THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,506) Roberto Carlos – “Eu Te Darei O Ceu”/”I’ll Give You Heaven”
A joyful, exuberant ’66 song by Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos, the King of Jovem Guarda, which he wrote with Erasmo Carlos.
John Armstrong tells us:
By 1994, with over 120 million album sales [around the world], Roberto Carlos had broken the record held by the Beatles. And he was only part way through his career. There have been the inevitable snipes of ‘cheese’ suffered by many a Latin crooner . . . . But the tide of tributes from younger Brazilian artists – Cassia Eller, Chico Science, Barão Vermelho and Skank in particular – and collaborations with other very non-cheesy superstars such as Caetano Veloso, Marisa Monte and Jennifer Lopez, have quietened his detractors. So why is Roberto Carlos so culturally significant to Brazilians? A well-known Brazilian artist once confided to me in an interview: ‘We Brazilians love a sentimental song as much as we love a samba.’ Others say it is the way he sings these songs that sets him apart. The key to Roberto Carlos is that in the 50s he was trained under the magic of bossa nova, in the company of Jorge Ben and João Gilberto, before switching his repertoire to rock and pop in the 60s, becoming Brazil’s first big crossover artist. Soon, the albums were pouring out and selling by the cartload, and Carlos was dubbed the King of Jovem Guarda. This new-found fame gave him the artistic freedom, in time, to record whatever he wanted, from rock to bolero. When the right-wing military dictatorship took power in 1964, the artistic community responded with the Tropicalía movement which, in Gilberto Gil’s words, sought ‘a new perspective away from left-right binomial.” This meant unity amongst musicians and, perhaps surprisingly, the Tropicalistas who were associated with the left, supported the mass-market Roberto Carlos; his voice, his presence, was a beacon throughout the dark days of 1964 to 1989, and so he’s been regarded ever since. Roberto Carlos symbolises unity. There is a simplicity to his voice, a rare ability to synthesise complex arrangements and melodies into a soothing tone that washes over you and is overwhelmingly appealing. This makes Roberto Carlos more relevant today than ever. Never mind the white suit; the experience of thousands of Brazilians in a stadium, forgetting their divisions and coming together in tears of joy, is a very cool thing indeed.
Alvaro Neder tells Carlos’ story:
[W]ith his partner and co-writer, Erasmo Carlos [no relation], he has penned over three dozen Top Ten charting singles. . . . [H]e initiated a major revolution in Brazilian music during the 1960s thanks to his fusion of Anglo-styled pop and rock and the second wave of Brazilian samba. His initial success coincided with the emergent youth movement in pop . . . that took over the world. Carlos was the leader of the country’s Jovem Guarda. He was the host of the TV show that became a generic denomination of a musical style and what was a definitive change of face to the Brazilian phonographic market and of the very art of marketing itself . . . . His light music, derived from British pop, and his (and Erasmo Carlos’) lyrics (happy, humorous, full of fashionable youth slang, and naïve though unexpectedly sexual) were deeply contrasting to the more serious MPB, with its somber images and protest songs. After all, Brazil was living in a dark period of the military dictatorship . . . . A few years later, in the late ’60s, Carlos (counseled by his advisors) changed his style to become the most successful romantic artist in Brazil[,] writ[ing] (always with Erasmo . . .) some of the most beautiful songs in this style . . . Though the adherence to a worn-out sentimental formula proved to be effective in commercial terms, it ultimately led him to be known, in the ’80s and ’90s, as a cheesy artist by youngsters and a portion of adult listeners. Nevertheless, the mid-’90s witnessed a resurgence of Jovem Guarda talents through tributes by new rockers . . . . At six, he lost one of his legs and began using a prosthesis. At nine, he debuted on his home city’s local radio. In 1955 . . . he started to get into rock . . . Two years later, Carlos performed at TV Tupi, singing “Tutti Frutti.” In that period, he was scheduled to open a Bill Haley show . . . when he became acquainted with Erasmo Carlos . . . . Carlos and Erasmo played together in Erasmo’s quartet the Snakes until Carlos was called . . . to [join] the Os Terríveis band, which played Elvis Presley covers on TV shows and live performances . . . . Carlos left the band to try to become a bossa nova artist. . . . In 1961, during the same year in which Carlos recorded his first LP . . . he accepted the suggestion of the record company CBS and changed his style to youth music, starting to write songs with the composer/lyricist who would become his most important collaborator: Erasmo Carlos. The duo’s first hit was Carlos’ rendition for an Erasmo version of “Splish Splash” . . . . The album was recorded and launched in 1963 . . . accompanied by Renato e Seus Blue Caps [see #1,011]. . . . In 1964, the LP E Proibido Fumar . . . had hits with the title track . . . and with Erasmo’s version of “Road Hog,” “O Calhambeque.” It . . . was considered high-selling then . . . . Carlos’ nationwide success was ascending, with more and more invitations for TV and radio shows and CBS wanting to take him to Argentina. That year, Carlos recorded the same repertory in Spanish . . . and the album Es Prohibido Fumar was released by the end of 1964 in Argentina. It was planned to also be distributed in Brazil, but as the military government considered anything in Spanish (the language of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara) dangerous . . . the album was simply taken out of the catalog by the recording company. . . . In the same year, Roberto Carlos Para a Juventude broke all records established by the singe . . . . On September 5[, 1965], Carlos opened the legendary show Jovem Guarda as the main host and also featuring . . . Erasmo Carlos by his side. The show gave the name and directives to the first musical scene produced especially for Brazilian youth . . . . After the show’s debut, Carlos’ popularity reached levels unimagined until then. Scoring hits in Argentina and Brazil, Carlos became the best-seller for CBS. . . . [H]is album Jovem Guarda . . . took only one week to push Help! out of number one on the Brazilian charts, selling almost 200,000 copies in one year. “Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno” became a nationwide hit and with the exception of brief periods of time . . . . After performing in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay . . . Carlos went to Europe in April 1966, singing in Portugal . . . . Returning to Brazil, he soon departed for a tour that started in South America, then Central and North America, where he sang in Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, then Europe (London, Paris, Berlin, and Lisbon). Roberto Carlos [containing “Eu Te Darei O Ceu”] released in December 1966, went right to number one in the second week (remaining there until April 1967), and sold 300,000 copies in less than a year. Also in 1967, Carlos starred the feature film Roberto Carlos em Ritmo de Aventura (whose soundtrack sold 300,000 copies, staying at number one from December 17 until June 1968; the film also broke all box office records until then) . . . . In 1968, Carlos left Jovem Guarda, which due to his absence would soon cease to exist. His departure was a result of a mature decision to migrate from a youth idol profile to that of a romantic singer. . . . As a romantic singer, Carlos had several hits in the 1970s that still had his creative impetus . . . . In the early ’70s, Carlos became the top record-selling Brazilian artist, a position he would keep for many consecutive years. After 1976, his albums were selling over 1,000,000 copies.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/roberto-carlos-mn0000292011#biography
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (“relating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainment” — dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify — now over 1,000 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! / Off the Charts: 60s Rock Revelations😊 