Caetano Veloso — Alegria, Alegria
Caetano Veloso · 1968
Label: Philips · Genre: Rare Groove / Tropicália · Country: Brazil · From: Salvador, South America
Tropicália was a Brazilian cultural movement that lasted roughly two years before the military government banned it and imprisoned its leaders. Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil were jailed then exiled to London. Alegria, Alegria was Veloso's opening salvo: electric guitars, Beatles harmonies, and imagery from cinema, advertising, and São Paulo streets delivered with total confidence. It scandalized the Brazilian left who thought rock guitars were American imperialism, and the military right who saw the lyrics as subversive. Both were correct.
Did you know: Alegria, Alegria was performed by Veloso at the 1967 Brazilian Popular Music Festival, where it controversially lost to a more traditional entry. The song was later banned by Brazil’s military government for its oblique political imagery. Veloso and Gilberto Gil were arrested in 1968, held without charge for several months, and eventually exiled to London — from which they continued to record.
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