Carlos Alberto, who came to prominence circa 1963, singing mostly covers of Latin American boleros translated into Portuguese wasn't your average bolero singer at all. Carlos whose real name was Nuno Soares, had been in a duo called Dupla Quitandinha with Silvio Lima in the 1950s.
By 1961, Silvio Lima aka Silvinho, hit the big time with 'Quem é?', 'Essa noite eu queria que o mundo acabasse' (E para o inferno o Senhor me mandasse!) and a string of boleros recorded by Philips which reached the top of the charts.
Even though boleros were on the wane circa 1963, Odeon launched Altemar Dutra who single-handedly proved that boleros were down but not out. Altemar sold records like hot cakes.
CBS Records which was very competitive at that time thought they must find their own 'Altemar Dutra' as quickly as possible. They didn't have the services of song-writers Evaldo Gouveia & Jair Amorim, but that didn't matter. They could use old boleros like 'Sabra Diós' and translate it into Portuguese as 'Sabe Deus'. Besides, they had awsome conductor Alexandre Gnatalli (Radamés younger brother) as an arranger and producer. That would do and it actually did do!
Carlos Alberto had a distinct voice. It sounded as if he wept while he sang. Carlos Alberto's sobbing was much heavier than Johnny Ray's, the Prince of Wails... That 'crying sound' gave Carlos an edge over the competition in an art that pulls at heart strings. The more dramatic the better. Some people hated it but myriad more loved it and soon Carlos Alberto became one of the best selling acts at CBS which was no mean feat considering Roberto Carlos the best-selling-act-in-the-country was a coleague.
Actually, some say CBS changed Nuno Soares' name to Carlos Alberto to remind audiences of the rock'n'roll idol - both had 'Carlos' in their name and 'Alberto' is very close to 'Roberto'.
After 'Sabe Deus' (Alvaro Carrillo) came 'De joelhos' (De rodillas) (Benito de Jesus-Jota Morales) which was even more snivelling. It seemed as if Carlos Alberto cried all his way to the bank. His 2nd album is my favourite features 'Aquece-me esta noite' (Regalame esa noche), 'Lado a lado', 'Louco fui eu', 'Ansiedade' (Ansiandote) and 'Ilumina-me Senhor' (Illuminame, Señor) which is a paroxism of bewailing lamentation.
a very young Carlos Alberto (playing the guitar) & Silvinho (holding a bongo) as part of Dupla Quitandinha, in Petrópolis-RJ.
Gui Castro Neves wrote at FB: Carlos Alberto (*1933 + 2020)
Entre 1945 e 1950, dois meninos em Petrópolis-RJ formaram a Dupla Quitandinha, cujo auge foi a participação no programa de Renato Murce (1900-1987) na Rádio Nacional.
Quando os garotos se tornaram rapazes, o duo se desfez. Porém trilhariam caminhos individuais de grande sucesso!
Eram eles Nuno Soares (esquerda), o Carlos Alberto (1933-2020) e Silvio Lima (direita), o Silvinho (1931-2019).
De mais fascinante nesta história, é que apesar da pouco lembrada associação inicial dos artistas, eles acabariam conhecidos, cada um, como ‘Rei do Bolero do Brasil'. E as audiências sempre se dividiram, a respeito de qual deles seria o merecedor 'afetivo' do título. Juntos ou separados, o que não lhes faltou foram glórias!
Carlos Alberto née Nuno Soares *29 September 1933, in Astolfo Dutra-MG; +7 July 2020, in Juiz de Fora-MG.
Carlos Alberto née Nuno Soares *29 September 1933, in Astolfo Dutra-MG; +7 July 2020, in Juiz de Fora-MG.
columnist Claribalte Passos reviews Carlos Alberto's debut album 'O grande intérprete' for 'Correio da Manhã', 24 May 1964.
blogger Carlus Maximus on 7 August 2014, during his campaign: 'Don't be embarrassed to dig Carlos Alberto!'
No comments:
Post a Comment