At the height of Tim Maia’s soaring fame, he joined a radical, extraterrestrial-obsessed cult and created two plus albums of some of Brazil’s—and the globe’s—best funk and soul music. This book explores the career of the man often hailed as the James Brown or Barry White of Brazil, and the time of his radical transformation from a musician notorious for hedonistic living to a devoted follower of Manoel Jacinto Coelho’s Rational Culture.
After suddenly joining Coelho’s cult in 1974 (which started first as an offshoot of the mystical Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda), Maia gave up drugs and alcohol, threw away his material possessions, and released Racional Vols. 1 & 2 in the attempt to convert the entirety of Brazil and the world to the revelation of Rational Culture. Thayer explores this strange, brief, yet incredibly prolific period of Maia’s life wherein the reigning soul and funk artist of Brazil produced two albums, an EP, and a recently unearthed tape containing almost another full album of funky jams laced with spiritual content and scripture. For just as quickly as Maia became entranced with Coelho did he become disillusioned with the cult, disavowing and destroying everything having to do with that experience and refusing to speak of it for the rest of his life.
33 1/3 Global, a series related to but independent from 33 1/3, takes the format of the original series of short, music-based books and brings the focus to music throughout the world. With initial volumes focusing on Japanese and Brazilian music, the series will also include volumes on the popular music of Australia/Oceania, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and more.
By:
Allen Thayer (Independent Scholar USA)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic USA
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 198mm,
Width: 129mm,
Weight: 372g
ISBN: 9781501321528
ISBN 10: 1501321528
Series: 33 1/3 Brazil
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 29 November 2018
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Tim Maia Irrational, 1942-1973 2. The Band, the Shed and Fatherhood, 1974 Interlude: Seu Manoel & Rational Culture 3. 50 Mescaline, Aliens and Seu Manoel, 1974 4. Tim Maia Racional Vol. 1 (Late 1974) 5. Rational Friends & Family (Early 1975) 6. Tim Maia Racional Vol. 2 (Early-Mid 1975) 7. Tim Maia Racional Vol. 3 and The End of Rationality 8. The Disenchantment 9. Irrational and Loving It 10. Rational Legacy 11. The Rescue and Reconstruction of Tim Maia Racional Vol. 3 Interlude: Carmelo, Tell Me What to Do Conclusion: Tim Maia, a Man in Search of Answers List of Interviews Works Cited Notes Index
Allen Thayer is a freelance journalist and regular contributor to the magazine Wax Poetics.
Reviews for Tim Maia's Tim Maia Racional Vols. 1 & 2
Leave it to [33 1/3 Brazil], just launched last year, to weave what may be one of the most page-turning titles in their roster. Pull up a chair; with Tim Maia's Tim Maia Racional Vols. 1 & 2 , Allen Thayer has a helluva story to tell. * Spectrum Culture *
