Artist: Red Snakes
Album: Collection
Country: Brazil
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Blues Rock, Classic Rock, Garage Rock, Funk, Beat
Release: 1966-70
Quality: FLAC | lossless

Tracklist:
1966 - Jovem Brasa
A1. O Dolar Furado
A2. Thunderball
A3. Winchester Cathedral
A4. Tema de Lara
A5. Tema Para Jovens Namorados
A6. Driftin
B1. Ten Vas Pas
B2. Bus Stop
B3. Imenso Amor
B4. Born Free
B5.Un Homme Et Une Femme
B6. Five Hundred Miles

1970 - Trying To Be Someone
A1. Trying To Be Someone (Open Up Your Eyes)
A2. Please Come On And Hold Me
A3. Onie
A4. You Make Me A Fool
A5. Born Under A Bad Sign
A6. Welcome Me Love
B1. Slow Down
B2. I've Been Just A Little Boy
B3. Chest Fever
B4. Perhaps Someday
B5. Bye, Bye, Love

Jovem Brasa - 2
A1. This Is My Song
A2. Una Pistola Per Ringo
A3. An Affair To Remember
A4. Tributo A Martin Luther King
A5. Vem Gatinha
A6. Non Pensare A Me
B1. Tudo Morreu Quando Perdi O Seu Amor
B2. Limelight
B3.There's A Kind Of Hush
B4. Noites De Moscou
B5. Sunny
B6. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing

Members:
Bass Guitar – Hélcio José
Drums – Carlos Henrique
Keyboards – Ricardo
Bass Guitar – Dirceu
Drums – Renato
Keyboards – Marcinho
Lead Guitar – Ronaldo
Rhythm Guitar – Alvaro

There was a time, in Rio, when the Red Snakes reigned almost absolute in the dance circuit of Grajaú, Tijuca and surroundings. In this part of the city, they enjoyed fame equal to, or even greater than, the two most famous bands at the time: the Analfabitles, eternal rivals, and the energetic The Bubbles. But, less than a year after the release of their best album, the third and great Trying To Be Someone (from 1969), and after an unaltered routine of shows over the five years of their existence, they ended their story .

It all started at the home of brothers Ronaldo and Renato Bakker. It was there that street friends gathered, Rua Gurupi, located in the tree-lined and pleasant neighborhood of Grajaú, in the North Zone of Rio. Amidst the typical teenage games, when they talked about music, which was often, they did so with the seriousness of grown-up people. The musical universe was different, it wasn't just an occasional variant of those 10, 12 year old boy games. With the endorsement of their parents, Seu Godescardo and Dona Iraci, dilettante singers and music lovers, the boys decided to form an instrumental ensemble inspired by the North American Ventures and the Brazilian Jet Blacks. That's when the Red Snakes emerged, led by Ronaldo, a 12-year-old boy. With him on lead guitar and mandolin, his brother Renato, almost two years younger, on rhythm guitar, Hélcio José, on bass, Ricardo, on organ and melodica, and Carlos Henrique, the oldest of all, aged 14, on drums, the Red Snakes were ready to debut. 1966 was just beginning.

Geraldo Trindade, owner of a small label, whose records were sold mainly through catalogs sent by mail, liked the band, which he saw at one of these shows, and hired them to record an album for his label, Getrim. In a single session, as if it were live, without the right to extra takes and much less overdubs, the band recorded 12 instrumental tracks that made up their first LP, entitled Jovem Brasa. In it, the listener was faced, for example, with themes from movies (The Leaky Dollar, Thunderball, Un Homme et Une Femme, Born Free), romanticism (Temas Para Jovens Enamorados), French music (T'En Vas Pas) and hits recent ones like Winchester Cathedral, by the New Vaudeville Band, and Bus Stop, by The Hollies. Released in 1966, the album faithfully portrayed the musical moment experienced by the group, stamped in a photo, with uniform and everything, on the back cover of the LP.

Even though the disc was recorded in a hurry, it is clear that the young musicians still needed to mature. Even so, it sold well, so well that Geraldo Trindade invited them again to record another LP, which was done the following year, in 1967, when Jovem Brasa 2 was released. Like the title, Jovem Brasa 2 is a mere continuation of the style employed on the first album, with the band sliding its sound through romantic songs (Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, Tudo Morreu Quero Perdi Seu Amor), international hits (Sunny, There's A Kind of Hush) and MPB (Tribute to Martin Luther King). However, shortly after its release, the band realized that it was time to take a turn in search of a more consistent style with the current international pop/rock universe. After all, "Sgt. Peppers", by the Beatles, had already appeared, marking the beginning of a remarkable musical revolution that the Red Snakes wanted to approach. The first step was to reformulate the band itself: drummer Carlos Henrique left, whose style did not please Ronaldo very much, and bassist Hélcio, and Dirceu (bass) and Antonilton (guitar) joined, passing Renato to drums. Then, the immediate step was to abandon the old, predominantly instrumental style, which already sounded anachronistic, and explore even more vocal-based songs, which they little by little were inserting into their presentations, with the reinforcement of a more consistent sound base. . Then, alongside themes from the Beatles, Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, heavier rock came in, until then avoided by the group, extracted from the records of Steppenwolf, Rolling Stones and, later, even the power trio Cream, by Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. They also incorporated little-known works by the likes of the Young Rascals and Brooklyn Bridge. As for the softer themes, Mr. Diengly Sad, that beautiful melody by the Critters, was one of the most constant.

And it was in 1969, a year of tremendous boiling in the Red Snakes' career, that they had another chance to record another LP, this time for the Team. With their latest formation, which included Marcinho on keyboards, instead of Maurício, the Red Snakes recorded the LP that would later be called Trying To Be Someone at the Hawaii studios, in the central neighborhood of Saúde. For the first time, the band let their own compositions flow through the magnetic tapes. There were five of them, all by Álvaro, one in partnership with Dirceu and the other with Marcinho. And all in the language of Lennon & McCartney. Covers include the oldies Slow Down (by Larry Williams) and Bye Bye Love (which the Everly Brothers made famous), the beautiful and unknown Onie, the heavy blues of Born Under A Bad Sign, and more Chester Fever and Welcome My Love . In the latter, the highlight is due to the band's excellent vocals, which are reminiscent of the best interpretations of the Fifth Dimension, Association, Orpheus and vocal groups from the Californian flower-power era.

Recorded on four tracks and using the best in musical instruments, including a Hammond B-3 organ coupled to a Leslie box, the Red Snakes made a delicious, neat, surprising album full of good moments, especially regarding the original compositions. With the exception of You Make Me A Fool, by Álvaro and Dirceu, a funk that mixes James Brown with Archie Bell and The Drells, complete with repetitive guitar riffs and pulsating and firm bass, the others (Trying To Be Someone, Please Come On And Hold Me, I've Been Just A Little Boy and Pehaps Someday, this one by Álvaro and Marcinho) are melodies that are well cared for, involving, guided, as always, by the band's excellent vocals. Unfortunately, few knew the record. Not even with the help of the eternal Big Boy, who praised their work on his show, did their songs reach the sympathy of radio programmers, "mainly because they were sung in English", says Álvaro.

From the LP, only Trying To Be Someone and Pehaps Someday were incorporated into the shows, increasingly adorned with psychedelic projections.