Guaracy Do Pandeiro - Os Cabeludos & O Grito Do Balaieiro (RCA 1960s)

Guaracy Do Pandeiro - Os Cabeludos & O Grito Do Balaieiro (RCA 1960s)
This is a rare radio-only compacto forró single from the 1960s. I have no idea which year this was released. RCA is famous for being Luiz Gonzaga's label. Although a smattering of other forró artists were also on RCA (the most famous being Ary Lobo & Marinês), most artists were only given single LP releases. One-off compactos like Guaracy's were even rarer.

Guaracy Do Pandeiro - Os Cabeludos (RCA 1960s)

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iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/ZydzUj6PdaE

Guaracy Do Pandeiro - O Grito Do Balaieiro (RCA 1960s)

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iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/IPzzUw2Lr8U

Guaracy Do Pandeiro - Os Cabeludos & O Grito Do Balaieiro (RCA 1960s)

Genival Lacerda selections from Mungangueiro 2 - Fontana 1972

Genival Lacerda selections from Mungangueiro 2 - Fontana 1972

Genival Lacerda is one of my all time favorites. He's got an incredible sense of rhythm, phrasing and timing. Pre-1975, he created forró that was as good and sometimes better than the classic work of Jackson do Pandeiro and Luiz Gonzaga. Lacerda recorded a suite of LPs for Fontana in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and this was the last. Muleque Beijoquiero, written by Lacerda about lost love and a stolen kiss in an orange grove is a song that I overlooked for a long time. The verse is sung by a gang of people and I was initially put off by the sound, but I found myself whistling the riff and singing the song in my head for days after hearing it. Licao Do Beijo is classic, revved up, balls-to-the wall forró delivered in the style that made Lacerda one of the kings. Quem Atura Bebado playfully features a riff more common to British Invasion / Beat songs than to forró. Lacerda's clever use of musical collage is proof positive that mixing styles will make for a more interesting listening experience.

Genival Lacerda- Muleque Beijoquiero - from Mungangueiro 2 - Fontana 1972

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iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/9bxgMkWssdI

Genival Lacerda - Licao Do Beijo - from Mungangueiro 2 - Fontana 1972

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iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/xsCEXKr-Aiw

Genival Lacerda - Quem Atura Bebado from Mungangueiro 2 - Fontana 1972

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iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/s0NUEfkxs6w

Genival Lacerda right in the middle of a party.

Rouxinol Com Trio Guanabarino - O Cavaleiro De Durango / Ómé Tá Do Lado (ENIR compacto)

Rouxinol Com Trio Guanabarino - O Cavaleiro De Durango / Ómé Tá Do Lado (ENIR compacto)

This artist is a total mystery. There are a few things that I know, thanks to knowledgeable friends in the forró community.

1) Forró singles, also called compactos, are generally rarer than LPs. These were sent out to Brazilian radio stations, most likely to promote artists or tours. It is believed that they were never sold in stores.

2) This particular single by Rouxinol Com Trio Guanabarino was probably recorded in the 1960s. Compactos became popular during that time period as 78rpm records were being phased out.  Interestingly, most Brazilian compactos are at 33 1/3 speed and not 45rpm like many North American and European 45s.

3) My friends who collect forró are not immediately familiar with Rouxinol Com Trio Guanabarino or this particular single, so if you can shed some light on this mystery artist, that would be welcome!

Rouxinol Com Trio Guanabarino - O Cavaleiro De Durango (ENIR compacto)

Click on the video above to play the song.

iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/UH40yZDr_F8

Rouxinol Com Trio Guanabarino - Ómé Tá Do Lado (ENIR compacto)

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iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/uJ_BVHN8mlY

Rouxinol Com Trio Guanabarino - O Cavaleiro De Durango / Ómé Tá Do Lado (ENIR compacto)

Jackson Do Pandeiro - Chiclete Com Banana (video clip)

Jackson Do Pandeiro - Chiclete Com Banana (live)I wish that more of this clip was available! This is an excerpt from a BBC4 documentary about Brazilian music. Chiclete Com Banana (Chewing Gum With Banana), written in 1959 by Gordurinha and Almira Castilho and later famously covered by Gilberto Gil, is Jackson's most famous song, but most live performances currently on the web do not do Jackson or the song justice. This one absolutely does.

iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/vosH2yMWGvw

Jackson do Pandeiro - The king testifies.

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

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iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/_YtD94aZpHo

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

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

Elias Alves is ready for a canoe.

Zé Fernandes – Não Interessa Não from No Forró do Mané Vito - Sinter

Zé Fernandes – Não Interessa Não from No Forró do Mané Vito - Sinter

Zé Fernandes is a bit of a mystery. As far as I am aware, he only released 2 albums. The first was a 10" from 1957. It is unclear when No Forró do Mané Vito came out, but it's a safe guess that it was released in the late 50s or very early in the 1960s. No Forró do Mané Vito is the favorite forró album by a collector friend of mine with a vast collection and exemplary taste. I can understand why he loves it. The vocals are excellent and the production is drenched in mysterious clap-backed delay, reminiscent of some of my favorite early kitchen-sink rock n' roll and ska records. Zé Fernandes last appeared on LP in 1962. After that, he sailed into the unknown. Perhaps he is still knocking out audiences in Pernambuco dance halls or spinning ghostly sounds on lost ships in the lower Atlantic.

Who was Zé Fernandes?

Gilvan Chaves – Vovó Sabina from Encantos do Nordeste - Columbia 1958

Gilvan Chaves – Vovó Sabina from Encantos do Nordeste - Columbia 1958

Forró is typically upbeat, catchy dance music from the northeast of Brazil. Like any popular genre, forró has sub-genres and branches that defy pure categorization. Elomar, Xangai, Jackson do Pandeiro, Carmélia Alves and Borrachinha are a few of the artists that followed, created and broke the rules, inventing haunted northeastern folk mixed with forró.

In 1958, when forró wasn't the strict genre it became later, Gilvan Chaves created his classic LP: Encantos do Nordeste. The album shares similarities to Vinicius Des Moraes / Baden Powell's Os Afro Sambas and Zélia Barbosa's Sertão e Favelas, but Encantos do Nordeste is far less known and celebrated.  The album has a hypnotizing quality. Songs flow like a single piece, with Chaves breaking into story between songs with minimal accompaniment. Incantations... Enchantments.... Charms of the Northeast... indeed.

Click on the video above to play the song.

iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/PMsF2Dz4pA4

Gilvan Chaves shows off his masterpiece (thank you Felipe Batista for the photo)