Curiosities

Excitement and joy, mixed with the sadness of farewell – that was the atmosphere marking the Barra 69 show which brought together an audience of two thousand people, including names such as the novelist Jorge Amado and poet Augusto de Campos.

In all, there were three shows – a matinée, the show on the 20^th and another on the 21^st. Enthused by their reception, Gil and Caetano revisited great Tropicalist hits such as Alegria, Alegria, Domingo no Parque and Superbacana and, further, offered the festive crowd new songs from their forthcoming records, still being finalised by Rogério Duprat. Backing the pair during the shows was a young local rock band from Salvador, the Leif’s, composed of brothers Pepeu, Carlinhos and Jorginho Gomes. It was some time after this first incursion into the world of Tropicalism that Pepeu and Jorginho would become part of the successful group Novos Baianos.

The end of this memorable show couldn’t have been more climactic.  The crowd gave a standing ovation to what would become one of Gilberto Gil’s greatest hits, the song “Aquele Abraço”, played for the first time at the show and written after Gil left prison on his way to Salvador. Feeling all the emotion of the farewell, and already knowing that they could be forced to leave the country, Gil began to think of the song. The refrain “Aquele Abraço” – “That Embrace”, borrowed from TV comedian Lilico, and also used by the soldiers at the barracks in Rio to wish Gil well, couldn’t have been more appropriate to the moment and became the chorus of the song. Ironically, Gil was unable to accompany the success of the single “Aquele Abraço”, which sold over 300,000 copies, as he was already in exile in France.

All the excitement of that show in Salvador’s Castro Alves theatre on July 20, 1969, was documented on the record Barra 69.