Los Indios Tabajaras ''(The Tabajara Indians)'' was a

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

duo of two brothers, Antenor Lima and Natalicio (Nato) Lima, from

Tianguá Tianguá is a municipality in the state of Ceará in the Northeast region of Brazil. The municipality contains part of the Serra da Ibiapaba Environmental Protection Area, created in 1996. Currently is governed by Mayor Luiz Menezes de Lima. To ...

Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...

in the Northeast of Brazil. The group name refers to the ''

Tabajara Tabajara (; Tabajaras) are an Indigenous people of Brazil who lived on the easternmost portion of the Atlantic coast of northeast Brazil in the period before and during Portuguese colonization. Their territory extended from Ilha de Itamarac ...

'',

indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

who lived on the easternmost portion of the Atlantic coast of northeast Brazil in the period before and during Portuguese colonization, in the 16th century.

Origins

Their beginnings are not clear, though most stories have them becoming accomplished guitar players after finding a guitar near Ceará, in spite of the improbability of the story. They found success in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, performing as ''Natalicio and Antenor Lima'' and dressing in ceremonial Indian costumes. Using

classical guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string (music), string instrument with strings made of catgut, gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the ...

s and playing transcriptions of classical

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

works, they were soon playing all over

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. Probably as early as 1943,

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n arm signed them to a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

. In the early 1950s, they took a break from performing and went back to study the guitar. After returning to the stage later that same decade, they took on the name "Los Indios Tabajaras" and released an album in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on an RCA-owned label Vox.

Breakthrough

Throughout this period, they had a steady stream of releases on RCA in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and one of these, a Mexican popular tune named " María Elena" ( Lorenzo Barcelata; named after the wife of a Mexican president and recorded in 1958), became a steady seller, a success throughout Latin America and was finally released on a single in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

in 1963. It spent 14 weeks on the Hot 100 in the fall of 1963, four of which were in the top 10 in November 1963, reaching number 6, number 4 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and had similar success in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. Los Indios Tabajaras continued touring throughout

the Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.'' Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sin ...

and Europe, and in 1964 they had another two releases, "Always in My Heart" and "Marta." Although "Always in My Heart" made the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, neither of these were nearly as successful as "Maria Elena." Their fluent guitar playing caught the ear of American guitarist

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...

and, along with pianist

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "whole-step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatur ...

, they recorded an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. They also recorded and released material with singer

Don Gibson Donald Eugene Gibson (April 3, 1928 – November 17, 2003) was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson wrote such country standards as " Sweet Dreams" and " I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjo ...

, including a re-recording of Gibson's 1958 hit "

Oh Lonesome Me "Oh Lonesome Me" is a popular song written and recorded in December 1957 by Don Gibson with Chet Atkins producing it for RCA Victor in Nashville. Released in 1958, the song topped the country chart for eight non-consecutive weeks. On what beca ...

Later years

RCA released albums by Los Indios Tabajaras into the 1980s. They were produced by Herman Diaz, Jr. until his retirement in 1975. They then worked with RCA producer

Ethel Gabriel Ethel Nagy Gabriel (November 16, 1921 – March 23, 2021) was an American record producer and record executive with a four-decade career at RCA Victor. She produced over 2,500 music albums including 15 RIAA Certified Gold Records and hits by Elv ...

. Antenor retired from performing in 1979, and died in 1997. Natalicio continued to perform into the 1990s with his wife, Michiko. He died in November 2009.

Discography

*1953 ''Temura'' *1957 ''Popular and Folk Songs of Latin America'' *1958 ''Sweet and Savage'' *1963 ''Maria Elena'' *1963 ''Los Indios Tàba-Jàràs'' *1964 ''Always In My Heart'' *1964 ''The Mellow Guitar Moods of Los Indios Tabajaras'' *1965 ''Voglio Amarti Cosi'' *1965 ''The Many Splendored Guitars of Los Indios Tabajaras'' *1965 ''Twin Guitars - In A Mood For Lovers'' *1966 ''Musica Para Enamorados'' *1966 ''

with Spanish Guitars'' (with Don Gibson) *1966 ''Casually Classic'' *1967 ''The Very Special Touch'' *1967 ''The Soft Touch of Los Indios Tabajaras'' *1968 ''The Fascinating Rhythms of Their Brazil'' *1968 ''In A Sentimental Mood'' *1969 ''Canciones De Las Islas (Song of the Islands)'' *1970 ''Dreams of Love'' *1970 ''Canciones Populaires y Folklóricas de Hispanoamerica'' (re-issue of 1957 album) *1970 ''Los Indios Tabajaras'' *1971 ''Lo Que El Mundo Necesita Ahora es Amor'' *1971 ''Suono d'Estate'' *1971 ''Marta'' *1971 ''The Very Thought of You'' *1972 ''Siempre En Mi Corazon'' *1972 ''Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise'' *1972 ''El Condor Pasa'' *1973 ''Play Favorite Movie Themes'' *1974 ''The Classical Guitars of'' *1975 ''Temas de Peliculas Europeas'' *1975 ''Country Music Cavalcade'' (shared with

and

) *1976 ''Secret Love/All Time Film Favorites'' *1977 ''Mellow Nostalgia'' *1977 ''El Sonido de Los Indios Tabajaras'' *1978 ''Masterpieces'' *1979 ''Two Guitars'' *1980 ''Rainbows'' *1981 ''Beautiful Sounds'' *1982 ''Music For Romance'' *1983 ''Guitars on the Go'' *1988 ''The Magic Guitars of Los Indios Tabajaras'' *1992 ''The Joy of Playing''

References

External links

Mayaudio.com
Dead link.
On-line jukebox
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Indios Tabajaras Brazilian musical duos RCA Victor artists Sibling musical duos