WORTHWHILE PRAISE

In São Paulo in 1965, Gil led a double life. During the day he was a Gessy Lever trainee, preparing to be a company director. At night he went to fashionable bars where he met and got to know other artists: like Chico Buarque, at the João Sebastião Bar. In a promising and stimulating musical environment, the creative process quickens: Gil began partnerships with the poet-lyricists Capinan and Torquato Neto. On stage, he re-encountered his friends, Caetano, Gal, Bethânia and Tom Zé, in "Arena canta Bahia"(Arena sings Bahia), a show by the theater director Augusto Boal; and participated in the 4th Balança Festival, at the Mackenzie University, with "Iemanjá". He released his first single ("Procissão"(Procession) and "Roda") with the big recording company, RCA. And in television, at the beginning of 1966, he began to shine, especially in"O fino da bossa", a TV Record program hosted by the singer, Elis Regina, which consecrated his song "Louvação"(Praise): recognition arrives where it is due, that is, to the great new composer of Brazilian popular music. Due to this success and a contract for a LP with Philips, Gil gave up his job at Gessy, decided to make a living from music only, and moved to Rio with Belina and his new-born daughter, Nara.At the time, a phenomenon stirs up the MPB scene, bringing new values to the fore: the effervescent festivals promoted by TV stations. In 1966, Gil participates as a composer in two of them: TV Rio’s 1st FIC (International Song Festival), with "Minha senhora"(My lady), with Gal singing, and in TV Record’s 2nd MPB Festival, with "Ensaio geral"(Dress rehearsal) (which came fifth), sung by Elis. The two songs are then released by Gil himself in a single at the end of the year. At the beginning of 1967, "Ensaio geral" lends its name to the program that Gil hosts for a time on TV Excelsior. In May, his first LP, "Louvação", is released. By this time Gil had fathered his second daughter, Marília, and having already split up with Belina, he began living with the singer Nana Caymmi. Nana is his partner in "Bom dia", with which he competes in TV Record’s 3rd FMPB. But it’s "Domingo no parque"(Sunday at the park) that marks him as a composer in the festival that year. A capoeira (a dance/fight practiced in Brazil that has a particular rhythm) song, sung with the pop group ‘Os Mutantes’, "Domingo no parque" (second place) and the march "Alegria, alegria"(Happiness,happiness) (fourth) by Caetano, also made electric by the participation of rockers (the Beat Boys), shake the ruling foundations of MPB. These are the first strong signs of a movement in the making at the end of 1967, and after which Brazilian music and culture would not be the same. It’s Tropicalism, with the baianos Caetano and Gil at the forefront.

(The next chapter: "A manhã tropical se inicia")

Previous chapter: "Gil meets Gilberto"