Biography
Heitor dos Prazeres composed enduring sambas while earning recognition as one of Brazil’s foremost primitivist painters. He also helped launch the Carioca samba school movement and established multiple schools himself. In 1928 he joined Rubem Barcelos, Alcebíades Barcelos (Bide), and Newton Bastos to create the first group to adopt that designation, Escola de Samba Deixa Falar (Estácio), along with União do Estácio the same year. Several weeks afterward he helped establish both Portela and Estação Primeira de Mangueira.
Born to a military musician, Prazeres taught himself the cavaquinho at seven. By fourteen he frequented rodas de choro and the pioneering samba gathering place at Tia Ciata’s house, where he was acknowledged as a master of the instrument. He later mastered the banjo as well. His earliest songs date to 1912: “Ô Limoeiro, Limão” and “Adeus, Oculó.” In 1927 a Carioca newspaper contest awarded him first prize for “A Tristeza Me Persegue,” later issued on the Fermata 1970 LP Portela, Passado de Glória. That same year Francisco Alves cut “Ora Vejam Só” and “Cassino Maxixe,” the initial version of “Gosto Que Me Enrosco,” both credited to Sinhô. Prazeres asserted the pieces were his own with only slight alterations by Sinhô, prompting a public quarrel. Sinhô responded with the well-known remark that “sambas are like birds, they are owned by the ones who take them.” The episode inspired two further sambas, “Segura O Boi” by Sinhô and “Olha Ele, Cuidado” by Prazeres. In 1929 Mário Reis recorded the definitive “Gosto Que Me Enrosco,” again under Sinhô’s name; Prazeres answered with “Rei Dos Meus Sambas.” “Deixaste Meu Lar,” listed solely under Francisco Alves on the label, appeared via Mário Reis and was later re-recorded by Alves in 1930. Next came the landmark “Mulher de Malandro,” which captured the first official Carnival competition in 1932 when Francisco Alves recorded it. Among his numerous other works are “Estás Farta de Falar da Minha Vida,” “Canção do Jornaleiro,” “Pierrô Apaixonado” (co-written with Noel Rosa and successfully released by Joel e Gaúcho on Victor in 1936), “Lá em Mangueira” (with Herivelto Martins and recorded by Trio de Ouro in 1943), and “Sou Eu Quem Dou As Ordens.”
Prazeres also excelled as a painter. He participated in São Paulo’s I Bienal de Arte in 1951, returned for the 1953 and 1961 editions, and represented Brazil at the 1966 Black Arts Festival of Dakar in Senegal. His canvases depict the everyday lives of Carioca malandros, mulatas, and workmen.
In 1931 Prazeres withdrew from samba schools to join Rádio Educadora, soon moving to the stations Sociedade, Clube, and Philips, where he contributed to the renowned Programa Casé. He assembled a female choir that performed with him under the name Heitor e Sua Gente. Jonas Tinoco, a boy singer, scored a major hit with “Canção do Jornaleiro” in 1933. As a regular cast member at Rádio Nacional, Prazeres played percussion. He appeared in the landmark 1941 program A Voz do Morro on Rádio Cruzeiro do Sul alongside Cartola and Paulo da Portela; the following year the three performed in São Paulo as Grupo Carioca. More than 129 of his compositions were eventually recorded.
Born to a military musician, Prazeres taught himself the cavaquinho at seven. By fourteen he frequented rodas de choro and the pioneering samba gathering place at Tia Ciata’s house, where he was acknowledged as a master of the instrument. He later mastered the banjo as well. His earliest songs date to 1912: “Ô Limoeiro, Limão” and “Adeus, Oculó.” In 1927 a Carioca newspaper contest awarded him first prize for “A Tristeza Me Persegue,” later issued on the Fermata 1970 LP Portela, Passado de Glória. That same year Francisco Alves cut “Ora Vejam Só” and “Cassino Maxixe,” the initial version of “Gosto Que Me Enrosco,” both credited to Sinhô. Prazeres asserted the pieces were his own with only slight alterations by Sinhô, prompting a public quarrel. Sinhô responded with the well-known remark that “sambas are like birds, they are owned by the ones who take them.” The episode inspired two further sambas, “Segura O Boi” by Sinhô and “Olha Ele, Cuidado” by Prazeres. In 1929 Mário Reis recorded the definitive “Gosto Que Me Enrosco,” again under Sinhô’s name; Prazeres answered with “Rei Dos Meus Sambas.” “Deixaste Meu Lar,” listed solely under Francisco Alves on the label, appeared via Mário Reis and was later re-recorded by Alves in 1930. Next came the landmark “Mulher de Malandro,” which captured the first official Carnival competition in 1932 when Francisco Alves recorded it. Among his numerous other works are “Estás Farta de Falar da Minha Vida,” “Canção do Jornaleiro,” “Pierrô Apaixonado” (co-written with Noel Rosa and successfully released by Joel e Gaúcho on Victor in 1936), “Lá em Mangueira” (with Herivelto Martins and recorded by Trio de Ouro in 1943), and “Sou Eu Quem Dou As Ordens.”
Prazeres also excelled as a painter. He participated in São Paulo’s I Bienal de Arte in 1951, returned for the 1953 and 1961 editions, and represented Brazil at the 1966 Black Arts Festival of Dakar in Senegal. His canvases depict the everyday lives of Carioca malandros, mulatas, and workmen.
In 1931 Prazeres withdrew from samba schools to join Rádio Educadora, soon moving to the stations Sociedade, Clube, and Philips, where he contributed to the renowned Programa Casé. He assembled a female choir that performed with him under the name Heitor e Sua Gente. Jonas Tinoco, a boy singer, scored a major hit with “Canção do Jornaleiro” in 1933. As a regular cast member at Rádio Nacional, Prazeres played percussion. He appeared in the landmark 1941 program A Voz do Morro on Rádio Cruzeiro do Sul alongside Cartola and Paulo da Portela; the following year the three performed in São Paulo as Grupo Carioca. More than 129 of his compositions were eventually recorded.
Albums
