Rual Seixas (Raul dos Santos Seixas) was born in Salvador, Bahia, on 28 June 1945, the son of Raul Varella Seixas and Maria Eugênia Seixas.
Rual Seixas is from the same region and generation as Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa, among many others who defined the movement called Tropicália. Unlike them, Raul had greater contact with and assimilation of rock and roll during his childhood, as he was a neighbour and friend of the children of American families who worked for the American consulate in Bahia.
Rual Seixas soon became an ardent fan of Elvis Presley, founding a Brazilian fan club of the singer at the age of 14 (Elvis Rock Club). However, anyone who thinks that Raul disowned Brazilian culture by adopting rock and roll is mistaken; he hated bossa nova but added elements of northeastern music such as baião, xaxado and brega music to his rock.
Raul Seixas, a reluctant pupil (he repeated the second grade several times), although very intelligent and a voracious reader, soon tired of school and decided to become a professional musician. In 1962, in the midst of the bossa nova movement that was exploding in Brazil, Raul set up his first band, Os Relâmpagos do Rock, which would later be renamed The Panthers and finally Raulzito e os Panteras. In addition to Raul (vocals and guitar), the group included Thildo Gama, Perinho (guitar), Mariano Lanat (bass) and Carleba (drums). He soon dropped out of law school.
Biografia de Raul Seixas
They recorded a compact disc that would be distributed to radio stations with two songs (one of which was a version of Elvis Presley). They performed in clubs and sometimes on radio and TV. They began to make a name for themselves as a local expression of the Jovem Guarda movement of the time (led by Roberto Carlos, Jerry Adriani, Erasmo Carlos, Wanderléa, etc., in turn Brazilian versions of the Beatles’ success).
Rual Seixas, with the support of Jerry Adriani, toured Brazil with the Panteras (opening the former’s shows) and recorded his first self-titled LP in 1968. With no repercussions at a national level, Raul returned to Salvador, possibly intending to give up music. He left Bahia again to try his hand as a producer at CBS, where he would produce and compose for Jerry Adriani, Renato e Seus Blue Caps, Trio Ternura, Sérgio Sampaio, among other stars of the time. He would lose this job for producing and spending money without the knowledge of his superiors on the pressing of his second LP, Sociedade da Grã Ordem Kavernista Apresenta Sessão das Dez.
In 1972, Rual Seixas achieved the much-desired national repercussion by classifying two songs in the International Song Festival, an event of great repercussion organised annually by Rede Globo, a song contest. Raul Seixas took part with Let Me Sing Let Me Sing (which reached the finals) and Eu Sou Eu Nicuri é o Diabo. The good reception earned him his first contract with a record label, Philips Phonogram. He released a compact disc of Let Me Sing Let Me Sing and the covers LP 24 Maiores Sucessos da Era do Rock (which doesn’t even bear Raul’s name, being released under the name of a Rock Generation band). His second compact disc, Ouro de Tolo (Fool’s Gold), was his first big hit.
In 1973, the LP Krig-Ha Bandolo! was released, featuring Raul Seixas’ first collaborations with fellow esotericist Paulo Coelho. They began to form the anarchist group Sociedade Alternativa, based on the doctrine of Aleister Crowley and also aimed at esoteric studies. They even thought of building the alternative community Cidade das Estrelas in Minas Gerais. However, the movement was considered subversive by the military government. Raul Seixas (who was apparently tortured), Paulo and their wives (Edith and Adalgisa) were exiled to the United States. During his exile, Raul would meet some of his idols, Elvis Presley, John Lennon and Jerry Lee Lewis.
They returned to Brazil in 1974 amidst the success of their second LP, Gita, possibly their best-selling and most successful release, winning gold discs and featuring on the soundtrack of the soap opera O Rebu. Philips even reissued 24 Maiores Sucessos… under a new name, 20 Anos de Rock, this time under Raul’s name. This was followed by highly successful LPs, Novo Aeon, Há 10 Mil Anos Atrás (the latter in partnership with Paulo Coelho), Raul Rock Seixas, O Dia Em Que a Terra Parou.
At the beginning of the 1980s, Raul Seixas began to suffer from health problems due to excessive alcohol consumption. However, he didn’t stop releasing albums and projects, Mata Virgem, Por Quem os Sinos Dobram, Abre-te Sésamo. He began to suffer from chronic hepatitis as a result of his drinking and was on a hiatus from contracts and concerts.
After falling sales of his last discs and a long boycott by record companies, Rual Seixas broke through again in 1978 with the song Carimbador Maluco from the LP Raul Seixas, part of Rede Globo’s children’s special Plunct Plact Zumm. This was followed by the albums Metrô Linha 743, Uah Bap Lu Bap La Bein Bum (with what would be his last big hit, Cowboy Fora da Lei) and A Pedra do Gênesis (which was supposed to be just part of a larger project called Opus 666 that was never released).
In 1988 Raul Seixas began composing, recording and touring with fellow Bahian Marcelo Nova, lead singer of the band Camisa de Vênus (then in the process of disappearing).
On 21 August 1989, just two days after the release of A Panela do Diabo, Raul Seixas died of a heart attack due to drinking problems. Curiously, after his death, his talent was more recognised than ever, he gathered more followers every day, and posthumously released unreleased records and compilations, all of which were sales successes.
In his career, Raul Seixas, was a pioneer in mixing all kinds of musical influences with rock and roll, strolling through and adding with ease and without prejudice rhythms from the Northeast (Raul Seixas’ Adventures in the City of Thor), folk in the style of Bob Dylan (Fool’s Gold), brega music (Session at 10), umbanda (Mosca na Sopa).
In his lyrics, Raul Seixas tackled subjects as disparate as human feelings, criticism of the system, esotericism and agnosticism with equal aplomb. His message is often implicit in lyrics that can be labelled silly by the less discerning (see the lyrics of Carimbador Maluco) and at other times it is pure poetry (as in Canção Para Minha Morte).
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