Gentlemen
The Gentlemen
Another super rare gem brought to you by Mr Bongo from the legendary Rozenblit catalogue, The Gentlemen's s/t album is the holy grail of Brazilian psych. The LP on Smog Records was so rare only 200 copies were ever pressed for radio promotion and only 3 of the originals are now known to still exist. Formed by Hugo Leao (real name Hugo Filho) in 1966, The Gentlemen were a garage-rock band from Pernambuco that came together via inspirations from the 'Jovem Guarda' movement and the 60's psyche-rock sound from the UK. The group consisted of Hugo Leao (bass and vocal), Clio (rhythm guitar), Valmir (lead vocal), Saulo (drums), Enilton (guitar) and Carlito (keyboards). 'Sorriso Selvagem' is the first track on the groundbreaking, self-titled, classic album from 1972, sounding like a mixture of Santana and Deep Purple. The single 'Christina' features the great Zé Ramalho and will be reissued in 2012 on Mr Bongo. They merge the psych sounds with the traditional Pernambucan percussion, Indian sitars & Moroccan lutes. Hugo currently resides in Paraiba, Brazil. CD in beautiful digipack format with Obi.