Book, Roberto Carlos: that's why such a voice[LS]

No one in Brazilian music was – and still is -- more popular than Roberto Carlos. The tens of millions of records sold, the ubiquity on television since the 1960s, the hits that marked generations, the artistic triumphs and personal dramas, the reserved public figure, religiosity, legal fights – all these facts are public and notorious. But there are few accessible sources – not only to his countless fans, but also to anyone interested in Brazilian culture – capable of tracing, without groupie outbursts or sensationalist colors, the journey of this unique artist. Published at the moment the artist turns 80, this biography of Jotabê Medeiros achieves just that. Author of renowned books about Belchior and Raul Seixas, Jotabê delves into the artist's musical training, from his childhood in Cachoeiro do Itapemirim and his first steps singing in the style of João Gilberto, until his explosion as leader of the incipient national rock and the hits that over the decades became among the most listened to in the country. Unlike Bossa Nova, of bourgeois and university origins, rock in Brazil emerged on the outskirts of Rio. The rhythm arrived at the hands of talented young people, aware of what was happening in the United States, but who crossed the city by bus to work and studied at night. This book covers this suburban universe where Roberto Carlos circulated in the early 1960s, shortly before he hit the radio with Splish Splash and É prohibited smoking, and on television fronting Jovem Guarda. The radio programs in Rio and São Paulo that caught fire, the rock bands that multiplied, drawing crowds, the behavioral and advertising impact of iê-iê-iê, the echoes in the methodical personality and career built with care, the friendships and turmoil with Tim Maia, Erasmo Carlos and the exuberant Carlos Imperial, all of this leaps out with vigor from these pages -- and with the verve of a seasoned music journalist who witnessed much of what he narrates in the book. Roberto Carlos – that's why this great voice is a musical biography interested in understanding the complexity of an idol. It is a book that the Brazilian cultural debate has long deserved.