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Despite being known as Quadraphonic, the disc is originally called Alceu Valença & Geraldo Azevedo. The large, luminous Quadraphonic at the top of the cover concerned the sound technology that was new at the time and with which the record was made…..~
Alceu Valença, Geraldo Azevedo and the psychedelia of the Quadrafônico disc
Of how Rogério Duprat went to the debut album of the Pernambuco duo that revealed great composers of Brazilian music
I was in doubt if I started telling this story for the part in which the arrangements of the album “Alceu Valença & Geraldo Azevedo” (1972) would initially be made by Hermeto Pascoal but ended up in the hands of Rogério Duprat, one of the creators of Tropicalismo. Or that the recordings used the Quadraphonic system, a novelty at the time. Or that the production budget was so small that Alceu and Geraldo were sent by the record company Copacabana to São Paulo to record and stayed in the apartment of Cesare Bienvenuti, producer of the album. Or that the few hours of recording destined for the LP happened at dawn, when the studio was unoccupied.
They would be interesting forms if we think of the curiosities behind a production, but they would not give the real dimension of this classic still unknown today of the great public that was the inspired debut of the pair in the disc “Alceu Valença & Geraldo Azevedo”.
It is contained in this little jewel that has only 34:02 minutes in duration the genesis of the fruitful work as great composers that Alceu and Geraldo individually developed already in that beginning of years 70. If this little, consider that it is not only a presentation of two unknown to the phonographic market but the convergence of these together with Rogério Duprat that resulted in a classic record of our music.
A classic can be defined as a work that crosses the time with its characteristics and artistic qualities intact and it is in this question that the “Alceu Valença & Geraldo Azevedo” is inserted.
Quick tour: In the early 70’s, the British band Pink Floyd was excited about a new system called Quadrifónico or Stereo 4.0, corresponding to the current Surround, and recorded three discs in this format. The Quadrifonic used four channels of capture (the standard then used was two) arranged in different points of the studio capturing diverse shades of the sound. The reproduction of these LPs, however, required compatible sound equipment, that is: with four boxes of speakers distributed in the environment which gave the listener the feeling of being in the studio together with the band. The format was not avenged given the lack of definition of the market for the standard to be used commercially and the high value of the devices for reproduction.
It derives from the confusion with the album title that, contrary to what is said, is not called ‘Quadraphonic’ because this denomination only identifies the technology used in opposition to the Stereo standard.
Some discs were designed to be heard from beginning to end in the order in which they were recorded, such as Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side Of The Moon” (1973) - one of three in which the band used quadriphone technology in recording - and this is essential if the work is to be understood in all its complexity since the division between the tracks does not conform to the standard logic of a common disc of 'loose bands’. (It even seems that there is a law of the Martial Court that condemns the subversives of this order to be flogged in public square is the sacrilege committed)
This is the case of “Alceu Valença & Geraldo Azevedo”, which was thought to be heard from beginning to end and so you can 'touch’ the textures, effects and colors that cross the border of music and tune it to the visual arts.
The regionalism of the pair is there but it is not the determinant. It has ciranda, coconut, viola caipira, rock but it is the psicodelia that gives the league. The conversation between musicians and technicians during the recording sessions in the studio are also present on the disc, another novelty to increase in the listener the illusion of immersion in sound.
I highlight here as one of the highlights of this work the beauty in the interpretation of “Talisman”. It’s fine F.C.The importance of this quintessential album is such that the worshiped and very rare “Paêbirú”, psychedelic disc of Zé Ramalho and Lula Côrtes and which became the most expensive Brazilian vinyl costing R $ 4,000, would only be released in 1975 and in it Alceu also contributed.
Also note that when it was released “Alceu Valença & Geraldo Azevedo” the heyday of psychedelic rock in the world had been lost in the ether of the 60’s and perhaps, therefore, I suppose, the album did not have the due importance.
Forget the classics of Alceu and Geraldo that came to your head as you read this article. The songs produced are a third thing beyond the individual work of these two giants
It is with “Horrible”, the last track from the brilliant album “Alceu Valença & Geraldo Azevedo”, that Disco Risk invites you to do another trip through the universe of Brazilian music….medium….~
An overlooked piece of the tropicalia puzzle, Quadrafônico (as it's also known) falls somewhere between Os Novos Baianos and Os Mutantes. It's not as corny or twee as the former's stack of albums, but more cohesive and less ADD than anything by the much-loved latter.
Lots of beautifully catchy pop tunes with hippie lyric concerns of the era, and lots of drop-out-and-form-a-collective sentiment. And social sarcasm to spare.
Odd that this gets none of the fanfare that Mutantes get, maybe due to the fact it's their only joint recording (both went on to become well known solo recording artists), and there's no catchy band name to latch onto. But anyone into the warm pastels and flaming yellows of that time and place is bound to dig this much more than its lack of reputation would deceive you into expecting....by...leland ....~
Tracklist
A1 Me Dá Um Beijo
A2 Virgem Virgínia
A3 Mister Mistério
A4 Novena
A5 Cordão Do Rio Preto
A6 Planetário
B1 Seis Horas
B2 Erosão
B3 78 Rotações
B4 Talismã
B5 Ciranda De Mãe Nina
B6 Horrível