Rita Lee’s ‘Build Up’ to be reissued on deluxe vinyl

The first solo album by Rita Lee, Build Up, from 1970, will be reissued on vinyl. Inspired by the musical Build Up Electronic Fashion Showof which Rita was the protagonist, the album will be re-released by Universal Music. In addition to the marbled translucent blue vinyl, it comes with the famous gatefold cover (original double cover), which at the time of release was restricted to a few copies.

As the record label Philips noticed that Rita had enormous potential as a solo star, they took advantage of the first separation from Mutantes, in 1970, and convinced her to make musicals. They took place at FENIT, a kind of precursor to São Paulo Fashion Week, which promoted the national textile industry through fashion shows and shows.

With the success of “Nho Look”, Rita’s first musical at the event, the label decided to invest even more. The second show would be accompanied by the release of an album, with production coordination by Manoel Barenbein. And thus was born Build Up: the story of a simple girl who had the dream of becoming a star.

Rita said, at the time, that she thought it was a daydream to be invited to sing in musicals. But, she accepted. And, mixing rock, Latin music, orchestra and gospel, the disc gives us one of the most beautiful vocal recordings of a very young Rita. Proof of this is the recording of “Calma”, the second song on the LP, by Arnaldo Baptista. When the album began to be produced, Os Mutantes decided to return and Arnaldo ended up participating in the production and signed two songs with Rita. But the star’s great partner on this LP was the musician and taxi driver Élcio Decário. Rita met him when she took a taxi and, when she found out that he composed songs, she immediately wanted to hear some of his songs. She loved it and they started working together.

Delicate and ingenious, “Journey to the bottom of me”, only by Rita, could well be a love song. But it does describe an experience with LSD. Closing side 1, “We Need Brothers” and “Pasta with sausage and peppers”, which is, literally, a sung recipe. The debauchery is a criticism of the military dictatorship, since newspapers began to publish recipes instead of censored news and Rita decided to do the same on her album. The LP was recorded at Estúdio Scatena, in the central region of São Paulo, and features guitars by Lanny Gordin.

Side 2 starts with Rita’s first big hit: “José”. The song, a version of “Joseph”, by Georges Moustaki, was a gift from Nara Leão and reached number 1 on the radio. But, as Rita said years later, the most important thing was to notice that, finally, she had recorded a song that Chesa, her mother, liked. “Hulla-Hulla”, a sweet and delicious extraterrestrial song by Rita and Élcio, is one of the most brilliant moments on the album. It paves the way for a swinging, urgent rendition of “And I Love Him” (“And I love her” by the Beatles).

“Tempo Nublado” is next, followed by “Prisioneira do Amor”, a hilarious tango, with a very inspired interpretation by Rita and with an arrangement by Duprat. “I’m going to save myself”, a gospel rock, closes the album in an exquisite, nonsensical and mocking way. A perfect first album from the girl who would become the biggest name in Brazilian rock.