Last year, the Rolling Stone magazine Brazilian edition asked a group of experts which were the 100 best albums ever produced in the country. “Acabou Chorare”, a counterculture jewel launched by Novos Baianos in 1972 was #1 in the list. The magazine pointed out that its “colective and hippie philosophy, rejecting all hierarchies” appeals to present day audiencies. Active between 1969 and 1979, Novos Baianos was composed by Baby do Brasil (then known as Baby Consuelo), the great guitar hero Pepeu Gomes, Moraes Moreira and Paulinho Boca de Cantor, among others. Their psychedelic rock incorporated Brazilian folk and Bossa Nova and mixed electric guitars with cavaquinho, pandeiro and agogô, typically used in Brazilian rythms.
Just after recording “Acabou Chorare” the group decided to live as a community in a suburban house in Rio. They would spend their days playing soccer and composing the songs of their next album, “Novos Baianos F.C.” (New Bahians Football Club). In 1973, their daily lives were captured in a documentary produced by Solano Ribeiro for a German TV channel. Its 45 minutes can be seen on Youtube (broken into six different “chapters”): 1 2 3 4 5 6. There are no subtitles, but you won´t miss them. The quality is uneven, but definitely worth it.
Here is the first part, as an appetizer: