Moura Junior - selections from OOOOOXÊNTE! - Philips (1962)

OOOOOXÊNTE!, by Moura Junior (also spelled Jr.) is a classic. It's a class act, from the cover, to the production to the LP pressing. This album is a true gem. The bass response is particularly fantastic. Some acts in the late 1950s and 1960s used double bass, which thunders through the vinyl and sounds mind-blowing. OOOOOXÊNTE! is one of 2 LPs that Moura Jr. recorded for Philips. 

Moura Junior's second LP was called Embolabalanço. It was more understated than OOOOOXÊNTE!, with orchestration and slower numbers. This seemed to be a trend at the time. Jackson Do Pandeiro and Ary Lobo also recorded albums in the mid-60s that were jazzier, with more horns and samba numbers. The two albums are both great and very different. Almost shockingly so.

Around the time OOOOOXÊNTE! was recorded, Moura Jr. also had stellar tracks on a compilation with Jackson Do Pandeiro and others called São João Alegre. What Moura Jr. did after his short stint on Philips is a mystery. 

Moura Junior had a thing for the name Maria, which pops on the album over and over. Many rock acts claim to have invented the concept album, but they were being recorded in Brazil as far back as 1958 with Gilvan Chaves' Encantos Do Nordeste. 

At any rate, the songs on this album are great, with a lot going for it. A total classic. Like many 60s Philips LPs from Brazil, particularly for forró artists, tracking down copies may take a while.

Moura Junior - Os Olhos Da Cabocla from OOOOOXÊNTE! - Philips (1962)

Moura Junior - Mariazinha from OOOOOXÊNTE! - Philips (1962)

Moura Junior - Eu Sou De Menor from OOOOOXÊNTE! - Philips (1962)

Moura Junior - Espera Maria from OOOOOXÊNTE! - Philips (1962)



Moura Junior - Colo De Maria from OOOOOXÊNTE! - Philips (1962)

Moura Junior - OOOOOXÊNTE! - Philips (1962)

Trio Nagô - Capoeira (y Roberto Luna) - RCA (1968), Solidão from Chansons du Folklore Brésilien - Decca (195_), Baião Do Chofer from Aquarela Cearense - Sinter (1954)

Trio Nagô are part of a tradition of vocal combos performing baião songs that existed from the 1940s until the 1960s. This style seemed to die off as performers like Ary Lobo and Jackson do Pandeiro defined the new style of forró (and baião) beginning in the mid-1950s. This post spans the career of Trio Nagô, with selections from the mid-50's through their stunning Capoeira single from 1968. The growth of the group, as well as the evolving sound of the times, is evident in all of these recordings. Although Capoeira is more immediate and captivating as a performance and production piece, I love the casual grace of Solidão. They are exceptional because they are so drastically different and captivating in their own right.

Trio Nagô y Roberto Luna - Capoeira from compacto simples - RCA (1968)

Trio Nagô - Solidão from Chansons du Folklore Brésilien - Decca (195_)

Trio Nagô - Baião Do Chofer from Aquarela Cearense - Sinter (1954)

Trio Nagô y Roberto Luna - Capoeira compacto simples - RCA (1968)

Trio Nagô - Chansons du Folklore Brésilien - Decca (195_)

Trio Nagô - Aquarela Cearense - Sinter (1954)

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)

Venâncio & Curumba - Gavião & Cadeia Da Vila from 78rpm - Todamerica (1954)

Venâncio & Curumba - Gavião from 78rpm - Todamerica (1954)


Venâncio & Curumba - Cadeia Da Vila from 78rpm - Todamerica (1954)




I am particularly proud of this post. In some ways, making songs like these available to the world is what forróLPgringo is all about. These songs have not been reissued. It is likely that there was not a repressing after the initial 78 rpm pressing in 1954. 60 years later, some of this music faces extinction unless folks work to preserve it.

This 78 was in rough shape with quite a few skips. Fortunately, I was able to edit together two complete, skip-free tracks. I realize I have a blog about vinyl and shellac*, but I honestly prefer CDs. My feeling for vinyl vacillates between relief if the record plays well and exasperation when an expensive record skips. I expect skips more than smooth players, especially when records are 50+ years old.

Vinyl is noisy, fussy and fragile. 78s are even worse. Often, one can fix skipping vinyl by reverse playing over scratches with an old needle, as long as they aren't the dreaded diagonal variety, thanks to the fact that vinyl is fairly soft and somewhat pliable. 78 rpms are almost never fixable, although applying more pressure with the stylus can solve certain problems. 

At any rate, if all of this music existed on CD, I doubt that I would have started this blog. I fell in love with vintage forró recordings enough to want to own and preserve the music in the highest quality form possible and introduce some of it to English speakers. This particular 78rpm by Venâncio & Curumba does not exist in the digital world, even in Brazil. I feel that I owe it to the artists and fans to make this music available, even if it is expensive and time consuming. It's a shame that they couldn't make more money from their recordings in their lifetime. Both of these artists passed on many years ago.

Below is some Pro Tools work that I did on Cadela Da Vila. Gavião also had some rough spots, but they weren't quite as problematic. Luckily, the band was excellent and steady and there was plenty of repetition in parts. These transfers aren't perfect, but at least the world can hear these guys in their lively, pre-vinyl, 78rpm shellac glory without annoying pops and distracting skips.

Cadela Da Vila being repaired in the digital hospital.

*78 rpms were pressed on shellac until the more durable vinyl replaced it.

Jota Lima - Novo Nordeste from O Novo Nordeste - Musicolor (1970)

Jota Lima - Novo Nordeste from O Novo Nordeste - Musicolor (1970)

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This is a little bonus post from this rare 1970 LP by Jota Lima. What makes this LP stand out, aside from the gallant lead vocals by Lima, are the unusual backing vocals, which sound like they would be more at home on a 60s pop record than your typical forró LP. It would have been great to be a fly on the wall when some of these LPs were produced. With some exceptions, we are only left with the final vinyl and none of the stories about the making of these glorious records.

Jota Lima - O Novo Nordeste - Musicolor (1970)

Jota Lima / Branca - Lindo Papel from O Novo Nordeste / 1 Festival Da Musica Nordestina - Musicolor (1970) / RCA 1971

Jota Lima - Lindo Papel from O Novo Nordeste - Musicolor (1970)

 

Branca - Lindo Papel from 1º Festival Da Musica Nordestina - RCA Camden (1971)

This week, I am stoked to present 2 versions of a great song, Lindo Papel, from two heavy, classic rare forró LPs. Jota Lima's O Novo Nordeste is one of the scarcest albums, on the level of José Bezerra and a handful of others who managed to deliver a classic without achieving massive notoriety when the LP was released. The production of O Novo Nordeste has a gorgeous gooey sound with great backing vocals. Lima has one of the most dramatic voices in forró, but manages to deliver without sounding sickly or schmaltzy. Branca also sounds like she is giving the performance of her life. While the production on 1 Festival Da Musica Nordestina is not quite as dramatic, Branca's voice is classically, and masterfully, husky Brazilian. It's rare to hear two great versions of any song in any genre. Each artist truly made Lindo Papel his and her own. Jota Lima released at least one more LP in 1975. Branca's future after her appearance on 1 Festival Da Musica Nordestina in 1971 is a mystery. Nothing has surfaced from her outside of this one recording.

Jota Lima - O Novo Nordeste - Musicolor (1970)

1 Festival Da Musica Nordestina - RCA (1971)

Venâncio e Curumba - Pagodeando No Côco - Audio Fidelity (1964) - reissue Premier (1969)

Venâncio e Curumba - Nossa Saudação from Pagodeando No Côco - Audio Fidelity (1964) Premier (1969)




Venâncio e Curumba - Quando Chego Numa Sala from Pagodeando No Côco - Audio Fidelity (1964) Premier (1969)



Venâncio e Curumba - Minha Bahia from Pagodeando No Côco - Audio Fidelity (1964) Premier (1969)



Venâncio e Curumba - Sulandá from Pagodeando No Côco - Audio Fidelity (1964) Premier (1969)



Over the years that I have collected Brazilian music, I have been searching for a variety of musical missing links that connect artists from various periods to their influences. My first question, years ago, was where did Gilberto Gil learn his wild, breakneck rhythmic style from the Tropicalia records? Learning about Gil led me to Luiz Gonzaga, who led me to Jackson do Pandeiro and Genival Lacerda. Once I started learning more about the history of forró, I wondered who influenced Jackson and Genival, outside of Gonzaga. It is likely that some great Brazilian regional music that was played live on the radio went undocumented, but Venâncio e Curumba had a considerable recording career before and concurrently with Jackson, Genival and Ary Lobo. Their songs were covered and adopted by many of the early forró artists, and their mix of comedy and music was a template for the careers of Jackson do Pandeiro, Genival Lacerda, Ary Lobo and Luiz Wanderley.

Pagodeando No Côco by Venâncio e Curumba (sometimes spelled Corumba), is a brilliant, joyful forró and northeastern samba LP that is killer from beginning to end. This is rare in a genre like forró, when the listener is lucky to get one classic per album. Pagodeando No Côco is truly is one of the greatest Brazilian records of all time. Like Jackson Do Pandeiro's O Dono Do Forró or Alegria do Norte, Pagodeando No Côco was recorded at a special moment late in the career of Venâncio e Curumba. At the time, Venâncio was 55 and Curumba was 50. This is poignant, because Pagodeando No Côco was the final recording by the duo. After fourteen 78rpm records and one LP, they decided to call it quits 4 years later in 1968, after 40 years together.

On top of being radio stars, humorists and prolific performers, Venâncio e Curumba were also skilled writers. The songwriting on Pagodeando No Côco is exemplary and the recording is beautiful. It truly showcases artists at the top of their craft. The two LPs, from 1964 and 1969, have identical songs and content. Only the covers and labels are different. Venâncio e Curumba's two most well known hits, Último Pau-De-Arara and O Boi Na Cajarana, may pop up on a later entry. I'd love to track down the 78 rpm records if anyone has one or two lying around...

Biographical information retrieved from http://www.dicionariompb.com.br/venancio-e-corumba

Venâncio e Curumba - Pagodeando No Côco - Audio Fidelity (1964) - original issue 

Venâncio e Curumba - Pagodeando No Côco - Premier (1969) reissue

Venâncio e Curumba - Chuleado Da Vovó - se apresentando no Som Brasil de 1982. 

This was originally posted by Ricardo Almeida, in 2007. He deserves the credit and the thank you for originally posting this! On YouTube, his video was only playing through one speaker. I tried cleaning up the colors a bit, but I was only moderately successful. Chuleado Da Vovó is from a 1982 television show. The duo had broken up in 1968 after a career that spanned , This was 14 years after that. Venâncio was 73 e Curumba was 68.

Venâncio e Curumba. image retrieved from http://www.onordeste.com/onordeste/enciclopediaNordeste/index.php?titulo=Ven%C3%A2ncio+e+Corumba&ltr=v&id_perso=2774