Geraldo Vandre

Who is Geraldo Vandre?

Geraldo Vandré, is a Brazilian singer, composer and guitar player.

In 1966 his song Disparada, interpreted by Jair Rodrigues, was a success at the Record Festival. The song rose to number one, tied with Chico Buarque's "A banda".

Later in 1966, the group Quarteto Novo was created to accompany him in concert and on recordings and released a landmark album in 1967.

In 1968 Vandre entered his song Pra não dizer que não falei das flores in the International Song Festival. The song had the following refrain:

This was thought to be a call to fight the dictatorship in charge. The song lost to Sabia by Chico Buarque and Tom Jobim. Also in 1968, still with the AI-5, Vandre had to go into exile. The first artist ever to sing Caminhando after censorship's lift was Simone in 1979, reaching enormous success from both public and critics.

First he stayed at the farm of the late Guimarães Rosa, who had died the previous year, then he proceeded to Chile, and finally to France.

Since returning to Brazil in 1973, Vandré has been living and composing in São Paulo. He discounts rumors that he has been tortured, saying that the image of "Che Guevara" singer stifles his workmanship. One of his recent songs has been Fabiana, written in honor of the Brazilian Air Force and presented at the São Paulo Municipal Library some time in the 1990s.