Tim Maia's Tim Maia Racional Vols. 1 & 2 (33 1/3 Brazil)

245 Pages·2018·12.866 MB·English

by  Allen Thayer

Introduction
Tim Maia Racional
Vols. 1 & 2
33 1/3 Global
33 1/3 Global, a series related to but independent from 33 1/3,
takes the format of the original series of short, music-based books
and brings the focus to music throughout the world. With initial
volumes focusing on Japanese, Brazilian, and European music, the
series will also include volumes on the popular music of Australia/
Oceania, Africa, the Middle East, and more.
33 1/3 Japan
Series Editor: Noriko Manabe
Spanning a range of artists and genres—from the 1960s rock
of Happy End to technopop band Yellow Magic Orchestra, the
Shibuya-kei of Cornelius, classic anime series Cowboy Bebop, J-Pop/
EDM hybrid Perfume, and vocaloid star Hatsune Miku—33 1/3
Japan is a series devoted to in-depth examination of Japanese
albums of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Books in the Series
Supercell’s Supercell featuring Hatsune Miku by Keisuke Yamada
Yoko Kanno’s Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack by Rose Bridges
Perfume’s GAME by Patrick St. Michel
33 1/3 Brazil
Series Editor: Jason Stanyek
Covering the genres of samba, tropicália, rock, hip hop, forró, bossa
nova, heavy metal and funk, among others, 33 1/3 Brazil is a series
devoted to in-depth examination of the most important Brazilian
albums of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Books in the Series
Caetano Veloso’s A Foreign Sound by Barbara Browning
João Gilberto and Stan Getz’s Getz/Gilberto by Bryan McCann
Tim Maia’s Tim Maia Racional Vols. 1 & 2 by Allen Thayer
Tim Maia Racional
Vols. 1 & 2
Allen Thayer
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BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
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50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK
BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo are trademarks
of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in the United States of America 2019
Copyright © Allen Thayer, 2019
For legal purposes the Acknowledgments on pp. xiii–xviii constitute an extension
of this copyright page
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Thayer, Allen, author.
Title: Tim Maia racional vols. 1 & 2 / Allen Thayer.
Description: New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019. | Series: 33 1/3
Brazil | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018039854| ISBN 9781501321535 (pbk.: alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781501321528 (hardback: alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Maia, Tim. Tim Maia racional. | Popular
music–Brazil–1971-1980–History and criticism. | Funk
(Music)–Brazil–History and criticism. | Soul music–Brazil–History and criticism. |
Coelho, Manoel Jacinto, 1903-1991. Universo em desencanto.
Classification: LCC ML420.M146 T53 2019 | DDC 782.42164092–dc23 LC record
available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018039854
ISBN: HB: 978-1-5013-2152-8
PB: 978-1-5013-2153-5
ePDF: 978-1-5013-2154-2
eBook: 978-1-5013-2155-9
Series: 33_1 Brazil
3
Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
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Dedicated to Paulinho Guitarra, Don Pi, Tibério Gaspar
(R.I.P.), Eduardo Araújo, and all of Tim Maia’s friends and
bandmates who created, alongside Tim, the Brazilian
soul sound

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
1 Tim Maia Irrational, 1942–73 19
2 The Band, the Shed, and Fatherhood
(Late 1973–Early 1974) 32
Interlude: Seu Manoel and Rational Culture 48
3 50 Mescaline + Universe in Disenchantment =
Tim Maia Racional? (1974) 54
Interlude: Searching for Light during Brazil’s
Dark Years 71
4 Tim Maia Racional Vol. 1 (Late 1974) 77
5 Rational Friends and Family (Early 1975) 91
6 Tim Maia Racional Vol. 2 (Early–Mid 1975) 106
7 Tim Maia Racional Vol. 3 and the End of Rationality 117
8 The Disenchantment 124
9 Irrational and Loving It 139
10 Rational Legacy 156
Interlude: Carmelo, Tell Me What to Do 167
11 The Rescue and Reconstruction of
Tim Maia Racional Vol. 3 172
Conclusion: Tim Maia, A Man in Search of Answers 183
Notes 197
List of Interviews 213
Works Cited 215
Index 217
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viii
Preface
Tim Maia Racional is proof that Tim Maia was a genius.
He succeeded in making the unmusical musical: taking a
dense text devoid of melody and rhythm and creating a
timeless work.
TÁRIK DE SOUZA, BRAZILIAN MUSIC CRITIC1
Receiving an unsolicited Facebook message from Brazilian
series editor Jason Stanyek inviting me to contribute a volume
to the newly launched 33 1/3 Brazil series ranks at the top of my
“pinch me” moments. I’d been a fan of the 33 1/3 series for years
and had devoted passing thoughts to what I might pitch, if I
were to pitch the editors an album, but I quickly concluded that
my best contribution would be about a Brazilian album, and
surely, they wouldn’t be interested in something like that . . . . So,
you can imagine my surprise.
Tim Maia Racional Vol. 1 and Tim Maia Racional Vol. 2
immediately stood out as the best choice for a few reasons: (1)
their bizarre backstory, (2) the opportunity to correct much of the
misinformation about Tim and particularly these recordings, and
finally, (3) to explore the important role these recordings play in
Tim’s recent resurgence in popularity in Brazil and the even more
recent discovery outside of Brazil. But really everyone just wants
to know why Tim Maia joined the Rational Culture2 movement,
an esoteric and insular community that gained popularity
in Brazil during the late 1960s through the 1970s, led by the