By DANIEL COSTA*

Commentary on the newly released book by Ricardo Santhiago

With the advent of various social networks, new and accessible tools for music production, as well as for the dissemination and distribution of songs, we see new artists emerging almost daily. If on the one hand such ease contributes to the democratization and circulation of musical production, on the other hand it reveals the ephemeral nature of many of these artists, who are unable to overcome the feared barrier of the debut hit.

In a society marked by the ephemeral, by instantaneous and momentary success, few are those who are willing to look in the rearview mirror at what was produced in the past. This almost automatic erasure of our musical memory ends up contributing to the reinforcement of the image of some characters – generally those who had significant production, quantitative and qualitative, in addition to a good relationship with parts of the intelligentsia – as canons, while others remain in a kind of limbo, sometimes forgotten, sometimes occupying the space reserved for eccentric figures.

If we were asked to link our character to one of the groups mentioned above, she would certainly be in the second. If the task were to place our character on a specific shelf, we could classify her as a legitimate representative of Italian-São Paulo samba, but Miriam Batucada was much more than any pre-determined label. Miriam wasn't just the samba singer with an accent mezzo From São Paulo, mezzo Italian, or the post-tropicalist participant of a mythical album. Miriam was much more: artist, lesbian, possibly bipolar or cyclothymic, feminist, from the urban periphery and from a family with no musical tradition.

To reveal the different sides of this singular character, São Paulo historian Ricardo Santhiago delved into São Paulo's artistic and cultural scene. The results of the accurate research can be seen in the book The incomplete story of Miriam Batucada. Throughout his pages, Santhiago invites the reader to enter the private universe of Miriam Ângela Lavecchia, or simply Miriam Batucada.

Granddaughter of Italians, Miriam Batucada was born on December 28, 1946, in the Mooca neighborhood. However, it would only be registered on the first day of 1947, gaining “one year” as some families used to do in that period. At just six years old, she played a 120-bass Scandalli harmonica, revealing her musical aptitude from an early age. Even at that age, little Miriam also attracted the attention of neighbors and family for knowing the lyrics and melody of songs of the most varied genres.

Miriam Batucada lived until she was twenty years old on Rua João Antônio de Oliveira; she attended kindergarten at Escola Santa Terezinha, on Rua Javari; the old school group at the current EE Oswaldo Cruz and the technical course at Brasilux. After that, she took a typist course at IBM and went to work at the Alpargatas factory, located where Anhembi Morumbi University now operates, and at Arno, where, according to Miriam Batucada herself, she was fired for tapping on the keyboards.

Thus, it can be said that Miriam Batucada had her artistic identity built in Mooca, where since childhood she assimilated and reproduced what is known as the Italian-Paulistano dialect. It was also in the neighborhood that he effectively began his career, singing at friends' parties and in the freshman competitions that were so common at the time, such as the one that took place at the Cia. União Employee Club, which was next to the Ibram sock factory, on Rua João Antônio de Oliveira, almost on the corner of Rua da Mooca.

The character's working-class origin is highlighted by the author, who provides details about his childhood and youth in the neighborhood of the east zone of São Paulo, a fact that is also highlighted by journalist Pedro Alexandre Sanches, responsible for the preface to the work: “The biography that Ricardo Santhiago builds, under no circumstances. The widespread formula 'birth, glory and death of a star' contrasts a rich, dense and analytical documentary about an exemplary representative of the working class that forms the basis of the music industry and what the showbiz likes to call it 'failure'. Without ever failing to underline her character's intrinsic talent, she thus exposes the rough stone hidden beneath the propaganda avalanche of the crooked virtues of fame, success, fortune and celebrity.”

At the beginning of her career, Miriam Batucada emerged with a rhythmic samba, with a strong melodic inclination, reminiscent of the classics of Noel Rosa, Wilson Batista and similar. With the recovery of what she had learned in childhood with a neighbor known as Chacareira and the division of singers like Ademilde Fonseca that she heard on the radio, Miriam would start to adopt a frenetic rhythm in time with any samba. Regarding this aspect, Santhiago highlights that: “her genuine musical ability to extract percussive sounds with her hands and her happy, verbose, but also melancholic voice, to sing/tell her stories, made her gain a brand that stuck”.

His debut in the recording studios took place in 1967, when he recorded on the Artistas Unidos label of the Pernambuco label Rozenblit the compact with the tracks “Batucando nas Mãos” by the then young composer Renato Teixeira and the syncopated “Plác-tic-plác-plác” by Waldemar Camargo and Peteleco, who was actually the singer and composer Adoniran Barbosa.

In 1968, those who would bet on the young singer from São Paulo would be the record label Odeon, which invited her to record a double compact, highlighting the tracks “Linguajar do morro” and “Pure love”. Since the first compact, Miriam Batucada presented her famous batucada in her hands during recordings. During the same period, she began to be in great demand for shows and even performed abroad. According to some music critics, despite her samba being relatively traditional, Miriam was personally very creative and open.

This openness and creativity, a result of the anthropophagic vocation of São Paulo culture, allowed Miriam to participate alongside Raul Seixas, Sérgio Sampaio and Edy Star in the seminal Society of the Kavernist Grand Order presents: Session at 10.

The year 1974 would finally give the singer the chance to record an individual LP. Released by Chantecler, the album Tomorrow no one knows, places the performer alongside singers such as Maria Alcina (who, fueled by the success of Jorge Ben's song, “Fio Maravilha”, would release an eponymous album through Chantecler in 1973 and through Continental in 1974) and Célia (who through Continental would release a classic trilogy between 1970 and 1975).

On the back cover of the album, in a text intended for listeners, the singer, between joy and surprise, writes: I confess that I found him a little crazy when he proposed recording this long-awaited LP, asking me to be completely at ease, free: to do what that I felt, because I wanted my entire personality on the record; my drumming in my hand, on my guitar, my pitiful side and my happy face, aware that I am the only one in everything I do.

Miriam Batucada's personality and unique way were remarkable for her artistic career, as highlighted by Ricardo Santhiago: “Miriam traveled treacherous paths, but, in music, she found a profession that allowed her not only to flourish, but also to recover from a positive perspective. the foundations of your own self. Lucky: tomboyish, mischievous, chatty, full of quirks, stubborn, spontaneous – everything that was excess as a child, to the displeasure of her family and the disapproval of her social environment, was recreated as value when the opportunity appeared, fulminant. Setback: an abyss between creator and creature was established.”

The result of extensive research, marked by interviews with several of Miriam Batucada's contemporaries and a rich work of iconographic research, the work has become a reference since its release. Not only because of the character revealed, but also because it allows the reader to discover the ins and outs of a cultural industry that, despite being different in contemporary times, still retains many traces of that period.

Regarding the biography, the author also clarifies that: “At first, I planned to write a 200-page book that ended up being almost 400. A life is inexhaustible, and I don't think that any biography has the power to be (and should not aim to be) encyclopedic and exhaustive. It's always a cut. But the character became 'complexified'... Miriam had an abbreviated discography, but a life that was not at all abbreviated: she lived her 47 years intensely. At first, some people I approached, from the world of music and the media, turned up their noses. They asked “Why were you doing research on Miriam”, always with the subtext that suggested that she hadn’t been that relevant. When I saw the book edited and laid out, with its 370 or so pages, I thought: Very good. Now no one will be able to ignore that Miriam existed nor continue to minimize and obliterate her, until after death.”

Still regarding the recognition, or rather, the lack of recognition of Miriam Batucada's relevance and trajectory by her peers, critics and public, the historian states that: “Definitely, Miriam does not have the recognition she deserves in Brazilian music. Miriam was mainly a stage artist, who performed fun, charming, electrifying shows, but – like any shows – ephemeral. She left many marks, which remain latent in the underground that feeds our culture: her extraordinary rhythmic capacity and her very original body percussion, her humor and her theatricality, her shows that were musical, were performative and had a touch of comedy. stand up. I hope this book helps make part of that legacy visible.”

After accepting the invitation proposed by Ricardo Santhiago to delve into the universe of this unique woman, I can clearly say that the publication made Miriam's legacy visible and paved the way for the reparation and recognition of her talent and trajectory.

* Daniel Costa He is studying for a master's degree in history at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp).

Reference

Ricardo Santhiago. The incomplete story of Miriam Batucada. São Paulo, Letters and Voice / Popessaura, 2024, 372 pages. [https://amzn.to/4cBGmU1]

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