Garra

Valle and his lyricist brother Paulo Sérgio made Garra for Odeon in 1971. It draws on bossa nova, R&B, psychedelic rock, samba and baião, and it pushed at what the military-led government's censors would accept, with songs about corruption and the Black Power movement. Black Is Beautiful, sung with Marizinha, became a big song for Elis Regina the same year. On Com Mais de 30 he sings that you cannot trust anyone over 30, and Ao Amigo Tom, by Osmar Milito and Paulo Sérgio, is a bossa message to Jobim. Will Hodgkinson of The Times said Jesus Meu Rei sounds like Christian devotional pop even though it is about how much everyone hates Brazil's president.

John Bush of AllMusic called Garra a baroque masterpiece of easy-listening Brazilian pop. The Vinyl Factory's Far Out writers described the title track as gorgeous baroque pop with tight funky drums, harpsichord, acoustic guitar and gospel-sounding organ. Mauro Ferreira of G1 said it marks Valle's embrace of soul music. In a poll of more than 160 experts by the Discoteca Básica podcast it ranked 225th among 500 Brazilian albums. Light in the Attic reissued it in the United States in 2013.