Search - Rita Lee :: Bossa N Beatles

Rita Lee - Bossa'n'Beatles (Ghordo Music)

Pablo J. Hierro Dori | 05/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lennon and Mc Cartney embraced the hypnotic Bossa Nova mood. Harrison replaced the gentle weep of the guitar by the agile pace of samba rock and Ringo came across the simple yet seductive nature that lingers in every dancey beat of forr?. Today, The Beatles come from Brazil.



As legitimate heiress of the Tropicalia movement, Rita Lee has earned her own space in the rich Brazilian music world. Showing off an unparalleled talent, she has gotten used to defy boundaries and has turned in as many colors as possible. She is a popular bossa-nova voice; she is as romantic as ballads can be; she can be extremely pop; but also she can rock harder than men.



Born in Sao Paulo on December 31, 1947, Rita Lee represents many eras in Brazilian music, as she's been a strong presence for the last four decades. Following an early passion about piano, and music in general, she quickly forgot dreams about becoming a vet, or an actress, and focused on music.



After creating the girl group Teenage Singers in school in 1963, and participating in some other bands, things got seriously experimental for Rita by the end of 1965, as she prepared to join the now legendary and highly psychedelic band Os Mutantes, where she enlisted between 1966 and 1972. Os Mutantes are considered among the fathers of Tropicalia, right next to Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, and Tom Z?.



Before, and especially during her time with Os Mutantes, she discovered and fell in love with The Beatles. In her own words, "In 1962, my sister got married and went to London for the honeymoon, and she brought me back the first Fab Four's single, Love Me Do/PS I love You. That's how I got hooked. From 1963 to 1970, I drank, ate, smoked and breathed Beatles. I was forever drawing their silhouettes everywhere, but my very best pictures of the four were the ones I draw using a pencil, on the best quality paper I could get: the sort bakers wrapped the bread my father used to buy every morning."



Her take on ten Beatles classics, plus three Portuguese versions of songs also sung in English, ended up in Bossa'n Beatles, an album that showcases Rita unplugging her well known Brazilian pop sound to offer a different take on some of the most beautiful music the lads from Liverpool wrote.



To get a completely different approach and hoping even better results, Rita added her unique bossa-nova feeling, bits of electropop, and some samba-rock to the already proven formula, and what came out of the experiment was, to say the least, worth listening.



Produced and arranged by Rita's husband -reputed musician Roberto de Carvallo, her partner for the last 30 years- Bossa'n Beatles features special appearances by Paralamas do Sucesso's drummer Joao Barone, and the renowned pianist and arranger Joao Donato.



"I can't say they were my first boyfriends," concedes Rita Lee before giving up her latest love confession, "but at least I can say that they were the biggest passion of my life. The kind of passion that makes people love, work, and be happy forever. To me The Beatles are like a good vice, one of those that are worth relapsing, over and over." - Roman Kutnowski"