Roberto Paiva turns 80
Singer claims to have done everything in this life
Rodrigo Faour
13/02/2001
"I was the typical singer from the radio days". That's how veteran Roberto Paiva sees himself. In fact, his career peaked from the late 30s (he started recording at age 17) through the early 50s - the exact same period when radio ruled in Brazil. Paiva has just turned 80, but is still peforming, as he will do during carnival, along with other icons from his era: Marlene, Emilinha Borba and Roberto Silva. O Trem Atrasou, (Fala) Tagarela, the waltz (Oh!) Minas Gerais (1945), Menino de Braçanã (1953) and Se Todos Fossem Iguais a Você (1956) are some of the hits that helped making an idol out of him.
Encouraged by samba artist CyroMonteiro and guitarist Laurindo de Almeida, Roberto paid a visit to the headquarters of Odeon in 1938 for a test. Singer Francisco Alves heard him, asked him to sing a bit more, vanished for a half hour and returned with the director of the company and a deal - which he couldn't sign up because he was only 17. Roberto had to talk his father, who would rather see his son in the Army than as an artist, to sign it for him.
His first big hit, the samba O Trem Atrasou, came in 1941. In spite of having recorded a number of sambas, Paiva doesn't choose the music according to style or genre. "The music has to be good, that's all".
An experienced artist
In the 60s, Roberto felt artistically restrained, while MPB turned the business upside down in Brazil, but he only has nice words for those who emerged then. "I love Chico Buarque, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. These three are fantastic. Gil and Caetano's voices are beautiful. I also love Paulo César Pinheiro's lyrics", goes Paiva, who's also very much into chorinho. "A lot of youngsters are recording chorinho, now. It makes me glad".
As the television crashed into the homes of the 50s, Roberto Paiva felt the pressure and had to wear make up to appear on the TV. The transition from the 78 rpm to the LP also harmed his career. He was one of the first interpreters to record Tom Jobim & Vinicius de Moraes' sambas - only, he did it on LP, when most of the consumers were still buying 78 rpm discs. Needless to say, it was a commercial flop.
Roberto knows that he did his best as an artist, and his mind is in peace. "Thank God I have turned 80. I have done everything that I could in my life. I drank two quarts of whisky in one night, I gambled... I was married for 30 years, my son is a journalist. I am not rich, but I live a fair life. I am a happy person", sums up the singer, whose voice remains powerful and clear to this day.
Encouraged by samba artist CyroMonteiro and guitarist Laurindo de Almeida, Roberto paid a visit to the headquarters of Odeon in 1938 for a test. Singer Francisco Alves heard him, asked him to sing a bit more, vanished for a half hour and returned with the director of the company and a deal - which he couldn't sign up because he was only 17. Roberto had to talk his father, who would rather see his son in the Army than as an artist, to sign it for him.
His first big hit, the samba O Trem Atrasou, came in 1941. In spite of having recorded a number of sambas, Paiva doesn't choose the music according to style or genre. "The music has to be good, that's all".
An experienced artist
In the 60s, Roberto felt artistically restrained, while MPB turned the business upside down in Brazil, but he only has nice words for those who emerged then. "I love Chico Buarque, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. These three are fantastic. Gil and Caetano's voices are beautiful. I also love Paulo César Pinheiro's lyrics", goes Paiva, who's also very much into chorinho. "A lot of youngsters are recording chorinho, now. It makes me glad".
As the television crashed into the homes of the 50s, Roberto Paiva felt the pressure and had to wear make up to appear on the TV. The transition from the 78 rpm to the LP also harmed his career. He was one of the first interpreters to record Tom Jobim & Vinicius de Moraes' sambas - only, he did it on LP, when most of the consumers were still buying 78 rpm discs. Needless to say, it was a commercial flop.
Roberto knows that he did his best as an artist, and his mind is in peace. "Thank God I have turned 80. I have done everything that I could in my life. I drank two quarts of whisky in one night, I gambled... I was married for 30 years, my son is a journalist. I am not rich, but I live a fair life. I am a happy person", sums up the singer, whose voice remains powerful and clear to this day.