Brazilian rock refers to rock music produced in Brazil and usually sung in Portuguese. In the 1960s, it was known as ,PAIVA, V.L.M.O. "Social implications of English in Brazil". In: Encontro Nacional de Professores Universitários de Inglesa, 14,1997, Belo Horizonte. Anais... Belo Horizonte: Departamento de Letras Anglo-Germânicas/UFMG, 1999. p.326-331. the Portuguese transcription of the line "Yeah, yeah, yeah" from the Beatles song "She Loves You".
Overview Rock entered the Brazilian music scene in 1956 with the screening of the film The Blackboard Jungle, featuring Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock", later covered in Portuguese by Nora Ney.
The electric guitar was introduced to Brazil in 1948, specifically in Salvador, by the carnival group . They developed an instrument they called the pau elétrico ("electric stick"), notable for being the first electric guitar designed to eliminate microphonic feedback while producing a characteristic sustained sound. In 1949, Dodô and Osmar pioneered the use of this electric guitar in carnival celebrations, performing songs from an open car they dubbed the Trio Elétrico as they traveled through the streets of Salvador. This innovation has endured, evolving into today's large trucks that continue the tradition of mobile musical performances during Carnival.
1950s In 1957, the first original Brazilian rock and roll song, Rock and roll em Copacabana, was penned by Miguel Gustavo. This pioneering track was recorded by the singer Cauby Peixoto and rose to #52 on the charts that year.
During this period, several bands performed songs that were rough translations of English lyrics, though several groups chose to focus on instrumental rock instead. This was in part inspired by instrumental bands such as Duane Eddy and The Champs. In 1958, this inspiration led to the release of the first Brazilian instrumental rock song, "Here's the Blue Jean Rockers" by The Blue Jean Rockers [pt]. Later the same year, Bolão & His Rockettes went on to record the country's first purely instrumental LP. These developments were crucial in establishing rock as a popular genre among Brazilian youth. Following these pioneering efforts, a wave of new bands emerged, including The Avalons, The Clevers [pt], The Rebels, The Jordans [pt], The Jet Blacks, The Pops, Os Populares, The Bells, The Lions, and The Youngs, further solidifying rock's place in Brazilian music culture.
1958 marked a watershed moment for Brazilian rock, witnessing the meteoric rise of several artists and bands. Notable figures such as Nora Ney, Nick Savoia, Celly Campelo, Tony Campelo (Celly Campelo's brother), , , Cinderella, Regiane, Ronnie Cord, and Hamilton di Giorgio achieved rapid success, establishing themselves as prominent names in the music scene virtually overnight. Additionally, instrumental groups such as the aforementioned Avalons, Tte Rebels, the Jordans, and Os Incríveis also gained widespread popularity, contributing to the vibrant and diverse landscape of Brazilian rock during this pivotal year.
1960s
When rock and roll took America by storm, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley also became liberating icons for Brazilian youth, who felt that they were under sexual and educational oppression, as Brazilian society had been based on the standards and rules of the Catholic church after colonization. Some movie theaters were wrecked during the showing of rock and roll movies.
Some radio disc-jockeys and recording companies set out to find new talents that could not only sing, but could also do it in perfect English.
Raul Seixas formed the first rock band from Salvador in 1965, the Panthers, which soon changed its name to Raulzito e os Panteras. Seixas was influenced by Luiz Gonzaga.
In 1963, Roberto Carlos had two hits: "Splish Splash", a Bobby Darin cover with Portuguese lyrics by Erasmo Carlos, and "Parei na Contramão" (I stopped at the wrong way), the first collaboration between Erasmo and Roberto Carlos. Roberto and Erasmo created Jovem Guarda. The beginning of the Jovem Guarda, with Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos and Wanderléa, was a kind of Brazilian version of the North American garage bands in the 1960s but with a bit of influence from artists like Otis Redding. Ronnie Von started his career with the garage influence of Jovem Guarda, and his work unleashed the psychedelic style and he was who suggested the name of the band Os Mutantes. Jerry Adriani is identified with the Jovem Guarda too, but his influence on Brazilian rock is greater with his Italian rock/pop style: he brought Raul Seixas from Salvador to success afterward in Rio de Janeiro, allowing for his widespread national success and influence to future generations. Other artists and bands associated with the Jovem Guarda include Eduardo Araújo (and his late wife, ), , Renato e Seus Blue Caps, , Golden Boys, , Vanusa and The Fevers.
Jorge Ben Jor (then known only as Jorge Ben) had several hits and transited between Jovem Guarda and a new form of playing guitar, with a rhythmic form that he invented. This new style was named Samba-rock, a style which would be followed by Banda Black Rio, Trio Mocotó, , , and Wilson Simonal, among others.
The band The Bubbles, formed in 1965 in Rio de Janeiro, along with Serguei, who released his first album in 1966, served as a bridge between psychedelic rock and the garage rock of Jovem Guarda. In São Paulo Os Baobás made their mark by recording cover versions of songs by the Kinks, Love, the Turtles and the Rolling Stones, during the beginning of their activities. From the 1960s, Os Primitivos, hailing from Brasília, blended traditional folk rock (reminiscent of the Byrds) with Brazilian Northeastern folk music such as baião. Other bands that straddled the line between garage rock and Jovem Guarda, while also hinting at the beginning of psychedelia, were: O'Seis, José Luiz and The Pop's.
In the legendary show named , in 1964, the first Brazilian genuine musical, Zé Keti represented the black people, , the people from the Northeastern region, and Nara Leão (then substituted by Maria Bethânia) represented the woman from the Brazilian high society. The innovative proposal of this show changed Brazilian music forever from the post-Bossa Nova period because it introduced other Brazilian genres to popular music. Sometimes, with the protest characteristic, the MPB base was formed: Chico Buarque, Edu Lobo, Geraldo Vandré, Sérgio Ricardo, João Donato, Eumir Deodato, Roberto Menescal, MPB4, Quarteto em Cy, Francis Hime, and Joyce, arising from Bossa Nova, despite the music is not rock, their collaboration is important on almost all popular urban genres, including the rock. In 1969, Marcos Valle, who belonged to the second generation of the Bossa Nova, changed his style to a psychedelic rock and soul music Brazilian concept, and his brother Paulo Sérgio Valle went in a similar way. is a very important musician for the MPB transformation process because he included rock and the 60s and 70s international pop in his music. From this post-bossa nova time, Tuca, a female singer/songwriter, traveled to Europe in 1969, settling in Paris for six years (she has performed for several countries including Spain, Italy, and Holland) when in 1971 Françoise Hardy released the album "La question", the result of a close partnership between both and thereafter, her performance turned more rocker.
The Tropicália movement turned the psychedelic rock and the use of electric instruments more popular in Brazilian music. Some tropicalistas were: Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé, Gal Costa, Rogério Duprat, Torquato Neto, Nara Leão, and others. The seminal "tropicalista" Os Mutantes influenced and tended the psychedelic rock and roll and is one reference for several relevant bands and musicians in the world.
Clube da Esquina, a group of friends from Minas Gerais, one of the most culturally prolific regions of Brazil, was joined with the Tropicália and Jovem Guarda responsible for the diffusion on a bigger scale by the electrification of the pop and rock music, with a universal, but Brazilian proposal. Some musicians from this group are: Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges, Toninho Horta, Beto Guedes, , , and the band .
1970s The 1970s started with progressive rock, hard rock, and glam rock, but was a period of mutual interference between Brazilian pop music MPB and rock.
Rita Lee (former Mutantes vocalist) started her own work with her band Tutti Frutti, with glam rock-like aesthetics. Other bands from this period include Casa das Máquinas with its music between glam-hard-rock and progressive, (also formed by a former Mutantes member, Arnaldo Baptista) between progressive and Hard rock, Made in Brazil with its hard rock (but in some songs already with the minimal characteristic of punk rock), the pure hard rock of Bixo da Seda, Edy Star, with his pure glam rock and the proto-metal band .
There were many progressive rock bands in Brazil, such as O Terço, Mutantes (without Rita Lee), A Bolha (Hard rock with Progressive mix), , which made the remarkable album with Olivia Byington Corra o Risco, , Bixo da Seda, (in which Lulu Santos and Lobão started their musical careers), and Bacamarte, some of which have become well known in Europe and the US by progressive fans. The progressive rock band had an experimental characteristic: jazz, bossa nova, contemporary music, impressionist music with the traditional folk and baroque from State of Minas Gerais resulting in a kind of a Brazilian art rock version, and with renowned musicians: Wagner Tiso, Zé Rodrix, , , . Lula Côrtes and Zé Ramalho with their album Paêbirú that was originally released in 1975 (see 1975 in music), despite representing very well the Brazilian psychedelic movement of the 1960s and 1970s, it can also be considered like an experimental mix of progressive rock and Brazilian northeast folk music certainly. Another band with only one album, but today considered a classic of Brazilian rock is with the work of the same name released in 1972: a forceful melodic Brazilian folk music with a vocal that remember The Byrds, and a bit of progressive rock and jazz, consistent orchestral arranges, and the famous Jorge Amiden's tritarra (a guitar with three arms).
From that period, a genre known as "Rock Rural" emerged, blending Brazilian folk music with rock. Notable artists in this genre include Zé Rodrix, Ave Sangria, Sá & Guarabyra, , . This movement also saw a radical form of Brazilian folk music, which sometimes overlapped with rock, significantly influencing Brazilian rock at the time. Artists like , Elomar, Xangai, Sérgio Reis, led this trend, followed by Almir Sater and Renato Teixeira in the 1980s. Marlui Miranda, known for her expertise in Brazilian indigenous music, represents an even more radical departure. Though her music is not traditionally categorized as rock, her innovative folk compositions contributed to the alternative aesthetic.
The "carioca" (from Rio de Janeiro city) Azymuth, was formed in 1969 and is the Jazz rock side of this generation, but is responsible for the Brazilian pop music development too. There are great musicians that can add up here - Jazz rock influence: Airto Moreira, Raul de Souza, Flora Purim, Hermeto Pascoal, Naná Vasconcelos, Arthur Verocai, André Geraissati, Egberto Gismonti, Grupo D'Alma, Eumir Deodato, and Sérgio Mendes (with Funk influence too).