Still the greatest

This year Elis Regina would have turned 50 if not for a tragic drug overdose 13 years ago. She was bold and sharp, bringing to the public more than a beautiful voice. With her imagination and energy, Elis set standards by performing in often outlandish outfits and with always original style. A diva in her time, Elis set the pace for Brazilian popular music and left an impression yet to be equaled

Cindy Pereira Wilson

In the 60's, intensity and energy lit the petite frame of legendary singer Elis Regina. Cloaked in this aura of free spirit, Elis triumphed in impassioned performances and recordings, putting her in the same league as Gal Costa and Maria Bethania. Now, while Gal and Bethania celebrate their 50th birthdays and many years of success, we can only guess what sparkling contributions 50-year-old Elis's repertoire would have held had she not accidentally overdosed on cocaine and alcohol in January of 1982.

Still, we can celebrate, through digitally re-mastered CD's of her performances and the story of her raise to fame, the 1945 birth of a woman whose shows, style and voice helped make the Brazilian bossa nova one of the most recognized and cherished musical contributions of Brazilian culture.

Few of us are ever touched with the magic of fame, and, of those who are, fewer still achieve it as quickly as Elis. Born in Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil, of a modest family, Elis began her musical career at age 14, singing on local radio shows. In 1961, a 16-year-old Elis recorded her first album. By 1962 she could brag of receiving two major awards in the South: Queen of the Disco Club (1961) and Best Singer of the Year (1962).

Elis headed to Rio de Janeiro, a driven, determined and fiery soul, as her nickname "Pimentinha" ("Little Pepper") suggested. Already showing signs of the controversial star to come, Elis faked a birth certificate in order to sing in night clubs. She stowed away in bathrooms during police raids. She catapulted into popularity around the ripe age of 20, when she began conquering audiences in São Paulo with charm, timing, style and beautiful interpretations of bossa nova tunes composed by such legends as Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes.

Elis also bravely took to the stage unknown songs by then young and green composers like Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, João Bosco and Aldir Blanc. Her daring to sing unknown and sometimes controversial pieces was, to some, irreverence and cost her commercial support and fans. The singer sometimes clashed with interviewers and even with favorite composers like Gil and Caetano by way of brash comments and stubborn decisions to alter their lyrics.

In her personal life, Elis stood true to her fervent nature. Although she claimed her friendships were eternal, Elis was known to denigrate friends behind their backs. Perhaps the defamation was self-defense fueled by doubts and distrust, for she once said, "With me it's simple -- I share everything; my clothes, my friends... but my stage, that I do not share." Elis was able to transmit her confidence and intensity in performing to the audience, and they in turn rewarded her with energy and adoration. Largely through talent, but also through great dedication, Elis unleashed the passion to make her shows spectacular.

Even though performing may have been her first love, her ardor flowed outside of music to family, dreams and lovers. With her first husband, Ronaldo Boscoli, Elis's six-year, on-again-off-again relationship was stormy from beginning to end, when she instigated an affair with César Camargo Mariano. Mariano had been working on the Elis &Tom album when Elis boldly propositioned him. Ironically, one of the songs they had been working on described the end of a relationship much like the impending demises of their own marriages. Elis had one child with Boscoli (João Marcelo) and two with Mariano (Pedro and Maria Rita). At least some of Elis's musical roots were passed on to João Marcelo, who has hosted the show Cia. da Música (The Music Company) that spotlights new MPB (Música Popular Brasileira -- Popular Brazilian Music) releases.

A look at the trilogy tribute to Elis and her vast contributions to the MPB is especially appropriate as Elis would have become 50 on March 17 of this year. Bursting with Elis's beautiful, resonant voice, the trilogy, Elis no Fino da Bossa, paints an auditory picture of the singer's seismic TV performances in Sao Paulo from 1965 to 1967. Eighty thousand dollars were invested in the digital re-mastering, production and release of performances originally taped by journalist and researcher Zuza Homem de Mello. Combined with other recently released Elis CD's, the trilogy helps convey her life achievements through their various stages, recounting musical history in its making.

For Elis the performer, flirtations with the controversial, dedication to her heart's call and frenetic exuberance were not just peculiarities. Her idiosyncrasies may have been key ingredients in launching her to legendary status among Brazilian vocalists, for she gave audiences not only a strong, crystalline voice, but surprises, vivacious style and dedication to the art. Elis will live forever in the history of Brazilian music.

Some lyrics

Como Nossos Pais

Antonio Carlos Belchior

Não quero lhe falar, meu grande amor

Das coisas que aprendi nos discos

Quero lhe contar como eu vivi

E tudo o que aconteceu comigo

Viver é melhor que sonhar

E eu sei que o amor é uma coisa boa

Mas também sei que qualquer canto

É melhor do que a vida

De qualquer pessoa

Por isso cuidado, meu bem

Há perigo na esquina!

Eles venceram e o sinal está fechado

Para nós que somos jovens

Para abraçar meu irmão

E beijar minha menina na rua

É que se fez o meu lábio

O meu braço e a minha voz

Você me pergunta pela minha paixão

Digo que estou encantado

Com uma nova invenção

E eu sei de tudo na ferida viva do meu coração

Já faz tempo que eu vi você na rua

Cabelo ao vento. gente jovem reunida

Na parede da memória

Essa lembrança é o quadro que dói mais

Minha dor é perceber que

Apesar de termos feito tudo que fizemos

Ainda somos os mesmos e vivemos

Como nossos pais

Nossos ídolos ainda são os mesmos

E as aparências não se enganam não

Você diz que depois deles não apareceu mais ninguém

Você pode até dizer que eu estou por fora

Ou então que estou inventando

Mas é você que ama o passado e que não vê

Que o novo sempre vem

E hoje eu sei que quem me deu

A idéia de uma nova consciência e juventude

Está em casa guardado por Deus

Contando vil metais

Minha dor é perceber que

Apesar de termos feito tudo

Tudo o que fizemos

Ainda somos os mesmos e vivemos

Ainda somos os mesmo e vivemos

Ainda somos os mesmo e vivemos

Como nossos pais

As Our Parents

I don't want to tell you, my dear love

The things I've learned in records

I want to tell you how I've lived

And everything that happened to me

To live is better than to dream

And I know that love is a good thing

But I do also know that any song

Is better than the life

Of anyone

So, be careful, my darling

There's danger in the corner!

They have won and the light is red

For us who are young

To hug my brother

And to kiss my girl on the street

My lips were made

As well as my arm and my voice

You ask about my passion

I say that I am bewitched

By a new invention

And I know it all on my hearts live wound

It's been sometime since I saw you on the street

Hair in the wind, young people gathered around

On my memory's wall

This recollection is the painting that hurts the most

My pain is to acknowledge that

Despite having done everything we've done

We are still the same and we live

As our parents

Our idols are still the same

And appearances don't fool, oh no

You say that there was one else after them

You can even tell that I know nothing

Or that I am just inventing

But it's you who loves the past and can't see

That the new is always coming

And today I know that who gave me

The idea of a new conscience and youth

Is at home under God's protection

Counting vile coins

My pain is to acknowledge that

Despite having done everything

Everything we've done

We are still the same and we live

We are still the same and we live

We are still the same and we live

As our parents

Romaria

Renato Teixeira

É de sonho é de pó

O destino de um só

Feito eu perdido em pensamentos

Sobre o meu cavalo

É de laço e de nó de gibeira

O giló dessa vida

Cumprida a sol

Sou caipira, Pirapora

Nossa Senhora de Aparecida

Ilumina a mina escura

E funda o trem da minha vida

O meu pai foi peão

Minha mãe solidão

Meus irmãos perderam-se na vida

À custa de aventuras

Descasei, joguei

Investi, desisti

Se há sorte eu não sei nunca vi

Me disseram porém

Que eu viesse aqui pra pedir

De romaria e prece

Paz nos desaventos

Como eu não sei rezar

Só queria mostrar

Meu olhar, meu olhar, meu olhar

Pilgrimage

It's made of dream, of dust

The destiny of one person

Like me lost in thought

Riding horseback

It's made of noose and sheath's knot

The bitterness of this life

Served under the sun

I'm a hillbilly, from Pirapora

Our Lady of Aparecida

Shine upon the dark mine

And sustain my life's train

My father was a peon

My mother solitude

My siblings got lost in life

Searching for adventure

I got unmarried, I gambled

I invested, I lost

If there's luck I don't know I've never seen it

They have told me, however

To come here to pray

In pilgrimage and prayer

Peace for the disputes

Since I don't know how to pray

I just want to show

My regard, my regard, my regard

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