1980

Regarded as the greatest samba composer of all times by a massive number of musicians, Cartola was born in Rio de Janeiro and spent childhood at a middle-class neighborhood. Financial distress caused the large family to move to Mangueira hill, where a small favela (slum, shantytown) was being started. There, he made friends with Carlos Cachaça and other locals, being initiated into the world of roguery and samba. He got a job as assistant construction worker and began wearing a hat to protect from the cement that would fall down from above. It was a bowler hat; nonetheless, the nickname Cartola (Top Hat) really stuck. With his buddies, he created the Bloco dos Arengueiros (percussive group that goes out in Carnival), whose members founded the Estação Primeira de Mangueira in 1928 - the green-pink samba school, name and colors chosen by Cartola, who also wrote the school’s first samba, "Chega de Demanda". His music became popular in the 30s through the illustrious voices of Francisco Alves, Mário Reis, Silvio Caldas and Carmen Miranda. In the early 40s, however, Cartola vanishes from the scene. Little is known about that period, besides the fact that he and his Mangueira friends split, and he was depressed after the death of his companion Deolinda. It was said that he had passed on. Eventually, journalist Sergio Porto found Cartola washing cars for a living, in 1956. Porto proceeded to promote Cartola’s comeback, having him perform on the radio and make new songs. In 1964, Cartola and his new wife Zica opened the bar-restaurant-theater Zicartola, which featured live samba and good food, gathering the middle-upper-class and the favela crowds. As Zicartola closed down, the composer went on as a civil servant, while he kept writing new songs. He made the first of his four solo albums in 1974, pushing up his career with instant classics like "As Rosas Não Falam", "O Mundo É um Moinho", "Acontece", "O Sol Nascerá" (with Elton Medeiros), "Quem Me Vê Sorrindo" (with Carlos Cachaça), "Cordas de Aço" and "Alegria". Still in the 70s, Cartola moved from Mangueira to Jacarepaguá, where he spent his last years.