Rita Lee: journalist finds three unpublished texts by the artist in the censorship archives; read in full

The originals of ‘Anjo da Vanguarda’, ‘Disfarce’ and ‘The Old Friend’ were found in the National Archive together with material by Caetano Veloso; see the documents and know all the verses

In 1975, three years after leaving the band Mutantes – or being asked to retire from it -, Rita Lee he had not yet embarked on a solo career, although he had already released three albums without the participation of the Baptista brothers group.

with the album forbidden fruit, released that year, Rita put both feet – clad in delicate platform sandals – at the door of Brazilian music. With a mix of blues and rock, she scored hits Black sheepjust her; That guy from Roque Enrowcollaboration with Paul Coelho; AND Now I only miss youwritten with the guitarist Luiz Sergio Carlinimusician of the Tutti Frutti group, with whom Rita shares the laurels of that phase, still pre- Robert de Carvalho.

forbidden fruit, released by the Som Livre label, came out with nine tracks in all and went down in history. However, according to the federal censorship files, responsible for the preventive analysis of the lyrics of the songs recorded during the military dictatorship, Rita may have done and planned to record at least three more songs for the album.

Of this life and others similar to mine, Vieira says he discovered the lyrics by chance, searching the archives after the singer’s death, aged 75, on May 8th. They were in the same folder where Philips, the most important label of the time, sent to the censorship the songs that Caetano Veloso wanted to be recorded on the album. Jewelalso released in 1975 year.

“These lyrics were never recorded. We don’t know their melody. Rita may have used the melodies in other of their lyrics, just as she did with bad tripwhich then became Shangrila AND All this and a little more into which it has turned forbidden fruit“, comments Vieira.

Asked by the report of Stadium, Carlini said he did not remember the text. “It was 1975. More than 40 years have passed. I’m a rocker,” says the musician. However, he doesn’t find it difficult that they composed the song.

“We were very productive. We weren’t those rock bands today, which are driven by business. We got together every day to smoke joints, go to the movies and make music,” says Carlini, now 70.

The old friend

(Rita Lee – Luiz Sergio Carlini)

You remember an old friend

in everything you do

You try to get as much as you want

Because you want to get rid of the old days

But darling, there’s no pain

Don’t wait until tomorrow

to understand today

And all that I say

You ask me how I know about you

You like to find yourself inside

Timeless today?

But baby there’s no mistake

Don’t wait for your heart to break

to understand the pain

To roconize I’m an old friend

Don’t wait until tomorrow

to understand today

O Velho Amigo (translation, as submitted to federal censorship)

you remind me of an old friend

in everything you do

Do your best to please

Because you want to drive away the days gone by

But baby don’t be sorry

Don’t wait until tomorrow

To understand the present

And all that I say

You ask me how I know about you

Do you like finding yourself in an endless day?

But baby there’s no mistake

Don’t wait for your heart to break

feel pain

To acknowledge that I am an old friend

Don’t wait until tomorrow

To understand the present

In forbidden fruitsign the song with Rita Now I only miss youas well as having played the legendary guitar solo in Black sheep. “I did a part of the text of Black sheepbut I didn’t get credited,” he says.

Guilherme Samora, publisher of Rita’s books and a scholar of the singer’s work, says that, a few years ago, he even showed these three lyrics to the singer – at the same time the artist published the censored compositions in the book Favoriteof 2018. Rita read them all, but she didn’t remember them.

However, Samora says that the compositions fit perfectly with the theme addressed by Rita forbidden fruit. Something very behavioral, which made the songs similar Black sheep AND Now I only miss you they remain current after almost 50 years.

Just analyze. In avant-garde angelone of the unreleased, Rita reflects on her personality. ‘I Am That Stranger / Willing to be everything / And at the same time nothing. In another passage, he is rebellious: ‘I’m the one the king ordered to hide / but I came back today only to see you’.

avant-garde angel

(Rita Lee)

hello avant-garde angel

Gold and silver dress

Discover your face

I want to see your face up close

Do not you remember me

I’m so weird

Willingness to be everything at the same time

and nothing at the same time

Desire to see the things of the world

Where are my satin wings?

I am what the king

ordered to hide

But today I came back just to see you

Maybe I’ll introduce myself

In a strange way, but know

My friend, I want to survive

I have an appointment

Who I don’t know

So now I’m leaving

out of the kingdom

In DisguiseRita indicates that she was looking for a new identity for herself and within music, something she achieved with Fruto Proibido, the text says. ‘Playing rock music / masking my shyness / I want to reach the other side of the abyss’.

Samora draws attention to another coincidence with what Rita was producing at the time. If on the previous disc, Behind Porto There is a Citythe letters were shorter, in forbidden fruit they gained more verses, such as the unedited ones featured.

“It’s amazing how productive they were. It was even something necessary, as the artists never knew when how many texts would be vetoed by the censors,” he says.

The archive in which Rita’s lyrics were found still has one curiosity: the song Black sheep has the title of “Black Sheep of the Family”. The lyrics are the same ones that the singer recorded in Fruto Proibido.

Rita in a day of rage at the record label

The censorship file indicates this forbidden fruit, a release from Som Livre, began to be produced by the Philips label, with which Rita was signed. It was Philips who sent the batch of songs to the censorship, as indicated by the stamp on the archive cards.

One episode may have caused Rita to switch record labels in the middle of a flight plan for that new record. The singer tells it in the posthumous book, Another autobiography (Globo Livros), which he left ready before dying on May 9 of lung cancer.

Rita, according to her, would have been summoned to a meeting – and here it is implied that it would have been with the executives of the Philips record company, mind you. The executives wanted to impose rules on her make-up and dress.

“I got to the round table and saw only men in suits looking at me as if I were a woman-object, something to work towards to satisfy their opinion of how I should behave as an artist. I was listening. The guys started saying how I should dress: like a mini skirt and pink top, pooping pretty and well mannered, singing songs by other composers, talking about silly childish love. the record company bathroom to smoke a joint. Needless to say, my contract is I was canceled by the male eguinhos and I was unemployed. But the silver lining of that meeting was learning what not to do,” says Rita’s written excerpt.

More unreleased tracks

On May 16, the day of Rita’s Seventh Day Mass, João Lee, the middle child of singer and musician Roberto de Carvalho, told reporter Stadium that ‘Rita’s baú’ brings together more than a dozen unpublished songs – these, yes, recorded – composed by Rita and Roberto in the last 20 years – therefore, they do not include the unpublished works of Fruto Proibido.

These songs, according to João, were produced for projects that ultimately didn’t materialize or were left out of the albums the singer released during that time.

Source: Terra

Earl

Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.