O Samba Malando de Bezerra da Silva
4-CD Boxset
Released 2005 Sony-BMG/RCA (82876691992)
Disc 1 – Eu Sou Favela
1 Eu Sou Favela See All 5
2 Se Nao Fosse a Ajuda da Rapaziada
3 Saudacao As Favelas
4 Produto Do Morro
5 Candidato Cao Cao
6 Partideiro Sem No Na Garganta
7 E Esse ai que E O Homem
8 Quando O Morcego Doar Sangue
9 Vitimas da Sociedade
10 Pena de Morte
11 Vida de Operario
12 Assombracao de Barraco
13 Violencia Gera Violencia
14 Compositores de Verdade
Disc 2 – Malando É Malandro, Mané É Mané
1 Malandro Rife
2 Defunto Caguete
3 Bicho Feroz
4 Os Federais Estao Te Filmando
5 E O Bicho E O Bicho
6 Grampeado Com Muita Moral
7 No Hora da Dura
8 Defunto Grampeado
9 As 40 Dps
10 Fofoqueiro E a Imagem Do Cao
11 Meu Bom Juiz
12 Eu Nao Sou Santo
13 Preconceito de Cor
14 Ela Cagueta Com O Dedao Do Pe
Disc 3 – Cocada Preta e Branca no Terreiro
1 Malandragem Da Um Tempo
2 Sao Murungar
3 Semente
4 Pai Veio 171
5 Nunca VI Ninguem Dar Dois Em Nada
6 O Preto E O Branco
7 Nariz de Bronze
8 Vovo Tira-Tira
9 Garrafada Do Norte
10 Ze Fofinho de Ogum
11 Arruda de Guine
12 Cabeca Pra Vovo
13 Overdose de Cocada
14 Se Leonardo Da Vinte
Disc 4 – Cornos, Piranhas, Sogras, Pastores e OUtros Manés
1 Sequestraram Minha Sogra
2 Na Aba
3 Viuva de Seis
4 Necessidade
5 Quem USA Antena E Televisao
6 Minha Sogra Parece Sapatao
7 Vizinha Faladeira
8 Pode Acreditar Em Mim
9 Vou Lhe Dar Uma Colher
10 Sai Encosto
11 Pastor Trambiqueiro
12 Foi O Dr. Delegado Que Disse
13 Lugar Macabro
14 Os Tres Pagodeiros Do Rio
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I have a crapload of Bezerra da Silva on vinyl, including his albums with Os Partideiros 10, and there is no question his stuff sounds better on wax. But since some people see fit to bitch and whine about the sound of the vinyl rips here, I am not really inspired to do many more of them. Which is a shame, because I have hours and hours of vinyl transfers waiting to be edited. Too bad. Apparently people don’t realize that when they only show up to leave comments to complain about something, that this demotivates bloggers from doing what they do. I suggest to those people that they start their own blogs and see how all that works. Ah, but alas, this would presume you have something interesting to contribute and aren’t just a humanoid leech, a hungry mouth who is never satisfied. The sense of entitlement of people on the internet these days… it’s enough to make a person just say fuck it, why bother? So, this will be my last post for a while. I’m not going to write much either, not as much as this music deserves. Hardly anyone actually reads the write-ups anyway and now a few cyber-pricks have managed to sap my enthusiasm for this shindig. And don’t even think this is only about the comments that get published — The dozens every week that are just endless repetitive requests for favors from people I’ve never heard from before, or requests for re-ups from people who can’t be bothered to even say ‘hey thanks for the post.’ Those people get a big Fuck You. I don’t publish your “comments” because there is no point. And resending them every week isn’t going to get them published. They will be ignored, indefinitely. Currently, 98 unpublished comments on this blog. See, I don’t even have time to DELETE the stuff these people write to me.
Carnival is almost here. I had a bunch of posts I had planned in commemoration of carnival. Too bad for you I guess. I’ll be listening to my records at home or with friends.
For the cool people who regularly stop by the blog and have something interesting to say — thanks, you folks make a huge difference, more than you probably realize.
Bezerra da Silva, while he began his recording career singing coco in the style of Jackson do Pandeiro until he gained more recognition as a sambista with Os Partideiros 10, he really didn’t hit the big time until he was nearly 50 years when he began releasing his samba albums for RCA-Victor and incorporated the archtype of the “malandro” into his stage persona. The figure of the malandro is an ubiquitous part of Brazilian folklore and culture – someone who survives on his street-smarts and wits while managing to avoid hard work as much as possible; a slick hustler anti-hero and trickster-figure; a figure that is both reviled and admired by people who play by society’s rules. Bezerra took on this identity like no other sambista, and was able to engage with the gritty realities of urban life with a characteristic humor and biting dark humor. He could level astute critiques about societal ills like violence in the slums, corrupt police officers and judges, and also weave comical yarns about smoking pot or any number of songs dealing with mother-in-law humor.. (One of my favorite tunes here is ‘Minha sogra parece sapatão’)
The boxset has a wonderful graphic design and layout and a nice informative and insightful essay from music critic Rodrigo Faour. The four discs are arranged thematically, grouped based on lyrical content, rather than chronologically, making this a fun listen even for people who own his individual albums.
I wish I had time to translate the wonderful essay in the booklet from Rodrigo Faour. All in all this is a wonderful little package, and priced very economically. You should go out and buy it, and then track down all the individual releases on vinyl.
