Mostly interpreter of songs written by others. But she's just too amazing, many of her interpretations are better than the original.
God, even Ciro Santilli is slightly shocked by her death, which happened before he was born, can you imagine it at the time? She was MPB's golden girl...
Atrás da Porta performed by Elis Regina
. Source. Composed by Francis Hime and Chico Buarque.Águas de março performed by Elis Regina
. Source. From the 1972 eponymous album. Composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim.Good selection: Acústico MTV - Gilberto Gil (1994).
- 1967 Louvação (1967) album
Video 1. Lunik 9 Gilberto Gil (1967)Source. Ciro Santilli prefers Elis Regina's interpretation however. - 1972 Expresso 2222 album.
Video 2. Expresso 2222 by Gilberto Gil (1972)Source. youtu.be/aSFahdu5ga8?t=4584 In the 2002 documentary Tempo Rei he explains the origin of the song as being based on seeing trains come by in Bahia, when they still existed before the automobile decimation.Video 3. Oriente by Gilberto Gil. Source. This song seems to be about a parent giving a mixture of good and weird advice. Perhaps it is what we all get, or at least the lucky ones of us. - 1975 Refazenda (1975) album. This album is just too Legendary. The cover is also legendary.
Video 4. Refazenda by Gilberto Gil (1975)Source.Video 6. Tenho sede by Gilberto Gil (1975)Source. Video 7. Sítio Do Picapau Amarelo by Gilberto Gil (1977)Source.This song is the opening theme of the 1977 children's television series based on the renowned children books of the same name by Brazilian author Monteiro Lobato.The same song was also used on the 2001 series, e.g.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9RbBcDTRAI.The choice of Gilberto Gil as a singer and composer was a stroke of genius, as his natural quirkiness perfectly suits the subject matter of the books.- Date unclear
Video 8. A Paz by Gilberto Gil (1967)Source. Performed 2009. The earliest recording we can find is from 1994: www.discogs.com/master/190615-Gilberto-Gil-Unplugged
Runner ups:
Video 9. Beira-Mar by Gilberto Gil. Source.
In Ciro Santilli's view, the following three artists form a Holy Trinity of popular Brazilian music:
Elis Regina is not far though.
Ciro remembers quite clearly when he was riding the car with his parents when he pre teen, and he could not understand why they seemed so obsessed with The Trinity et al. Ciro in particular remembers listening to Video "Refazenda by Gilberto Gil (1975)". They had picked it up of course from the 70's and 80's when they were younger.
Young Ciro would also always confuse who was whom from the three of them.
Then Ciro got older, and he understood, they are mind blowing. You do have to look back in time a bit though, lots of lukewarm stuff on later periods. The military dictatorship in Brazil was good for music.