Odair Jose

During the 1970s Odair José ranked among Brazil’s highest-selling musicians while reigning as the undisputed leader of the brega style. He first acquired musical skills without formal instruction, mastering the violão, piano, and harmonica by age ten. With a partner he assembled a Brazilian country duo and, at eighteen, relocated to Rio de Janeiro RJ, where he performed in circuses and bars throughout working-class districts. Those surroundings inspired him to compose pieces that evoked the bleak nocturnal mood of such neighborhoods. His earliest song, “Eu Vou Tirar Você Deste Lugar” (“I’ll Take You Outta Here”), recounted a man’s love for a prostitute and became one of his signature successes; at the Phono 73 festival he performed it alongside Caetano Veloso as well as another original, “Pare de Tomar a Pílula.” The first of his compositions to reach vinyl arrived in 1970 when vocalist Denise Barreto recorded “Chato e Atrevido.” From that debut album onward he moved millions of copies through eleven LPs issued by 1994. In 1977 he completed the rock opera O Filho de José e Maria.