Tropical Truth: A Story of Music and Revolution in Brazil

by Caetano Veloso

Book Overview

Rebelling against the Elvis-based, American-imported rock scene in late '60s Brazil, Caetano Veloso suffused lyrical Brazilian folksongs with fuzz guitar, avant-jazz, and electronic music-and in doing so blew apart the status quo of Brazilian culture. Caetano and the movement he catalyzed, tropicalia, urged an adoption of personal freedom in politics, music, and lifestyle. His "rabble-rousing," as the government saw it, would get Caetano and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306812819
• ISBN13: 9780306812811
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

best if you know brazil well

I read this book in portuguese, when it first came out in Brazil, and i absolutely loved it. This book is not only about Caetano Veloso and his music. Caetano Veloso has a very unique way to see people and to write about them, and in his life he had the privilege to meet some of the most important people in Brazil's cultural scene. In his book he tells us many precious stories about Chico Buarque de Hollanda, Gilberto Gil, Nara Leao, Paulinho da Viola and so many others. Some important moments of his life and also of Brazilian history are also told from a very personal point of view: stories of Caetano and Gil's prison and exile during brazilian dictatorship were specially moving to me. And then there are some fabulous stories about the beginnings of Caetano's carreer, how it all started. Caetano has such an insteresting point of view about everything, it's awesome to be able to get inside his mind, and that's how i felt reading his book. I actually ended up reading it twice. I think though, that this book can be better appreciated by people who really know brazilian music and culture well. Another reviewer mentioned that Caetano talks about lots of "obscure artists", but i don't think this is a true statement. He talks about very important people in brazilian culture, including writers, film directors and musicians. The people he mentions are very known in Brazil,and he also talks about important european and american artists. The people he mentions in his book are not obscure at all. Probably, if you know who he is talking about it makes for a much better reading experience. So, if you have a curious mind and are interested in art, music, and Brazil, this is certainly a wonderful book to read. And, like me, you may want to read it more than once...

Like it or leave it

This is a very complex, very interesting account by an amateur writer. Caetano is not "dying to be an intellectual" (as one reviewer remarked) – he is one (though some seem to resent that) and was from the start – even before it was clear that he should choose a musical career. He’s not pretentious – he simply tells us what he had in mind at the time and how he thinks about it today. If he thinks too much for you – fair enough, leave it then, but don’t blame the author for your personal tastes. Besides the book is very honest, emotional, personal and candid (sexuality, imprisonment). Anyone who calls him pretentious or vain should read the chapter about his two month imprisonment titled: "Narcissus on Vacation". I loved the respect with which he writes about a lot of collegues (contemporary or of old). In comparison I was taken aback by Ruy Castro’s superficial account of Bossa Nova, where I found the musicians lives more "used" for the sake of entertainment than respected. Btw: it is really very funny when one reviewer tells us how disgusted he was to hear Caetano sing "Feelings" in a concert recently. Because that was such a "Tropicalia"-thing to do. Just like he provoked his audience when he recorded "Coracao Materno" or sang songs from Carmen Miranda. I wonder what that reader read that book for. After 30 years Caetano seems to be still ahead of us.

Not your average pop star

I can't think of any other pop musician in the world besides Caetano Veloso who could pull off writing a book that gives so much insight into the personal relationships, political climate, and artistic influences that help form their own work. The brilliant "Tropical Truth" is something of a combination between an autobiography of Caetano's earlier years, an analysis of his work, a document of the "Tropicalia" movement which he started, and a look at Brazilian counterculture and politics. It illuminates his early work in such a way that I felt after reading it I appreciated his early work on a much higher level. Non-portuguese speakers like myself will probably appreciate the explanations of the wordplay that occurs in songs like "Alegria, Alegria". Caetano writes knowledgeably on a variety of topics, and if there are particular weaknesses about this book, it is that is written in a quite roundabout way in places, and I imagine it would be difficult even for the relatively well-informed non-Brazilian to keep up with his discussion of Brazilian musical styles, European cinema, Brazilian "Cinema Novo", Latin American literature, and contemporary art. I found this book a joy to read however, and essential reading for anybody interested in Brazilian popular music.

Great book!

This is an exciting and unusual book -- it's a memoir of the life of one of the century's greatest songwriters (according to Rolling Stone), who is probably fairly unknown in the US because he sings in Portuguese. It's also a history of the 60's and 70's in Brazil, a time that included rule by military dictatorships (who imprisoned and exiled Veloso). It's also a passionate history of Brazilian music, through the lens of the tropicalia movement created by Veloso, Gilberto Gil (also imprisoned with Veloso, and recently named Minister of Culture by newly elected President Lula!), Gal Costa, Tom Ze and others. It's personal, scholarly, revealing, and will offer a glimpse into the mind and soul of a fascinating musical genius.

Crucial history of Brazilian popular music

Songwriter Caetano Veloso is one of Brazil's most iconic artistic figures; along with Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa and others, he created the "tropicalia" movement, which reconciled the magic of bossa nova with the psychedelic splendor of '60s rock. This is an English translation of his autobiography, a densely-written, super-intellectual, but also quite charming and down-to-earth account of the "heroic years" of the tropicalia movement. Veloso gives an intimate, immensely informative account of Brazilian music, from the pre-bossa "radio singers" he grew up with to the intense ideological rivalries between the hippie-ish tropicalia artists and the left-wing party-liners of the bossa nova crowd. The book is also a memoir of life under the Brazilian military dictatorship which took power in 1964, eventually sending Veloso and Gil (and countless other artists) into political exile, while attempting to censor their work and silence their voices. The role of the artist in all aspects of life -- social, spiritual and aesthetic -- resonates throughout this book, as Veloso gives an invaluable insider's view of an artistic movement that changed the course of Brazilian culture. This book basically ends in the early 1970s... it would be great if he could follow up with a second volume exploring the growth (although some might call it decline) of Brazilian music in the decades that followed. (PS - this is the perfect companion to Ruy Guerra's similarly wonderful book, "Bossa Nova, The Sound That Seduced The World.")