I wish I had an answer to that question, but it's not the first time I've had to dig around a bit to find a classic Brazilian album from the 1960's or 1970's. (I ended up ordering my copy of "Tropicália Ou Panis Et Circensis" from CDJapan).
João Bosco - "Caça à Raposa"
This album, Bosco's third, appeared in 1975. I first came across it on Estadão's list of the 30 best Brazilian records of all time.
Finding the album itself proved to be more difficult. It's not available as a CD from Amazon (including Amazon UK), and I couldn't find it on my old standby, CDJapan, which often has (expensive) re-issues of other hard-to-find Brazilian music.
Digital download isn't any better, as neither Amazon nor iTunes offers the entire album, though iTunes does have the song "Kid Cavaquinho," one of the best tracks, as part of a samba and pagode compilation.
João Bosco's own website does offer a short sampling of each track, but the best place I have found so far is Spotify, which has the entire album. If you aren't currently enjoying Spotify's ad-supported free service, it's worth registering just to hear this album. (Note: Spotify has different rules and services for different countries, and I'm only basing my recommendation on what's currently available in the US).
Bosco's voice has a natural sound, perfectly suited to the music he sings. His voice is as smooth and mellow as Raul Seixas' is raspy and plaintive, but he shares Seixas' diverse approach, with songs that range from slow and gentle to fast and upbeat. Similar to Seixas' "Krig-ha, Bandolo!," the songs on "Caça à Raposa" are arranged in an order that seems just right, and again like Seixas, the songs are short, with the longest one at 3:41. The entire album is only about 35 minutes, and it goes by very fast.
Since there's not a bad song on the album, the best way to hear it is all the way through, but if you aren't able to register for Spotify, sample or download "Kid Cavaquinho" on iTunes to get an idea of what one of his faster songs sounds like. Or you can hear it on YouTube:
Other favorites are "O Mestre-Sala Dos Mares," another relatively fast song...
and "Dois Prá lá, Dois Prá Cá," for a more traditional, laid-back sound.
João Bosco has had a long and very prolific career, and has recorded some of the songs from the original 1975 album in live performance, sometimes along with other singers. Those versions are also very good in their own right, but I'm sort of a purist when it comes to hearing an album the way it was originally recorded.
Whatever you do, do not be put off by the fact that the album isn't easy to find. This is one that's worth tracking down, even if you have to search through YouTube results to find the original versions. Trust me on this.
Olá Phil, tudo bem? Posso ter a liberdade de escrever para você em português? Posso escrever em inglês também, se preferir.
ReplyDeleteRealmente, antigamente existia muito álbum bom em nosso país, mas como a entrada do CD em nosso mercado fez com que alguns álbuns muito bons em LP não fossem digitalizados e passados para a nova mídia.
Alguns discos foram passados para CD, porém as gravadoras dão preferência aos artistas que vendem mais, e então não gravam mais CDs como este.
Se ainda estiver interessado posso procurar algum CD ou LP usado e enviar para você.
Se houver também qualquer item brasileiro que você se interesse, por favor me diga e eu poderei providenciar, é um prazer poder enviar um pedacinho de nossa cultura para outro canto do mundo.
Abraço, Bruno