In the 60's, intensity and energy lit the petite frame of legendary singer Elis Regina. Cloaked in this aura of free spirit, Elis triumphed in impassioned performances and recordings, putting her in the same league as Gal Costa and Maria Bethania. Now, while Gal and Bethania celebrate their 50th birthdays and many years of success, we can only guess what sparkling contributions 50-year-old Elis's repertoire would have held had she not accidentally overdosed on cocaine and alcohol in January of 1982.
Still, we can celebrate, through digitally re-mastered CD's of her performances and the story of her raise to fame, the 1945 birth of a woman whose shows, style and voice helped make the Brazilian bossa nova one of the most recognized and cherished musical contributions of Brazilian culture.
Few of us are ever touched with the magic of fame, and, of those who are, fewer still achieve it as quickly as Elis. Born in Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil, of a modest family, Elis began her musical career at age 14, singing on local radio shows. In 1961, a 16-year-old Elis recorded her first album. By 1962 she could brag of receiving two major awards in the South: Queen of the Disco Club (1961) and Best Singer of the Year (1962).
Elis headed to Rio de Janeiro, a driven, determined and fiery soul, as her nickname "Pimentinha" ("Little Pepper") suggested. Already showing signs of the controversial star to come, Elis faked a birth certificate in order to sing in night clubs. She stowed away in bathrooms during police raids. She catapulted into popularity around the ripe age of 20, when she began conquering audiences in São Paulo with charm, timing, style and beautiful interpretations of bossa nova tunes composed by such legends as Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes.
Elis also bravely took to the stage unknown songs by then young and green composers like Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, João Bosco and Aldir Blanc. Her daring to sing unknown and sometimes controversial pieces was, to some, irreverence and cost her commercial support and fans. The singer sometimes clashed with interviewers and even with favorite composers like Gil and Caetano by way of brash comments and stubborn decisions to alter their lyrics.
In her personal life, Elis stood true to her fervent nature. Although she claimed her friendships were eternal, Elis was known to denigrate friends behind their backs. Perhaps the defamation was self-defense fueled by doubts and distrust, for she once said, "With me it's simple -- I share everything; my clothes, my friends... but my stage, that I do not share." Elis was able to transmit her confidence and intensity in performing to the audience, and they in turn rewarded her with energy and adoration. Largely through talent, but also through great dedication, Elis unleashed the passion to make her shows spectacular.
Even though performing may have been her first love, her ardor flowed outside of music to family, dreams and lovers. With her first husband, Ronaldo Boscoli, Elis's six-year, on-again-off-again relationship was stormy from beginning to end, when she instigated an affair with César Camargo Mariano. Mariano had been working on the Elis &Tom album when Elis boldly propositioned him. Ironically, one of the songs they had been working on described the end of a relationship much like the impending demises of their own marriages. Elis had one child with Boscoli (João Marcelo) and two with Mariano (Pedro and Maria Rita). At least some of Elis's musical roots were passed on to João Marcelo, who has hosted the show Cia. da Música (The Music Company) that spotlights new MPB (Música Popular Brasileira -- Popular Brazilian Music) releases.
A look at the trilogy tribute to Elis and her vast contributions to the MPB is especially appropriate as Elis would have become 50 on March 17 of this year. Bursting with Elis's beautiful, resonant voice, the trilogy, Elis no Fino da Bossa, paints an auditory picture of the singer's seismic TV performances in Sao Paulo from 1965 to 1967. Eighty thousand dollars were invested in the digital re-mastering, production and release of performances originally taped by journalist and researcher Zuza Homem de Mello. Combined with other recently released Elis CD's, the trilogy helps convey her life achievements through their various stages, recounting musical history in its making.
For Elis the performer, flirtations with the controversial, dedication to her heart's call and frenetic exuberance were not just peculiarities. Her idiosyncrasies may have been key ingredients in launching her to legendary status among Brazilian vocalists, for she gave audiences not only a strong, crystalline voice, but surprises, vivacious style and dedication to the art. Elis will live forever in the history of Brazilian music.
Antonio Carlos Belchior
Não quero lhe falar, meu grande amor
Das coisas que aprendi nos discos
Quero lhe contar como eu vivi
E tudo o que aconteceu comigo
Viver é melhor que sonhar
E eu sei que o amor é uma coisa boa
Mas também sei que qualquer canto
É melhor do que a vida
De qualquer pessoa
Por isso cuidado, meu bem
Há perigo na esquina!
Eles venceram e o sinal está fechado
Para nós que somos jovens
Para abraçar meu irmão
E beijar minha menina na rua
É que se fez o meu lábio
O meu braço e a minha voz
Você me pergunta pela minha paixão
Digo que estou encantado
Com uma nova invenção
E eu sei de tudo na ferida viva do meu coração
Já faz tempo que eu vi você na rua
Cabelo ao vento. gente jovem reunida
Na parede da memória
Essa lembrança é o quadro que dói mais
Minha dor é perceber que
Apesar de termos feito tudo que fizemos
Ainda somos os mesmos e vivemos
Como nossos pais
Nossos ídolos ainda são os mesmos
E as aparências não se enganam não
Você diz que depois deles não apareceu mais ninguém
Você pode até dizer que eu estou por fora
Ou então que estou inventando
Mas é você que ama o passado e que não vê
Que o novo sempre vem
E hoje eu sei que quem me deu
A idéia de uma nova consciência e juventude
Está em casa guardado por Deus
Contando vil metais
Minha dor é perceber que
Apesar de termos feito tudo
Tudo o que fizemos
Ainda somos os mesmos e vivemos
Ainda somos os mesmo e vivemos
Ainda somos os mesmo e vivemos
Como nossos pais
I don't want to tell you, my dear love
The things I've learned in records
I want to tell you how I've lived
And everything that happened to me
To live is better than to dream
And I know that love is a good thing
But I do also know that any song
Is better than the life
Of anyone
So, be careful, my darling
There's danger in the corner!
They have won and the light is red
For us who are young
To hug my brother
And to kiss my girl on the street
My lips were made
As well as my arm and my voice
You ask about my passion
I say that I am bewitched
By a new invention
And I know it all on my hearts live wound
It's been sometime since I saw you on the street
Hair in the wind, young people gathered around
On my memory's wall
This recollection is the painting that hurts the most
My pain is to acknowledge that
Despite having done everything we've done
We are still the same and we live
As our parents
Our idols are still the same
And appearances don't fool, oh no
You say that there was one else after them
You can even tell that I know nothing
Or that I am just inventing
But it's you who loves the past and can't see
That the new is always coming
And today I know that who gave me
The idea of a new conscience and youth
Is at home under God's protection
Counting vile coins
My pain is to acknowledge that
Despite having done everything
Everything we've done
We are still the same and we live
We are still the same and we live
We are still the same and we live
As our parents
Renato Teixeira
É de sonho é de pó
O destino de um só
Feito eu perdido em pensamentos
Sobre o meu cavalo
É de laço e de nó de gibeira
O giló dessa vida
Cumprida a sol
Sou caipira, Pirapora
Nossa Senhora de Aparecida
Ilumina a mina escura
E funda o trem da minha vida
O meu pai foi peão
Minha mãe solidão
Meus irmãos perderam-se na vida
À custa de aventuras
Descasei, joguei
Investi, desisti
Se há sorte eu não sei nunca vi
Me disseram porém
Que eu viesse aqui pra pedir
De romaria e prece
Paz nos desaventos
Como eu não sei rezar
Só queria mostrar
Meu olhar, meu olhar, meu olhar
It's made of dream, of dust
The destiny of one person
Like me lost in thought
Riding horseback
It's made of noose and sheath's knot
The bitterness of this life
Served under the sun
I'm a hillbilly, from Pirapora
Our Lady of Aparecida
Shine upon the dark mine
And sustain my life's train
My father was a peon
My mother solitude
My siblings got lost in life
Searching for adventure
I got unmarried, I gambled
I invested, I lost
If there's luck I don't know I've never seen it
They have told me, however
To come here to pray
In pilgrimage and prayer
Peace for the disputes
Since I don't know how to pray
I just want to show
My regard, my regard, my regard
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