Nelson Cavaquinho

Who was Nelson Cavaquinho?

Nelson Cavaquinho was arguably the best samba composer ever, behind Cartola. He left 600 compositions that have been recorded by some of the greatest interpreters of Brazilian music, including Ciro Monteiro, Elis Regina, Elizeth Cardoso, Chico Buarque, Guinga, Paulinho da Viola, João Bosco, Rafael Rabello, Zizi Possi, Beth Carvalho, Toquinho, Luiz Melodia, Maria Bethânia, Leny Andrade, Clara Nunes, Jards Macalé, Itamar Assumpção, Arnaldo Antunes, Nelson Gonçalves, Zeca Pagodinho, and others.Nelson Cavaquinho was in fact born one year after the date consigned on his birth certificate (October 28, 1910). His father, Brás Antônio da Silva (a tuba player from the military police band of Rio), worried about the precocious signs of a dedicated Bohemian, changed the certificate so he could enlist in the Army one year sooner. He was born in the São Cristóvão neighborhood in Rio. At eight, he moved with his family to Lapa. Soon after, he abandoned the junior high school to go to work. Nine years later, he moved again with his family to a blue-collar neighborhood in Gávea, where he began to play the cavaquinho in the local rodas de choro, where he got the nickname. His first choro compositions date from that period, when he also enrolled with the military police (at 19), due to his father's insistency. He got married the next year and moved to the Brás de Pina neighborhood, but his marriage lasted for only a short period, due to his Bohemian habits.By and by, he began to frequent the rodas de samba in the hills when he wrote his first song, "Entre a Cruz e a Espada." Becoming acquainted with Cartola, wrote some sambas with him, but the partnership ended when Cavaquinho sold one of those songs. He also became friends with many of the hills' composers, but very few of his partners participated in the composition of Cavaquinho 's sambas. As a Bohemian, he used to give partnerships of his songs in exchange for a hotel room for the night (as he did many times at the Hotel Brasil), a dish of food, or even a night of love. In spite of his always being cherished by women in the bars he frequented, most of Cavaquinho 's "partners" were hotel or bar owners or pimps. In 1938, Cavaquinho left the police and became a mason like Cartola. His first samba to be recorded was "Não Faça Vontade a Ela" (with Rubens Campos and Henricão), by Alcides Gerardi in 1939. Ciro Monteiro, a highly popular artist, began to record his songs in 1943 with "Apresenta-me Aquela Mulher" (with Augusto Garcez/Gustavo de Oliveira), followed by "Não te Dói a Consciência" (with Ari Monteiro); in 1945, he recorded "Aquele Bilhetinho" (with Augusto Garcez/Arnô Canegal), all for Victor. In 1946, he recorded Cavaquinho's first big hit, "Rugas" (with Augusto Garcez/Ari Monteiro). Instead of jumping on the success and opening his way into radio, which represented the big avenue for fame and money, he continued to show new songs in rodas de samba. In 1952, he moved to Mangueira. In 1954, Roberto Silva recorded "Notícia" (with Alcides Caminha/Nourival Bahia).In 1955, he started a long (30 years) and fruitful partnership with Guilherme de Brito, his most constant and important partner. They settled a pact of musical fidelity, which was broken a couple of times (one was in the song "Rei Vagabundo" with José Ribeiro) by Cavaquinho, under alcohol's effluviums. In that same year, Cavaquinho came out with "Cinzas" (with Guilherme de Brito and R. Gaetani); in 1956, he had "Pranto de Poeta" (with Guilherme de Brito); and, in 1957, his masterpiece "A Flor e o Espinho" (with Guilherme de Brito and Alcides Caminha). Caminha was broadly known in Brazil as an erotic cartoonist who signed under the pseudonym of Carlos Zéfiro. His only participation in the song was the amount paid by him, three contos de réis. According to Guilherme de Brito, when there was anyone other than him and Cavaquinho on one of their songs, the person paid to be included in the credits. In 1961, Roberto Silva recorded...