Esmeraldo Bispo - Homenagem Ao Forró from Homenagem Ao Forró - DEX (1980)

Esmeraldo Bispo - Homenagem Ao Forró from Homenagem Ao Forró - DEX (1980)

Esmeraldo Bispo, powered by the youngest triangle player in forró, created his tribute / homage to forró in 1980, name dropping many of the greats. Name them all and earn a zabumba badge.

Esmeraldo Bispo - Homenagem Ao Forró - DEX (1980)

Luiz Wanderley - Côco Do F & Forró Em Caxias from compacto duplo - Mocambo (1960)

Luiz Wanderley - Côco Do F & Forró Em Caxias from compacto duplo - Mocambo (1960)

When Luiz Wanderley was rolling, virtually no other forró artist could touch him. Wanderley, like greats Ary Lobo and Jackson do Pandeiro, had a knack for interpretation, phrasing and melodic brilliance. Wanderley's recording career ended in the late 1960s. No reissue of any of Wanderley's early work has appeared since the 1980s. Outside of a community of new collectors wowed by Wanderley, people seem scarcely aware of his accomplishments. Perhaps there are legal or contractual reasons why some of this great music remains buried in the vaults. Or, perhaps, no interested parties have come knocking. Maybe, one day, I might be able to discover the secret. At any rate, these records need to be rescued. Based on the music, it is clear why the vinyl is so highly prized by collectors. This compacto originally appeared as 2 78rpm records. In the late 50s and early 1960s, releasing compactos with tracks that originally appeared on 78rpm records was common. The difference, ultimately, was that compactos were promotional and only sent to radio while the 78rpms were, generally, commercially available. This means that there are more 78s floating around than vinyl of certain artists and for certain releases. Côco Do F is a barnstormer in the coco style, popularized by Jackson do Pandeiro. Forró Em Caxias is a gorgeous, exemplary melodic pop song bettered by few in the style before or after.

Luiz Wanderley - Cõco Do F from compacto duplo - Mocambo (1960)

Luiz Wanderley - Forró Em Caxias from compacto duplo - Mocambo (1960)

Joci Batista - Minha Morena Me Deixou from Novamente compacto simples - Maraca (1961)

Joci Batista - Minha Morena Me Deixou from Novamente compacto simples - Maraca (1961)

This is a ridiculously rare single on Maraca, a 60s Brazilian label that mainly released promotional singles by a variety of artists. Elino Julião, Jacinto Silva and Joci Batista that would go on to have long careers. The sound of Minha Morena is reminiscent of early Blue Beat and rocksteady records; not stylistically, but in the spirit of small studio sound of the period.

Joci Batista - Novamente compacto simples - Maraca (1961)

Aluizio Gomes - Côco Do Delegado & Tudo é Baiano from Côco Do Delegado compacto simples - Cantagalo (1960s)

Aluizio Gomes - Côco Do Delegado & Tudo é Baiano from Côco Do Delegado compacto simples - Cantagalo (1960s)

Aluizio (also spelled Aloisio on subsequent releases) Gomes was notable for recording wild, upbeat ear-grabbing raw forró and côco grooves. This rare compacto features 2 decent sides with great singing. The distinctive echo / reverb backing vocals on Côco Do Delegado are notably interesting and unusual.

Aluizio Gomes - Côco Do Delegado from Côco Do Delegado compacto simples - Cantagalo (1960s)



Aluizio Gomes - Tudo é Baiano from Cõco Do Delegado compacto simples - Cantagalo (1960s)

Aluizio Gomes - Cõco Do Delegado & Tudo é Baiano from Cõco Do Delegado compacto simples - Cantagalo (1960s)

Jackson do Pandeiro E Almira - Samba Do Birim-Bim-Bim from compacto duplo Tem Jebaculé - Philips (1964)

Jackson do Pandeiro E Almira - Samba Do Birim-Bim-Bim from compacto duplo Tem Jebaculé - Philips (1964)

Jackson do Pandeiro and Almira Castilho's Tem Jebaculé is a splashy, classy, beautifully produced LP with one of the greatest covers of all time. The pair is wearing their nightclub finest, but the hats, once worn by the bandit Lampião and later by Luiz Gonzaga, are a nod to the Northeast and their forró roots. 1964 seems to be the beginning of the decline of Jackson and Almira's fame. Although the musical quality remains high, their LPs start including more samba numbers, perhaps indicating a desire to become a more all-around act vs. strictly forró or côco. Since sales numbers are buried in the Philips vaults or lost, I am guessing that sales were diminishing due to the scarcity of mid-60s Jackson LPs. It's probably not a coincidence that the decline coincided with military removal of president João Goulart in 1964. It was a rough year in Brazil.

This transfer of Samba Do Birim-Bim-Bim comes from the even scarcer Tem Jebaculé promotional EP, released to radio stations only with the same distinct cover as the LP, but is compacto-sized featuring 4 tracks. Dig the distinctive trombone break!

Jackson do Pandeiro E Almira -  Tem Jebaculé compacto duplo - Philips (1964)

Carrapeta - Molho De Murupy from Carimbolando compacto duplo - CBS (1975)

Carrapeta - Molho De Murupy from Carimbolando compacto duplo - CBS (1975)

After releasing one album on Fontana in the late 1960s, Carrapeta resurfaced at the tail end of the glory period of CBS forró in the mid-1970s with a highly regarded promotional compacto EP and LP. The carimbo genre crossed over into forró in the 1970s, thanks to artists like Pinduca. Molho De Murupy is a cool throbber with a funky groove and pained vocal. This distinct sound continued to pop up on subsequent records by other artists, most notably by Os 3 Do Nordeste.

Carrapeta - Carimbolando compacto duplo - CBS (1975)

4 Ases E Um Coringa - Não Posso Nem Comigo, O Samba Agora Vai & Onde Estão Os Tamborins? from É Com Esse Que Eu Vou - Odeon (1950s)

4 Ases E Um Coringa - Não Posso Nem Comigo, O Samba Agora Vai & Onde Estão Os Tamborins? from É Com Esse Que Eu Vou - Odeon (1950s)

The history of forró, which started out in the 1940s with Luiz Gonzaga as baião, a term that later became a sub-genre of the entire forró genre, was just one of many styles for groups in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Most acts didn't stick to their genre exclusively and mixed up styles. As a result, some LPs from the 1950s sound more musically sophisticated than records from later eras. A group like 4 Ases E Um Coringa would play sambas, marchas, côcos, frevos, rancheras, baiãos and basically any other genre, as long as they could interpret the songs in an interesting way. This mixing of styles was far less common in the 1970s. By then, groups usually stuck to one genre. The point is, Quatro Ases E Um Coringa were an amazing act with sophisticated arrangements and singing that defied convention. They classed up the joint. É Com Esse Que Eu Vou is a killer record and far too off the radar for fans of Brazilian music. 

Note that in O Samba Agora Vai, they reference "Miami and Copacabana", which could be a nod to Chiclete Com Banana by Gordurinha and Jackson do Pandeiro, or the writers of the later song were referencing this one? 

4 Ases E Um Coringa - Não Posso Nem Comigo from É Com Esse Que Eu Vou - Odeon (1950s)


4 Ases E Um Coringa - Onde Estão Os Tamborins? from É Com Esse Que Eu Vou - Odeon (1950s)



4 Ases E Um Coringa - O Samba Agora Vai from É Com Esse Que Eu Vou - Odeon (1950s)

4 Ases E Um Coringa - É Com Esse Que Eu Vou - Odeon (1950s)