TROPICALIA CHAPTER TWO: Os Mutantes: ROCK Band

What attracted me to the music of Tropicalia was a band called Os Mutantes.  This band's debut album in 1968 was other worldly.  It was full of fuzzy guitar sounds and it was music that was electric.  The government of Brazil was not very fond of electric instruments.  To the government it was the sound of resistance.  Os Mutantes where a trio that consisted of two brothers and one female. It was a band that I knew nothing about until the Os Panis Et Circenses album and an album with a help from a record store owner and a bit of a nudge from a famous musician named David Byrne.  When I went to see this record store owner I asked him to give me something new and exciting to listen to.  He knew me well, because when I meant new I meant old. When I meant exciting I meant different and non mainstream and maybe underground.  He handed me Os Mutantes.

The album he handed me was a compilation of music by Os Mutantes.  It was called Everything is Possible: The Best of Os Mutantes.  The record store owner had a few copies and handed me one.  "Take it home and dig in, I'm sure this will have your head spinning for a while."  He decided to put it  on the record store speakers for me to hear.  I was not reluctant to get it, but I had to hear this music right away.  From the first note that rang in my ear I knew that this music was going to be a fun and exciting challenge for me.  It was full of rich imagery and made me seriously want to take up the Portuguese language

When I got home from the record store with CD in hand I was stopped by my dad.  He wanted to know what I got.  I showed him and he shook his head.  I thought he brought something that he disapproved of and would make sure is was not heard.  It was my dad's job to make sure I was not going down a crappy music path.  I get it, he does not want crappy music in the house.  I was old enough to make my own decisions, but if this music passion was something he saw in me then he wanted to make sure I was getting the most of my listening.

I put it on for him and he had mixed emotions.  He loved the music, but he was not impressed with the words.  Both of us could not understand the lyrics, but it rocked and he liked it.  He loved the guitar work.  He said they had a Santana feel. He asked if this band was new.  I explained that the band had it's popularity in the late 1960's.  He asked if they were still together, I told him no.  He asked if they had albums I could buy, I told him they are being sold for a few more dollars then I could afford.  One song came on and he turned his head.  It was called "Cantor De Mambo." He said this has to be influenced by Santana right?  I said it came out in 1972 and both Os Mutantes and  Santana had albums that year.  He shook his head again, but told me that the music is growing on him.  Maybe a few listens and he could love it, maybe.

A year later I had a copy of one of their albums.  It was a burned CD, but it was at least something.  I put it on for him.  This time he told me that this is pretty good stuff.  For him that meant he liked it.  He loved the instruments, he loved the female vocal and he loved the name.  "Os Mutantes, what a great name The Mutants, I presume," he said.  Os Mutantes was on constant spin in my car and on my car stereo.  I loved this group.  I loved everything they did. It still does to this day.  After the first four albums they were distant from the Psychedelic music and became more in the Progressive Rock vain and without Rita Lee the female vocalist.  The later albums were more complex and even strayed away from the tradition they were part of at the beginning.

In 2009 I decided to go see this band for myself.  I knew all the old music and to be honest I want to see how they pull this off live.  After the show, like my dad I shook my head.  This was amazing and they played new songs in the way they made them sound like they were made in 1968 or 1969.  When I got home I played their first album again.  Simply titled Os Mutantes and I could now see how ahead of the curve they really were.  They were better then some albums of that era and also they took more chanced with being experimental then any band from that era.  Worth a listen and totally worth the enjoyment of repeated listenings.  Enjoy!