Search - Gilberto Gil :: Gilberto Gil 1971

A Brazilian "tropicalia" classic

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 04/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Songwriter-guitarist Gilberto Gil was, along with his collaborator Caetano Veloso, a founding member of the hippie-ish "tropicalia" movement, which merged Brazilian art forms with the psychedelic and "new wave" movements from Europe and the USA.



Gil's career took off at roughly the same time that Brazilian politics devolved into a military coup, and accordingly the great cultural radical ran afoul of the new dictatorship. In 1969 Veloso and Gil were arrested, then sent into European exile, where they remained for several years. This album was recorded in London, during that exile, and features Gil at his most searching and haunted. The album includes groovy acoustic versions of several songs that appear (in electrified, rock-funk form) on other albums, as well as some truly goofy, delerious English-language psych-folk tunes, including "Three Mushrooms," which has a Tim Buckley-ish spaciness to it. This expanded version includes three bonus tracks, most notably a cover of Steve Winwood's "Can't Find My Way Home," which takes on renewed poignance, given what Gil was going through at the time.



By the way, Gil certainly got his revenge: he and Veloso returned to Brazil in 1972 and became, despite the ongoing censorship and political paranoia, huge pop stars, and are considered two of the most influential musicians in modern Brazilian pop. Not only that, but Gil even went into politics himself, getting elected to office locally in Bahia, and is currently (in 2007) serving as the country's Minister of Culture. How's that for a happy ending? So, here he is in his youth, banished but not bowed, soaking up the psychedelic wackiness of Swinging London, and sending it back home for everyone to hear... And now you can, too!"