VIRGINIA LEE: "Internationalee Yours"

Original released on LP Gallotone GALP 1228

(SOUTH AFRICA, 1961 June 19)

VIRGINIA LEE: HER "EARLY RECORDINGS"

Esta compilação (dos anos 1961, 1963 e 1964) reúne algumas das primeiras gravações de Virginia Lee, cantora sul-africana que começou a sua carreira como artista convidada em albuns de Archie Silansky ou Dan Hill. Como peculiaridade assinala-se a sua capacidade em cantar em diversos dialectos, muitas vezes sem sequer os conhecer. Nesta coletânea podemos ouvi-la cantar em 8 diversas línguas, mas ao longo dos anos chegou às dezasseis! Refira-se "A Noiva" e especialmente "Coimbra" (uma fantástica versão em ritmo de cha cha cha), nas quais canta em português (ou será "africanês"?).

A Dupla Antologia de CELLY CAMPELLO

Nascida em São Paulo, Brasil, a 18 de Junho de 1942 (nesse mesmo dia nascia também Paul McCartney em Liverpool, Inglaterra), Celly Campello (de seu nome próprio Célia) foi a grande referência da música brasileira no período pré - Jovem Guarda (movimento que Roberto e Erasmo Carlos encetariam com estrondoso sucesso em 1963). Apenas com 16 anos gravaria um primeiro tema (“Handsome Boy”) num compacto de 78 rpm a meias com o seu irmão, Tony Campello (tudo porque a letra da canção não se prestava a uma interpretação masculina). Seis meses depois, em Março de 1959, viria a gravar a canção que a tornou famosa de um dia para o outro: “Estúpido Cupido”, a versão de Fred Jorge para “Stupid Cupid”, de Neil Sedaka e Howard Greenfield (o disco vendeu mais de 120.000 cópias, quebrando todos os recordes da época). Até o expoente máximo da bossa nova se rendeu aos seus encantos. «É uma moça que sabe usar com grande tarimba seu afiado aparelho vocal», disse Tom Jobim. Nos 3 anos seguintes Celly Campello criou as raízes da futura pop brasileira através da gravação de 5 albuns fundamentais: “Estúpido Cupido” (Setembro de 1959), “Broto Certinho” (Abril de 1960), “A Bonequinha Que Canta” (Novembro de 1960), “A Graça de Celly Campello e as Músicas de Paul Anka” (Abril de 1961) e “Brotinho Encantador” (Outubro de 1961). Na onda da inocência feminina daqueles anos, Celly cantou ingenuidades como "Túnel do Amor", "Lacinhos Cor-de-Rosa", “A Lenda da Conchinha” ou "Os Mandamentos do Broto", em oposição à rebeldia do rock masculino.

Era tão popular que inspirou uma fábrica de brinquedos a criar uma boneca com o seu nome e outra de chocolates a lançar o bombom Cupido. Foi ainda o pivot do programa Crush em Hi-Fi, o primeiro da TV brasileira dedicado ao rock. Apelidada de namoradinha do Brasil (muito antes, portanto, de Elis Regina ter direito a essa distinção), foi eleita em 1961 como a Rainha do Rock (o rei seria Sergio Murillo) pela “Revista do Rock”. Em janeiro de 1962 Celly abalou os fãs anunciando o seu casamento com José Edwards Gomes Chacon, um contador da Petrobras com quem namorava desde os 14 anos, e a consequente decisão de abandonar a vida artística. O casamento ocorreu na cidade de São Paulo no dia 7 de maio de 1962, passando Celly a chamar-se Célia Campello Gomes Chacon, e encetando assim uma viragem radical na sua vida. Encantada com a vida pacata do interior, Celly referia-se mais tarde aos anos de fama sem arrependimento. Ocupava-se com pinturas, colaborando com obras assistenciais, cuidando dos dois filhos e dos dois netos ao lado do marido, com quem viveu até o fim dos seus dias. O irmão Tony Campello, que a introduziu no mundo artístico, acha que a cantora deveria ter continuado a gravar, mas respeitou sua decisão: «Ela viveu em paz, encontrou a felicidade pessoal dessa maneira».



Em 1965, Celly foi sondada para apresentar o programa Jovem Guarda, com Roberto e Erasmo Carlos. Declinou o convite, abrindo o caminho para o estrelato de Wanderléa. A última volta de Celly aos palcos foi breve, em 1976, quando a Rede Globo lançou a novela "Estúpido Cupido" e a convidou para alguns episódios, interpretando-se a ela própria. Gravou ainda mais 2 albuns (um em 68 e outro em 76) e alguns compactos mas sem o sucesso do início da década: a voz continuava óptima, mas os tempos, esses, tinham mudado definitivamente. Morreu em Campinas, cidade paulista onde residia, numa terça-feira de Carnaval, a 4 de Março de 2003, vítima do cancro detectado sete anos antes na mama direita. Os anos de tratamento reduziram o avanço da doença, mas não impediram a metástase óssea que acabaria por lhe tirar a vida. Celly tinha 60 anos de idade. A dupla Antologia que aqui se disponibiliza reúne o essencial da época de ouro de Celly Campello. Posteriormente será apresentada uma outra coleção dos anos de retorno (1968-1979) que servirá apenas como uma curiosidade, visto não ter o significado e a importância destes primeiros anos.

Having been born in São Paulo, Brazil, the 18th of June 1942 (in this exactly day was also born Paul McCartney in Liverpool, England), Celly (Célia) Campello was the great reference of Brazilian music in the period before Jovem Guarda (the musical stream that Roberto and Erasmo Carlos would begin with tremendous success in 1963). With only 16 years she recorded the second side (“Handsome Boy”) in a 78 rpm single with her brother, Tony Campello, recording the first half (this happened only because the lyrics of the song were not meant to be sang by a male singer). Six months later, in March of 1959, she recorded the song that turn her to a celebrity from one day to another: “Estúpido Cupido”, Fred Jorge’s version of “Stupid Cupid”, by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield (the record sold more than 120,000 copies, breaking all the sale records of the time). Even the top voice of bossa-nova surrended to her charms: «She is a young woman who knows how to use like great tarimba her sharp vocal device», said Tom Jobim. In the three following years Celly Campello created the roots of future pop Brazilian music through the releases of 5 basic albums: “Estúpido Cupido” (September of 1959), “Broto Certinho” (April of 1960), “A Bonequinha Que Canta” (November of 1960), “A Graça de Celly Campello e as Músicas de Paul Anka” (April of 1961) e “Brotinho Encantador” (October of 1961). Following the wave of the feminine innocence of those years, Celly sang naïve songs as “Túnel do Amor, “Lacinhos Cor-de-Rosa”, “A Lenda da Conchinha” or “Os Mandamentos do Broto”, in opposition to the revolt of the masculine rock. 

She was so popular that inspired a toys factory to create a doll with her name and another one of chocolates to launch the Cupido bonbon. She was also the host of the TV show Crush in Hi-Fi, the first one to be dedicated to rock music. Nicknamed little sweetheart of Brazil (long before of Elis Regina to have the right to this distinction), she was elect in 1961 as the Queen of the Rock (the king would be Sergio Murillo) by the “Magazine of the Rock”. In January of 1962 Celly shocked her fans by announcing the marriage with Jose Edwards Gomes Chacon, an accountant from Petrobras, with whom she flirted since her teens, and the consequent decision to leave the artistic life. The marriage took place in the city of São Paulo in the 7th of May, 1962, having Celly changed her name to Célia Campello Gomes Chacon, beginning that way a drastic change in her life. Seduced by the country life, Celly would talk later about the years of fame without any regret. She used to spend the time with paintings, collaborating with charity works or taking care of her two children and later of her two grandsons, living with her husband until the end of her days. Her brother Tony Campello, who introduced her in the artistic world, thinks that she must had continued to record, but he respected her decision. «She lived in peace, found the personal happiness in that way».

In 1965, Celly was invited to present the TV show Jovem Guarda, with Roberto and Erasmo Carlos. She declined the invitation, opening the way for the stardom of singer Wanderléa. The last return of Celly to the stages was brief, in 1976, when the TV Globe launched the "Estúpido Cupido" novel and invited her for some episodes, making the role of herself. She recorded two more Albums (one in 68 and another one in 76) and some singles and EPs but without the success of the beginning of the decade: the voice was still excellent, but the times, those, had changed forever. She died in Campinas, São Paulo city, where she lived, in a Carnival tuesday, the 4th of March, 2003, victim of a cancer detected seven years before in her right breast. The treatment years had reduced the advance of the illness, but they not could prevent a bone metathesis that would took her life away. Celly was 60 years old. The double Anthology which is presented here, reunites the essential of the golden period of Celly Campello. Later, another collection from the return years (1968-1979) will be presented here. It will be just a curiosity, because it will have not the meaning and the importance of these first years.

RICHARD ANTHONY: EP "Twist"

Original released on EP Columbia SLEG 5021
(PORTUGAL, 1961)

NILLA PIZZI: "Souvenir d'Italia" (1954 - 1961)

ALBERTO CORTEZ: EP "Ó Monica"

Original released on EP POP MPO 3057

(FRANCE, 1961)

The Very Best Of THE BEATLES (1961-1963)

The First 2 Albums From The SHADOWS

Original released on LP Columbia (EMI) 
33SX 1374 (mono) / SCX 3414 (stereo)

(UK, September 1961)

Having already scored three major U.K. smashes, the Shadows confirmed their independence from singer Cliff Richard with an eponymous album which rates among the most accomplished British LPs of the pre-Beatles era, and one of the most influential rock instrumental sets ever. An entire generation of would-be guitar heroes learned their licks from Hank Marvin and the Shadows, an accolade which a star-studded, mid-1990s tribute album certainly affirms. But the bespectacled guitarist was not the band's sole star. Drummer Tony Meehan's "See You in My Drums," like bassist Jet Harris' "Jet Black" single of two years previous, is a gripping showcase for his own remarkable talents, while "Baby My Heart" unveils vocal talents which, again, the group's earliest singles alone had illustrated. Modern listeners, schooled in the axeman excesses of more recent years, will doubtlessly find the Shadows impossibly well-mannered and implausibly sedentary. Low-key instrumentals like "Blue Star," "Sleepwalk," and "Nivram" (the inspiration behind Peter Frampton's "Theme From Nivram") scarcely begin to speak of the frenetic abuses which the likes of Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton would one day wring from their instruments. What they did do, however, was illustrate the untapped possibilities of the guitar, a lesson which Marvin might have taken his time in teaching, but which was vivid all the same. (Dave Thompson in AllMusic)

Original released on LP Columbia (EMI)
33SX 1458 (mono) / SCX 3449 (stereo)

(UK, October 1962)

The Shadows' second album is one of the group's better efforts, though not a very hard-rocking one. By this time, the Shadows were moving in a direction similar to that of Cliff Richard, aiming for a wider, more mature audience that was attuned to more than rock & roll. Much of what's here, including "Perfidia," "Spring Is Nearly Here," and "Some Are Lonely," could pass for adult pop music more easily than rock & roll, though there is some of that, what with numbers like "The Rumble," "Tails of a Raggy Tramline" (a "Telstar"-like instrumental), the Hank Marvin-Bruce Welch "Kinda Cool," and Brian Bennett's "Little 'B'" (a great drum showcase that doesn't wear out its welcome at all). That material is augmented by the presence of several country & western-style (!) numbers, by way of the Kennedy-Carr songwriting team ("The Bandit," "South of the Border") and the group's own composition efforts, most notably "1861," which would have been a great theme for a Western television series of the era - the latter showcases lead guitarist Marvin's precise and elegant picking. This repertory seems to have been the group's and producer Norrie Paramor's attempt to tap into the folk music boom of the period, and "The Bandit" is a moment of genius, with the group harmonizing almost like the Kingston Trio. Regardless of the idiom in which they're working, the playing is lean, tight, and melodic, displaying the same qualities that the group brought to Cliff Richard's recordings during the first half-decade of his career. Marvin and Welch play their guitars like they're the same person, and Bennett proves himself perhaps the best full-time band drummer in England at the time, providing tasteful fills and little percussion embellishments that were beyond the ability of most rock & roll drummers at the time, and outdoing himself on "Little 'B'." The one grotesquely weak moment here is the cover of "Bo Diddley" - the band should have known better than to attempt it, and Paramor, if he understood rock & roll at all, should have declined to release it, instead giving the world what has to be the wimpiest version one is ever likely to hear. There are, indeed, a few too many soft instrumental numbers breaking up the rock & roll that does work, but the album holds up. (Bruce Eder in AllMusic)

THE BEAT OF THE POPS - VOLUME 30

THE BEAT OF THE POPS - VOLUME 29

THE BEAT OF THE POPS - VOLUME 28

THE BEAT OF THE POPS - VOLUME 27

THE BEAT OF THE POPS - VOLUME 26