Brasil '88 in the 70s

[toeknee4bz]

OK, guys. I never was the big Brasil fan, so all I'm familiar with are Sergio's 80s albums (which I am a giant fan of), and though ironic, I am a fairly good fan of Lani Hall. So I never gave much thought to the whole "Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66" billing. Presumably it started in 1966. Over the years I saw old vinyl copies along the way from SM & B '77, which I presume came out in or around 1977. And of course, I have Sergio's 1986 album "Brasil '86"...

Then, out of the blue, I run across a pre-1980s album billed as Sergio Mendes & Brasil '88. HUH??? Would somebody please explain this, or was Sergio just watching a time-travel episode of Star Trek?

Thanks,
Tony

 

[Mike Blakesley]

He always stayed a bit ahead of the actual year. In 1971 he switched from '66 to '77, and then when he left Bell Records for Elektra, he went to just "Sergio Mendes" for one album before resurrecting '77 for two albums...by that time it was the '80s, so he came out with the BRASIL 88 album. But when he went back to A&M, he eventually released the BRASIL '86 album (which of course came out after BRASIL 88 on Elektra).
It's all very confusing. It's easier if you keep in mind that "Brasil '88" was never his group's name -- it was just one album's title, as was Brasil '86.

 

[JMK]

Didn't Sergio tour with the band as Brasil '88? I think I saw them right here in li'l ol' Portland at the Rose Festival cause I seem to remember the "snake" logo on a banner. Maybe I dreamt it, though.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I think most of his tours before the turn of the century were "Sergio Mendes and Brasil 'something.'" I remember seeing them introduced on the Tonight Show in the early '90s as "Brasil '99" once, and then it was Brasil 2000, and there have been many concerts since then where it was "Sergio Mendes and Brasil (fill in the current year)." Is it still that way, concertgoers?

 

[JMK]

Except this was when the album was new--they did "Bridges" and "One More Lie" at the concert, IIRC.

 

[JMAR5]

I think most of his tours before the turn of the century were "Sergio Mendes and Brasil 'something.'" I remember seeing them introduced on the Tonight Show in the early '90s as "Brasil '99" once, and then it was Brasil 2000, and there have been many concerts since then where it was "Sergio Mendes and Brasil (fill in the current year)." Is it still that way, concertgoers?

I pondered these same questions. I always thought it was strange that he never really went in sequence when naming his group and when he hit the 2000's, he started going with the exact year. Sergio and Brasil 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. It seemed like a big shift had changed in 1971 with the departure of lead singer Lani Hall and that's why he may have finally changed the group name to be something similar to the original 66'/77' instead of Sergio M and Brasil 71