PÃO COM MANTEIGA

Crossover Prog • Brazil

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Pão com Manteiga biography
Pão com Manteiga (Bread with Butter) was formed in the mid seventies by two musicians from São Vicente, São Paulo, Brazil. These were a bassist/vocalist who used the pseudonym 'Pierre' and an acoustic guitarist/viola player/vocalist who went under the name of 'Paulo Som'. The duo were subsequently joined by three musicians from Praia Grande and other nearby locations in São Paulo - these being guitarist/vocalist Diógenes Rondon (pseudonym 'Johnny'), a keyboard and banjo player who used the pseudonym 'Gilberto', and a drummer who used the pseudonym 'Edison Edisol', who was also responsible for the sound effects incorporated in the band's music.

Pão com Manteiga was so called because Bread, a simple food that is on every table in the world, is also spiritual food, of peace, hope and moral values. Despite the band being formed during the military dictatorship, they somehow they managed to avoid the issues of censorship that many artists suffered at the time. This may have been due to their idea of interweaving themes from the magical world of Avalon with their criticisms of modern society.

Pão first came to prominence when they won fourth place in the Rock Brabo award in São Paulo in the mid-seventies. First place went to the highly influential rock and MPB (Música popular brasileira) band Os Novos Baianos, second place went to O Terço, one of the first progressive bands from Brazil, followed in third place by Os Mutantes, another influential Brazilian rock band that were linked with the dissident Tropicália movement which was active during the Brazilian dictatorship of the late 1960s, and who were heavily influenced by Anglo-American psychedelic pop.

At that time Os Mutantes had a progressive rock sound not unlike the style of Yes, and had recorded the progressive rock album O "A" E O "Z" in 1973, but this wasn't released until 1992 due to a disagreement with the record company. Pão com Manteiga were signed to the Discos Continental record label, who had plans to promote the band as a replacement for the highly innovative and eclectic band Secos & Molhados, who took the country by storm with two excellent albums in 1973 and 1974 before breaking up in the wake of disagreements over the management of the band's profits.

Pão com Manteiga's eponymous debut album was released in early 1976, but unfortunately they didn't manage to stick around for long enough to allow Continental to achieve what they had planned, since the...Pão com Manteiga (Bread with Butter) was formed in the mid seventies by two musicians from São Vicente, São Paulo, Brazil. These were a bassist/vocalist who used the pseudonym 'Pierre' and an acoustic guitarist/viola player/vocalist who went under the name of 'Paulo Som'. The duo were subsequently joined by three musicians from Praia Grande and other nearby locations in São Paulo - these being guitarist/vocalist Diógenes Rondon (pseudonym 'Johnny'), a keyboard and banjo player who used the pseudonym 'Gilberto', and a drummer who used the pseudonym 'Edison Edisol', who was also responsible for the sound effects incorporated in the band's music.

Pão com Manteiga was so called because Bread, a simple food that is on every table in the world, is also spiritual food, of peace, hope and moral values. Despite the band being formed during the military dictatorship, they somehow they managed to avoid the issues of censorship that many artists suffered at the time. This may have been due to their idea of interweaving themes from the magical world of Avalon with their criticisms of modern society.

Pão first came to prominence when they won fourth place in the Rock Brabo award in São Paulo in the mid-seventies. First place went to the highly influential rock and MPB (Música popular brasileira) band Os Novos Baianos, second place went to O Terço, one of the first progressive bands from Brazil, followed in third place by Os Mutantes, another influential Brazilian rock band that were linked with the dissident Tropicália movement which was active during the Brazilian dictatorship of the late 1960s, and who were heavily influenced by Anglo-American psychedelic pop.

At that time Os Mutantes had a progressive rock sound not unlike the style of Yes, and had recorded the progressive rock album O "A" E O "Z" in 1973, but this wasn't released until 1992 due to a disagreement with the record company. Pão com Manteiga were signed to the Discos Continental record label, who had plans to promote the band as a replacement for the highly innovative and eclectic band Secos & Molhados, who took the country by storm with two excellent albums in 1973 and 1974 before breaking up in the wake of disagreements over the management of the band's profits.

Pão com Manteiga's eponymous debut album was released in early 1976, but unfortunately they didn't manage to stick around for long enough to allow Continental to achieve what they had planned, since the band broke up shortly after the release of their debut album as a result of the departure firstly of the band's lead singer Paulo Som, followed by guitarist Johnny for family reasons. Following the departure of two key members, the remaining band members simply lost motivation. The band's original founders, Pierre and Paulo Som, have since passed away. Pierre (the bassist and backing vocalist) lived in Japuí, in São Vicente, and was a fireman.

Diógenes Rondon (Johnny) started playing music when he was a teenager, forming some dance and performance bands during his youth. Some time later, he was approached by Pierre and Paulo Som to see if he could help them with their project. They had already approached the producer Waldyr Santos, who subsequently acted as a bridge between them and the Continental record label. As a guitarist in a dance band, Johnny had to create solos and take care of the arrangements and other aspects of the songs that were played, and he ended up being influenced by bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Carlos Santana, Ten Years After, Free, Nazareth, and others.

With studio direction and production by Waldyr Santos, the album visits medieval themes and has lyrics which address the magical world of Avalon - the music itself often having prominent characteristics of late 1960s/early 1970s psychedelia. In 2019, Medusa Records store, in partnership with vinyl LP specialists Polysom, decided to re-release Pão com Manteiga's only LP in heavier 180g format as part of their Clássicos Em Vinil series - with virtually the same cover as the first issue, which Continental had probably originally designed in the same aesthetic style as the two Os Secos & Molhados covers - the final artwork being created by Oscar Paolillo and Walmir Teixeira.

Bio written by David (yam yam)read more