Vanildo De Pombos, a disciple of Luiz Gonzaga, has had a long career as a composer and performer. According to Felipe Campos on forroemvinil, Vanildo was born in 1960. Meu Horizonte was recorded in 1989.
When I first started hunting for forró, I downloaded just about everything from the 1970s and then the 1960s from forroemvinil. One artist who almost always dazzled was Genival Lacerda. Usually his albums had at least one or two killer tracks. Most were packed with them. 1974 was Genival Lacerda's peak year with the LP, Ralador De Côco. Virtually every song on that album has melodic brilliance, magnificent musicianship and breakneck energy. Although it was released two years later, Vamos Mariquinha does not really come close. That said, Mungusá De Côco is an awesome track with lots of rhythm xaxado-esque accordion. The production, and even Genival Lacerda's voice, are as thick as a milkshake. Somehow the bigger production does not necessarily give the songs the same kind of power that they had two years before. The big difference may be the producer. Pedro Sertanejo, who was responsible for Ralador De Côco. Sertanejo was at the top of his game in the mid-1970s and is missed here. The cover is kind of amazing. I love most forró album covers. My friend Samuel believes that the photo may reference an imaginary motorcycle, which Genival is miming. I didn't notice this at first, because Lacerda is often in an unusual crouched pose on his LP sleeves.
Não Penso Em Vocé is another rare track from an obscure artist on the fabulous 1982 compilation, O Fino Do Pau Do Sebo. As far as I am aware, this is the only appearance from Xandú Do Samba and he's not playing samba. It is smoking hot forró. Thank You!
Marcos Rozilla is a name that is new to me. Rozilla's appearance on O Fino Do Pau Do Sebo from 1982 is the only recording that I could find from him, but Trem Da Saudade is a real grinder. If you are out there, Marcos, it is time for a new record!
Released in 1963, this is the second 78rpm that Jacinto Silva recorded. Jacinto Silva 78rpm shellac doesn't seem to show up anywhere, even in Brazil. Côco Trocado would likely be lost to time if it wasn't reissued on a scarce compilation LP from Mocambo in 1968 called Nordeste Cabra Da Peste.
Na Base Do Tamanco (côco) sounds like what Jacinto Silva is best known for. This song came out on a Mocambo 78rpm in 1964, which is absolutely amazing. I would not be surprised if this is one of the last 78s to ever be released in any region. It is also interesting that this is the amazing, futuristic, forward-sounding forró that Jacinto Silva would become famous for. If this is the last 78rpm ever, the format went out with a bang. By 1965, Silva was began recording his incredible solo trilogy of LPs for CBS. The original 78rpm records are agonizingly rare. Fortunately, this tune was reissued on a compilation on the Rozenblit Passarela label in 1973 along with other scarce sides from the early 60s by other northeasterners.
Na Base Do Tomanco O Bom É Êsse - Rozenblit Passrela - 1973
I am aware of two big Odeon artists that released great 78rpm records in the 1950s and were lucky enough to get vinyl reissues in the 1960s, Saci and Walter Damasceno. Damasceno's LP, for some reason, seems to have been pressed in larger quantities and is much easier to find. Although Saci is revered by collectors, song-for-song, I would say that Damasceno has a far stronger catalog. Po De Mico, like songs by Ary Lobo and Saci, sounds like modern forró. There is not a trace of tame, middle class vocal group stylings or more reserved baião that dominated the 1940s and early 1950s. This is all-out, balls to the wall forró.
Damasceno's final 78rpm record was on CBS. This is his scarcest record because it was never reissued on vinyl. It will feature here in the coming years.
Walter Damasceno - Po De Mico from bossa ai é mato - Odeon (1959)
