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gil calmly waits for another boo

gil calmly waits for another boo

Historic Press

GIL CALMLY WAITS FOR ANOTHER BOO
Jornal da Tarde – 04 October 1967

Gilberto Gil knows he may be booed again on Friday at the Paramount Theatre, when he presents his song Domingo no Parque with an electric guitar accompaniment. This is considered heresy by radical defenders of popular music as it was in its roots.

-But I’m not worried. It would be much more comfortable if I were competing with songs such as Roda or Louvação, compositions of mine that have already been well received by the public. But that wouldn’t be honest to myself nor to the people, as it wouldn’t represent my current way of thinking. I’m not doing this as a challenge; I just believe all experiences are important in music from a universal standpoint.

Gil will sing with the band Os Mutantes. Two young men playing electric guitar and base, and a woman on the plates. Drummer Dirceu will also be present, this time playing the berimbau. The song was arranged by Rogério Duprat.

-Today I feel as if I were in court, where I am being accused of betraying the real Brazilian popular music. And I don’t have a whole lot of answers to give, because even I don’t know if I am right or if I’m wrong. In fact, no one in the world can be sure of anything before they risk doing it. So, I can’t go around boasting that I am right and other people are wrong.

-The Beatles are beginning to use all sorts of elements and instruments of classical music that didn’t use to belong to what is called pop music. They are constantly evolving, while in Brazil, what we call young music is becoming conservative. In Brazilian popular music, conservatism is even worse. If we thought like that, we would still be playing music with indigenous instruments. We should think in universal terms. The world is very small today; there is no reason for regional feuds. If we go to Mars tomorrow and if there’s music there, the Earth may very well protest: “Don’t play that music, it is foreign.”

Gil sees a great contradiction in the fact that foreign customs and culture are well accepted in Brazil, but there is great prejudice against any infiltration in our music. He remembers that even João Gilberto was accused of being North-Americanized when he started playing bossa-nova.

He finds it ludicrous that a war is waged against him, particularly in Rio, just because he wants to use the electric guitar in Brazilian music. And he thought it strange that he was advised not to do it in the festival.

-The festival, as I see it, is the best place to expose a composer’s new concerns. If I have changed, if I think differently now, why shouldn’t I show the public what I am?

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Historic Press