| The Stonewall Celebration Concert | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1994 | |||
| Recorded | The album was recorded and mixed late February and March 1994, at Discover Studio,Rio de Janeiro.[1] | |||
| Genre | Rock,folk | |||
| Length | 68:12[2] | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Producer | Carlos Trilha, Renato Russo | |||
| Renato Russo chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
The Stonewall Celebration Concert is the debutstudio album by Brazilian singerRenato Russo, released in 1994.[1] The album had a sale of 250,000 copies in the first year of its release.[4][2] It was one of the first Brazilian albums to be entirely recorded with computers.[5] and it sees Russo covering English-language songs byMadonna,Bob Dylan,Nick Drake,Billy Joel, among others.
For his performance in the album, he was voted Best Singer by theAPCA in 1994.[6]
Russo took inspiration from aNick Drake album to create his solo debut.[7] Because the economical moment was favorable, the label gave him total freedom to create his material.[8]
The original plan was to do a special show with Russo singing accompanied byCarlos Trilha on the piano in order to raise funds to the Ação da Cidadania Contra a Fome, a Miséria e Pela Vida (Citizen Action Against Hunger and Poverty and for Life) campaign, created byHerbert de Souza, who died in 1997 of AIDS-related issues.[8][9]
After an initial performance at actorMarco Nanini's house and after listening to Trilha's keyboard programming for the show, Russo decided to register the project in studio while keeping its fundraising objectives towards that campaign.[10]
48 songs were prepared for the album, but only 21 made it to the final track list. Four had to be cut in the last minute due to a 70-minute limitation imposed by the CD factory; these were later released on the posthumous solo albumO Último Solo (the source says 30 of the 48 songs were disposed of).[11]
Russo believed he was the only one to know "Cathedral Song" at that time, but singerZélia Duncan released her self-titled debut album that same year and it contained a Portuguese-language version of it.[12]
The album was a tribute to twenty five years of theStonewall riots inNew York City.[13]
The cover is a tribute toRock 'n' Roll, byJohn Lennon, and shows Russo by the door of his building at Rua Nascimento Silva. The building's number was digitally removed later in order to preserve the musicians privacy. The booklet provides information twenty-nine social entities, including theGay Group of Bahia [ar;ast;es;fr;it;pt], ISER (Instituto de Estudos da Religião/Institute of Religious Studies),Greenpeace, Sociedade VivaCazuza (Cazuza Viva Society) and ABIA (Associação Brasileira Interdisciplinar de AIDS/Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association).[1][12]
The repertoire brings standards of American music and songs featured in films - of which many were part of his musical education. Some of the songs included are: "Cathedral Song",Tanita Tikaram's music phenomenon of the 90's;"Miss Celie's Blues", from the soundtrack ofThe Color Purple, composed byLionel Richie,Quincy Jones andRod Temperton; his own version of the theme ofWalt Disney'sPinocchio,"When You Wish upon a Star", written byNed Washington andLeigh Harline;"Cherish",Madonna's success, but with a morefolk tune and his strong vocal impression; andBob Dylan's record"If You See Her, Say Hello", from the original 1975 albumBlood on the Tracks, with the title changed to"If You See Him, Say Hello".[1]
