Wilson Simonal

Though a seminal force in the development of Brazilian popular music, singer Wilson Simonal remains largely unknown outside of South America -- the architect of the pilantragem sound that dominated Brazilian charts during the late '60s, he was the nation's first black pop superstar, but his career never recovered from accusations that he was a police informant. According to Greg Casseus' exhaustive "The Saga of Wilson Simonal" (published in the spring 2004 edition of Wax Poetics magazine), he was born Wilson Simonal De Castro in the Rio de Janeiro suburb of Agua Santa on February 26, 1939. After serving in the army, Simonal spent the late '50s as the personal assistant of newspaper columnist, talent scout, and media gadfly Carlos Imperial; with Imperial's assistance, he began singing rock & roll at Rio-area nightclubs, including the famed Beco des Garrafas. Simonal never fit within the confines of the bossa nova sound that dominated Brazil during the early '60s, however, and his 1962 debut LP, A Nova Dimensão do Samba, which fused traditional samba rhythms with vocals and arrangements inspired by American soul and doo wop, was a commercial failure. The follow-up, 1963's Tem Algo Mais, proved far more successful, boasting a distinctive marriage of bossa nova, jazz, and orchestral pop typified by the chart smash "Balanço Zona Sul." He then recorded a stopgap single, "De Manha," that would not only prove another major hit but also offered the first major exposure heaped on its writer, a then-unknown Caetano Veloso -- throughout his career, Simonal exhibited an unerring knack for discovering new songwriting talent, recording early songs by the likes of Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, and Geraldo Vandré. While Simonal worked on his third LP, S'imbora, the Brazilian government...