.com As one of Brazil's most important music figures, books could be written about Gilberto Gil's early years. Gil and other like-minded artists in the tropicalia movement fused samba, bossa nova, rock, Anglo folk and more experimental forms into music that was both catchy and topical. The music here reflects the heady late 1960s rock sounds and philosophies, and Gil's gifts as a composer and performer were such that he became popular in his homeland and beyond. Tragically, he was not well received by government authorities--his choice of subject matter lead to jail and exile. Amongt the 22 tracks we get hits like the "Maracatu Atomico" and "Louvacao." Also of note is Gil's solo turn (voice and acoustic guitar) take on Steve Winwood's "Can't Find My Way Home," which sounds all the more tragic because of Gil's exile. While Gil's later work continues to challenge as he pokes at the edges of pop formats, this is the stuff that legends are made of. -Tad Hendrickson
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Gilberto Gil - The Early Years (2004, Wrasse/Universal)
This happens to be the greatest "hits" collection from Gilberto Gil, released by Wrasse (an England reissuing company from Universal). These songs come from Gilberto Gil's greatest music period from 1967-1976, when he was recording for Philips/Mercury/Universal Records. And this anthology actually makes sense, meaning the order of the songs are all perfect. The only problem that I've had with this collection is that it contains the lousy English version of "Volks, Volkswagen Blues", which came from his 1971 English album that he made when he was exiled in the U.K. Also, there aren't many songs in this collection that comes from Gilberto Gil's 1974 double-album, "Cidade do Salvador", nor his insanely-great 1969 album. Most of these 22 tracks come from his 1968 album, "Louvacao" (his debut) and The Tropicalia Movement's "Bread & Circuses" album, which featured Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Os Mutantes, etc...Like Jorge Ben, Gilberto Gil's music is constantly evolving and becoming more worldwide, although years ago, he became involved in Brazilian politics, which was influenced by a movement him and Caetano Veloso created in the late 1960s, which caused the both of them to be arrested, imprisoned and forced to leave their own country for three years. His lyrics, like the lyrics of Caetano, has political messages to them, to go along with songs about love, tragedies, traveling, the future & tributes to The Beatles, Chuck Berry and foreign cars. For those of you who would like to get to know Gilberto Gil and his works, this is the collection to go with, along with his 1969 self-titled album & "Cidade do Salvador" (if you can even find that particular double-album). For those of you who would like a comparison of him and American artists... Let's just say that Gilberto Gil is like the Stevie Wonder/Bob Marley/Bobby McFerrin of Brazil.When I first purchased this anthology, I will admit that I was hooked. I couldn't stop listening to this CD for a year. I am patiently waiting for my current copy of this CD to tarnish so that I can purchase another copy.ESSENTIAL TRACKS: Out of 22 tracks, there's only 1 song you can skip through and that is the English version of "Volks, Volkswagen Blue" (which should have been replaced with the original 1969 Portuguese version of the song, which came from his 1969 album). Aside from this minor flaw, this is a CD you can listen to all the way through! Oh, did I mention that "Chuckberry Fields Forever" sounds like it may have came from Jorge Ben's "Africa Brazil" album?
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