1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 136. Caetano Veloso – Caetano Veloso (1968)

 

Ignoramuses such as myself may wonder who Caetono Veloso is. He’s kind of the “Brazilian Bob Dylan”, a singer-songwriter and activist against what was at the time a fascistic government in place in Brazil. A friend of fellow 1001-listers Gilberto Gil, and Os Mutantes, Veloso was (is) part of the Tropicalia movement of Brazilian musicians.

There are elements of bossa nova and samba to the beats of these tunes, almost inevitably, but with rockier overtones, and a touch of raga (on the track Eles) and psychedelia. So although it’s a bit like some of the samba albums of the 1950s, it has a more late-Sixties feel to the music – it's the same kind of thing otherwise, with hypnotic Latin American rhythms driving the rest of the song forwards and inspiring imaginations of dancing the samba.

I’m presuming it’s in Portuguese, but it sounded more Spanish than Portuguese usually does; whichever it is, my language skills aren’t up to much to be able to fully understand the lyrics. Ah – something about water (“agua”), something about death (“muertes”), “Soy Loco por ti America” - I’m crazy for you America? So best, as with all of the non-English albums, is to get a vague sense.

I did love the track Superbacana though, that was very cool, but really really short! One minute and 28 seconds!