Biography
One of Brazilian popular music’s most distinguished poets, Paulo César Pinheiro has penned more than 1,500 compositions alongside upwards of 100 collaborators. Over 700 of those works have found their way onto disc, yielding roughly 900 recorded versions by more than 120 different artists across nearly 300 albums. Though he does not play an instrument, Pinheiro has supplied both melody and text for several pieces, among them “Alento,” later taken up by Paulinho da Viola; “Samba da Ilusão,” recorded by Cristina Buarque; and “Meu Castigo,” “Ninguém,” and “Rolou,” all interpreted by Clara Nunes.
His verses dwell on solitude, undying ardor, and love that ends badly, allowing samba and mortality to intertwine. Emerging in the 1960s generation, he began composing poetry at age thirteen; his first song, the enduring “Viagem,” appeared in 1964 in partnership with João de Aquino. A year later he formed a fertile alliance with Baden Powell that produced “Lapinha,” winner of TV Record’s I Bienal do Samba in 1968 and promptly recorded that same year by Elis Regina. Through Powell he encountered and wrote with Pixinguinha, Radamés Gnattali, Alcyr Pires Vermelho, Mirabeau, and Ribamar.
Co-written with Francis Hime, “A Grande Ausente” earned sixth place at the III Festival da Música Popular Brasileira when Taiguara presented it on TV Record in 1968. The same year MPB-4 performed Pinheiro and Hime’s “Anunciação” at the III Festival Internacional da Canção on TV Globo. In 1970 Pinheiro spent a brief season in Paris with Baden Powell, contributed to the score of Marcos Farias’s film A Vingança dos Doze, and saw twelve of his pieces placed in the soundtrack of the TV Globo telenovela O Semideus. Elis Regina cut three Powell collaborations—“Samba do Perdão,” “Quaquaraquaquá,” and “Aviso Aos Navegantes”—while Elizeth Cardoso recorded the Powell-Pinheiro song “Refém da Solidão.”
Pinheiro claimed the IV Festival Universitário da Música Popular on TV Tupi in 1971 with “E Lá Se Vão Meus Anéis,” written with Eduardo Gudin and sung by Os Originais do Samba; the following year his Baden Powell collaboration “Diálogo” triumphed at a festival in Spain. He supplied music for Bruno Barreto’s 1973 film Tati, a Garota, and MPB-4 recorded his Maurício Tapajós partnership “Agora é Portela 74.” His debut album as lead interpreter, simply titled Paulo César Pinheiro, featured “Maior é Deus” (with Gudin), “Viagem” (with Aquino), “Cicatrizes” (with Miltinho), and additional tracks.
Between 1975 and 1976 he joined Márcia and Eduardo Gudin for the historic presentation O Importante É Que A Nossa Emoção Sobreviva, captured live on disc. In 1978 he composed the score for Paulo Thiago’s A Batalha dos Guararapes, contributed “Pedrinho e Jabuticaba” (with Dori Caymmi) to the popular TV Globo series Sítio do Pica-Pau Amarelo, and, with Edu Lobo, supplied songs for the TV Cultura children’s program Rá-Tim-Bum. During the 1980s he issued further albums under his own name and published a second volume of poetry after Canto Brasileiro (1976). Nationwide attention returned in 1994 with the acclaimed live recording Parcerias alongside João Nogueira; two years later the trio reunited for Tudo o Que Mais Nos Uniu, marking two decades since their first joint appearance.
His verses dwell on solitude, undying ardor, and love that ends badly, allowing samba and mortality to intertwine. Emerging in the 1960s generation, he began composing poetry at age thirteen; his first song, the enduring “Viagem,” appeared in 1964 in partnership with João de Aquino. A year later he formed a fertile alliance with Baden Powell that produced “Lapinha,” winner of TV Record’s I Bienal do Samba in 1968 and promptly recorded that same year by Elis Regina. Through Powell he encountered and wrote with Pixinguinha, Radamés Gnattali, Alcyr Pires Vermelho, Mirabeau, and Ribamar.
Co-written with Francis Hime, “A Grande Ausente” earned sixth place at the III Festival da Música Popular Brasileira when Taiguara presented it on TV Record in 1968. The same year MPB-4 performed Pinheiro and Hime’s “Anunciação” at the III Festival Internacional da Canção on TV Globo. In 1970 Pinheiro spent a brief season in Paris with Baden Powell, contributed to the score of Marcos Farias’s film A Vingança dos Doze, and saw twelve of his pieces placed in the soundtrack of the TV Globo telenovela O Semideus. Elis Regina cut three Powell collaborations—“Samba do Perdão,” “Quaquaraquaquá,” and “Aviso Aos Navegantes”—while Elizeth Cardoso recorded the Powell-Pinheiro song “Refém da Solidão.”
Pinheiro claimed the IV Festival Universitário da Música Popular on TV Tupi in 1971 with “E Lá Se Vão Meus Anéis,” written with Eduardo Gudin and sung by Os Originais do Samba; the following year his Baden Powell collaboration “Diálogo” triumphed at a festival in Spain. He supplied music for Bruno Barreto’s 1973 film Tati, a Garota, and MPB-4 recorded his Maurício Tapajós partnership “Agora é Portela 74.” His debut album as lead interpreter, simply titled Paulo César Pinheiro, featured “Maior é Deus” (with Gudin), “Viagem” (with Aquino), “Cicatrizes” (with Miltinho), and additional tracks.
Between 1975 and 1976 he joined Márcia and Eduardo Gudin for the historic presentation O Importante É Que A Nossa Emoção Sobreviva, captured live on disc. In 1978 he composed the score for Paulo Thiago’s A Batalha dos Guararapes, contributed “Pedrinho e Jabuticaba” (with Dori Caymmi) to the popular TV Globo series Sítio do Pica-Pau Amarelo, and, with Edu Lobo, supplied songs for the TV Cultura children’s program Rá-Tim-Bum. During the 1980s he issued further albums under his own name and published a second volume of poetry after Canto Brasileiro (1976). Nationwide attention returned in 1994 with the acclaimed live recording Parcerias alongside João Nogueira; two years later the trio reunited for Tudo o Que Mais Nos Uniu, marking two decades since their first joint appearance.
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