Gal Costa
Encyclopedia
Gal Costa is a Brazil
ian singer of popular music
.
, as in a ritual, with the intention that her child would become interested in music. Gal never met her father, who died when she was 15 years old.
When she was 10, Gal befriended sisters Sandra and Andréia Gadelha, future wives of singer-songwriter
s Gilberto Gil
and Caetano Veloso
, respectively. At 14, she first listened to João Gilberto
's "Chega de Saudade" on the radio and became interested in Bossa Nova
. She then went on to work as a clerk on Salvador's main record store to get closer to music. At 18, she was introduced to Caetano Veloso by Andréa Gadelha, engaging with him in a deep friendship that still lasts.
and Tom Zé
, among others. The concert inaugurated the Vila Velha Theatre in her hometown. During the same year, she also performed in Nova Bossa Velha, Velha Bossa Nova, at the same place and with the same singing partners. She then left Salvador to live in the house of her cousin Nívea in Rio de Janeiro
, following the footsteps of Bethânia, whose concert, Opinião, had become a huge hit on the town.
Costa's first professional recording happened on Bethânia's debut album, released in 1965. It was the duet "Sol Negro", written by Bethânia's brother, Caetano Veloso. She then released her first singles through RCA Records
, "Eu vim da Bahia", written by Gil, and "Sim, foi você", written by Veloso. On the following year, Costa met Gilberto personally and participated on TV Rio's 1st International Music Festival performing "Minha Senhora", written by Gil and Torquato Neto
. It failed to captivate the Festival's audience.
Costa's first album Domingo
was released on 1967 through Philips Records
. It was also Veloso's debut. Costa stayed on the label, which later became Polygram
, until 1983. One song released from this album, "Coração Vagabundo", became a huge hit. On the same year, Costa also performed two songs on the 2nd International Music Festival, which was then hosted by Rede Globo
. They were "Bom Dia", written by Gil and Nana Caymmi
and "Dadá Maria", written by Renato Teixeira. The latter was performed with Sílvio César on the Festival and with Teixeira on the recording.
In 1968, Costa became a part of the Tropicalismo
movement. She recorded four songs on Tropicália: ou Panis et Circenses
. They were "Mamãe coragem", written by Veoloso and Torquato Neto, "Parque industrial", by Tom Zé, "Enquanto seu lobo não vem", by Veloso, and "Baby", also by Veloso. The latter became Costa's first nationwide solo hit, becoming a classic of Brazilian popular music. On the same year, she participated on the 3rd International Music Festival, performing "Gabriela Mais Bela", written by Roberto
and Erasmo Carlos
. In November, she participated on Rede Record
's 4th Music Festival, performing the song "Divino Maravilhoso", by Gil and Veloso. The song also became a nationwide hit and a classic song of popular music.
On 1969, Costa released her eponymous solo debut album, which included "Baby" and "Divino Maravilhoso". The album is considered a Tropicalismo classic, balanced between Brazilian stylizations and North American psychedelic influences. It also featured Costa's third and fourth solo hits, Jorge Ben Jor
's "Que pena (Ele já não gosta mais de mim)" and Veloso's "Não identificado", respectively. On the same year, she recorded her second solo album, titled Gal, and featuring the hits "Meu nome é Gal", by Roberto and Erasmo Carlos, and "Cinema Olympia", by Veloso. The album served as the basis for the repertoire of the concert Gal!.
Her next album, Legal, was not as far from the mainstream as its predecessor, and a live album the following year again balanced smooth Brazilian sounds with heavy rock. In 1973, the cover of Costa's album Índia was censored due to her wearing a risqué red bikini
. Costa has recorded songs composed by a number of Brazil's most popular songwriters such as Tom Jobim, Ben, and Erasmo Carlos
. In 1982 the single "Festa Do Interior" from the double album Fantasia became her biggest ever hit, going multi-platinum by the end of the year. Costa appeared in the 1995 film The Mandarin (O Mandarim) as the singer Carmen Miranda
. She has recorded songs in Portuguese, Spanish and English.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian singer of popular music
Música Popular Brasileira
Música Popular Brasileira or MPB designates a trend in post-Bossa Nova urban popular music. It is not a discrete genre but rather a constellation that combines original songwriting and updated versions of traditional Brazilian urban music styles like samba and samba-canção with contemporary...
.
Early life
Gal Costa was born on September 26, 1945 on Barra, one of the most traditional neighbourhoods of Salvador, to Mariah Costa Penna (d. 1993) and Arnaldo Burgos (d. 1960). During her pregnancy, Mariah spent hours concentrated listening to classical musicClassical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, as in a ritual, with the intention that her child would become interested in music. Gal never met her father, who died when she was 15 years old.
When she was 10, Gal befriended sisters Sandra and Andréia Gadelha, future wives of singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
s Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
and Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...
, respectively. At 14, she first listened to João Gilberto
João Gilberto
João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira, known as João Gilberto , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. His seminal recordings, including many songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, established the new musical genre of Bossa nova in the late 1950s.-Biography:From an early age, music...
's "Chega de Saudade" on the radio and became interested in Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova may refer to:*Bossa nova, a style of music*Bossa Nova , a dance form associated with the music*Bossa Nova , a 2000 film*Bossa Nova - album by John Pizzarelli...
. She then went on to work as a clerk on Salvador's main record store to get closer to music. At 18, she was introduced to Caetano Veloso by Andréa Gadelha, engaging with him in a deep friendship that still lasts.
Career
Costa debuted her professional career on the night of August 22, 1964 on the concert Nós, por exemplo, where she performed alongside Veloso, Gil, Maria BethâniaMaria Bethânia
Maria Bethânia Vianna Telles Veloso , better known as Maria Bethânia , is a singer and sister of Caetano Veloso. She started her career in Rio de Janeiro in 1964 with the show "Opinião"...
and Tom Zé
Tom Zé
Tom Zé is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who was influential in the Tropicália movement of 1960s Brazil. After the peak of the Tropicália period, Zé went into relative obscurity: it was only in the 1990s, when the musician and label head David Byrne discovered an album recorded...
, among others. The concert inaugurated the Vila Velha Theatre in her hometown. During the same year, she also performed in Nova Bossa Velha, Velha Bossa Nova, at the same place and with the same singing partners. She then left Salvador to live in the house of her cousin Nívea in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, following the footsteps of Bethânia, whose concert, Opinião, had become a huge hit on the town.
Costa's first professional recording happened on Bethânia's debut album, released in 1965. It was the duet "Sol Negro", written by Bethânia's brother, Caetano Veloso. She then released her first singles through RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, "Eu vim da Bahia", written by Gil, and "Sim, foi você", written by Veloso. On the following year, Costa met Gilberto personally and participated on TV Rio's 1st International Music Festival performing "Minha Senhora", written by Gil and Torquato Neto
Torquato Neto
Torquato Pereira de Araújo Neto was a Brazilian journalist and poet. He is perhaps best known as a lyricist for the Tropicalismo counterculture movement, which later expanded its influence to Música Popular Brasileira. He worked with Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Edu Lobo, and Waly Salomão...
. It failed to captivate the Festival's audience.
Costa's first album Domingo
Domingo (Caetano Veloso & Gal Costa album)
Domingo is Caetano Veloso's and Gal Costa's debut album, released in 1967. The album was recorded before the Tropicália movement, being mellower than the albums released solo by both artists a year later, and it is straightforward Bossa Nova...
was released on 1967 through Philips Records
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
. It was also Veloso's debut. Costa stayed on the label, which later became Polygram
PolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
, until 1983. One song released from this album, "Coração Vagabundo", became a huge hit. On the same year, Costa also performed two songs on the 2nd International Music Festival, which was then hosted by Rede Globo
Rede Globo
Rede Globo , or simply Globo, is a Brazilian television network, launched by media mogul Roberto Marinho on April 26, 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Organizações Globo, being by far the largest of its holdings...
. They were "Bom Dia", written by Gil and Nana Caymmi
Nana Caymmi
Nana Caymmi is a Brazilian singer.Caymmi was born in Rio de Janeiro, the daughter of Dorival Caymmi and Stella Maris. Her first appearance on record was on her father's album Acalanto. She married Venezuelan doctor Gilberto Aponte Paoli and moved there in 1959. She and her husband divorced in...
and "Dadá Maria", written by Renato Teixeira. The latter was performed with Sílvio César on the Festival and with Teixeira on the recording.
In 1968, Costa became a part of the Tropicalismo
Tropicalismo
Tropicália, also known as Tropicalismo, is a Brazilian art movement that arose in the late 1960s and encompassed theatre, poetry, and music, among other forms. Tropicália was influenced by poesia concreta , a genre of Brazilian avant-garde poetry embodied in the works of Augusto de Campos, Haroldo...
movement. She recorded four songs on Tropicália: ou Panis et Circenses
Tropicália: ou Panis et Circenses
Tropicália: ou Panis et Circencis is a 1968 collaboration album by artists including Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé, Nara Leão, Os Mutantes and Gal Costa...
. They were "Mamãe coragem", written by Veoloso and Torquato Neto, "Parque industrial", by Tom Zé, "Enquanto seu lobo não vem", by Veloso, and "Baby", also by Veloso. The latter became Costa's first nationwide solo hit, becoming a classic of Brazilian popular music. On the same year, she participated on the 3rd International Music Festival, performing "Gabriela Mais Bela", written by Roberto
Roberto Carlos (singer)
Roberto Carlos Braga is a Grammy Award-winning Brazilian singer and composer, who has achieved a great deal of success and recognition in his 50 year career, also known as King of Latin Music....
and Erasmo Carlos
Erasmo Carlos
Erasmo Carlos, born Erasmo Esteves on June 5, 1941, in the Tijuca area of Rio de Janeiro, is a Brazilian singer and songwriter, most closely associated with his friend and longtime collaborator Roberto Carlos...
. In November, she participated on Rede Record
Rede Record
Rede Record de Televisão is a Brazilian television network, founded in 1953 by Paulo Machado de Carvalho, also founder of Rádio Record. Currently it is owned by businessman Edir Macedo, founder and bishop of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. Since 2007 it is Brazil's second largest...
's 4th Music Festival, performing the song "Divino Maravilhoso", by Gil and Veloso. The song also became a nationwide hit and a classic song of popular music.
On 1969, Costa released her eponymous solo debut album, which included "Baby" and "Divino Maravilhoso". The album is considered a Tropicalismo classic, balanced between Brazilian stylizations and North American psychedelic influences. It also featured Costa's third and fourth solo hits, Jorge Ben Jor
Jorge Ben Jor
Jorge Ben Jor is a Brazilian popular musician. His characteristic style fuses samba, funk, and rock into samba-rock, with lyrics that blend humor and satire with often esoteric subject matter.-Early life and career:...
's "Que pena (Ele já não gosta mais de mim)" and Veloso's "Não identificado", respectively. On the same year, she recorded her second solo album, titled Gal, and featuring the hits "Meu nome é Gal", by Roberto and Erasmo Carlos, and "Cinema Olympia", by Veloso. The album served as the basis for the repertoire of the concert Gal!.
Her next album, Legal, was not as far from the mainstream as its predecessor, and a live album the following year again balanced smooth Brazilian sounds with heavy rock. In 1973, the cover of Costa's album Índia was censored due to her wearing a risqué red bikini
Bikini
The bikini is typically a women's two-piece swimsuit. One part of the attire covers the breasts and the other part covers the crotch and part of or the entire buttocks, leaving an uncovered area between the two. Merriam–Webster describes the bikini as "a woman's scanty two-piece bathing suit" or "a...
. Costa has recorded songs composed by a number of Brazil's most popular songwriters such as Tom Jobim, Ben, and Erasmo Carlos
Erasmo Carlos
Erasmo Carlos, born Erasmo Esteves on June 5, 1941, in the Tijuca area of Rio de Janeiro, is a Brazilian singer and songwriter, most closely associated with his friend and longtime collaborator Roberto Carlos...
. In 1982 the single "Festa Do Interior" from the double album Fantasia became her biggest ever hit, going multi-platinum by the end of the year. Costa appeared in the 1995 film The Mandarin (O Mandarim) as the singer Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
. She has recorded songs in Portuguese, Spanish and English.
Studio albums
- 1965: Maria da Graça (EP)
- 1967: DomingoDomingo (Caetano Veloso & Gal Costa album)Domingo is Caetano Veloso's and Gal Costa's debut album, released in 1967. The album was recorded before the Tropicália movement, being mellower than the albums released solo by both artists a year later, and it is straightforward Bossa Nova...
- 1969: Gal Costa
- 1969: Gal
- 1970: Legal
- 1973: Índia
- 1974: Cantar
- 1975: Gal Canta Caymmi
- 1977: Caras e BocasCaras e BocasCaras e Bocas is an album by Brazilian singer Gal Costa released in 1977.-Track listing:#Caras e Bocas#Me Recuso#Louca Me Chamam #Clariô#Minha Estrela É Do Oriente #Tigresa...
- 1978: Água VivaÁgua VivaÁgua Viva is an album by Brazilian singer Gal Costa, released in 1978. The album contains some hits like "Paula e Bebeto", included in the soundtrack of the Brazilian TV series Malu Mulher...
- 1979: Gal Tropical
- 1980: Aquarela do Brasil
- 1981: Fantasia
- 1982: Minha Voz
- 1983: Baby Gal
- 1983: Trilha Sonora do Filme 'Gabriela
- 1984: Profana
- 1985: Bem Bom
- 1987: Lua de Mel Como o Diabo Gosta
- 1990: Plural
- 1992: Gal
- 1994: O Sorriso do Gato de Alice
- 1995: Mina D'Água do Meu Canto
- 1998: Aquele Frevo Axé
- 2001: Gal de Tantos Amores
- 2002: Gal Bossa Tropical
- 2004: Todas as Coisas e Eu
- 2005: Hoje
Live albums
- 1971: Fa-Tal - Gal a Todo Vapor
- 1976: Doces BárbarosDoces BárbarosDoces Bárbaros is the name of a 1976 album by the Música Popular Brasileira supergroup of the same name. It was recorded June 24 of that year at Anhembi Stadium in São Paulo. Its members were Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia and Gal Costa, four of the biggest names in the history of...
(with Caetano VelosoCaetano VelosoCaetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...
, Gilberto GilGilberto GilGilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
, and Maria BethâniaMaria BethâniaMaria Bethânia Vianna Telles Veloso , better known as Maria Bethânia , is a singer and sister of Caetano Veloso. She started her career in Rio de Janeiro in 1964 with the show "Opinião"...
) - 1986: Jazzvisions: Rio RevisitedJazzvisionsJazzvisions: Made in America was a series of Jazz concerts held in December 1986 at the Wiltern Theater."Find a voice -- and fill it."According to veteran music and entertainment producer Jack Lewis , this American entrepreneurial challenge was his motivation to fill one of the biggest voids in...
(with Antonio Carlos JobimAntônio Carlos JobimAntônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim , also known as Tom Jobim , was a Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. He was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within...
) - 1997: Acústico MTV
- 1999: Gal Costa Canta Tom Jobim Ao Vivo
- 2006: Gal Costa Live at the Blue Note
- 2006: Gal Costa Ao Vivo
External links
Official website- Gal Costa-Site Argentine- Spanish/Portuguese Argentine-website
- Slipcue.com - English-language discography with reviews