Viva Santa Gal, Iemanjá menina!
Gal Costa died today. She was 77 years old. She was one of the original Tropicálistas, a group of musicians who emerged in the 1960s in Brazil, including Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Maria Bethânia and Os Mutantes. These artists came up during the period of Brazil’s military dictatorship. They embraced rock and roll, which alienated some fans who thought of their rocking as yankee cultural imperialism. She started out collaborating with fellow Salvadoran, Caetano Veloso, on a strongly bossa nova influenced record called Domingo. My favorite song from that album is “Coração Vagabundo.”
I think nationalistic fans had nothing to complain about here—they considered bossa nova to be sufficiently Brazilian, despite its jazz influences. But as when Dylan went electric, they were offended when Veloso, Costa, and the gang did the same.
In 1968, the album Tropicália ou Panis et Circenses was released. It was a collaborative album that acted as a manifesto for a new musical movement, Tropicália. It was recorded by Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé, Os Mutantes and Gal Costa. It had Costa’s first nationwide hit, her version of Veloso’s song “Baby.”
This song was a generation-defining anthem for Brazilians.
She had a very successful career, but I have to admit the Gal Costa I liked best was the interpretor of Caetano Veloso songs. Veloso and Gilberto Gil were arrested by the military government in 1969, essentially for the crime of being popular hippies, not for the political content of their work. They spent three months in prison and then were exiled to London, where they both stayed until 1972. While in London, Veloso made several charmingly naive attempts to write songs in English. Costa recorded her classic version of his song “London, London” in 1970 for her album Legal. (Note: “legal” is Brazilian slang for “cool”.) The song spoke about Veloso’s loneliness in exile and his paranoia. Costa’s version brings these feelings right up to the surface, with a moaning harmonica accompaniment.
In 1976, she got back together with the old Tropicália gang to record a live album, Doces Bárbaros, which more-or-less translates as “Barbarian Candy” but in my mind I always think of it as “Sweet Barbarians” because they really were the sweetest barbarians imaginable. This was the last gasp of Tropicália hippiedom. Here is their version of “São João Xangô Menino” (another Veloso song). Her barefoot performance was a Costa trademark during this period.
Viva Santa Gal, Iemanjá menina!
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