Gilberto Gil: Early Encounters With Other Brazilian Artists

The four were already close-knit and would go on to do a lot together, including driving the Tropicália movement, which only Bethânia never joined because she was too busy with other projects.

In 1976, as they were celebrating their first decade in music, they came together again on stage for their Doces Bárbaros tour, which would produce an album and a documentary later the same year.

Gil and Caetano, a life-long friendship.

Early in his career, Gilberto Gil also got to know Chico Buarque. Their paths often crossed backstage at song festivals and they would become lifelong friends.

Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (known as Chico) was a young songwriter who never held back from singing lyrics full of metaphors that masked serious criticism of the dictatorship. As a result, he ended up being persecuted by the military regime, which had been in power since 1964. 

Chico was never imprisoned because he chose to go into self-exile in Italy, in 1969, the same year that Gil and Caetano left for London. At the time, the Brazilian censors had already banned two of his recorded songs, Apesar de Você and Cálice, which he sang as a duet with Gilberto Gil.

So Chico started using the pseudonym Julinho da Adelaide, under which he wrote just three songs: Milagre Brasileiro, Acorda Amor, and Jorge Maravilha. 

Julinho da Adelaide was his way of getting round the censors, given that the authorities were banning his lyrics on the mere sight of his name in the credits.

 In 1973, three years after his return to Brazil, Chico was performing Cálice with Gil on stage at the Phono 73 Festival when they were censored live. 

The Phono 73 festival, held in São Paulo in May 1973, was organized by the Phonogram record label, bringing various artists together on stage. Gilberto Gil sang with Elis Regina, as well as performing another number with his friend Jorge Ben and the singer Fagner, from Ceará. 

Jorge Ben, a singer-songwriter from Rio de Janeiro, was part of the Tropicália movement led by Gil and Caetano. Jorge would feature in Gil's life over many years, appearing with him in other shows and recording a joint album with him in 1975, titled Gil & Jorge: Ogum, Xangô.

The Tropicália movement stood out as the movement that mixed rock and Brazilian music. However, that was never the plan. When Gilberto Gil first arrived in São Paulo, he took to the streets in a demonstration against the electric guitar with bossa nova and Brazilian Popular Music supporters—two genres in which the acoustic guitar is the predominant instrument.

A short while later, Gil was in the studio with his girlfriend at the time, Nana Caymmi, recording Bom Dia. There, the conductor Rogério Duprat introduced him to the group Os Mutantes. He was captivated by these Beatles fans and their ability to adapt their electric instruments to Brazilian music. 

The band ended up recording the song Domingo no Parque with Gil and playing with the Bahian singer at a song festival.

Caetano Veloso had been dropping hints about electric guitars for a while. After all, he was a huge fan of the first Brazilian rock movement from the early 1960s, which would eventually become known as the Jovem Guarda or Young Guard. 

The singer-songwriters Roberto Carlos and Erasmo Carlos, and the female vocalist Wanderléa, ended up becoming the main faces of the movement when they presented a TV show produced by Record TV and TV Rio from 1965 to 1968. Gil and Wanderléa reunited in 2003, as pictured here.

 Gil was eventually won over by these rock stars and their paths would cross from time to time throughout Gil's career, even after Roberto Carlos earn the nickname O Rei (The King), after becoming one of the most popular performers in Brazil.

It is not possible to talk about Gilberto Gil's encounters with other Brazilian artists without mentioning their yearly get-togethers at Carnival. 

Whether in his Camarote Expresso 2222 viewing box, on the trio elétrico floats, or joining various street bands as they parade through the streets of Salvador, Gil can always be seen in the company of other big stars who come from Bahia and beyond to enjoy the region's biggest festivities. 

Bahia's three leading singer-songwriters—Margareth Menezes, Daniela Mercury, and Ivete Sangalo—are examples of fans who ended up becoming his friends, having always been encouraged by Gil, or Paizão (Big Papa), as they call him.

Margareth also joined Gil on stage outside of Carnival.

Daniela Mercury is also frequently one of Gil's special guests. Before becoming a successful solo artists, the singer was Gil's backing vocal,  in the early 1990s.

Many other names have also spent time in Gil's company, whether at Carnival or elsewhere. He is, without doubt, a man of many encounters.