Elias Alves - Luar Do Meu Sertao & Coco No Sereno from Adeus Guanabara - Tropicana 1973

Elias Alves - Luar Do Meu Sertao & Coco No Sereno from Adeus Guanabara - Tropicana 1973

Elias made his first appearance on forróLPgringo with an appearance on a Fontana compilation called O Fino Da Roça vol.4.  He recorded 2 rare solo LPs in the early 1970s.  The general consensus is that pressing size was probably limited to roughly 500 copies per LPs.  Like many forró LPs, not every track was a killer... but Elias Alves always had a few essentials on every release.

Elias Alves - Luar Do Meu Sertao from Adeus Guanabara - Tropicana 1973

Click on the video above to play the song.

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Elias Alves - Coco No Sereno from Adeus Guanabara - Tropicana 1973

Click on the video above to play the song.

iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/BJMF1NcpOoo

Elias Alves is ready for a canoe.

Elias Alves - Pode Mandar Começar - O Fino Da Roça vol.4 - Fontana 1972

Elias Alves - Pode Mandar Começar - O Fino Da Roça vol.4 - Fontana 1972

Click on the video above to play the song.
iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/2zNvDny0Tko

I love a gutsy arrasta-pé. Arrasta-pé (pronounced hasta pay, gringos) is a march style with a galloping triangle common to forró LPs.  Elias Alves’ Pode Mandar Começar (Zé Pequeno / Gerson Macedo) was a standout on O Fino Da Roça vol.4, the final volume in a series that featured excellent northeastern Brazilian artists on Fontana Records.  Elias Alves’ small catalog of recorded works, both solo albums and compilations, appeared on major label subsidiaries like Tropicana and Fontana Records. Limited biographical information is available online, but Elias Alves’ career as a recording artist seemed to be bookended between the late 60s and mid 70s. forroemvinil noted that Alves also wrote songs for lots of forró greats, including Genival Lacerda, Trio Juazeiro, Trio Sabiá, Trio Nortista, Trio Luar do Nordeste e Negrão dos Oito Baixos.  

Alves had one of those awesome, gooey, rough, distinctive forró voices that nearly sounded out of tune and wasn’t. It’s captivating character that acted like the glue for all of his songs.  

A notable feature of the O Fino Da Roça coletânea (compilation / collection) series was the psychedelic artwork reminiscent of Yellow Submarine and the sleeves by those Tropicalia movement troublemakers.  Perhaps Fontana was trying to update the image of forró for a younger generation? Did they really think that they could super psychedelicize us?

Image of Elias Alves from his 1973 solo LP