José Cid

Early life

Cid was born in 1942 in Chamusca, son of Francisco Albano Coutinho Ferreira and Fernanda Tavares Salter Cid Ferreira Gameiro. In 1953, aged 11, he went to the municipality of Anadia. He began his career in 1956 with the founding of the Babies, a musical group specialized in the interpretation of songs from other bands. In 1960, as a student of the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra (FDUC), he created in Coimbra the Conjunto Orfeão, with José Niza, Proença de Carvalho and Rui Ressurreição.

José Cid is married since 2013 (present), with the well known East Timorese journalist and artist/painter Gabriela Carrascalão . Cid and Gabriela are living in his farm in Mogofores, municipality of Anadia. José Cid has one child, Ana Sofia Infante Pedroso, who was born in 1964, from his first marriage with Emilia Infante Pedroso. Ana Sofia did work briefly with her father – she is author of some of his lyrics and made choruses to some of Cid's songs.

After enrolling four times in the first study year of law at the University of Coimbra, Cid dropped out law and the city of Coimbra, and went to Lisbon in 1965 to attend the National Institute of Physical Education (INEF). One of his colleagues in INEF was the brother of Michel who played in the Conjunto Mistério. After a hearing he was invited to join the group that some time later was renamed Quarteto 1111. José Cid also does not complete the course at INEF because he was called to military service as an officer of the Portuguese Air Force. At the air base of Ota he was a gym teacher between 1968 and 1972. He taught in the morning and by afternoon he was playing music in a garage. At weekends, he acted with the Quarteto 1111.

Quarteto 1111

José Cid co-founded Quarteto 1111, the first band to take a new approach to pop-rock music in Portugal, with a modern line-up and instrumentation.

Quarteto 1111 was the first symphonic rock band in Portugal. Between 1968-69 they received media attention through a hit single, "El Rei D. Sebastião", actually with lyrics about the theme of the lost Portuguese king, who supposedly died in the fields of Morocco during the battle of Alcazarquivir (a loss that would eventually lead to Portugal losing its independence to Spain). All the myths related with the return of King Sebastian – a quite anchored Portuguese myth – were fairly treated in this song. The harpsichord made its first appearance in Portuguese rock music. A single with the English version of the song was published in Great Britain. José Cid was the band leader, composer, keyboard player and lead singer. The rest of the band had a classic formation influenced by the usual Beatles line-up, but with a sound and song structure reminiscent of The Moody Blues. The following album continued in the same vein, combining melodic songs with new "progressive" instruments, namely the Mellotron. Later on the band evolved to the late 1970s pop sound.

Progressive rock

Cid explored symphonic rock with Cantamos Pessoas Vivas (1974), Vida – Sons do Quotidiano (1976) and 10,000 Anos Depois Entre Venus E Marte (1978). The progressive concept album 10,000 Anos Depois Entre Venus E Marte was released in 1978 and is consistently featured in www.progarchives.com among the top five progressive rock albums ever , and considered "Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music". Most of the songs, influenced by a sort of mix combining The Moody Blues and Pink Floyd psychedelia, were composed by Cid, some of them with the help of guitar player Mike Sergeant and drummer Ramon Galarza. Another (unfinished) project from this lineup, Vozes do Além, explored the "Life after Death / Reincarnation" theme. Featured in the record are a poem by Natália Correia ("Creio") and two from Sofia de Mello Breyner ("Quando" and "Um Dia"). Presently, work on this album has resumed, with the original lineup and the addition of younger musicians.

Eurovision

The pop inclinations of José Cid led him to found during the first half of the 1970s a 4 piece vocal pop group (Green Windows) and to participate in the 1974 Festival da Canção with Imagens and No Dia Em Que O Rei Fez Anos. He also participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with the song Um grande, grande amor.

Present day

José Cid himself made a career as songwriter and singer and remains a popular and active musician in Portugal.

José Cid with his latest album " Menino Prodígio", which was released late 2015, was awarded, by the Sociedade Portuguesa de Autore (SPA) (English: Portuguese Society of Authors) with Pedro Osório Award as the best album of the year.

In 2016, Cid released his first album in Spain, which is receiving excellent reviews at all levels.