Cornélio Pires

The first independent producer of Brazil as well as the first someone to ever record traditional, authentic caipira (hillbilly) music, Cornélio Pires was the largest propagandist from the hillbilly culture of upstate São Paulo in the initial decades from the 20th century. Along with 26 books about the caipira with anecdotes (causos), poetry, jokes, and analysis on caipira music and vocabulary, Pires also provided comic sketches in monologues penned by himself, and do lectures in the theme. Often performing for huge audiences through the entire country (specifically in upstate São Paulo), he enchanted the metropolitan public with this mixture of ingenuity and smartness from the caipira whose vocabulary, spirit, music, thought process, aspirations, and issues he knew therefore well. Also an writer of stories, he previously his Passe operating-system Vinte modified for the movie theater by Antônio de Campos as O Curandeiro. Using the filmmaker Flamínio de Campos Gatti, Pires journeyed through Brazil capturing for his documentary Brasil Pitoresco, in 1923. In 1910, Pires experienced acquired enough encounter in the rodas de violeiros (viola players’ get-togethers) to arrange in the Mackenzie University his debut on-stage, showing upstate musicians, performers, and dancers (cururueiros, catireiros, cantadores, and dançadores) in an average “lykewake,” accompanied by a lecture where he offered some explanations about the life span and human areas of that area. In the same 12 months, Pires released his 1st publication, Musa Caipira. Along with his restless character and bohemian personality, Pires relocated from town to town, jumping in one job to some other (weighing over 200 pounds, he actually tried to be always a physical education instructor), trying to produce a living, and invariably dropping his careers. In 1912, he began to present some solo shows where he, in impeccable fits or morning jackets, impersonated the caipiras, informing jokes and tales. In an interval when near 80 percent of the populace of Brazil still resided in the rural areas, the caipira tradition had a significant effect on the creative works of the united states, representing a lot of the musical, literary, and scenic spectacles stated in the towns. The nascent social industry couldn’t become foreign to the process. The initial phonographic recordings of performers in the caipira productions had been their pièces de résistance: Baiano documented in 1902 the poem “A Cabocla”; with Eduardo das Neves, he documented in 1912 “Cateretê Paulista”; in the same yr, Cadete published the lundu “Caipira Paulista”; and many other performers from varied areas (just like the traditional composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, who published “Cânticos Sertanejos” and “A Lenda perform Caboclo”) or areas (João Pernambuco, Catulo da Paixão Cearense, Jararaca e Ratinho, Augusto Calheiros, as well as the Turunas da Mauricéia, all from Notheast) had been exploring effectively the caipira world in the ’10s and ’20s. Urged by these perspectives, in 1929 Pires required his nephew Ariovaldo Pires (the soon-to-be Capitão Furtado) and appeared for Columbia’s documenting engineer Wallace Downey, who launched these to the Brazilian Albert Jackson Byington Jr., owner from the Brazilian consultant organization. Byington wasn’t thinking about the proposal of documenting caipira performers, as he thought that the metropolitan people wished to listen to the best superstars like Francisco Alves and Paraguassu performing sertanejo (hillbilly) music, not minor unidentified performers. It was after that that Pires suggested to cover the recordings and pressings of his albums. Borrowing an extraordinary sum of money, he payed for the documenting of five albums, each with 5,000 copies. That was most uncommon, a good folly, as also the biggest superstars of that time period wouldn’t have therefore big a concern. Pires then came back to Piracicaba and found his already produced group Turma Caipira Cornélio Pires (such as the best performers and viola players of the spot, Zico Dias e Ferrinho, Arlindo Santana e Sebastiãozinho, as well as the brothers Caçula e Mariano). Arriving in São Paulo, Pires demanded his very own label and numeration. Therefore, in 1929, the well-known crimson series (Série Caipira Cornélio Pires) was released, numbered from 20,000 to 20,005: six albums with 5,000 copies each; totaling 30,000 78 rpms filled up with jokes, desafios (musical contests), and many genuine caipira musical styles, including the 1st moda de viola to become recorded, “Jorginho perform Sertão”; gathered by Pires and interpreted by Caçula e Mariano. Everything was devote two vehicles and offered door-to-door, in fairs and in Pires’ Casa Cornélio, a radio and Victrola shop in downtown São Paulo. With the complete pressing sold-out, Pires discovered different conditions for a fresh contract at Columbia. Invited to create albums for the business, right now financed and written by Byington, Pires became the 1st independent maker in Brazil. Until 1931, Pires created another 43 albums whose tunes (in the initial 12 albums) experienced their authorship erroneously related to him. Quickly Pires had your competition of Lourenço, from your duo (found out by him in addition to a person in his Turma Caipira) Lourenço e Olegário, who also became an unbiased manufacturer for RCA Victor, accompanied by others that also went with their very own productions in the field. Pires considered other activities, carrying on until 1958 to intensively compose books and promote travels along with his caravan (sponsored with the Antarctica drink company, advertising just its nonalcoholic items, as he was a recovering alcoholic) of dancers, performers; and Pires before everything as a bunch, entertainer, and storyteller. After his loss of life, his hometown Tietê made the Cornélio Pires Museum and, since 1959, creates the Cornélio Pires Week.