Doris Monteiro: 50 years of charming bossa
One of the most important singers to promote the transition from samba-tune to bossa nova recalls being underrated by the critics upon her debut
Rodrigo Faour
22/01/2001
Exactly 50 years ago, a different singer emerged toward the MPB which was, at the time, a place for deep voices and magnificent arrangements. The petite Adelina Doris Monteiro took over radio stations all over the country in 1951 with the samba-tune Se Você Se Importasse. She was 16 years-old and already performing and recording, always escorted by her mother and boasting a special legal permit. Doris was very good-looking and a pioneering user of the diseuse style of singing. Her dad was the doorman of a building in Copacabana.
As Doris' debut album became successful, she was invited to work on the television and the movies, and to record on different labels, eventually registering a considerable discography. In 1955, she began promoting the music of Fernando Cesar, imprinting a number of hits: Dó-Ré-Mi, Graças a Deus, Joga a Rede no Mar and Vento Soprando. In 1956, Billy Blanco gave her Mocinho Bonito, which inaugurated her syncopated samba phase, the one that would keep her visible in the forthcoming years. Not surprisingly, when bossa nova appeared, Doris was at home - soft and sensual songs were all she needed to keep shining.
On the following decades, the singer continued picking her repertoire with extreme thoughtfulness, securing her prestige in the MPB business. She was also a temperamental artist and woman, choosing not to have babies and getting rid of all of her cheating lovers. Read excerpts of the exclusive interview to AllBrazilianMusic, where the sincere, fun and charming Doris Monteiro reveals details about her long-lasting career.
AllBrazilianMusic - I hear you are into gambling...
Doris Monteiro - I like card games, it's therapy, to me. I play on Tuesdays, with some friends, and on weekends, when I'm not performing. But I bet only 50 cents (laughs). Cheap therapy. Last Tuesday, for instance, I made two bucks (laughs). I also love soccer.
AllBrazilianMusic - What is it like, being a veteran singer in Brazil? You are still performing, but is it harder to make a living?
Doris Monteiro - I sang on the New Year's Eve. I have been around for 50 years, so a lot of people will go: "A 50-year career? She's probably the living-dead" (laughts). When they look at me, they remember that I started out at 16 years of age. What bothers me, though, is that a lot of people come up to me on the streets and say: "Wow, Doris, is that you? I miss you, you don't sing no more; we try to find your albums..." That's why I have a problem with Brazil. Some might say, "Doris, you are an anti-patriot", but I ain't, really. I just have no reasons to be a patriot. Nothing works here.
AllBrazilianMusic - Did you investigate the story about your CDs being released in Japan and you never seeing the color of the copyright money?
Doris Monteiro - Yeah. Philips (currently Universal Music) pays me and sends me the documents, how many records have been sold. I know they sell my discs in Australia, Dutchland, Portugal, Japan... Now, I did't know about the tapes I recorded on EMI being released in Japan. Actually I don't even think that the Brazilian EMI lawyers knew about it.
AllBrazilianMusic - How did you manage to become a singer in a time when female artists suffered a lot of prejudice?
Doris Monteiro - I used to live in Copacabana, my father was the doorman of the building. My mom was a cleaning lady and I used to help her. Once, we were cleaning the apartment on the 12th floor, I was thirteen years-old, and I sang Herivelto Martins' Caminhemos, which was a hit. But I sang it my way, with my small voice, and the neighbor, Mrs. Jurema, said to my mom: "Mrs. Ana, you should get your daughter to sing on the radio." Mother almost fainted, when she heard it, because in those days, being an artist was not very different from being a criminal. Dad said that he would kill me if I did that. So I talked my mother into sneaking me out of the house to get to the radio station.
AllBrazilianMusic - And how did you talk your father into allowing you to pursue an artistic career?
Doris Monteiro - He only allowed me to do it because my mother would accompany me everywhere. I told him: "You picture me as a doctor, a lawyer... well if I choose those professions, I will be alone in this world, because my mother can't come with me. As a singer, though, she can be with me all the time" It worked! Then I became successful and he was so proud to tell everyone I was his daughter.
AllBrazilianMusic - You ended up being an actress, making movies...
Doris Monteiro - I did eight movies. I was picked to play a part in the movie Agulha no Palheiro, in 1953, I was about 18 y.o. I was awarded best actress, that year.
AllBrazilianMusic - Were you ever discriminated for having a small voice, unlike the potent vocalists that gathered all the attention in the 50s?
Doris Monteiro - There is one thing that really impressed me: the critic who reviewed my first album, Se Você Se Importasse, Silvio Tulio Cardoso was very respected. He wrote that he wasn't giving me an F minus because I had gone through all the trouble to make the record, and he could tell that my intentions were good. But he also remarked that I would never become a singer, and that nothing would happen with my album. I was crushed. But then, thank G"D, I became hip. In 1955, five years later, he elegantly rephrased his reviews. He gave me a golden medal for the song Eu e o Meu Coração.
As Doris' debut album became successful, she was invited to work on the television and the movies, and to record on different labels, eventually registering a considerable discography. In 1955, she began promoting the music of Fernando Cesar, imprinting a number of hits: Dó-Ré-Mi, Graças a Deus, Joga a Rede no Mar and Vento Soprando. In 1956, Billy Blanco gave her Mocinho Bonito, which inaugurated her syncopated samba phase, the one that would keep her visible in the forthcoming years. Not surprisingly, when bossa nova appeared, Doris was at home - soft and sensual songs were all she needed to keep shining.
On the following decades, the singer continued picking her repertoire with extreme thoughtfulness, securing her prestige in the MPB business. She was also a temperamental artist and woman, choosing not to have babies and getting rid of all of her cheating lovers. Read excerpts of the exclusive interview to AllBrazilianMusic, where the sincere, fun and charming Doris Monteiro reveals details about her long-lasting career.
AllBrazilianMusic - I hear you are into gambling...
Doris Monteiro - I like card games, it's therapy, to me. I play on Tuesdays, with some friends, and on weekends, when I'm not performing. But I bet only 50 cents (laughs). Cheap therapy. Last Tuesday, for instance, I made two bucks (laughs). I also love soccer.
AllBrazilianMusic - What is it like, being a veteran singer in Brazil? You are still performing, but is it harder to make a living?
Doris Monteiro - I sang on the New Year's Eve. I have been around for 50 years, so a lot of people will go: "A 50-year career? She's probably the living-dead" (laughts). When they look at me, they remember that I started out at 16 years of age. What bothers me, though, is that a lot of people come up to me on the streets and say: "Wow, Doris, is that you? I miss you, you don't sing no more; we try to find your albums..." That's why I have a problem with Brazil. Some might say, "Doris, you are an anti-patriot", but I ain't, really. I just have no reasons to be a patriot. Nothing works here.
AllBrazilianMusic - Did you investigate the story about your CDs being released in Japan and you never seeing the color of the copyright money?
Doris Monteiro - Yeah. Philips (currently Universal Music) pays me and sends me the documents, how many records have been sold. I know they sell my discs in Australia, Dutchland, Portugal, Japan... Now, I did't know about the tapes I recorded on EMI being released in Japan. Actually I don't even think that the Brazilian EMI lawyers knew about it.
AllBrazilianMusic - How did you manage to become a singer in a time when female artists suffered a lot of prejudice?
Doris Monteiro - I used to live in Copacabana, my father was the doorman of the building. My mom was a cleaning lady and I used to help her. Once, we were cleaning the apartment on the 12th floor, I was thirteen years-old, and I sang Herivelto Martins' Caminhemos, which was a hit. But I sang it my way, with my small voice, and the neighbor, Mrs. Jurema, said to my mom: "Mrs. Ana, you should get your daughter to sing on the radio." Mother almost fainted, when she heard it, because in those days, being an artist was not very different from being a criminal. Dad said that he would kill me if I did that. So I talked my mother into sneaking me out of the house to get to the radio station.
AllBrazilianMusic - And how did you talk your father into allowing you to pursue an artistic career?
Doris Monteiro - He only allowed me to do it because my mother would accompany me everywhere. I told him: "You picture me as a doctor, a lawyer... well if I choose those professions, I will be alone in this world, because my mother can't come with me. As a singer, though, she can be with me all the time" It worked! Then I became successful and he was so proud to tell everyone I was his daughter.
AllBrazilianMusic - You ended up being an actress, making movies...
Doris Monteiro - I did eight movies. I was picked to play a part in the movie Agulha no Palheiro, in 1953, I was about 18 y.o. I was awarded best actress, that year.
AllBrazilianMusic - Were you ever discriminated for having a small voice, unlike the potent vocalists that gathered all the attention in the 50s?
Doris Monteiro - There is one thing that really impressed me: the critic who reviewed my first album, Se Você Se Importasse, Silvio Tulio Cardoso was very respected. He wrote that he wasn't giving me an F minus because I had gone through all the trouble to make the record, and he could tell that my intentions were good. But he also remarked that I would never become a singer, and that nothing would happen with my album. I was crushed. But then, thank G"D, I became hip. In 1955, five years later, he elegantly rephrased his reviews. He gave me a golden medal for the song Eu e o Meu Coração.