Gianni Morandi - April 1966

 

'Intervalo' n.292, July 1968.

Even though Gianni Morandi had been on the Italian music scene since 1962, he only hit the big time in the summer of 1964, with 'In ginocchio da te' which sold one million copies, only the 2nd time in Italy's history (Bobby Solo's 'Una lacrima sul viso' had been the very 1st Italian million seller). 

Morandi was part of the 2nd or 3rd wave of Italian 'urlatori' (Italian shouters) which made it big in Brazil from 1963 through to 1966. Morandi hit with 'In ginoccio da te' in late 1964, then with 'Se non avessi più te' and finally with 'Si fa sera'. 

By May 1966, when Gianni reached our shores the Italian wave was on its wane, but 'Melodias' nevertheless interviewed him and here's the article below. In July 1968, Morandi returned to Brazil to have some scenes of his newest movie 'Chimera' shot in Rio de Janeiro. 

'Melodias' # 105, May 1966 - Gianni Morandi sang at TV Tupi in April 1966.  

NAT KING COLE

 

Nathaniel Adams Cole in 1963, with adopted son Nat Kelly Cole (1959-1995), wife Maria Hawkins (*1st August 1922 +10 July 2012) and daughter Natalie Maria Cole (*6 Feb 1950 +31st Dec 2015).

Bienvenido Granda 's 1957 visit

 

21st May 1957 - 'Correio da Manhã' says Cuban singer Bienvenido Granda sang at TV Rio's 'Noite de Gala' the night before, opening Channel 13's brand-new studio alongside a bevy of local celebrities like Oscarito, Bené Nunes, Dulcina, Sérgio Porto, Tom Jobim, Rose Rondelli, Alcides Gerardi, Venilton Santos and the great Elizeth Cardoso.

1st June 1957 - Gloria Valdez, a 'rumbera' who toured Brazil as part of Perez Prado act in 1951 is back dancing as part of Bienvenido Granda act at TV Rio's 'Noite de Gala'. Brazilian censors though advised the Cuban dancer to tone down her sexy movements to something more 'proper' to local 'family values'. Hypocrisy ran amok then. 

4 June 1957 - 'Correio da Manhã': due to Bienvenido Granda's great success, Radio Mayrink Veiga will stretch his stint at PRA-9. Mr Granda will sing at Programa Carlos Henrique every Friday at 8:00 PM and on on Saturdays. 

1st August 1957 - 'Correio da Manhã' reports from Pernambuco, where Bienvenido Granda was mobbed by young ladies who watched  him perform at a local radio station. As soon as Mr Granda started a musical number there were interruptions with applause, a lot of sighs and heavy breathing similar to what happens in the USA with Frank Sinatra. 

1 9 6 1 Julie London, Eartha Kitt & Caterina Valente

Julie London          June 1960  TV Tupi 

Caterina Valente     April 1961  TV Record 

Eartha Kitt               June 1961 TV Tupi 

Weekly illustrated magazine 'O Cruzeiro' splashes Julie London on its cover on 17 June 1961, feturing a 6-page article about foreign-acts who visited Brazil from 1957 through 1961.

Julie London, in 1955.

Julie London & Ella Fitzgerald with Leonard Feather, the author of 'The Encyclopedia of Jazz'  in 1960. 

Charles Aznavour, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong & Sammy Davis Jr. were probably the best acts to visit Brazil from 1957 through to 1961.

'O Cruzeiro', 17 June 1961.

GAC (General Artists Corporation) and National Artists were two big agencies located in New York City where South American managers & impresarios would go and tried and sign International acts to tour Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and other countries. 

Some US acts like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra were 'untouchables' (or unreachable) for Latin American agents. Their price was too steep for Latin dollars. Elvis would never cross the Rio Grande border except to star in 'Fun in Acapulco' a Paramount movie shot in mid-1963 and released on 27 November 1963, where he surrounds himself with Mariachi bands and sings 'Bossa Nova baby'.

The Beatles visited Germany, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, Japan and even the Philippines where they got into trouble with Mrs Marcos but they never crossed south of the Rio Grande either.  

Gene Barry's BAT MASTERSON - November 1961

29 October 1961 - The ad says if one buys 2 tickets to see Gene Barry's impersonation of Old West's Bat Materson one would get a hat and a stick just like those used by the actor. 

OESP 29 October 1961. 

Gene Barry, o Bat Masterson da TV enche teatros e estádios em sua passagem pelo Brasil. Ele veio na hora certa, quando seu 'enlatado' era a sensação na telinha.

o famoso Bat Masterson sendo assediado por crianças em sua passagem por São Paulo e Rio. 

relato de Paulo Naoto Tyba:

Teatro Record, que saudades dos early years. Em 1961 fui a apresentação do Bat (Gene Barry) Masterson. Não sei se você sabia, mas a música-tema era cantada pelo próprio Gene Barry, e na apresentação que estava previsto o inicio as 21:00 hs, só começou pelas 22:30.

Havia uma mis-en-cene, todo um introito. O cenário era um bar far-west, com dezenas de figurantes (extraídos dos filmes do Mazzaropi), fazendo o tipo de bandidões americanos todos trasvestidos de cow-boys. Havia a cena da mocinha sendo incomodada e do provável tiroteio que se tornava iminente. De repente a portinhola curva do bar abre e quem entra? O próprio entoando "Back when the west was very young, there lived a man named Masterson...' 

O teatro quase caiu abaixo, todos hipnotizados pela figura carismática de Gene Barry vestido à la Bat Masterson com sua emblemática bengalinha (deve ser fálica). Enfrentou a todos bandidos e, logicamente, venceu.

O restante do show foi meio fraco, pois Gene Barry era cantor-ator e até cantava bem, mas o repertório não tinha nada a ver; ‘Moon river’, ‘True love’ e por aí afora. Todos querendo mais apresentações a la Bat Masterson e Gene exibindo suas qualidades vocais. Hoje entendo que faltou sensibilidade a quem bolou o show.

relato de Silmara: 

Assisti Gene Barry quando esteve no Brasil no Teatro Record. Foi um fiasco porque ele não sabia fazer nada. Pior foi Tony Curtis que também fez um show constrangido porque só sabia tocar flauta! Mas eram grandes atores e faziam sucesso dai a curiosidade de vê-los na TV aqui pertinho. E no fim quem deu um show mesmo foi Chocolate, que inventou um concurso de dança onde o juri era formado por ele e Tony Curtis.

2nd December 1961 - Gene Barry as Bat Materson in person musically guided by the experienced hands of Brazilian conductor Alfredo Pellegrini. 

1 9 5 8 - Bill Haley & his Comets / Johnny Ray

from 22nd to 27 April 1958 at Teatro Paramount on Rua Brigadeiro Luiz Antonio.

Bill Halley & his Comets from 22 to 27 April 1958.

Bill Halley (right red arrow) & His Comets - the rock'n'roll sensation arrive in São Paulo and are greeted by Paulinho Machado de Carvalho (left red arrow) who was instrumental in bringing big foreign acts to Brazil. In 1959, Paulinho signed Nat King Cole who turned out to be the most sucessfull of all foreign acts who ever visited the country.

Theatro Paramount on Rua Brigadeiro Luiz Antonio, in São Paulo, Brazil as when Bill Haley & His Comets were playing there. 

Buenos Aires' Metropolitan play-bill with Bill Haley in its cover.  

Bill Hayle's & His Comets' South American tour

by Señor Rudy Pompilli 

One fine morning in April 1958, Bill called the Comets into his lavishly furnished office and said, "Boys, South America is calling!" So off we went to our attics and dens, dusting off the old high school Spanish books and began practicing Habla Español's with the wives and Junior Comets. 

We did the American Bandstand show, April 16, journeyed to Wilmington, Delaware where we were given a gigantic send-off by our Fan Club president Shirley Lisowski, and 3,000 strong cheering us on. Next stop, Miami, where president Loren Shayne gave us an official club welcome - then to the airport, where after a careful inspection of the motors and fuselage by 'calm' Bill Williamson, we boarded the Super H Constellation - the huge Real Aerovias Brazilian luxury liner and off we went to Caracas, Venezuela - off again - then a glamorous feeling took place as we were "flying down to Rio." Upon our arrival in Rio, thousands of Comet fans screamed and chanted for hours - what a tremendous thrill!

Our first engagement took place in São Paulo, a city of four million, where we appeared at the Paramount Theater. What a hassle trying to enter for our first show! Bill's clothing were torn to bits and over 100 policemen had to lead the way into and out of the theater. Our lovely president, Liliana Bissi, presented the Comets with a beautiful bouquet of roses.

 

From São Paulo on to beautiful Rio de Janeiro, the garden spot of the world. The saying goes that people earn their money in their respective cities in South America, but all spend it in Rio, and it's no wonder. 200 miles of beach, the beautiful Copacabana, Sugar Loaf Mountain, the breath-taking statue of Christ the Redemptor overlooking Rio and more beauty than one can imagine. The crowds in Rio were "fantabulous." We played "standing room only" every night. Our Fan Club president, Jimenez, did the interpreting, which were badly in need of. After all the Spanish brushups, we found that only Portuguese is spoken in Brazil.

We did shows for TV, radio, night clubs and remote towns way out in the jungle. What a thrill, riding for hours and hours through the jungle, then coming upon a little village and all the population knew Bill and each one of the Comets by name! What a small world, indeed!

After Rio and two beautiful weeks, we flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina - a six-hour flight. And then, again, the Fan Club president, José Levy and thousands of Comet fans presented us with a very warm welcome. We found the Latins highly demonstrative, and man, they are warm hearted from the word 'warm.'

The two weeks in Buenos Aires were sensational and Johnny Grande went wild over the steaks. Well, not only Johnny, but all the Comets added a few pounds around the middle. The food was way out in 'orbit'.

 

The Argentine king of rock'n'roll, Eddie Pequenino, played "The Saints Go Marching Home,' as we boarded the plane for our journey home. Our South American fans really left a place in our hearts. There's an awful lot of coffee in Brazil - Mucho obrigado!

Article scanned and sent from Germany by scholar Klaus Kettner to Argentine historian Victor Tapias, who's been researching the origins of Argentine rock. Eddie Pequenino's band played 'When the saints go marching home' as farewell to the Comets while they boarded the airplane that took them back to the USA.

Even though there are a few mistakes like saying The Metropolitan Theatre was in São Paulo when it was in Buenos Aires - this is a great article about Hayle & His Comets' tour of South America. Written by saxophonist Rudy Pompilli, after the tour was over and they were back in the USA it is natural for the author to mix up some of the names, but overall it's an awsome piece of information about those pioneering times. Especially when narrated by one of the members of the band. Thanks to Klaus Kettner and Víctor Tapias for allowing its reproduction on this blog.

2nd November 1958 - On Sunday, Johnnie Ray had two recitals: one at 4:00 pm and an evening one at 9:00 pm. The opening show was more impressive than the foreign attraction himself: popular clowns Arrelia & Pimentinha would introduce hot acts like Betinho & his combo; Sylvio Mazzucca & his big band; multi-instrumentalist William Forneaud; witty stand-up comedian Pagano Sobrinho; sassy & sexy singer Dircinha Costa; happy-go-lucky Gasolina; Neide Salgado; blonde young-thing Cinderela; Ellen de Lima; saxophonist virtuoso Bolão & many others. Only Radio-TV Record could afford such a millionaire cast.

THE PLATTERS 1957

The Platters sing at TV Tupi, Channel 6, in Rio de Janeiro in 1957. 

The Platters sang for 10 nights at Teatro Paramount in São Paulo from 17 September through to 26 September 1957. 

The Platters preceded by the revue 'Placer en Las Vegas' at the Opera in Buenos Aires in July 1957. 1. 'Welcome to Las Vegas' with the June Taylor Dancers featuring Patrice & Arlene Avril in 'Another opening, another show', 'Too hot for comfort', 'What did I do?' and 'There's no business like show business'; 2. 'American fantasy in the rhythm of tango' with the acrobatic Santos Brothers; 3. Marie Louise, the latest Broadway flame; 4. 'Dancing with my shadow' with the June Taylor dancers in 'Me and my shadow'; 5. 'Meditating an illusion' with Arlene Avril; 6. 'The Aristocracy of Dance' with Patricia & Capella; 7. Ilusionism act with magician Francis Brunn; 8. 'American Jubilee' the hightlight of the revue with June Taylor, Patricia & Capella, Jerry Bergen, Arlene Avril & Santos Brothers. 

Gran Teatro Opera on Calle Corrientes in Buenos Aires in July 1957.