"Na Baixa do Sapateiro" (English: In the Shoemaker's Hollow) is a famous Brazilian song, written by Ary Barroso. Its title comes from a street in Salvador, Bahia, where many cobblers once worked.[1]
It was originally released in 1938 as the B side to Salada Mista, which did not achieve the same level of success.[2]
This first recording was sung by Carmen Miranda with Orchestra Odeon.[1][3]
She never released the song on disc in the United States.[2] The song was originally going to be featured in the Carmen Miranda film Banana da Terra (1939), but was replaced with "O Que É Que A Baiana Tem?", because of the high license fee demanded by Ary Barroso to use his song.[1] However the song has been recorded many other times by a large number of artists. The song gained international fame when it was featured in the Disney film The Three Caballeros (1944).
The song, retitled "Baía" (also known as "Bahia"), was featured in the Disney film The Three Caballeros, with English lyrics written by Ray Gilbert and sung by Nestor Amaral.[1] The lyrics to "Baía" are not a translation of Ary Barroso’s original Portuguese lyrics, and differ from them considerably. However, both songs share a similar theme of longing for the past.[4]
This version was very successful and has been played over a million times on US radio.[5]
Due to the popularity of the song, one million copies of sheet music were printed in the United States in 1945 alone.[4]
Notable covers of Baía
On the official soundtrack of The Three Caballeros, the song was sung by Ray Gilbert with Charles Wolcott and his Orchestra.[3]