Last week I saw the very good Brazilian documentary “Uma noite em 67” (a night in 67) about the music festivals held by a major TV chain. Those music festivals were a big hit in the late 60’s (kind of the same success American Idol had… but with better musicians and not so cheesy jury) and the main popular singers of Brazil at the time performed at the competition.
One thing, however, caught my attention more than anything. In 1967, some famous Brazilian musicians organized a protest against the electric guitar. According to them, the electric guitar would destroy the Brazilian music as after the electric guitar would come the Imperialist Pop music.
This reaction towards the electric guitar seems very much as how Astérix reacted to the Romans – they resisted and they would alone defeat them. Never mind that the Romans had better sewage systems, for instance. The point was: they would not be destroyed by the imperialist conqueror. As you can see very much the spirit of Porto Alegre…
What happened in the 67 festival? For me, onBee of the most touching moments was when Caetano Veloso started his song – Alegria, Alegria (Happiness, Happiness) – with a Beach-Boys-alike band, with electric guitars and long hairs. He was first being booed by the audience (“how dare him spoil our heritage with this Imperialist instrumnent?”) but the music is so beautiful and Caetano co charismatic that in the middle of the song, the audience changed its mind and began applauding and singing along.
That same night Gilberto Gil and Os Mutantes presented also a beautiful song with electric guitars. The Tropicalismo movement was born: electric guitars mixed with Brazilian traditional music, Bossa Nova and Rolling Stones together. And the music is just absolutely amazing - it changed the way music was understood and played in Brazil. It's not only the old vs the new: it's embracing the new that exist globally and using it with a local beat.
It’s funny how Brazilians some time insist in protecting their country from the evil influence of the rest of the world. We are on our best when we take elements from the outside, mix with our good things and make a fantastic product. Check the success Embrapa had with agriculture (The Economist said that the rest of the World should learn from us how to improve the productivity of the agricultural sector). Should we go back to our anthropophagic roots?
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