.
.
.
.
1945
March 17: Born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, at the Beneficencia Portuguesa hospital, at 15:10
1952/1956
Primary schooling at the Grupo Escolar Goncalves Dias, Porto Alegre.
1956
September: Sings on radio for the first time, on the show Clube do Guri, hosted by Ary Rego, at Radio Farroupilha in Porto Alegre. Goes on to join the permanent staff of the show, earning a small income and gifts from patrons. Some time later, becomes the show's secretary: besides singing, reads messages, names of people celebrating birthdays, and introduces candidates.
1957/1960
Junior High School at the Instituto de Educação Flores da Cunha, in Porto Alegre.
1959
The first professional contract, with Rádio Gaúcha of Porto Alegre, to appear on the show Programa Maurício Sobrinho, of Maurício Sirotsky Sobrinho.
1960
Records a single for Continental with the songs Dá sorte and Sonhando.
1961
Follows the classical program for six months at the Estadual Júlio de Castilhos College, then transfers herself into the normal program at the Diogo de Souza school.
Records her first LP for Continental: "Viva a Brotolandia", produced by Nazareno de Brito. (See
song list and technical information of all the records in the Discography.)
December 6: At a great party, Elis is crowned "Record Club Queen", in Porto Alegre.
1962
Records her second LP for Continental: "Poema".
December 31: In the Salão de Atos of the PUC, in Porto Alegre, is given the award of best singer of the year.
1963
Records, for CBS, the LP "O Bem do Amor", produced by Evandro Ribeiro.
Abandons the normal course after completing the second year.
1964
March: Elis moves to Rio de January. Signs a contract with TV Rio, where she appears on the show Noites de Gala, alongside Marly Tavares, Trio Iraquita, Jorge Ben and Wilson Simonal. From TV, she is brought by Dom Um Romão to appear at Beco das Garrafas. There, at the Little Club, she does the show Bossa três, with the Copa Trio of Dom Um Romão and Iris Lettieri, and, at the Bottle's nightclub, the show Sósifor, with Marly Tavares and Gaguinho, under the direction of Luiz Carlos Mieli and Ronaldo Bôscoli.
August 31: Elis' first show in São Paulo: Boa bossa, a fund-raising show for the Associação de Moças da Colônia Sírio-Libanesa, directed by Walter Silva. Also appearing in the show are Agostinho dos Santos, Sílvio César, Lennie Dale, Peri Ribeiro and the Zimbo Trio.
Soon after Elis opens a show at the Djalma nightclub, alongside Sílvio César. According to Walter Silva, the show was a total failure.
October: is signed by Armando Pittigliani, of the Companhia Brasileira de Discos, affiliated with Philips.
With the Zimbo Trio, appears on the show Primeira Audiçao, presented at the Colégio Rio Branco, SP, and recorded onto videotape by TV Record.
October 19: Participates in the show Bossa só, at the Hebraica Club, SP.
October 26: Sings with Marcos Valle the song Terra de ninguém on the show O remédio é bossa,
promoted by the Escola Paulista de Medicina and directed by Walter Silva.
November 23: Does the second part (which was considered, at that time, the illustrious part of the shows) of the show 1.a Denti-Samba, promoted by the Faculdade de Odontologia da Universidade de São Paulo and directed by Walter Silva. Elis sings accompanied by the Copa Trio, which played with her since the Beco das Garrafas. The first part of the show featured appearances by Walter Santos, Peri Ribeiro, Geraldo Vandré, Oscar Castro Neves, Paulinho Nogueira, Alaíde Costa and the Zimbo Trio.
1965
April 6: Receives the Berimbau de Ouro prize for having won the I Festival de Música Popular Brasileira, put on by TV Excelsior, with the song Arrastao, by Edu Lobo and Vinícius de Morais.
April 8: The show Elis, Jair and Jongo Trio, produced by Walter Silva debuts at the Teatro Paramount, SP. The show is presented again on the 9th and 12th and is recorded live. The record, "Dois na Bossa", is a great success and Elis and Jair are signed up by TV Record to do a weekly show of brazilian music.
A quote from Elis around that time: "Do you know what it's like, at twenty years old, to be recognized while walking down the street? You become crazy, thinking you are God".
April 10: Receives the Roquete Pinto prize as best singer of 1964, at TV Record.
May 19: The weekly program O Fino da Bossa, debuts at TV Record, headed up by Elis, with the
constant presence of Jair Rodrigues. The biggest names of brazilian music appear on the show, from the oldest to the most recent. O Fino da Bossa ends up being recorded on Mondays at Teatro Record, SP, and transmitted on Wednesdays for São Paulo and on other weekdays for the rest of the country.
Direction: Manoel Carlos, Raul Duarte, Tuta Machado de Carvalho and Nilton Travesso. The record "Samba eu canto assim", first individual LP by Elis for the Companhia Brasileira de Discos, CBD, owned by Philips.
August 22: The weekly program Jovem Guarda debuts on TV Record, under the leadership of Roberto Carlos, transmitted on Sundays.
1966
January: Elis travels to Europe and stays until the beginning of March. Does shows in Lisbon and Luanda with Jair Rodrigues and the Zimbo Trio.
March 10, 11 and 12: Appears with the Zimbo Trio at the Jardim de Inverno Fasano, SP. The record "Elis" is released, the second by CBD-Philips, on which is recorded Canção do sal, from Milton Nascimento. It is the first time that a song of Milton's is recorded.
September: Participates in the II Festival de Música Popular Brasileira, promoted by TV Record, singing Ensaio geral, by Gilberto Gil, and Jogo de roda, by Edu Lobo and Ruy Guerra. Only Ensaio geral reaches the final listing, ending in fifth place, and Elis is booed. Winners of the festival: Chico Buarque with A banda, sung by him and Nara Leão, and Geraldo Vandré and Théo de Barros with Disparada, sung by Jair Rodrigues. During the festival, the first independent record ever made in Brazil is recorded, "Viva Ao Festival da Música Popular Brasileira", released by Artistas Unidos (United Artists) and manufactured by Rozenblit. Elis is featured with Ensaio geral and Jogo de roda.
October: Sings Canto triste, by Edu Lobo and Vinícius de Morais, in the national phase of the I Festival Internacional da Cançao, promoted by TV Globo, accompanied by a string orchestra and by Edu Lobo on guitar. The winner was Saveiros, by Dori Caymmi and Nelson Motta, sung by Nana Caymmi, a song that Elis would later record on the same single as Canto triste. Elis and Edu are booed when the song is selected for the final of the national phase.
December: Elis and Baden Powell do a show together at the ZumZum nightclub, RJ.
1967
June: On the 19th, TV Record decide to pull O Fino Da Bossa from the air. After having lost points in the Ibope, the program's direction is given to Mieli and Bôscoli: it's the Fino 67. Even so, the show does not recover, and the management of Record decide to incorporate it in a series called Frente Unica--Noite da MPB, recorded on Mondays at the Teatro Paramount, SP, produced by Solano Ribeiro. At each second show, different hosts: Geraldo Vandré, Chico and Nara, Gilberto Gil, Elis and Jair.
July 3: The series Frente Unica--Noite da MPB debuts. First show: Elis, directed by Mieli and Bôscoli. The series lasts for nine programs, three of which were hosted by Elis. During that occasion, Elis participated, alongside Gilberto Gil and Edu Lobo, in a march in defense of the roots of MPB, against the invasion of foreign music. The march became a historical one, known as the "march against electric guitars".
October: Elis appears at the III Festival de Música Popular Brasileira, TV Record, known as "the turning point festival". The Tropicália movement is born: Gilberto Gil and Os Mutantes sing Domingo no parque, which wins second place, Caetano Veloso, with the argentine band Beat Boys, sings Alegria, alegria, and ends up in fourth place. Elis sings O cantador, by Dori Caymmi and Nelson Motta. The song makes the final, but only earns one prize: of best interpreter, for Elis. The winner of the festival is Ponteio, by Edu Lobo and Capinam. Chico Buarque ended up in third place with Roda-viva.
Release of a single. On one side, Tristeza que se foi, by Adilson Godoy, and on the other, Upa,
neguinho, by Edu Lobo and Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, one of the greatest successes of Elis' career.
October and November: II Festival Internacional da Cançao, promoted by TV Globo. In the national part, the song Margarida, by Guttemberg Guarabyra, is the winner. The second place goes to Milton Nascimento and his Travessia, and third place to Carolina, by Chico Buarque. Elis does not participate in this festival, but releases a single with Travessia on one side and Manifesto, by Guto and Mariozinho Rocha, on the other.
December 5th: Elis Regina marries Ronaldo Bôscoli in a civil wedding. She is twenty-two years old and he is thirty-eight.
December 7th: Religious wedding ceremony at the Capelinha Mairynk, Floresta da Tijuca, RJ, where the ten meter train of the bride's wedding dress barely fits. A quote from Ronaldo at that time: "I am not rich, but I am comfortable. She earns fifteen million (old cruzeiros) a month and I, two and a half. I will look after the menial things in the house, and she will look after the luxury items". The couple moves to Niemeyer Avenue, São Conrado, RJ.
1968
January: Elis goes to Europe to represent Brazil at the II Mercado Internacional do Disco e da Edição Musical (MIDEM), in Cannes, France. She sings in the festival's opening show. After delirious applause from the audience, Elis returns for an encore, singing Upa, neguinho. She appears on English, Dutch, Belgian, Swiss and Swedish TV.
January 7: The program Jovem Guarda is shown on the air for the last time.
January 29: The monthly program Elis Especial, directed by Mieli and Bôscoli, and recorded at the Teatro Paramount, SP, debuts on TV Record.
March 6: Elis debuts at the Olympia in Paris. She sings eight songs, accompanied by the Bossa Jazz Trio. The songs include Samba Da Benção, by Baden Powell and Vinícius de Morais, sung in french, in a version by Pierre Barouh. She is called back to the stage six times at the end of the show.
April 2: Elis returns to Brazil.
April 7: TV Record dedicates the O Show do Dia 7 to Elis. A three and a half hour program, during which her life is recounted. She is paid homage to by her parents, her grandmother, her brother Rogério, by Francis Hime, Chico Buarque and MPB-4, Marcos Valle, Théo de Barros, Edu Lobo, Vinícius de Morais, Baden Powell, Isaura Garcia, Sílvio César, Agnaldo Rayol, Ronald Golias, Chico Anísio, Wanderléa, Erasmo Carlos, Ronnie Von, Nelson Motta, Dori Caymmi, Márcia, Hebe Camargo, Wilson Simonal, Mieli and Ronaldo Bôscoli.
May: Elis is called upon to hurriedly replace Cynara and Cybele in a show that they were doing with Baden Powell. Elis sings without rehearsing. Besides that, she appears with Jair Rodrigues and the Bossa Jazz Trio at the Teatro Opera, in Buenos Aires.
May 11: The I Bienal do Samba starts, promoted by TV Record. Elis participates and wins with Lapinha, by Baden Powell and Paulo César Pinheiro.
May 30: The second program Elis Especial goes on air at TV Record, recorded at the Teatro Paramount, SP, directed by Mieli and Bôscoli.
June 27: Third program Elis Especial, recorded at the Teatro Paramount, SP, directed by Mieli and Bôscoli.
August: Elis spends a month performing in Ricardo Amaral's Sucata nightclub in Rio. Six hundred people attend the opening show, directed by Mieli and Bôscoli.
October: Elis sits on the international jury of the III Festival Internacional da Cançao, promoted by TV Globo. Sabiá, by Tom Jobim and Chico Buarque, wins, booed by the audience, who preferred Caminhando ("Pra não dizer que não falei de flores"), by Geraldo Vandré. A festival that was controversial in the national phase: Gil and Caetano are disqualified in the competition taking place in Tuca, in São Paulo. Gil with Questão de ordem and Caetano with É Proibido Proibir. Caetano does an inflamed and beautiful speech on stage, asking the audience who booed incessantly: "This is the youth that say they will topple the forces in power? ( ... ) If you are in politics as you are in aesthetics, we are done for".
October 3: In an interview in Jornal da Tarde, Elis shoots down Tropicalismo: "I only say one thing: whoever does something seriously will do well. Whoever does a mockery, or plays jokes with the public, will have to watch out. Tropicália is basically a professional and promotional movement. As far as the artistic side goes, it provides nothing, nothing, nothing".
The LP "Elis Especial" is released by CBD-Philips. From the songs on the album, Corrida de
jangada, by Edu Lobo and Capinam, is a success.
TV Record promote the IV Festival de Música Popular Brasileira. Elis does not take part. The
jury is divided into two sides: the erudite and the popular. According to the erudite jury, the song São São Paulo, meu amor, by Tomzé, is the winner; for the popular one, Bem-vinda, by Chico Buarque. Divino maravilhoso, by Caetano and Gil, sung by Gal Costa, finishes in third place according to the erudite jury and does not even classify according to the popular. Memórias de Marta Saré, by Edu Lobo and Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, is the only one to achieve consensus between the two: it ends up in second place.
October 23: Elis starts another series of concerts at the Olympia, in Paris. For this show, she brings along the musicians Erlon Chaves, Roberto Menescal and Antônio Adolfo. The series is extended until November 11th. The magazine Fatos and Fotos of 11/14/68 reports: "It is the first time that an artist manages to appear twice in one year at the Olympia. At the opening, Elis wears a black Saint-Laurent outfit, long, and receives eight curtain calls. From numerous telegrams, she shows one: 'A thousand curtain calls for you. Kisses. Ronaldo' ".
In France, Elis records a single with the participation of Pierre Barouh on the song Noite dos
mascarados, by Chico Buarque, sung in french. Arrangements by Eumir Deodato. Appears also at the Cassino Estoril, in Lisbon, Portugal.
November 28: TV Record presents the special Elis em Paris, recorded during the concert series at the Olympia.
1969
January: Elis appears one more time at the Mercado Internacional do Disco and da Edição Musical (MIDEM), in Cannes, France. She sings Corrida de jangada, by Edu Lobo and Capinam, Memórias de Marta Saré, by Edu Lobo and Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, and Casa-forte, by Edu, with his participation. She does programs on French, English, Swiss, Swedish, Belgian and Dutch TV.
February 20: Elis returns to Brazil.
March 18: The program series Elis Studio, recorded without an audience, and directed by Mieli and Bôscoli, debuts on TV Record. On each program, a special theme and guest. One of them: Roberto Carlos.
April 5: On the premises of the Estação Primeira de Mangueira, the school parades for Elis and grants her the title "Citizen of Mangueira".
May: Elis leaves TV Record.
May 4: She goes to London where, on the 6th and 8th, she records an LP with the english conductor Peter Knight. She returns to Brazil on the 13th.
June: She goes to Sweden and records an LP with the harmonica player Toots Thielemans. The two records are released in Europe, and only years later in Brazil.
The LP "Elis, como and porquê" is released in Brazil. In the repertoire, O sonho, by Egberto Gismonti, and Casa-forte, by Edu Lobo.
July 1: In Rio de Janeiro, the show Elis com Mieli & Boscoli debuts, at the Teatro da Praia, which she leases. The band: Roberto Menescal (guitar), Wilson das Neves (drums), José Roberto (bass), Hermes (percussion) and Jurandir (piano).
August: In an interview with Clarice Lispector, Elis affirms: "The stage is so closely linked to with my way of being, to my traumas, that I think that to separate myself from the stage would be like castrating a stud horse".
Elis releases, with Pelé, a single with two of his compositions: Vexamão and Perdão não tem.
November 2: The show Elis com Mieli & Boscoli debuts in São Paulo, at the Teatro Maria Della Costa.
Elis is pregnant.
During the fifth and last Festival de Música Popular Brasileira of TV Record, the use of electric
guitar is prohibited. Elis does not take part. Paulinho da Viola wins with Sinal fechado. Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque and Edu Lobo leave Brazil. Caetano and Gil go to London, Chico to Rome, and Edu Lobo to Los Angeles.
1970
April 2: Entering her seventh month of pregnancy, Elis debuts at the Canecao, RJ, a show directed by Mieli and Bôscoli. Accompanying Elis are a band and an orchestra. Musical direction by Erlon Chaves.
Elis sings a song of Caetano Veloso (Não Tenha Medo) and another by Gilberto Gil (Fechado Pra
Balanço), written especially for her and sent from London, and also As Curvas Da Estrada De Santos, by Roberto and Erasmo Carlos. During that show Elis introduces Tim Maia, singer-composer who had already worked with Roberto and Erasmo Carlos at the beginning of their careers and who returned from the United States after having lived there for several years.
At the same time, Elis releases the LP "...Em Pleno Verao", on CBD-Philips. In the repertoire,
Vou deitar and rolar ("Quaquaraquaquá"), by Baden Powell and Paulo César Pinheiro, and, with the participation of Tim Maia, These are the songs, from Tim himself. Vou deitar e rolar is a big hit.
June 17: At twenty-five years old, Elis gives birth to a son, João Marcelo, at the Casa de Saúde São José, RJ. João Marcelo is born a strong child, but during the first few months of his life has many problems due to an allergy to cow's milk, finally necessitating hospitalization. Without milk to feed him, Elis goes on television to ask for someone to nurse her child.
November 20: Elis debuts, for a short time, in the enormous show-house Di Mônaco, SP. Name of the show: Com A Cuca Fundida. Releases a single for CBD-Philips, whose first song is by two new composers: Madalena by Ivan Lins and Ronaldo Monteiro de Souza. The recording is a big hit.
That year, TV Globo promotes the V Festival Internacional da Cançao, in which Elis does not
take part. The song BR-3, by Antônio Adolfo and Tibério Gaspar, and sung by Tony Tornado, is declared the winner. Ivan Lins ends up in second place with the song O Amor é Meu País, by himself and Ronaldo Monteiro de Souza. In third place, Encouraçado, by Sueli Costa and Tite de Lemos, and in fourth, Um Abraço Terno Em Voce, Viu Mae? by and with Gonzaguinha.
1971
January: Elis signs a contract with TV Globo and starts to appear on the program Som Livre Exportacao, co-hosted by Ivan Lins. On the 6th, the program is recorded in São Paulo, at the Palácio de Exposiçoes do Anhembi. Five hours of show to an audience of almost a hundred thousand people.
April: Releases, for CBD-Philips, the LP "Ela", where, besides Madalena, already a success, she records Roberto and Erasmo Carlos, Lennon and McCartney, Caetano, and Black is beautiful, by Marcos and Paulo Sérgio Valle.
June: The monthly program Elis Especial, directed by Mieli and Bôscoli, debuts on TV Globo.
October: Elis accepts to preside on the jury of the VI Festival Internacional da Cançao, promoted by TV Globo. Rumors circulate that artists like Chico Buarque (already back in Brazil) Tom Jobim, Edu Lobo and Paulinho da Viola will take advantage of the live transmission to protest against censorship. The authorities take precautions and they end up removing themselves from the contest. The song Kirie, by Edmundo Souto and Paulinho Tapajós, is declared the winner.
The record entitled "Top Star Festival", recorded at the request of the UN in solidarity toward the refugees of the entire world, is released. Elis is the sole featured artist from Brazil, with Madalena.
1972
March 1: The show É Elis, directed by Mieli and Bôscoli, debuts at the Teatro da Praia, RJ. Band: César Camargo Mariano (piano), Luisão (bass), Luís Cláudio (guitar), Ronaldo (tumbadora) and Paulinho Braga (drums). In this show Elis releases some songs by new composers: Sueli Costa, Vitor Martins, Fagner, João Bosco and Aldir Blanc.
May 11: After various separations and reconciliations, Elis and Ronaldo Bôscoli separate for good. The judge determines that Elis is entitled to nothing from Ronaldo. He has to give a pension equivalent to three minimum salaries for João Marcelo, who remains in the custody of the mother.
June: After almost a year, the program Elis Especial is taken off the air. Elis rescinds her contract with TV Globo, alleging a lack of conditions to work with her ex-husband.
September: Elis sings at the Olimpíadas do Exército, on the year of the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of independence.
October: Elis debuts at the Mônaco Music Hall, SP, with César Mariano and a band of eleven musicians.
LP "Elis" is released on CBD-Phonogram/Philips. Worth noting: Aguas De Março, by Tom Jobim, Atrás Da Porta, by Francis Hime and Chico Buarque, Nada Será Como Antes and Cais, both by Milton Nascimento and Ronaldo Bastos. Arrangements and keyboards: César Camargo Mariano.
The song Diálogo, by Baden Powell and Paulo César Pinheiro, wins at the Festival Internacional
da Canção promoted by TV Globo, already made completely empty by the absence of other great names in Brazilian music. In second place, Fio Maravilha, by Jorge Ben. It is the seventh and last FIC.
1973
May 10, 11, 12 and 13: Philips promote, at the Palácio de Convençoes do Anhembi, SP, Phono 73, a series of shows with its contracted artists. Among them, Elis, Gal, Bethania, Gil, Caetano, Chico, Fagner, Nara Leão. The shows are recorded for a later release on record. Each artist appears alone, and before exiting, sings a number with the following artist. Elis is received with coldness by the audience. Someone in the audience yells a dirty joke to her. Caetano Veloso, in the audience, stands up and yells: "Show some respect to the best singer of this land". She sings Cabaré, by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc, É Com Esse Que Eu Vou, by Pedro Caetano and Ladeira Da Preguica, by and with Gilberto Gil. Elis' appearance is on the 11th, Friday, the same day on which the microphones are disconnected when Gilberto Gil and Chico Buarque try to sing Cálice, the first collaboration between the two, which was prohibited by the censorship during a certain time.
July: Release of the record, another "Elis", which had been recorded back in March. The LP has ten songs: four of Gil's, four by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc, Folhas secas, by Nelson Cavaquinho and Guilherme de Brito, and É with esse que eu vou, by Pedro Caetano.
August 10: In a Mercedes-Benz bus, Elis leaves the Lord Hotel of São Paulo for an excursion of thirty-six days in the states of São Paulo, Santa Catarina and Paraná, for the so-called "Circuito Universitário". Band: César Mariano (keyboards), Paulinho Braga (drums), Luisão (bass), Chico Batera (percussion), Olmir Stocker (guitar), Rogério Costa (sound) and on top of that a light-man, a ticket-seller, an administrator, a stage manager, a representative for Marcos Lázaro, and the driver. "That circuit was only related to the universities by name. I saw very few students. Thinking that we were going to meet students, we had prepared a serious work, conscientious, in accordance with the idea of what was proposed. And, in the end, we had to confront a uncharacteristic mass of people, grouped in gymnasiums and cinemas, when in fact this should have taken place on campuses" (Elis, to the journalist Pink Wainer). After this excursion, Elis breaks off with her manager Marcos Lázaro.
1974
February: To commemorate her ten year career, Elis goes to Los Angeles to record a record with Tom Jobim. Elis is accompanied by César Mariano (keyboards), Hélio Delmiro (electric and acoustic guitar), Luisão (bass), Paulinho Braga (drums). There, they join up with the composer, arranger, and guitarist Oscar Castro Neves, as well as a string orchestra conducted by Bill Hitchcock. Tom Jobim participates in the record by making arrangements, playing piano and acoustic guitar, and singing on some tracks. César Mariano also participates with arrangements and piano. The LP is recorded in the Los Angeles studios of MGM, between February 22nd and March 9th. Before meeting Tom, Elis declared: "Tom scares me a little. But it's important to have close contact with that sacred cow of our music, and the responsibility of recording at his side is bound to balance out anyone". After her encounter with him: "It was marvellous, and Tom is divine. I never saw anyone who was simpler and more enchanting" (Folha de S. Paulo, 4/17/74).
Elis and César Mariano move to São Paulo and settle on Rua Califórnia, in the Brooklin district.
May 2: The recital Elis, with musical direction by César Mariano, debuts at the Teatro Maria Della Costa, SP. Band: Luisão (bass), Hélio Delmiro (acoustic and electric guitar), Paulinho Braga (drums), Chico Batera (percussion), besides César himself(piano), plus the participation of five musicians from the string section of the Orquestra Sinfônica Jovem de São Paulo. In the printed program for the show, Elis writes: "It's no longer as easy to unite a pure intention with the act of singing. It's no longer as easy to show off new songs, when there exist difficulties in finding them. The voice and fashion change everything".
July: Elis participates in the inauguration show of the Teatro Bandeirantes, SP, alongside Chico Buarque, Maria Bethania, Tim Maia and Rita Lee. She sings Conversando No Bar, by Milton Nascimento and Fernando Brant, Travessia, by Milton, O Mestre-sala Dos Mares, by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc, Só Tinha De Ser Com Você, by Tom Jobim and Aloysio de Oliveira, Triste, by Tom Jobim, and Pois é, by Jobim and Chico Buarque, this one with Chico's participation. Soon after the show, Elis leaves for another university circuit. This time the organizer is Roberto de Oliveira, and the appearances are in Porto Alegre, Caxias do Sul, Curitiba, the interior of Paraná and the interior of São Paulo.
The LP recorded with Tom Jobim in Los Angeles (Elis & Tom) is released.
October 3 and 4: Elis and Tom appear at the Teatro Bandeirantes, SP, in a show divided in three parts: the first for Elis, the second for Tom, and in the third, both singing together. Accompaniment by César Mariano's Quintet and by an orchestra conducted by Leo Peracchi. Arrangements by César Mariano, Tom Jobim and Perachi. It has been nine years since Tom last appeared in São Paulo, since the show O Remédio é Bossa, produced by Walter Silva at the Teatro Paramount in 1965.
November: The annual record "Elis" comes out on CBD - Phonogram/Philips. Worth noting: Dois Pra Lá, Dois Pra Cá, by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc, and Conversando No Bar, by Milton Nascimento and Fernando Brant.
November 20 to 23: Elis gives recitals at the Teatro da Universidade Católica, Tuca, SP. Band: César Mariano (keyboards), Natan Marques (electric and acoustic guitar), Luisão (bass), Francisco José de Souza (percussion) and Antônio Pinheiro Filho (drums).
1975
At the beginning of the year Trama is created, a company owned by Elis and three other partners--among them the brother Rogério and the husband César--that would go on to produce musical shows. The first show produced is Te pego pela palavra, with Marlene.
April 18: Pedro is born, in the maternity ward of Hospital São Luis, SP. Elis' second son, the first with César Mariano. Elis: "Now I have two first-born sons at home".
September: Elis, César, Natan (electric guitar), Crispim (electric guitar and keyboards), Wilson (bass) and Nenê (drums) start to rehearse the show Falso Brilhante. Elis and the musicians want to do more than just sing and play. To do this, they take lessons in body expressions with José Carlos Viola, workshops with the psychiatrist Roberto Freire and exercises in teatral sensitivity with Miriam Muniz, the show's director. They also count on the participation of two authors: Lígia de Paula and Janjão. Sets: Naum Alves de Souza. Costumes: Lu Martin. Musical direction: César Mariano. Production: Trama. One month before the opening, the group starts to rehearse in a basement of city hall, located adjacent to a public bath, under the Viaduto do Chá, in the centre of São Paulo.
December 17: Falso brilhante opens at the Teatro Bandeirantes, SP. A resounding success from the beginning to the end of the duration of fourteen months. An audience of fifteen hundred people per day. The show was never taken on the road.
1976
February: Miriam Muniz and Naum Alves de Souza, director and se-designer of Falso brilhante, jointly request from Trama, producer of the show, a payment of five percent each of the gross earnings of the show. SBAT--Sociedade Brasileira de Autores Teatrais--is then able to sequester 16.66% of the gross earnings of the show, which is deposited in the Caixa Econômica Estadual until the parties come to an agreement. The case is taken to court.
Elis, César, Raul Cortez and Ruth Escobar go to Brasília and succeed in obtaining the release of the play Mockinpott, by Peter Weiss, whose showing--from the Teatro de Arena de Porto Alegre--is prohibited hours before the opening. Elis gives the earnings for one night of the show Falso brilhante to help the group in paying the damages caused by the postponement of the opening.
The record "Falso Brilhante", featuring part of the repertoire from the show recorded in studio, is released. Worth noting: two songs by Belchior--Como Nossos Pais and Velha Roupa Colorida--and Fascinaçao, great success of Carlos Galhardo, in a version by Armando Louzada.
March 15: Awards for the year's best by the Associação Paulista dos Críticos de Arte. Falso Brilhante wins the prize for best show.
March 24: Trama, the producer of Falso Brilhante, wins in court against the lawsuit brought forward by Miriam Muniz and Naum Alves de Souza asking for compensation for author's rights.
May 21: Falso Brilhante commemorates, with a great party, a hundred presentations at the Teatro Bandeirantes, SP.
September: Elis finances the second issue of the newspaper Nós Mulheres (We Women), published by the Associação de Mulheres (Women's Association), SP.
October 20: Falso Brilhante completes two hundred showings and beats a record in brazilian show business: since the opening, on 12/17/75, until this day, it has been seen by 194,993 people. It will go on for another four months.
October 23: TV Bandeirantes broadcasts the program Elis Especial, produced by Clack and directed by Roberto de Oliveira.
December: Elis, César and the two children move from Brooklin to a house in the mountain ridge of Cantareira, SP. "... A really fundamental part of it was my admitting to myself that I was a rural being. Not only because I had once been rural. It's not that. It's rural because my collective subconscious is in the countryside: my grandmother was a shepherd and my grandfather was a grape farmer. Mother is the synthesis of this, father comes from the indians who were forced to move from the Patos mountain range, and my brother and I spent our childhood hunting for cow dung for them to mix and make gardens in the backyard. The city is not really me at all. Asphalt and diesel fuel are for César. Indeed, he likes the smoke from a polluting bus. The day that I understood that I was running away from my element, the countryside, I decided to take it all on. And I was lucky, because soon after there appeared for sale a little piece of land in Cantareira, at forty minutes from São Paulo. We went. At the beginning it was hard, because it took more for César to get used to it. In the end, he is from the Praça da Sé. But all is well.
Now, he takes a little trip to the city now and then, he breathes in a bit of the general pollution, and he feels good. (...)" (for the magazine Amiga of 5/28/80).
1977
January 6: Falso Brilhante returns to the stage, after a break since December 18 to allow the group to rest. A change is the inclusion of Marcha da QuartaFeira de Cinzas, by Carlos Lyra and Vinícius de Morais.
February 18: Falso brilhante ends its run after fourteen months on the billboard, two hundred and fifty presentations, and having been seen by two hundred and eighty thousand people, who brought in a total take of eight billion Cruzeiros after an initial investment of five hundred and seventy million (numbers from the newspaper Ultima Hora, SP, 2/18/77). Elis is pregnant of her third child.
March 10: César Mariano and his group debut at the Teatro Bandeirantes, SP, with the show São Paulo-Brasil, with script and direction by Oswaldo Mendes and assistant direction by Elis. The show, composed of four movements ("Chegada E Reconhecimento", "Construção Da Cidade", "Peso Da Cidade" and "Cidade Assumida"), has texts by Oswaldo Mendes. In César's group: Natan Marques (electric and acoustic guitar), Crispim del Cistia (electric guitar and keyboards), Wilson (bass) and Dudu Portes (drums). The music of the show is released on record by RCA-Victor.
May: Radio Jovem Pan de São Paulo starts to promote a series of shows titled O Fino Da Música, whose preoccupation is to promote good Brazilian music. The first show is dedicated to the choro and brings together O Regional de Canhoto; the second presents Elizeth Cardoso, Paulo Moura and Severino Araújo & the Tabajara Orchestra.
July 25: Seven months pregnant, Elis appears on the Fino da Música number 3, for an audience of more than three thousand and five hundred people, at the Palácio de Convençoes do Anhembi, SP. Band: César Mariano & Group, plus Hélio Delmiro (electric guitar) and Luisão (bass) as special guests. Also participating in the show: Renato Teixeira (Romaria is released that day), Ivan Lins and Cláudio Lucci, a still little known composer, of whom Elis would end up recording Colagem and Vecchio novo.
August: Release of the LP "Elis" by Phonogram/Philips. The record features the participation of Milton Nascimento, Ivan Lins and Renato Teixeira. Worth noting: Caxangá, by Milton and Fernando Brant, and Romaria, by Renato Teixeira.
August 16: Elis records her participation on Milton Nascimento's special program, presented by TV Bandeirantes on September 21. Direction by Roberto de Oliveira. On the eve of giving birth, Elis sings the song Caxangá with Milton, by he and Fernando Brant.
September 9: Maria Rita is born, in the maternity ward of the Hospital São Luís, SP. Elis' third child, second of her marriage with César Mariano. " ... I have a great joy in having a daughter because, in a certain way, I had many men around me. I think that Maria Rita will have an advantage, because I have already been through life. My mother had never left the centre of the house". (interview for TV Globo, 1979).
November 17: National opening of the show Transversal do tempo, at the Teatro Leopoldina, in Porto Alegre. Script and direction by Aldir Blanc and Maurício Tapajós. Musical direction by César Mariano. Band: César (keyboards), Natan Marques (electric and acoustic guitar), Crispim del Cistia (electric guitar and keyboards), Fernando Cisão (bass), Dudu Portes (drums). The show remains in Porto Alegre until December 6.
1978
January 9: Reunion at the Teatro Ruth Escobar, SP. Participants: Elis, Ivan Lins, Marília Medalha, Paulinho Nogueira, Tomzé, conductor Benito Juarez, Marcus Vinícius and thirty more artists. There is a discussion about a proposition to create the paulista section of Sombrás (Sociedade Musical Brasileira) and of Assim (Associação de Intérpretes e Músicos). Assim is created to try to overcome a serious injustice done to the musicians: they are forced to give up their associated interpretation rights the moment they do some accompaniment work on record. In theory, each musician who participates in a recording is entitled to seventeen percent of what was collected with the record in commission and execution. Since the musicians are forced to give up this percentage, it is given to the Ordem dos Músicos, which doesn't have the power to distribute it. The money is kept to purchase wheelchairs or to pay for funerals. Elis starts to participate in the management of the two entities.
January 26: Elis, César Mariano, Martinho da Vila and Marcus Vinícius go to Brasília to outline the directives of Assim to the minister of Education at that time, Ney Braga.
February 20. Elis presents Transversal do tempo at the Teatro Sistina in Rome, and, days later, at the Teatro Lírico in Milan. She surprises the public and the italian critics by presenting a repertoire practically unknown to them, without preoccupying herself in pushing her guaranteed successes. Before starting the show, Elis says to the public: "Carmen Miranda died in the 50's. Europe needs to understand that we are not just a people of the carnaval. We have our sadness. And I didn't come here to do concessions. I will sing exactly the way I do in my country".
March 1: There is a showing of Transversal do tempo at the Club de Vanguardia, in Barcelona.
March 7: Transversal do tempo debuts at the Teatro Ginástico, RJ, for a duration of three months.
June: The LP Transversal do tempo, recorded live with songs from the show, is released. A peculiarity surrounds the release of the record: RCA-Victor, who have César Mariano under contract, prohibits the appearance of his name, as instrumentalist, on the cover. His name can only appear in reference to the technical parts of the show and record.
July 20 to 30: Transversal do tempo appears at the Teatro de Icéia in Salvador.
August: The show is presented in Belo Horizonte and Curitiba.
October 25: Transversal do tempo debuts in the Teatro Brigadeiro, SP. Included are the songs Altos e Baixos, by Sueli Costa and Aldir Blanc, and Meninas Da Cidade, by Fátima Guedes.
October 8: The magazine Veja says that Elis refuses to bring the show Transversal Do Tempo to Buenos Aires, at the invitation of the impresario Ronnie Scally: "As long as my record ('Falso Brilhante') continues to be banned by the Argentinean censorship, I will not appear there". (The censorship had forbidden the record because of the song Gracias A La Vida, by Violeta Parra.)
1979
January 1: On TV Bandeirantes, a special program which took a month for Elis to record. She appears walking and singing with Adoniran Barbosa, visiting Rita Lee in a paulista discotheque, and sings Doce Pimenta with her, a song made for Elis by Rita. Program direction: Roberto de Oliveira and Sueli Valente.
End of January: Elis takes Transversal do tempo out of circulation and travels to get some rest. In over a year, the show was presented in Porto Alegre, Rome, Milan, Paris, Barcelona, Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza, Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and São Paulo.
February: Elis signs a contract with the recording company WEA, even though she had already signed before with EMI-Odeon. Among the projects involved in the new contract are an appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, in July. Days following Elis' official breakup with Philips, the recording company releases in a great hurry an LP entitled "Elis Especial", with songs that she had sung during rehearsals in studio (as guides for arrangements), as well as others which had been cut from the final editions of records for not having been considered good recordings. The reason for this release: Elis owed sixteen phonograms to the company.
May: Participates in the Show de Maio, with the proceeds going to the strike fund of the metallurgic workers of São Paulo, in an enormous hangar at the old site of the Cia. Vera Cruz de Cinema, in São Bernardo do Campo, with five thousand people in attendance. Besides Elis, the following participate in the show: João Bosco, Macalé, Gonzaguinha, Dominguinhos, Maria Martha, Fagner and Carlinhos Vergueiro.
May: Elis' first single on WEA is released. On one side, the song O Bêbado E A Equilibrista, by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc; on the other, As Aparências Enganam, by two new composers, Tunai (João Bosco's brother) and Sérgio Natureza. O Bêbado E A Equilibrista is immediately nicknamed the "Hymn of Amnesty", whose campaign is intensifying in Brazil.
July: WEA releases the LP "Essa Mulher", with O Bêbado E A Equilibrista and a new song by Cartola, Basta De Clamares Inocência, as well as a new one by Baden Powell and the title song, by Joyce and Ana Terra.
July 15: Elis appears at the Grand Palace of Brussels, Belgium, in a musical celebration to commemorate the thousand years of the city. Toots Thielemans, one of the greatest jazz harmonica players, and who had already recorded an LP with Elis in 1969, is present and accompanies Elis in Madalena, by Ivan Lins and Ronaldo Monteiro de Souza, and Maria, Maria, by Milton Nascimento and Fernando Brant.
July 19: Appears at Brazilian Night of the 13th Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland. Band: César Mariano (keyboards), Hélio Delmiro (electric guitar), Luisão (bass), Paulinho Braga (drums) and Chico Batera (percussion). At the end of the night, Elis and Hermeto Paschoal do a jam session.
July 25: Elis sings at the Tokyo Jazz Festival, Japan.
August 30: Starts a series of concerts of the new show Elis, Eessa Mulher. The schedule: 8/30 to 9/6-- interior of São Paulo; 9/14 to 16--São Paulo; 9/17 to 10/5-- interior of São Paulo; 10/6--Londrina; 10/9 to 21-- Porto Alegre; 10/25 to 28--Curitiba; 10/31 to 11/18-- Belo Horizonte; 11/22 to 25 --Brasília; 11/28 to 31 -- Belém; 12/1 --São Luís; 12/2 --Teresina; 12/5 to 9 --Fortaleza; 12/11 to 16--Recife; 12/18--Aracaju; 12/19 to 23 -- Salvador. The national premiere of the show is in the Ginásio Municipal de Esportes de Sorocaba, interior of São Paulo, for an audience of twenty-five hundred people. Band: César Mariano (keyboards), Crispim del Cistia (electric guitar and keyboards), Ricardo Silveira (electric guitar, acoustic guitar and viola), Luís Moreno (drums), Nenê (bass), Chacal (percussion). Musical direction: César Mariano. Sound: Rogério Costa. Production: Trama. Promotion: Poladian Produçoes. In the show's printed program, Elis writes: "During this hour and a half, we are going to talk about the ways of people. Times of naivete. Of unfocussed attention. Of not knowing anything. Of the fright that we have when we realize that we know very little about ourselves. Of times of being quixotic. Of the remains of amateurism. Of ripening. Of anger. All these things that have transformed people. Who today have the same smile, generate the same uproar, enjoy cachaça, etc... But who improved the common sense, made the physical more perfect, developed the sense of smell. Besides learning to hold one's breath when the smell is not too good. The concert is all this. It will slowly work its way up. And in the end, hope will be made prominent once again. A hope that acts up, but already knows for sure that people have to hustle. Have to drink. In the ditch. Smiling. If possible".
1980
January: First rehearsals and selection of the cast for the show Saudade do Brasil at the Teatro Procópio Ferreira, SP.
March 20: The show Saudade do Brasil debuts at the Canecão, RJ, with a cast of twenty-four people -- thirteen musicians and eleven dancers, the majority of whom are newcomers -- directed by Ademar Guerra and choreographed by Márika Gidali, with whom Elis takes dancing lessons. It has been ten years since Elis has last appeared at the Canecao. Musical direction: César Mariano. Costumes: Kalma Murtinho. Scenery and visual programming: Marcos Flaksman. "It doesn't deal with longing (saudade) for something which came to and end, or someone who died. It's longing for what is here alive, free, and never ceases to exist. If we don't have access to this, it is because of the lack of a major battle". (Elis, in the newspaper O Globo, 3/20/80).
July 9: Vinícius de Morais dies. Elis cancels her show and participates in posthumous homages. According to the writer Rita Ruschel, Elis spent various days, after Vinicius' burial, sleeping on the ground. "Overcoming this phase, I started to sleep on the bedspread, among the heart and butterfly cushions. ( ... ) Only many days later was I able, with effort, to finally enter the sheets for good and sleep the sleep of the just" (in Meus tesouros da juventude --Editora Summus).
The double album "Saudade do Brasil", is released, featuring the show's entire repertoire, but recorded in the studio. All the musicians in the show participate in the recording, even the dancers, who in the show provided background singing. The double album is released in a limited issue of twenty-five thousand copies, and later, split into two records: "Saudade do Brasil" 1 and 2.
August: After five months of total success, Saudade do Brasil leaves the Canecão and Rio de Janeiro.
September 4: The show debuts in São Paulo, at Tuca -- Teatro da Universidade Católica. It stays on the billboard for a month.
October 3: TV Globo broadcasts the special Elis Regina Carvalho Costa, a program in the series Grandes Nomes. It was common practice in the program for the featured artist to invite a special guest and to sing one or two numbers with that person. Elis' guest, for this program, was César Mariano. The two of them, alone, presented Rebento, by Gilberto Gil, and Modinha, by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Morais.
November: After having just released a double album in July, Elis releases a new LP. This time, the recording company is EMI-Odeon, with whom, in fact, Elis had signed a contract prior to signing with WEA. In the record, Elis reworks O Trem Azul, by Lô Borges and Ronaldo Bastos, and Rebento, by Gilberto Gil, besides presenting two composers whose work has not yet been recorded: Jean and Paulo Garfunkel. It is Elis' first record for Odeon and the last one that she recorded. It is dedicated to Rita Lee, "My idol, my friend and boarding school colleague".
1981
January: Elis travels to Los Angeles and starts the preparations to record an LP with Wayne Shorter, the composer and saxophonist who had already recorded with Milton Nascimento. This record was never made.
March 6: In the series Grandes Nomes, TV Globo presents a special on Gal Costa. Special guest: Elis. She comes from Los Angeles in response to Gal's invitation. The two of them sing together Amor Até O Fim, by Gilberto Gil, and Estrada Do Sol, by Tom Jobim and Dolores Duran, a song that both, separately, had already recorded: Elis on her 1971 LP ("Ela"), and Gal on the record "Gal Tropical", from 1979.
July 9: Elis travels to Chile to participate in a television program. She returns to São Paulo on the 12th, to continue the rehearsals for her new show, the opening of which is scheduled in a new concert house in Sao Paulo, the Canecão-Anhembi.
July 22: Opening of the show Trem azul at the Canecão paulista. Direction: Fernando Faro. Sets: Elifas Andreato. Band: Sérgio Henriques and Paulo Esteves (keyboards), Natan Marques (electric and acoustic guitar), Luisão (bass), Teo Lima (drums), Otávio Bangla (tenor and soprano sax), Nilton Rodrigues (trumpet and flugel horn). Arrangements: César Mariano and Natan Marques. César does not participate in the show: he and Elis are definitely separated after nine years of marriage. The show stays on the billboard for a month and a half.
September 19: The only presentation of Trem azul in Porto Alegre, at the Gigantinho sports gymnasium. It is the last time that Elis sings in her homeland.
October 22 to 25: The show returns to São Paulo, at the Palácio de Convençoes do Anhembi.
October 26: During a cocktail in the salon of the Caesar Park Hotel, RJ, Elis signs a contract with the recording company Som Livre. "I am totally exasperated with all the recording companies. They are all the same. But Som Livre, at least, plays on radio, puts records in the stores, has thirty percent of the market, publicizes on television and everything" (in the Coojornal of October 1981).
October 28: Trem azul opens at the Teatro João Caetano, RJ, and is on the billboard for five days.
December 11: The show appears at the Rio Palace, RJ.
December 31: Elis does her last television appearance. It is on TV Record's end of year special, where she sings Me Deixas Louca, by Armando Manzanero in a version by Paulo Coelho, and O Trem Azul, by Lô Borges and Ronaldo Bastos.
1982
January: Elis starts listening to tapes in order to choose songs for her next record, the first for Som Livre.
January 5: She gives her last interview. It is for the show Jogo da Verdade, on Televisão Cultura from São Paulo -- RTC. Salomão Esper, Zuza Homem de Mello and Mauricio Kubrusly are the interviewers on that show.
January 19, Tuesday: 11:45 -- Death, in São Paulo, by acute exogenous intoxication. Elis' body is brought to the Teatro Bandeirantes, where it is waked until the following day. Elis wears the T-shirt that could not be used in the show Saudade do Brasil, two years before: the Brazilian flag, with her name in the place of "Ordem and Progresso". The Teatro Bandeirantes remains full all night and the following morning. Various artists at the wake: Rita Lee, Roberto de Carvalho, Raul Seixas, Jair Rodrigues, Ronald Golias, Martinha, Lélia Abramo, Ronaldo Bôscoli, Luiz Carlos Mieli, César Mariano, Henfil, Tônia Carrero, Hebe Camargo, Angela Maria, Fafá de Belém. From the United States, Gilberto Gil sends a flower wreath:
"Your voice will be in all songs, your soul in all hearts". The death is headline news in the newspapers:
"We lose our best singer"--Jornal da Tarde--SP--1/20
"Elis Regina's death a suspected suicide"--O Estado--SC--1/20
"The cause of Elis' death will only be confirmed tomorrow"--Jornal do Brasil--RJ--1/20
"Brazil laments the death of Elis"--A Notícia--Joinville--SC--1/20
"Elis killed by her heart"--O Estado do Paraná--1/20
"Elis"--Folha da Tarde--RS--1/20
"Brazil without Elis Regina"--Folha de S. Paulo--1/20
Some advertising agencies circulate messages about Elis in all the newspapers:
"Cry, Marias and Clarices... Cry for our country, gentle mother. In search of a better sun, Elis Regina got aboard a brilliant blue train (a reference to O Trem Azul), leaving the eternity of her singing for the things and people of our land. And an immense saudade (longing)." (Lage Propaganda--SP)
"Truth doesn't rhyme, truth doesn't rhyme, truth doesn't rhyme..." (Visão Publicidade--PR--from the lyrics of the song Onze fitas, by Fátima Guedes.)
"Nothing will be as it was. Elis Regina Carvalho Costa" (Signo Comunicaçao--RJ)
January 20: The Department of Transit of São Paulo creates a special arrangement for the funeral procession, from the Teatro Bandeirantes to the Morumbi cemetery. On foot, in a car or on a motorcycle, thousands of people accompany the firetruck of the Corpo de Bombeiros which carries the coffin. Elis is buried around one o'clock in the afternoon in the grave number 2199, block 7, sector 5 of the Morumbi
cemetery.
January 21: The delegate of the 4th Police District of São Paulo, Geraldo Branco de Camargo, releases the results of the autopsy and the toxicological tests that were done on Elis. The report number 415/82 of the Laboratório de Toxicologia do Instituto Médico-Legal reveals "positive result for cocaine and ethyl alcohol, the latter in the quantity of 1.6 grams of ethyl alcohol per litre of blood; the quantity of ethyl alcohol found in the blood reveals the victim to have been under a state of intoxication, and the presence of cocaine is at the toxic level, which in sum could explain the lethal event".
January 22: TV Cultura and TV Globo show specials on Elis Regina. The one from TV Cultura is a rebroadcast of a show made in 1972, where Elis talks about her career and sings for two hours. Direction by Fernando Faro. The one from Globo is a collage of the various phases of Elis' career. Sudwestsunk, a german television station, located in Baden Baden, presents a special of forty-five minutes with tapes of Elis recorded while she was in Germany.
January 26: Seventh-day masses are given in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and in various cities in Brazil. In São Paulo, there is a mass at six p.m. in the Igreja Nossa Senhora do Perpétuo Socorro. In the church, more than a thousand people. Among them Rita Lee, César Mariano, Samuel MacDowell, Walter Silva, Teotônio Vilela, Audálio Dantas, Lula, Cauby Peixoto, Hebe Camargo, Henfil, Renato Consorte, Lélia Abramo. The liturgical texts are read by Rita Lee and Rogério, Elis' brother. In Rio, the mass is celebrated in the Igreja Nossa Senhora da Paz, in Ipanema, attended by Gal Costa, Nana Caymmi, Fafá de Belém, Zezé Motta, Betty Faria, Hermínio Bello de Carvalho, among others.
January 29: The results of the tests carried out by the Laboratório de Toxicologia do Instituto Médico-Legal are released, which reveal the quantity of cocaine that was ingested by Elis before her death: "Complementary Test no. 00415 -- Toxicological test -- Result: The quantitative cocaine analysis carried out on liver and urine gave the following results: Urine: 23 mg/100 ml (23 milligrams of cocaine per 100 millilitres of urine). Liver: 2.4 mg/lOO g of liver (2.4 milligrams of cocaine per 100 grams of liver). Observations: The above dosages were carried out in liquid chromatography, using an extra-pure crystallized cocaine standard of German origin (Merck)". The report is signed by Maria E. M. da Costa Amaral, Vera Elisa Reihardt, Maria Isabel Garcia and Evilin Mansur.
January 30: During the show Festa do interior in Maracanazinho, RJ, Gal Costa dedicates the song Força Estranha, by Caetano Veloso, to Elis, "a star that shines eternally". This homage will be repeated during the entire duration of this show throughout the country.
February 7: Another homage, and a monumental one. In the Morumbi stadium, SP, a hundred thousand people attend the show Canta Brasil. The featured artists: Simone, Fagner, Toquinho, Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento, Baby Consuelo, Pepeu Gomes, Gonzaguinha, Elba Ramalho, Paulinho da Viola, Djavan, Nara Leao, Clara Nunes and João Bosco. Under an enormous panel with the face of Elis everyone, artists, public, a hundred thousand voices, sing O Bêbado E A Equilibrista, by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc.
February 16: The promoter Pedro Franco de Campos, through the 1a Vara Auxiliar do Júri, requests that the judge Antônio Filiardi Luiz close the file on the inquiry of Elis' death, alleging that "there is no crime to punish. There was no crime of inducement, instigation or assistance to the suicide, because one cannot really talk about suicide with any certainty".
February 23: The judge Antônio Filiardi Luiz orders the closing of the inquiry initiated to verify Elis' death.
March 4: The start of the "Elis Regina Musical Month", promoted by the Prefeitura do Município de São Paulo in its neighbourhood theatres. Participate in the event: Adoniran Barbosa, Zimbo Trio, Tetê Espíndola, Grupo D'Alma, Tomzé, Premeditando o Breque, Marlui Miranda, Belchior, Clementina de Jesus, Nelson Cavaquinho, Marina, Grupo Rumo, Renato Teixeira. The promotion goes until the 28th.
At the end of March, WEA releases the record "Elis Regina--13th Montreux Jazz Festival", with the recording of Elis' appearance in July 1979. The record had not been released at that time because Elis as well as the recording company did not approve of the technical quality of the recording. Highlight of the LP: the meeting of Elis with Hermeto Paschoal.
May 1: The Associação Brasileira Elis em Movimento (ABEM), is officially released, centred in São Paulo, created with the goal of preserving the art and memory of Elis.
May 8: Mayor Tito Costa, from São Bernardo do Campo, SP, inaugurates the Teatro Elis Regina at 900 João Firmino Avenue, in the Assunçao neighbourhood.
The Continental recording company reissues Elis' first two albums, recorded in 1961 and 1962. "Viva a Brotolandia" and "Poema" are reissued in a double album under the name of "Nasce Uma Estrela". Around the same time, Polygram/ Philips, Elis' recording company for fifteen years, releases a box set with four LPs which cover the period 1965/1978 of her career.
August: ABEM publishes the first issue of the paper Elis em Movimento, in which are outlined the objectives of the association. Release of the double album "Trem Azul", by Som Livre, with a recording of the final presentation of the show in São Paulo, at the Palácio de Convençoes do Anhembi. The original recording was made on a normal cassette, in mono, by Elis' brother and sound technician, Rogério Costa. The tape passes through a series of purification processes. The sound of the record is not perfect, but the recording preserved the warmth of the show and gives us the opportunity to hear Elis singing Flora, by Gilberto Gil, and Eurídice, by Vinícius de Morais, songs never before recorded by her.
1983
January 14: At the Centro Cultural São Paulo, the "I Semana Elis Regina" opens, a promotion of the Globo TV network in partnership with the Secretaria de Cultura de São Paulo. Among the week's events: shows with Renato Teixeira, Ivan Lins, Lô Borges, Tetê Espíndola, Grupo Papavento, Grupo Medusa, Rosinha de Valenca, Guilherme Arantes, Belchior and Zé Rodrix; photo and drawing exhibits; a dance show -- Elis 4 Estações -- choreographed by Esmeralda Monteiro and presented by the Ballet Art; mime act by Denise Stoklos for the song Se Eu Quiser Falar Com Deus, by Gilberto Gil, as interpreted by Elis; release of commemorative postcards and posters created by Elifas Andreato. During the promotion, the Globo network incorporates into its evening and night schedule short flashes focusing on events of the week at the Centro Cultural.
January 19: First anniversary mass at the Catedral da Sé, SP, attended by five thousand people. Milton Nascimento participates singing Essa voz, a song by he and Fernando Brant paying homage to Elis, and Cancão da América, also by he and Fernando Brant, accompanied by the Orquestra Sinfônica de Campinas conducted by Benito Juarez. The Bandeirantes television network inserts into its schedule, between eight-thirty and midnight, twenty breaks of between three and five minutes, each one with vignettes paying homage to Elis, as well as presenting, at eight o'clock, the special named Elis, with archival footage and testimonies by Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, Djavan and Sueli Costa.
The Escola de Samba Unidos of Vila Isabel, RJ, promotes the "Noite dos Imortais", with a show in homage to Elis.
Two expositions are inaugurated in São Paulo: "Elis Nacional", with watercolours by Vicente Gil, at the Galeria Paulo Figueiredo, and "Elis Paz", at the Spazio Pirandello.
The recording company EMI Odeon releases a record entitled "Vento de Maio", with old recordings of Elis', like Tiro ão álvaro, by Adoniran Barbosa and Osvaldo Molles, together with Adoniran, and O que foi feito devera (de Vera), by Milton Nascimento, Fernando Brant and Márcio Borges, together with Milton.
February 23: The mime Denise Stoklos debuts at the SESC / Fábrica da Pompéia, SP, a mime recital based on fifteen interpretations by Elis.
February 27: The "II Mês Musical Elis Regina" opens, a series of shows in the theatres of the city hall of São Paulo, with Joyce, Paulinho Boca de Cantor, Jards Macalé, Luli & Lucina.
April: The double album "Trem Azul", featuring the entire show recorded by Rogério Costa, wins the Disco de Ouro for having sold more than a hundred thousand copies. It also earns the special prize from the Associação Paulista dos Criticos de Arte for the treatment of the original recording.
November 10: Ballet Art opens at the Teatro da Hebraica, SP, the show Elis 4 estações, which relives the phases of her career with the movements "The Spring of Dreams", "The Summer of Love", "The Maturity of Autumn" and "The Disbelief of Winter".
1984
January 16: At the Centro Cultural São Paulo, the "II Semana Elis Regina" opens, promoted with the collaboration of Radio and TV Gazeta, with shows by Cida Moreyra, Eduardo Gudin, Grupo Medusa, Tomzé, Rosa Maria, Regina Tatit, Célia and Grupo Papavento.
The double album "Elis Vive", a compilation of Elis' successes, is released by Opus Vídeo and Fonográfica--affiliated with Elenco.
January 22: Mayor Mário Covas and the Secretary of Culture Gianfrancesco Guarnieri inaugurate, in São Paulo, the Praça Elis Regina, located near 1670 Corifeu de Azevedo Marques Avenue, in the Butanta neighborhood.
February: The União de Vila Prudente Samba School, SP, takes to the street during Carnaval with the samba-play Elis Regina, o som da festa eterna desta musa, written by Nelson Coelho, Roberto Lindolfo and Ditao. The lyrics of the samba:
"Na terra do churrasco e chimarrao
Eu me embalei na poesia onde brotou a
revelaçao
Elis, a luz que irradia, minha vila vem mostrar
Pra que chorar, cai comigo na folia pra
despertar
Vamos pular, são só três dias
Hoje tem arrastao
Eu vou
Upa neguinho na estrada
Ai que saudade nos dá
Foi a helice de tantos valores atuais
No falso brilhante da vida, jamais foram
esquecidas suas obras imortais
Era uma musa que surgia para sempre, quem
diria, entre tantas marias
Trem azul, pimentinha ardida trazida do sul,
Beco das Garrafas rádio circo e TV
Elis, a festa é sua, desça and vem sambar na
rua."
"In the land of roasted meat and chimarrão
I became enthralled in poetry which produced
the revelation
Elis, the light which radiated, my small town
comes to show
Why cry, join in the frolic to awaken,
Let's dance, there's only three days
There's an arrastão (an attack in the streets) today
I'm going
Get going in the street, little black boy
She gives us such longing
She was the helix of so many contemporary
values
In the fake diamond of life, your immortal work
was never forgotten
She was a muse who sprung all the time,
between so many Marias
Blue Train, little burning pepper, brought from
the South, Beco das Garaffas, circus radio and
TV
Elis, the party is for you, come down and join the
samba in the street"
February 22: The show Elis, com um pássaro no ombro debuts at the Teatro São Pedro, SP. With dance, music, theatre, photography, and literature, the history of Brazil between the 60's and 80's is recounted, using Elis as a common thread. Created by the group Baleteatro de Minas, the show had already been presented in Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro. After São Paulo, the group appears in Brasília.
November: The recording company Som Livre releases the record "Elis -- Luz das Estrelas", made from a tape which had been broadcast by the Bandeirantes television network in 1976. Only Elis' voice was used. Wagner Tiso, Dori Caymmi, Natan Marques, Lincoln Olivetti, Eduardo Souto and Guto Graca Mello did new arrangements. The declared intention: show Elis with a "modern sound". The record has ten tracks, six of which have never been recorded by Elis before: Para Lennon E McCartney, by Lô Borges and Fernando Brant, No dia em que eu vim me embora, by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, Velho arvoredo by Hélio Delmiro and Paulo César Pinheiro, Corsário and Goi anulado, by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc.
A new compilation LP is released by Polygram, on the Fontana Special label: "Nada Será Como Antes --Elis Interpreta Milton Nascimento", with ten tracks, recorded between 1966 and 1978.
December 27: Romeu Costa, Elis' father, dies of lung cancer at sixty-six years of age.
1985
January 14: The "III Semana Elis Regina" opens at the Centro Cultural São Paulo, with shows by Tomzé, Cláudio Lucci (composer introduced by Elis in 1977), Luli & Lucina, Jean Garfunkel (introduced by Elis in 1980), Regina Tatit, Cida Moreyra, Belchior, Filó.
At the centre of São Paulo, an out-door ceremony commemorates Elis with quotes from the poet Ricardo Viveiros:
"A alma é um ceu
O coração uma lua
Você é uma estrela
Nessa paisagem Noturna".
"The soul is a sky
The heart a moon
You are a star
In this nocturnal landscape".
The book Elis Regina, written by Zeca Kiechaloski, is released in Porto Alegre, by TCHE/RBS, in the series "Esses Gaúchos".
May 14: The book of photographs AquarELISta is released in São Paulo, by the publisher Livraria Kosmos. Photography: Célia Marisa de Avila. Text: Salma Tannus Muchail.
July 29: The municipality of São Paulo and Paulistur inaugurate in the Parque Anhembi the Elis Auditorium, with fifteen hundred seats, for shows, theatre, congresses, seminars and lectures. Inaugural show: Destino aventureiro, by Ney Matogrosso.
August 28: The Escola Municipal de Educação Infantil Elis Regina is inaugurated by the municipality of São Paulo, for children between three and six years of age, in the Cidade de São Matheus neighbourhood, regional municipality of Vila Prudente, SP.
October 29: The book Furacão Elis is released at the Brasilience bookstore in São Paulo by the Círculo do Livro, in partnership with Editorial Nórdica.
December 3: The Bandeirantes network broadcasts the program Furacão Elis, based on the book, presented by Marília Gabriela. The program features various testimonies between sections of the singer's music.
1986
January 18: A mass to commemorate the fourth anniversary of Elis' death is celebrated at 8:30 in the evening at the Nossa Senhora da Achiropita church, in the Bixiga neighbourhood, SP.
January 21: The IV Semana Elis Regina opens at the Centro de Convivência do Sesc-Pompéia, SP, promoted by the Associação Brasileira Elis em Movimento, with video exhibitions of the singer and a presentation by the theatre group Renascença.
January 21 to 24: The singer Jane Duboc and the duo Luli and Luciana appear at the Teatro Caetano de Campos, SP, during the IV Semana Elis Regina.
April 7 and 8: The mime Denise Stolkos appears in the show Elis Aniversário, at the Teatro de Cultura Artística de São Paulo, a recital of mime and light on fourteen interpretations by Elis.
1987
January 18: A mass to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Elis' death is celebrated at 7:00 in the evening at the Igreja da Consolação, SP, on the initiative of the Associação Elis em Movimento.
January 13 to 20: The V Semana Elis Regina: shows at the Teatro Caetano de Campos, SP.
February: The cuban newspaper Gramma dedicates half a page to Elis, commemorating the fifth anniversary of her death.
March 17: On the day when Elis would have been 42 years old, the I Semana Elis Regina opens in Porto Alegre at the Teatro São Pedro.
1988
January 18 to 24: VI Semana Elis Regina, promoted by the Associação Brasileira Elis em Movimento, at the Centro Cultural São Paulo. Seven days of shows, videos and photography exhibits, with the participation of Wanderléa, João Bosco, Renato Teixeira, Fátima Guedes, Adriana Calcanhoto, Zé Geraldo and Márcia, among others.
March 10: The Stagium Ballet opens the show Que Saudade, Elis!, at the Teatro Procópio Ferreira, SP. Direction by Marika Gidali, choreographer of Décio Otero. The show runs until the 27th.
April 4: The video Elis is released, with 77 minutes of images from the archives of the Bandeirantes network, edited by Rogério Costa. Released by VideoBan.
1989
January 19: Commemorating the seven years since her death, the Rádio Jovem Pan de SP presents the special Elis Regina, Cantora do Brasil, lasting two hours, presenting material from the archives of the station, where Elis worked at the time when she was under contract by TV Record.
During the Carnaval: The Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel samba school in Rio paraded in the Sambódromo with the theme story Elis, um Trem de Emoções.
The japanese saxophonist Sadao Watanabe releases the LP Elis, featuring a ballad composed in memory of Elis. In the release notes accompanying the LP, he writes: Elis was, without a doubt, one of the best singers in the world.
September 25: The VI Semana Elis Regina, promoted by the Associação Brasileira Elis em Movimento, opens at the Centro Cultural São Paulo. The event continues until October 1, with shows by Danilo Caymmi, Verônica Sabino, Márcia, Ivan Lins, Lecy Brandão, Gonzaguinha, Wanderléa, Jessé and Renato Teixeira, among others.
1990
January: César Camargo Mariano, as legal representative for Elis' three children, prevents the TV director Carlos Augusto de Oliveira, also known as Guga, from putting together a documentary on Elis' life and work, based on the book Furacão Elis. The documentary wanted to draw a parallel between what Elis sang and what the country lived through, during the period that started when the singer arrived in Rio de Janeiro -- in March 1964 -- and ended in the Brazilian summer of 1982, when she died. In a letter published in the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, on January 27 1990, César said: The image of Elis, in so far as it is synonymous with private and intimate life, as a Human Right, is sacred, as the Federal Constitution of 1988 stipulates in article 5, clause X, as part of the fundamental and guaranteed rights.
April 11: The photographer Paulo Vasconcellos opens, in his São Paulo studio, an exhibition of previously unpublished photos of Elis, taken between 1976 and 1981.
1992
January 13 to 18: To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Elis' death, the Rádio Cultura AM de São Paulo presents the miniseries Elis. Instrumento: voz. Uma travessia em 6 Tempos, with testimonies by musicians, composers, directors and producers who worked with the singer. The series receives the Prêmio Especial da Crítica, given by the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte (APCA) to the best radio program of the year. Written, produced and directed by Maria Luiza Kfouri and Vilmar Bittencourt.
January 19: A special on TV Cultura from São Paulo, Elis... que Saudade!, in the series Cultura Especial. A documentary with testimonies and excerpts from the singer's shows. A quote from Milton Nascimento at the end of the show: (...) Elis was the great love of my life.
The radio stations Gazeta AM and Eldorado FM, in São Paulo, and Jornal do Brasil AM, in Rio, dedicate programs to Elis.
The Sunday color supplement of the Portuguese newspaper Publico, in Portugal, features a ten-page section entitled Elis Regina -- Saudades da rainha, with pictures, largely based on the book Furacão Elis, but also drawing some strange parallels between Elis' life and Janis Joplin's.
1994
May 7: The newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo publishes an article dealing with the veto by Elis' family of the miniseries that the Globo network wanted to broadcast, written by Luis Carlos Maciel and Ronaldo Bôscoli.
May 9: Party to celebrate the release of a 3-CD boxed set, Elis Regina no Fino da Bossa, with production and artistic direction by Zuza Homem de Mello, at the Salão dos Arcos da Estação Julio Prestes, São Paulo. Released by the recording company Velas, owned by Ivan Lins, Vitor Martins and Paulo Albuquerque.
November 18: Ronaldo Bôscoli dies of cancer, aged 66, in a Rio de Janeiro hospital.
November 20: João Marcelo Bôscoli, son of Elis and Ronaldo Bôscoli, debuts as host of the TV show Cia da Música, on CNT, a panorama of Brazilian popular music, much as Elis' show O Fino da Bossa had been, almost 30 years before.
~ ~ ~
Copyright Regina Echeverria – Robert St-Louis
~ ~ ~
A world service of The Montage Communications Group, Inc.
© Copyright 1997. All rights reserved.
US Trademarks and content internationally copyrighted by Connectbrazil.com,
Please view our copyright and fair use policies here.
