Date: 2023-01-13
Time: 04:22:11 UTC
Title: Copacetic Music Hour Preview, 1/13/23: Gal Costa
Another week has passed, which means it's time for another episode of the
copacetic music hour! This week's featured artist is the late tropicalia and
MPB star Gal Costa, who passed away this past November. Gal became famous as
one of the leaders of the tropicalia musical movement that emerged in Brazil in
the 1960s. Gal Costa was born Maria da Graca Costa Penna Burgos on September
26, 1945 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, to a mother who instilled a love of music
from before birth, spending hours listening to classical music while pregnant
with Gal. At age 10, she became friends with the sisters Sandra and Andreia
Gadelha, who would marry tropicalia stars Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso,
respectively. She gained her nickname Gal from the Gadelha sisters, who called
her Gau (later respelled as Gal).
At age 14, she became interested in bossa nova after listening to Joao
Gilberto's Chega de Saudade, going on to work as a clerk in the most popular
record store in Salvador to get more familiar with new music. Her musical debut
came not much later with a performance at the concert Nos, por exemplo (We, For
Example) in 1964 with Maria Bethania, Tom Ze, Caetano Veloso, and Gilberto Gil.
She then moved to Rio as her professional career took off. In 1965, her first
professional recording, a Sol Negro duet with Caetano Veloso, was released on
Maria Bethania's debut album. Her first singles were Eu vim da Bahia, written
by Gilberto Gil, and Sim, foi voce, by Caetano Veloso. Veloso's track Baby
would also become one of Costa's best known songs. Her first album, Domingo,
was released in 1967, and included the big hit Coracao Vagabundo. Her eponymous
solo debut album, Gal Costa, which includes Baby, was released in 1969 and is
still considered a tropicalia classic, mixing Brazilian styles with psychedelic
influences.
Tonight, as always, we will enjoy a sampling of Gal Costa's hits alongside a
fireside IRC chat at tilde.chat channel tilderadio (#tilderadio). Join us!
