandeiro. Ritmo Explosivo is a raucous barnstormer. Puxa O Fole Zé, composed by Silva, may be the wildest and most driving track on the album. I am pleased to feature two great versions. The second version is by Trio Recife on the exceptionally rare Maraca compacto. Trio Recife manage to increase fiery energy of Silva's version and nearly split microphones and speakers in the process. For some reason, I picture kids skipping rope to this one. I have been meaning to post this for two years and I am pleased as punch with this double whammy.

Jacinto Silva - Puxa O Fole Zé from Ritmo Explosivo - CBS (1965)

Trio Recife - Puxa O Fole Zé from compacto simples - Maraca (1960s)

Jacinto Silva - Ritmo Explosivo - CBS (1965)

Trio Recife - Puxa O Fole Zé from compacto simples - Maraca (1960s)

Jorge Veiga - Almerinda & Sétimo Céu from Samba + Samba = RCA Victor (1965)

From the moment Jorge Veiga's vocals kick in on Almerinda, you're hooked. Technically, both songs are samba and not forró. However, what Veiga was doing in the mid-1960s is similar in quality and sound to what Jackson do Pandeiro and Ary Lobo were producing at the same time. Interestingly, few forró artists flirted with samba after the mid-1960s. Artistically, I am always fond of stirring the pot. Crossover might be confusing for fans with closed minds, but it is often fruitful and beneficial to the music. 

Jorge Veiga - Almerinda from Samba + Samba = RCA Victor (1965) 

Jorge Veiga - Sétimo Céu from Samba + Samba = RCA Victor (1965) 

Jorge Veiga - Samba + Samba = RCA Victor (1965) 

Sirí do Forró - Passei Dos Trinta, Baião do Bambolé & Fui A Umbanda from Mandando Brasa - Continental (1965)

Sirí do Forró's Mandando Brasa is a scorcher. I have been humming these songs all week. The production sounds uncannily like mid-1960s Jackson do Pandeiro Philips Records albums. Mandando Brasa may be the best album that Jackson do Pandeiro never recorded. It was hard to cherry pick three tracks because there are so many exceptional tunes on this LP. Sirí's career is somewhat mysterious after Mandando Brasa. He went on to record an album in 1984, but I am not sure what he may have done in the 20 year gap between the two LPs. The artwork for Mandando Brasa was later nicked by MusiColor for Benedito Nunes' 1971 LP Forró Bom Danado.

Sirí do Forró - Passei Dos Trinta from Mandando Brasa - Continental (1965)

Sirí do Forró - Baião do Bambolé from Mandando Brasa - Continental (1965)

Sirí do Forró - Fui A Umbanda from Mandando Brasa - Continental (1965)

Sirí do Forró - Mandando Brasa - Continental (1965)

Os Caçulas Do Baião - Adeus Alagoas (Baião) from Novo Lampião - Cartaz (1965)

Kicking the sound and look of Luiz Gonzaga, Os Caçulas Do Baião were a fine band with a number of killer records. The group began recording during the 78 rpm era. Adeus Alagoas, meaning Farewell Alagoas, references a state in Northeastern Brazil that borders Pernambuco. I like the use of reverb on this recording, which gives the backing vocals a special intensity.

Os Caçulas Do Baião - Adeus Alagoas (Baião) from Novo Lampião - Cartaz (1965)

Os Caçulas Do Baião - Novo Lampião - Cartaz (1965)

Jacinto Silva - 6 selections from Cantando - CBS (1965)

Jacinto Silva - 6 selections from Cantando - CBS (1965)

I usually try to cherry pick the best tracks from forró albums and transfer them in the highest possible quality. With Jacinto Silva's trilogy of 60s albums, that is nearly impossible to do. Highly collectible and justly revered, these albums are killers and probably rank amongst the 30 best forró albums of all time. After 15 seconds of Côco Do M, you know exactly why Jacinto Silva is a godzilla of the genre. He skips the salad and goes straight for the meat. When he played a gig, I bet there wasn't an empty spot on the floor.

Jacinto Silva - Côco Do M from Cantando - CBS (1965)

Jacinto Silva - Côco Sincopado from Cantando - CBS (1965)

Jacinto Silva - No Pinicado from Cantando - CBS (1965)

Jacinto Silva - Rabo De Saia from Cantando - CBS (1965)

Jacinto Silva - O Cantador from Cantando - CBS (1965)

Jacinto Silva - Pra Rapaziada from Cantando - CBS (1965)

Jacinto Silva - Cantando - CBS (1965)

Jackson do Pandeiro e Almira – O Balanço Vai from Coisas Nossas - Philips 1965

Jackson do Pandeiro e Almira – O Balanço Vai from Coisas Nossas - Philips 1965

Click on the video above to play the song.

iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/aVdBk9to3_M

This week, I am featuring a ditty from Jackson do Pandeiro's short-lived samba period. Jackson mixed samba and a number of other Brazilian styles in his music throughout his career, but he did it in a big way in the mid-60s. Collectors in Brazil say that E Vamos Nós from 1964 and Coisas Nossas from 1965 are his rarest LPs. 

It's a mystery why these LPs are so rare. A collector friend speculated that Philips saw these releases as an experiment, because of the stylistic change from forró to samba, so fewer copies were pressed. It's also likely that Jackson's sales were in decline. He may have been was losing favor with Philips, because his next 2 LPs were released on Continental and Cantagalo before closing the decade and his time at Philips with Aqui Tô Eu. Before his comeback in 1972, Jackson do Pandeiro voiced frustrations about how apathetic radio and the public recently seemed to be towards his music.

As usual, Jackson's music was always glimmering despite personal and career issues. O Balanço Vai (Álvaro Castilho / Jackson do Pandeiro / Sebastião Martins) was one of many highlights from Coisas Nossas. The beautiful bass piano and the stall in the chorus are knockout.

Jackson & Almira with the band that would become Borborema

Osvaldo Oliveira - Vendedor De Renda & Saudade do Ceará from Ê Cariri - CBS 1965

Osvaldo Oliveira - Vendedor De Renda from Ê Cariri - CBS 1965

Click on the video above to play the song.
iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/tl3PlEPRKnU

Osvaldo Oliveira - Saudade do Ceará  from Ê Cariri - CBS 1965

 

 Click on the video above to play the song.
iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/COYAM6hXtv8

According to forroemvinil, Osvaldo Oliveira began his recording career in the late 50s on radio shows and began recording slabs of 78rpm shellac shortly after. Outside of forroemvinil, there is very little biographical information about Mr. Oliveira online, which is strange considering that he had a substantial and interesting recording career, with at least 50 releases. Osvaldo Oliveira tore it up in the 60s, writing songs for himself and other artists like Jackson do Pandeiro.  Ê Cariri, along with Osvaldo's 2 other 60s LPs are rare and sought after forró albums. Stylistically, Vendedor De Renda and Saudade do Ceará are great examples of Osvaldo's tongue-twisting, coco de embolada phrasing.  As the 70s dawned, Oliveira generally left the forró style and became more of a balladeer. MP3s from vinyl sources are OK, but hopefully file quality will improve in the coming years. In an era when CD reissues are becoming more scarce, I am afraid that many recordings from artists like Oliveira will continue to sit in vaults and deteriorate until the original masters are not salvageable. Like many artists from the golden age of forró, Osvaldo Oliveira's music deserves to be preserved in the highest quality possible and heard by new generations of enthusiasts.

Osvaldo Oliveira today
photo by DJ FELIPE