Bob Nelson

Origin

Campinas, SP

Also known as

Bob Nelson e Seus Rancheiros

Years Active

1939–2009

Genres

música sertaneja, country

Instruments

voz

Biography

Nelson Roberto Perez, known artistically as Bob Nelson, was born in Campinas on October 12, 1918. He began his artistic career in the 1940s at Rádio Educadora de Campinas and later moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he sang in casinos, dances, and on radio stations, besides having accompanied Carmen Miranda in 1939. At Rádio Tupi, he adopted the stage name Bob Nelson because he considered it more commercial, establishing himself as a pioneer by mixing sertanejo music with American country and Tyrolean yodeling.

Throughout his career, he became known as the "Vaqueiro Alegre" (Joyful Cowboy) and achieved enormous success with his adaptation of the American song Oh! Susanna in 1943, recorded on his first album released in 1944. He performed with his ensemble Bob Nelson e Seus Rancheiros and even sang for General Douglas MacArthur during World War II, sponsored by Assis Chateaubriand. He also paraded in the Rio Carnival with the Império Serrano samba school.

His influence reached later generations, making him an idol of essential Jovem Guarda names such as Roberto Carlos and Erasmo Carlos, who even recorded the song A Lenda de Bob Nelson in his honor in 1974. Bob Nelson passed away in Rio de Janeiro on August 28, 2009, at the age of ninety.

Discography

• Oh! Suzana / Vaqueiro Alegre (1944)
• O Key Johnny / Minha Linda Salomé (1945)
• Oh! Suzana / A Valsa do Vaqueiro (1946)
• Oh! Suzana / Um Vaqueiro na Cidade (1959)
• Lourival Faissal, Bob Nelson, Rádio Teatral – A Cidade Fantasma - Conto Infantil