# Raul Seixas

Raul Santos Seixas (Portuguese pronunciation:; 28 June 1945 – 21 August 1989) was a Brazilian rock musician foundational to the genre. Rolling Stone Brazil named Seixas among the greatest artists in Brazilian music.
Throughout his career, Seixas composed music in several genres, blending rock'n'roll, folk, and ballads with variations of Northeastern Brazil rhythms like forró, baião, and xote. His 1968 debut album, Raulzito e os Panteras, was produced when he was part of a band of the same name.
Several Raul Seixas songs emphasized philosophical, spiritual and mystical themes; his album Gita (1974) was influenced by figures such as Aleister Crowley. Several of his songs were co-written with future author Paulo Coelho.

## Life and career

Seixas was born on 28 June 1945 in Salvador, Bahia, to a middle-class family. As a child living near the United States consulate, he became fluent in the English language, and was introduced to early rock and roll records of artists such as Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley through his contacts with American diplomats' children around 1956. Elvis's music in particular was influential in young Raul's decision to become a musician. At the age of twelve, Seixas formed his first group, The Panthers, later changing their name to the Portuguese-language Raulzito e os Panteras ("Little Raul and The Panthers"). They appeared on TV Itapoan doing covers of Lewis, Little Richard and Elvis, a style of music which was at the time called "cowboy music" in Brazil.
In the mid-1960s, Os Panteras started backing some of Brazil's most famous pop singers of the time, such as Jerry Adriani whenever they went to Salvador. Impressed with their talent, the stars would always advise Raul to move down south and take a chance in the thriving Jovem Guarda scene.
Following the promises of fame and fortune, the band moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1967. In the following year they released their first and only album on the Odeon label (later EMI-Odeon), which included a Portuguese language version of the Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" among many original numbers. Without any publicity, the record sunk and the band disbanded. Seixas was totally shaken by the failure of the Panteras, and his return to Salvador. He wrote: "I spent all day locked in my room reading philosophy, with only a very feeble light, what ended up spoiling my eyesight [...] I bought a motorcycle and did crazy things in the street."
After his former bandmates moved back to Salvador, Seixas made a living as an English teacher before being hired by CBS, still in 1968, as creative director and record producer. In 1971, tired of writing and producing records by bland, commercial artists, he took advantage of a label director's vacations and produced Sociedade da Grã-Ordem Kavernista Apresenta Sessão das Dez, an avant-garde album featuring himself, singer Sergio Sampaio, samba artist Miriam Batucada and Edy Star. The record's mix of Tropicalia, rock and roll and anarchic surrealistic experiments launched Raul Seixas as an icon of Brazilian counterculture.
In the 1970s, Seixas became popular in urban centers such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Music broadcast on TV and radio was satirical, sarcastic with esoteric themes. References to a wide range of historical and fictional personalities are found within his lyrics: The Beatles, Aleister Crowley, Al Capone, Marlon Brando, Jesus, Julius Caesar and Shakespeare, for example. Seixas was subject to censorship during Brazil's period of military dictatorship. Like the music of his contemporaries such as Chico Buarque and others, Seixas's lyrics hide political messages within double meanings.
1971 also saw the beginning of a relationship with esoteric author Paulo Coelho, beginning with Krig-Há-Bandolo in 1973. Through Coelho, Seixas was introduced to the work of controversial English mystic Aleister Crowley, which influenced their collaboration. The influence extended not only to music, but also to plans for the creation of the "Sociedade Alternativa" (Alternative Society), which was to be an anarchist community in the state of Minas Gerais based on Crowley's premise: "'Do what thou wilt' shall be the whole of the Law." The project was considered subversive by members of the Brazilian military, which imprisoned all prospective members of the group. Seixas and Coelho are reported to have been tortured during their imprisonment.
Seixas got into self-exiling himself in the United States following the presumed detention by government repressive agents, where his American wife of the time was living. (Seixas was legally married twice to Edith Wisner and Gloria Vaquer Seixas.) He has three daughters. He would later claim that during his exile he had met his childhood heroes John Lennon and Jerry Lee Lewis, although this claim has been disputed.

### Late career and death

Perhaps as a result of his drug addiction and alcoholism, the rate and quality of Seixas' releases slowed through the late-1970s and throughout the 1980s. In later life Seixas suffered from diabetes and pancreatitis. On Monday, 21 August 1989, at the age of 44, Seixas died of cardiac arrest, the result of acute pancreatitis brought on by his diabetes and not having taken insulin the night before. His final album, A Panela do Diabo, a partnership with fellow Bahian rocker Marcelo Nova (former leader of punk rock band Camisa de Vênus) was released two days before his death.

## Discography
### Studio albums

* 1968 – Raulzito e os Panteras
* 1971 – Sociedade da Grã-Ordem Kavernista Apresenta Sessão das 10 (with Sérgio Sampaio, Miriam Batucada and Edy Star)
* 1973 – Os 24 Maiores Sucessos da Era do Rock
* 1973 – Krig-ha, Bandolo!
* 1974 – O Rebu (Original soundtrack – Raul Seixas & Paulo Coelho)
* 1974 – Gita
* 1975 – 20 Anos de Rock (Reissue of Os 24 Maiores Sucessos da Era do Rock)
* 1975 – Novo Aeon
* 1976 – Há 10 Mil Anos Atrás
* 1977 – Raul Rock Seixas
* 1977 – O Dia em que a Terra Parou
* 1978 – Mata Virgem
* 1979 – Por Quem Os Sinos Dobram
* 1980 – Abre-Te Sésamo
* 1983 – Raul Seixas
* 1984 – Metrô Linha 743
* 1985 – 30 Anos de Rock (Reissue of Os 24 Maiores Sucessos da Era do Rock)
* 1985 – Let Me Sing My Rock And Roll (Compilation with previously unreleased tracks)
* 1986 – Raul Rock Seixas Volume 2 (Compilation with previously unreleased tracks)
* 1987 – Caroço de Manga (Reissue of Let Me Sing My Rock And Roll)
* 1987 – Uah-Bap-Lu-Bap-Lah-Béin-Bum!
* 1988 – A Pedra do Gênesis
* 1989 – A Panela do Diabo (with Marcelo Nova)

### Posthumous studio albums

* 1992 – O Baú do Raul
* 1998 – Documento
* 2009 – 20 Anos sem Raul Seixas (Reissue of Documento with a previously unreleased track)

### Live albums

* 1984 – Ao Vivo - Único e Exclusivo (Concert in São Paulo 1983)
* 1991 – Eu, Raul Seixas (Concert at Gonzaga Beach, Santos/SP 1982)
* 1993 – Raul Vivo (Reissue of Ao Vivo – Único e Exclusivo with extras tracks)
* 1994 – Se o Rádio Não Toca... (Concert in Brasília 1974)

### Compilation albums

* 1985 – Let Me Sing My Rock And Roll
* 1986 – Raul Rock Seixas Volume 2
* 1987 – Caroço de Manga
* 1991 – As Profecias (With a previously unreleased track)
* 2003 – Anarkilópolis (With a previously unreleased track)

### Box Sets

* 1995 – Série Grandes Nomes: Raul (Box containing 4 CDs and Illustrated Booklet)
* 2002 – Maluco Beleza (Box containing 6 CDs and Illustrated Booklet)
* 2009 – 10.000 Anos à Frente (Reissue of Maluco Beleza)