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These were likely meant to be used as background music for cocktail parties that the adults had back in the 60s. Rather than a full album by one artist, these would have a bunch of songs that were familiar from radio, TV, etc., played in a similar style to the hit version, and played with the volume turned low. Musical wallpaper.
I Totally Agree Michael. I first saw these particular LPs at a second hand store in the late 80s I was suspicious immediately and had a gut feeling I should avoid it and this thread Confirmed my younger suspicions and I'm glad I held out for the Real dealsThere's nothing like good taste.
And these albums were nothing like good taste.
Well, As You Remember Them was a direct result of the huge success of Time-Life's "Swing Era" sets, which offered re-recordings of 1930s through early 1950s material (with one album devoted to Benny Goodman's 70s output), which frankly makes more sense than redoing then relatively recent material. That said, the weird thing about As You Remember Them is that it started as an *instrumental* series (the first several volumes were even branded that way), but they started branching out into vocal "recreations" later, none of which sounded remotely like the originals, at least in terms of the vocalists. I've always wondered how the licensing deals went down with something like this -- wouldn't someone like Grusin have complained about his orchestrations being lifted whole cloth?
It's All about The Licensing.Not if he got a cut.
Out of curiosity, I wish I could hear these, so I could better understand what J.M.K. is saying -- as a reference, at least.You Stepped Out of a Dream -- one of the things I noticed repeatedly on the As You Remember Them versions is that while the orchestral recreations were often spot on (as the Grusin orchestration is -- more or less, anyway -- here), the mixes were often profoundly different. There's a whole emphasis on the midrange instruments on this version that the original doesn't have. Also, whoever "copied" Sergio's brief solo should have practiced a bit more -- his phrasing is completely wrong. That's also unusual, since as mentioned the instrumental/orchestral playing tended to be A+ most of the time.
Actually, there *is* a Brasil '65 Beatles cover, as I've discussed previously here. It's a really interesting "bridge" from the Atlantic sound to the Brasil '66 sound. Weirdly, the entire single isn't on YouTube, but the following snippet is (with some kind of scary pics of Annamaria Valle LOL):
Maybe, instead of doing "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay",
B'66 could have covered --
"Mrs. Robinson" by Simon (and Garfunkel).
I'm the great arm-chair, historically-revisionist fantasy A&M A&R man!
It's too bad, what Mr. Hagerty has been saying about the changing tides (trends) of the late-1960s in the U.S. pop market, in respect to major-label artists covering current hits --
"Undun" by Randy Bachman (The Guess Who) --
There's also "Living in the Past" by Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull). -- That record possesses so many of the elements of a Brasil '66 record (Sergio arrangement) -- except the lead vocalist. Even Martin Barre's rhythm guitar sounds like what's on the B'66 arrangements/productions (Joe Pisano?).
In fact, that song was first recorded and released in the U.K. in 1969, where it was a hit.
Those of you who remember American radio back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, please tell me -- Was that song getting airplay in '69, or did that not happen until the American re-release in 1972. (There was also a double-album compilation released that year in which that song was its title track.)
I was just going to say something along the same lines. In the beginning of the rock era it was pretty much a given that almost any artist (most often singers) would cover the hits of the day. It wouldn't make much sense for them to cover "album cuts," because they don't have the name-recognition value.
Older folks probably thought they were being "cool" when they bought a Ray Coniff album featuring covers of Beatles tunes.
That's me too, outside of the fact that I was in the business so I was pretty vitally interested in singles from that angle. And I do like quite a few "one-off" singles where the album was basically a cash grab and/or the act was a one-hit wonder. But with most of my favorite artists, I could make a list of favorite songs and there would be just as many, or more, album cuts on the list as there would be singles.To be honest, I am an album listener, so the singles market really never meant anything to me.
My only interest in singles is for non-album B-sides. At least in the days of 45s, though, it was a good way to sample an artist before taking a gamble on an entire album. Or if I was too anxious to wait for the LP. But I didn't buy things strictly because they were "hits." I think I have about 1½ racks of 45s in my "serious" collection, which would be maybe 50-60 singles tops. I have boxes of old "beaters" that I could probably toss in the trash and never miss; most of those were promos I got from a now-defunct studio not far from me.That's me too, outside of the fact that I was in the business so I was pretty vitally interested in singles from that angle. And I do like quite a few "one-off" singles where the album was basically a cash grab and/or the act was a one-hit wonder. But with most of my favorite artists, I could make a list of favorite songs and there would be just as many, or more, album cuts on the list as there would be singles.
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As to "Living in the Past", it probably got some airplay on FM progressive rock and freeform stations from its original release, but it didn't get any significant Top 40 play until its re-release in '72.
Intuitive Samba: Here's the problem: Lyrics began to matter. Music became personal as '68 morphed into '69, and artists seemed less authentic doing songs that others popularized or whose lyrics didn't seem to fit their persona.