A Brazilian folk ensemble whose 1939 adaptation of an American tune became the nation's standard 'Parabéns Pra Você.'
For the birthday song, obviously, but also check out 'O Cravo Brigou Com a Rosa' to hear their take on a classic folk tune.
You hear their work at nearly every Brazilian birthday party. They took an American melody by Mildred and Patty Hill and turned it into 'Parabéns Pra Você' in 1939, which became the definitive version. Their recordings of traditional songs like 'O Cravo Brigou Com a Rosa' and 'A Canoa Virou' also preserved a style of close-harmony folk singing from early 20th-century Rio.
They started performing traditional folk songs in Rio de Janeiro around 1917. Their 1939 adaptation of the birthday song melody became their lasting contribution, though later decades brought questions about the rights to that tune. Their lineup shifted over time, with early members including Oscar Moreira and Praxedes Pires.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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