Biography
Adelino Moreira’s father, Comendador Serafim Sofia, left Portugal for Brazil when his son was eight months old. After a year working as a jeweler, Serafim sent for the rest of the family. An amateur poet and musician in his spare time, he became the earliest and strictest judge of the music and verse his son began producing as a small child.
Despite the family’s comfortable income, Adelino left school before finishing high school in order to assist his father. Serafim’s love of music and poetry nevertheless took root early in the boy, who developed a particular fondness for the writers Guerra Junqueiro and Eça de Queirós. Adelino soon took up the violão, the Portuguese guitar, and basic music theory.
In 1943 Serafim began financing the radio program Seleções Portuguesas on Rádio Clube do Brasil. The show was led by conductor Carlos Campos, from whom Adelino was studying Portuguese guitar. Adelino naturally began appearing on the broadcast, performing fados and original pieces. The exposure allowed him to meet industry figures and form useful connections. One immediate outcome was an invitation from singer and Continental artistic director João de Barro to record for the label. Adelino cut six 78 rpm discs containing his own material, among them the fados “Olhos d’alma” and the Brazilian songs “Mulato artilheiro,” “Nem cachopa, nem comida” (with Carlos Campos), plus “Manita” and “Adeus” (both by Carlos Campos and Américo Morais). The work did not yet yield financial independence, so Adelino continued as a jeweler. In 1947 he opened his own business, which gave him greater resources for musical endeavors. The following year he traveled to Portugal and recorded Brazilian songs for Parlophon as a performer. A stage appearance at Teatro Sá de Miranda accompanied the sessions and convinced him that a singing career would not succeed, though it strengthened his confidence in his songwriting. Back in Brazil he resumed his trade and began frequenting Café Nice in downtown Rio, where musicians gathered. After repeated attempts to interest established composers in collaboration, he finally formed a partnership with Zé da Zilda (previously known as Zé com Fome). Their first joint efforts, “Jura” and “Quebramar,” appeared in 1950.
In 1951 a friend introduced Adelino to one of Brazil’s leading singers, Nelson Gonçalves. Asked to perform his material on the spot for a sidewalk audition, Adelino offered “Última seresta” (with Sebastião Santana). Nelson approved and recorded it on 8 May 1952. For the next four years Nelson continued to record Adelino’s songs without notable commercial results, yet he remained the composer’s most consistent interpreter. Also in 1951 the march “Parafuso” (with Zé da Zilda and Zilda do Zé) was cut by the duo Zé da Zilda and Zilda do Zé. In 1953 Adelino wrote the songs that became his first major successes: “Meu vício é você,” recorded in 1955, and “A volta do boêmio,” recorded in 1956. The latter remains an enduring classic, still widely performed and lucrative for its author. Its popularity demonstrated that narratives of love, betrayal, and separation formed a reliable route to public favor. Further titles in the same vein soon followed, including “Fica comigo esta noite,” “Chora comigo,” “Deusa do asfalto,” “Meu bairro,” “Êxtase,” “Escultura,” and “Queixas.” Working on a just-in-time basis, Adelino supplied material to any established singer who requested it, ultimately placing 650 compositions on record within twenty years. The artists who recorded his work stretched from Ângela Maria to Orlando Silva, with Núbia Lafayette and Carlos Galhardo among those responsible for roughly half the catalog; the remaining half was preserved in Nelson Gonçalves’s voice.
Between 1966 and 1971 Nelson’s struggles with cocaine led to a temporary rupture in the partnership. During the interval Adelino, by then an established businessman, attempted to launch a comparable singer, Paulo Vinícius, who never attained comparable success. In 1971 Nelson, now free of addiction, resumed his role as Adelino’s primary interpreter, and Adelino served as his impresario until Nelson’s death in 1998. Adelino Moreira currently holds the post of vice-president at SBACEM, a leading performing-rights organization, where he remains the highest-earning composer.
Despite the family’s comfortable income, Adelino left school before finishing high school in order to assist his father. Serafim’s love of music and poetry nevertheless took root early in the boy, who developed a particular fondness for the writers Guerra Junqueiro and Eça de Queirós. Adelino soon took up the violão, the Portuguese guitar, and basic music theory.
In 1943 Serafim began financing the radio program Seleções Portuguesas on Rádio Clube do Brasil. The show was led by conductor Carlos Campos, from whom Adelino was studying Portuguese guitar. Adelino naturally began appearing on the broadcast, performing fados and original pieces. The exposure allowed him to meet industry figures and form useful connections. One immediate outcome was an invitation from singer and Continental artistic director João de Barro to record for the label. Adelino cut six 78 rpm discs containing his own material, among them the fados “Olhos d’alma” and the Brazilian songs “Mulato artilheiro,” “Nem cachopa, nem comida” (with Carlos Campos), plus “Manita” and “Adeus” (both by Carlos Campos and Américo Morais). The work did not yet yield financial independence, so Adelino continued as a jeweler. In 1947 he opened his own business, which gave him greater resources for musical endeavors. The following year he traveled to Portugal and recorded Brazilian songs for Parlophon as a performer. A stage appearance at Teatro Sá de Miranda accompanied the sessions and convinced him that a singing career would not succeed, though it strengthened his confidence in his songwriting. Back in Brazil he resumed his trade and began frequenting Café Nice in downtown Rio, where musicians gathered. After repeated attempts to interest established composers in collaboration, he finally formed a partnership with Zé da Zilda (previously known as Zé com Fome). Their first joint efforts, “Jura” and “Quebramar,” appeared in 1950.
In 1951 a friend introduced Adelino to one of Brazil’s leading singers, Nelson Gonçalves. Asked to perform his material on the spot for a sidewalk audition, Adelino offered “Última seresta” (with Sebastião Santana). Nelson approved and recorded it on 8 May 1952. For the next four years Nelson continued to record Adelino’s songs without notable commercial results, yet he remained the composer’s most consistent interpreter. Also in 1951 the march “Parafuso” (with Zé da Zilda and Zilda do Zé) was cut by the duo Zé da Zilda and Zilda do Zé. In 1953 Adelino wrote the songs that became his first major successes: “Meu vício é você,” recorded in 1955, and “A volta do boêmio,” recorded in 1956. The latter remains an enduring classic, still widely performed and lucrative for its author. Its popularity demonstrated that narratives of love, betrayal, and separation formed a reliable route to public favor. Further titles in the same vein soon followed, including “Fica comigo esta noite,” “Chora comigo,” “Deusa do asfalto,” “Meu bairro,” “Êxtase,” “Escultura,” and “Queixas.” Working on a just-in-time basis, Adelino supplied material to any established singer who requested it, ultimately placing 650 compositions on record within twenty years. The artists who recorded his work stretched from Ângela Maria to Orlando Silva, with Núbia Lafayette and Carlos Galhardo among those responsible for roughly half the catalog; the remaining half was preserved in Nelson Gonçalves’s voice.
Between 1966 and 1971 Nelson’s struggles with cocaine led to a temporary rupture in the partnership. During the interval Adelino, by then an established businessman, attempted to launch a comparable singer, Paulo Vinícius, who never attained comparable success. In 1971 Nelson, now free of addiction, resumed his role as Adelino’s primary interpreter, and Adelino served as his impresario until Nelson’s death in 1998. Adelino Moreira currently holds the post of vice-president at SBACEM, a leading performing-rights organization, where he remains the highest-earning composer.
Albums