Biography
Lamartine Babo grew up immersed in music because his household itself was musical. His father Leopoldo de Azeredo Babo belonged to a choro ensemble, and the family residence regularly welcomed Ernesto Nazareth together with Catulo da Paixão Cearense. His mother Bernardina Gonçalves Babo and his sisters performed on the piano during the era before electric mass media, giving the boy an early dual exposure: at home he absorbed the romantic pieces such as mazurkas and schottisches alongside the livelier maxixe, a fusion of European forms and Brazilian interpretive manner that foreshadowed modern urban samba and choro, while in adolescence he encountered the emerging commercial music industry through Casa Edison recordings and radio broadcasts that introduced him to American fox-trot and other city styles.
Born into a middle-class family and raised in sheltered circumstances, he finished secondary school. By that point he had already written the tune “Pandorama,” fulfilling a wager with friends that he could fashion a melody using only the notes G, C and E. He had also produced the poem “O frade que pedia esmola,” his first waltz “Torturas de amor” dedicated to his father (who passed away in 1917), and, at age fifteen, the sacred “Ave Maria” that entered Brazilian Holy Communion ceremonies along with the “Hino do Jubileu Episcopal,” both prompted by his Catholic schooling at Colégio São Bento.
After completing his studies he took an office-boy position at the Light Company because his family’s finances had declined following his father’s death. Even so he frequented the city’s theaters to hear operetta stars such as Wanda Rooms, Clara Weiss and Franca Boni. Captivated by the genre, he wrote his first operetta “Cibele” early in 1920 although he still could not read music; two further works, “Viva o amor” and “Lola,” remained unproduced.
As a young adult he embraced the bohemian circle of musicians and cultivated contacts in hopes of entering show business. His outgoing, humorous nature quickly endeared him to composer Eduardo Souto, proprietor of the sheet-music firm Casa Carlos Gomes. He contributed satirical pieces and reviews to Bastos Tigre’s magazine Dom Quixote and, the following year, wrote similarly for Paratodos and Shimmy under the pen names Frei Caneca, Poeta Cinzento, T. Mixto and Janeiro Ramos.
After quarreling with his supervisor at the Light Company he was dismissed and briefly employed by an insurance firm before leaving that post as well. Meanwhile he had begun supplying comic theater pieces and musical revues that were sweeping Brazil, turning professional with evident delight after years of religious schooling and clerical work; he now found himself surrounded by chorus girls and fellow bohemians.
In 1922 he supplied a number for the play Agüenta Filipe; by 1925 he had gained wider notice with several songs each for Prestes a Chegar, Vai quebrar, É da pontinha, Paulista de Macaé and Vai haver o diabo while also authoring his own shows Pequeno Polegar, Este mundo vai mal and Ouro à beça. His friend Eduardo Souto then recruited him for the street “blocos” that promoted Casa Carlos Gomes at the October festival of Penha and at pre-Carnival gatherings.
Following his first bloco experience in 1924, Babo embraced the format and began composing Carnival numbers for the ranchos Recreio das Flores, Africanos, Jardim dos Amores and Ameno Resedá; his marchinha “Foi você” received favorable attention.
In 1927 he joined the bloco led by Careca (Luís Nunes Sampaio), already a three-time Carnival contest winner in 1920, 1922 and 1924. Babo’s own composition “Os calças-largas,” recorded by baritone Frederico Rocha for Odeon, soon proved highly successful.
The 1930s brought talking pictures to Brazil, prompting popular composers to satirize imported English songs and speech in numbers such as Jurandir Santos’s “Alô Jone,” Assis Valente’s “Good-Bye,” Noel Rosa’s “Não tem tradução” and Babo’s own “Canção para inglês ver.” Radio’s rapid rise altered the consumption of Brazilian popular music: publishers and labels no longer relied solely on blocos, instead reaching entire cities and creating the first mass idols. Babo, accompanied by composer, pianist and broadcaster Ary Barroso, performed songs and banter on Rádio Educadora.
During the same decade the marchinha, long associated with Carnival since Chiquinha Gonzaga’s “O abre alas,” attained explosive popularity. Babo emerged as a central Carnival figure. In 1930 his marchinha “Bota o feijão no fogo” won the O Cruzeiro contest; in 1931 “Bonde errado” took the Casa Edison prize, while “Lua cor de prata,” “Minha cabrocha” and “O babado foi-se” also fared well. His reputation peaked in 1932 when the samba “Só dando com uma pedra nela,” performed by Mário Reis, dominated the airwaves. Collaborating with Noel Rosa he scored another success with “A E I O U,” then secured lasting fame with “O teu cabelo não nega.” The Valença brothers had submitted the unpolished original to Victor, which assigned Babo the task of refining melody and lyrics for commercial release; he retained the chorus, altered the rhythm and remaining text, and the song appeared under his name alone, sparking a lawsuit ultimately decided in the Valenças’ favor.
Further 1933 hits included “Linda morena,” “Moleque indigesto,” “A tua vida é um segredo,” “Aí, hein?” and “Boa bola” (the last two with Paulo Valença). In 1934 he enjoyed success with “Uma andorinha não faz verão” (with João de Barro) and the marchinha “Ride Palhaço,” drawn from Leoncavallo’s opera Pagliacci. He again led the Carnival in 1935 with “Grau dez” (with Ary Barroso) and “Rasguei a minha fantasia,” and in 1936 with “Marchinha do Grande Galo” (with Paulo Barbosa).
After 1937 Babo reduced his output of marchinhas and turned toward samba-canção, producing “Cessa tudo” (with Celso Macedo), recorded by Sílvio Caldas, and “Voltei a cantar,” interpreted by Mário Reis in the 1939 revue Joujoux et balangandans that Babo musically directed and which also featured his six waltzes “Seis valsas das flores.”
Between 1933 and 1937 he was exclusive to Rádio Mayrink Veiga, presenting Clube da meia-noite and Canção do dia, the latter introducing an unpublished song each broadcast. Moving to Rádio Nacional in 1937 he created Clube dos Fantasmas and the series Vida Pitoresca and Musical dos Compositores da nossa Música Popular; his 1942 program Trem da Alegria became one of Brazil’s foremost radio shows, carried by multiple stations, and introduced his Trio de Osso (Héber de Boscoli, Iara Sales and Babo himself).
An ardent soccer enthusiast, Babo composed official anthems for every major Carioca club. His stylistic range also encompassed June festival music, Christmas songs, adaptations and parodies. He appeared in the 1936 film Alô, Alô, Carnaval directed by Wallace Downey, singing the marchinha “As armas e os barões assinalados” with Almirante. He later produced television programs, worked as a record-company executive, and published volumes of humor and poetry.
In 1959 his marcha-rancho “Os Rouxinóis” again topped the Carnival charts; he added two further entries, “Ressurreição dos velhos carnavais” in 1961 and “Seja lá o que Deus quiser” in 1963. That same year producer Carlos Machado mounted the Golden Room revue O teu cabelo não nega as a tribute. During an agitated first rehearsal on 13 June 1963 Babo alarmed Machado, who knew of his heart condition, by insisting they leave until three songs for the show had been recorded days later. Outside the Copacabana Palace, when a television reporter asked whether the interview would air that evening and explained that Tom Jobim’s arrival from the United States already occupied the slot, Babo quipped, “Ah, that means that now I’m two steps below?” (um tom abaixo?). Affectionately known as Lalá, he did not survive to see the revue open; he suffered a fatal stroke on 16 June 1963 brought on by the emotion of the homage. In 1993 Banco Real released the CD Cadu: Lamartine Babo-Músicas inéditas e raras.
Born into a middle-class family and raised in sheltered circumstances, he finished secondary school. By that point he had already written the tune “Pandorama,” fulfilling a wager with friends that he could fashion a melody using only the notes G, C and E. He had also produced the poem “O frade que pedia esmola,” his first waltz “Torturas de amor” dedicated to his father (who passed away in 1917), and, at age fifteen, the sacred “Ave Maria” that entered Brazilian Holy Communion ceremonies along with the “Hino do Jubileu Episcopal,” both prompted by his Catholic schooling at Colégio São Bento.
After completing his studies he took an office-boy position at the Light Company because his family’s finances had declined following his father’s death. Even so he frequented the city’s theaters to hear operetta stars such as Wanda Rooms, Clara Weiss and Franca Boni. Captivated by the genre, he wrote his first operetta “Cibele” early in 1920 although he still could not read music; two further works, “Viva o amor” and “Lola,” remained unproduced.
As a young adult he embraced the bohemian circle of musicians and cultivated contacts in hopes of entering show business. His outgoing, humorous nature quickly endeared him to composer Eduardo Souto, proprietor of the sheet-music firm Casa Carlos Gomes. He contributed satirical pieces and reviews to Bastos Tigre’s magazine Dom Quixote and, the following year, wrote similarly for Paratodos and Shimmy under the pen names Frei Caneca, Poeta Cinzento, T. Mixto and Janeiro Ramos.
After quarreling with his supervisor at the Light Company he was dismissed and briefly employed by an insurance firm before leaving that post as well. Meanwhile he had begun supplying comic theater pieces and musical revues that were sweeping Brazil, turning professional with evident delight after years of religious schooling and clerical work; he now found himself surrounded by chorus girls and fellow bohemians.
In 1922 he supplied a number for the play Agüenta Filipe; by 1925 he had gained wider notice with several songs each for Prestes a Chegar, Vai quebrar, É da pontinha, Paulista de Macaé and Vai haver o diabo while also authoring his own shows Pequeno Polegar, Este mundo vai mal and Ouro à beça. His friend Eduardo Souto then recruited him for the street “blocos” that promoted Casa Carlos Gomes at the October festival of Penha and at pre-Carnival gatherings.
Following his first bloco experience in 1924, Babo embraced the format and began composing Carnival numbers for the ranchos Recreio das Flores, Africanos, Jardim dos Amores and Ameno Resedá; his marchinha “Foi você” received favorable attention.
In 1927 he joined the bloco led by Careca (Luís Nunes Sampaio), already a three-time Carnival contest winner in 1920, 1922 and 1924. Babo’s own composition “Os calças-largas,” recorded by baritone Frederico Rocha for Odeon, soon proved highly successful.
The 1930s brought talking pictures to Brazil, prompting popular composers to satirize imported English songs and speech in numbers such as Jurandir Santos’s “Alô Jone,” Assis Valente’s “Good-Bye,” Noel Rosa’s “Não tem tradução” and Babo’s own “Canção para inglês ver.” Radio’s rapid rise altered the consumption of Brazilian popular music: publishers and labels no longer relied solely on blocos, instead reaching entire cities and creating the first mass idols. Babo, accompanied by composer, pianist and broadcaster Ary Barroso, performed songs and banter on Rádio Educadora.
During the same decade the marchinha, long associated with Carnival since Chiquinha Gonzaga’s “O abre alas,” attained explosive popularity. Babo emerged as a central Carnival figure. In 1930 his marchinha “Bota o feijão no fogo” won the O Cruzeiro contest; in 1931 “Bonde errado” took the Casa Edison prize, while “Lua cor de prata,” “Minha cabrocha” and “O babado foi-se” also fared well. His reputation peaked in 1932 when the samba “Só dando com uma pedra nela,” performed by Mário Reis, dominated the airwaves. Collaborating with Noel Rosa he scored another success with “A E I O U,” then secured lasting fame with “O teu cabelo não nega.” The Valença brothers had submitted the unpolished original to Victor, which assigned Babo the task of refining melody and lyrics for commercial release; he retained the chorus, altered the rhythm and remaining text, and the song appeared under his name alone, sparking a lawsuit ultimately decided in the Valenças’ favor.
Further 1933 hits included “Linda morena,” “Moleque indigesto,” “A tua vida é um segredo,” “Aí, hein?” and “Boa bola” (the last two with Paulo Valença). In 1934 he enjoyed success with “Uma andorinha não faz verão” (with João de Barro) and the marchinha “Ride Palhaço,” drawn from Leoncavallo’s opera Pagliacci. He again led the Carnival in 1935 with “Grau dez” (with Ary Barroso) and “Rasguei a minha fantasia,” and in 1936 with “Marchinha do Grande Galo” (with Paulo Barbosa).
After 1937 Babo reduced his output of marchinhas and turned toward samba-canção, producing “Cessa tudo” (with Celso Macedo), recorded by Sílvio Caldas, and “Voltei a cantar,” interpreted by Mário Reis in the 1939 revue Joujoux et balangandans that Babo musically directed and which also featured his six waltzes “Seis valsas das flores.”
Between 1933 and 1937 he was exclusive to Rádio Mayrink Veiga, presenting Clube da meia-noite and Canção do dia, the latter introducing an unpublished song each broadcast. Moving to Rádio Nacional in 1937 he created Clube dos Fantasmas and the series Vida Pitoresca and Musical dos Compositores da nossa Música Popular; his 1942 program Trem da Alegria became one of Brazil’s foremost radio shows, carried by multiple stations, and introduced his Trio de Osso (Héber de Boscoli, Iara Sales and Babo himself).
An ardent soccer enthusiast, Babo composed official anthems for every major Carioca club. His stylistic range also encompassed June festival music, Christmas songs, adaptations and parodies. He appeared in the 1936 film Alô, Alô, Carnaval directed by Wallace Downey, singing the marchinha “As armas e os barões assinalados” with Almirante. He later produced television programs, worked as a record-company executive, and published volumes of humor and poetry.
In 1959 his marcha-rancho “Os Rouxinóis” again topped the Carnival charts; he added two further entries, “Ressurreição dos velhos carnavais” in 1961 and “Seja lá o que Deus quiser” in 1963. That same year producer Carlos Machado mounted the Golden Room revue O teu cabelo não nega as a tribute. During an agitated first rehearsal on 13 June 1963 Babo alarmed Machado, who knew of his heart condition, by insisting they leave until three songs for the show had been recorded days later. Outside the Copacabana Palace, when a television reporter asked whether the interview would air that evening and explained that Tom Jobim’s arrival from the United States already occupied the slot, Babo quipped, “Ah, that means that now I’m two steps below?” (um tom abaixo?). Affectionately known as Lalá, he did not survive to see the revue open; he suffered a fatal stroke on 16 June 1963 brought on by the emotion of the homage. In 1993 Banco Real released the CD Cadu: Lamartine Babo-Músicas inéditas e raras.
Albums
