In the seventies Paulo Diniz rose to prominence through songs and performances steeped in the era’s restless freedom, fusing the defiant mood that followed 1968 with the exuberant pulse of Bahian music. His wistful “Quero Voltar Pra Bahia,” a tribute to the London-exiled Caetano Veloso, was later taken up by interpreters that included Fagner. Elizeth Cardoso recorded his “Símbolo de Paz,” while “Pingos de Amor” reached the public through Ara Ketu, Kid Abelha, Neguinho da Beija-Flor, and Sula Miranda; Simone sang “Chega,” Emílio Santiago delivered “Um Chope Pra Distrair,” and Clara Nunes interpreted “Canseira.”
Having moved as a child to Recife in Pernambuco, where he endured an impoverished and arduous youth, Diniz performed as crooner and drummer in local nightclubs and also worked as an actor and announcer for Rádio Jornal do Comércio. In 1964 he relocated to Rio de Janeiro, taking a post as announcer at Rádio Tupi. There he found his footing in the Jovem Guarda idiom and issued his debut album in 1966, featuring “O Chorão” by Edson Mello and Luís Keller. The 1967 LP Brasil, Brasa, Brasileiro marked a shift toward more concentrated songwriting.
Three years afterward he scored his greatest successes with the Odibar collaborations “Um Chope Pra Distrair” and “Quero Voltar Pra Bahia,” both appearing on the album Quero Voltar Pra Bahia. The 1971 collection Paulo Diniz yielded two further hits: “Pingos de Amor,” credited to Odibar and Diniz, and “O Meu Amor Chorou” by Luiz Marçal Neto. After 1973 he concentrated on setting poems by Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Augusto dos Anjos, Manoel Bandeira, and Gregório de Matos to music, scoring a hit the following year with “E Agora, José?” In 1978 the LP É Marca Ferrada brought renewed attention through “Me Leva Morena,” written with Marconi Norato and Juhareiz Correya, and “Severina Cooper (It’s Not Mole Não)” by Accioly Neto. Paulo Diniz died on June 22, 2022, at the age of 82.
