1. We made it! Our 2011/2012 donation drive was a success, and our VPS server is set for the next 12 months. Here's to a great 2012!
  2. Our forum has been upgraded to XenForo version 1.1. You may find a couple of new features and enhancements as you visit the forum. If anything looks or functions incorrectly, or if you have any questions, please let us know. Thanks!
  3. Did you know? Hover over this notice. See the "X" in the upper right corner as you hover? This will "dismiss" the current notice. A few important notices can sometimes not be dismissed, but most can. You can restore all notices through your user panel.
  4. Join The Gold Club!

    The Gold Club gives you the opportunity to enhance your forum experience while also helping us out!
    Want to upload images with your posts or get a custom title under your name?
    The Gold Club has you covered!

    View all of the details here, or click here to subscribe to the Gold Club now!
Thank you! XenForo 1.1 Upgrade Close The Notices Join The Gold Club!

Classic AOTW: Sergio Mendes Brasil 66 LOOK AROUND SP-4137

Discussion in 'Look Around: Sergio Mendes/Brazilian Music Forum' started by Harry, Jun 19, 2009.

?

What is your favorite track?

With A Little Help From My Friends 0 vote(s) 0.0%
Roda 4 vote(s) 10.8%
Like A Lover 12 vote(s) 32.4%
The Frog 4 vote(s) 10.8%
Tristeza (Goodbye Sadness) 0 vote(s) 0.0%
The Look Of Love 4 vote(s) 10.8%
Pradizer Adeus (To Say Goodbye) 0 vote(s) 0.0%
Batucada (The Beat) 2 vote(s) 5.4%
So Many Stars 7 vote(s) 18.9%
Look Around 4 vote(s) 10.8%
Page 1 of 4

  1. Harry Administrator

    Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
    LOOK AROUND
    A&M SP-4137
    [IMG]

    Also released as mono LP-137 and several times on CD - in Japan POCM-1881 and in the US on Verve by Request 314 543 515-2

    Tracks:

    Side One
    1. With A Little Help From My Friends (Lennon-McCartney) 2:33
    2. Roda (Gilberto Gil-Joao Augusto) 2:22
    3. Like A Lover* (D. Caymmi-N. Motta-A.&M. Bergman) 3:51
    4. The Frog** (Joao Donato) 2:42
    5. Tristeza (Goodbye Sadness) (H.Lobo-Niltinho-N.Gimbel) 2:52

    Side Two
    1. The Look Of Love** (Bacharach-David) 2:42
    2. Pradizer Adeus (To Say Goodbye)* (E.Lobo-L.Hall) 3:03
    3. Batucada (The Beat) (Marcos Valle-Paul Valle) 2:19
    4. So Many Stars** (S. Mendes-A.&M. Bergman) 4:25
    5. Look Around (S. Mendes-A.&M. Bergman) 2:59

    Credits:

    Arrangers: Sergio Mendes / **Dave Grusin / *Dick Hazard
    Engineers: Larry Levine, Henry Lewy
    Studios: Sunset Sound, Western Recorders, Annex Studios
    Guitar: John Pisano
    Produced by: Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss
    Album Design by Corporate Head
    Art Director: Tom Wilkes
    Photography by Guy Webster

    Liner Notes:

    Look around...the recording studio is small and like a room in a downtown hotel, drab, impersonal and functional...Instrument cases, paper coffee cups, a labyrinth of wires and cables and the inevitable Cyclops eye of a clock on the wall, all hermetically sealed to eliminate the sights and sounds of the outside.

    Look around...the control booth is smaller still...like a cockpit with a panel full of dials, needles and levers. If the studio had wings, it could surely fly.

    Look around...beyond the double glass wall, Sergio Mendes walks to the piano. The many weeks of perfection-seeking preparation are behind him. He's ready. His group is ready. In the booth, producer Herb Alpert, the engineer and the wheels of tape are ready. Sergio closes his eyes. He finds just the right tempo, "Um, dois, tres!"...the music starts...the magic begins. Suddenly the studio does have wings. Suddenly it flies. And what a flight! Smooth as glass. Like seagull kites over the warm sands of Copacabana beach...the joy of Carnival. The sight and sound of Brazil.

    It's all here. Listen. Close your eyes...and look around.

    Marilyn and Alan Bergman
    Harry, Jun 19, 2009
    #1 Share

  2. Michael Hagerty Member

    This was my first Sergio album...and, come to think of it, the first A&M LP I purchased on my own (as mentioned in the NINTH thread, I'd asked my Mom to purchase that album on a business trip and I wound up with WHIPPED CREAM instead).

    I was 11 when I bought this.

    As such, I think I can probably credit this one with my A&M habit...it was such an impressive album that I was willing to take chances on A&M artists I hadn't heard on the radio simply because they were on A&M.

    ---Michael Hagerty
    Michael Hagerty, Jun 19, 2009
    #2 Share

  3. Dave Active Member

    The first "full-blown production" Sergio Mendes/Brasil '66 LP... I picked "The Look Of Love", though I probably should'a chosen "Like A Lover", but maybe because of the "different mix" of the latter on Family Portrait which I equally like, is the reason that I didn't... "

    "Look Around", too, especially the way it punctuates the overall emotions of the group's collective effort, offering a "mini-summary" at the end of the album, is my 2nd pick...

    (Or 3rd, after "Like A Lover"--maybe 4th after "Family Portrait-Like A Lover"...--Or vice-versa!) :nut:

    Well, this LP is, in short: Flawless...!!!!!!



    Dave
    Dave, Jun 19, 2009
    #3 Share

  4. A&Mguyfromwayback Member

    Yea, this one is pretty flawless from beginning to end.....great selection of songs. The up tunes (The Frog & Batucada esp.) have such a sense of fun....
    A&Mguyfromwayback, Jun 19, 2009
    #4 Share

  5. Mike Blakesley Administrator

    This album has one of my favorite liner notes. You can tell the Bergmans are songwriters from the notes.

    The album is a killer. The only song on it I don't like too much is "Pradizer Adeus" but I can even listen to that in context of the rest of the record. Pretty much a flawless LP.

    Favorite tune? That's a tough one. I would probably have to go with the title song, but I like "Batucada," "Roda," "The Look of Love" and "Like a Lover" too. I think I'll withhold my vote and think about it a while.

    This is also my second favorite of all the B'66 album covers (#1 being STILLNESS).
    Mike Blakesley, Jun 19, 2009
    #5 Share

  6. seashorepiano Active Member

    My favorite tune here is "So Many Stars" by a long shot. The arrangement and orchestration are great--one of the best string backings in jazz/pop--and Lani's singing is some of the best I've heard by her. I can pass on "Pradizer Adeus," and I've never liked "The Look of Love" (or most Bacharach) anyway.
    seashorepiano, Jun 19, 2009
    #6 Share

  7. Steve Sidoruk Administrator

    [IMG]
    A&M SP 437 LOOK AROUND Stereo Jukebox Little LP

    [IMG]
    A&M SP 437 LOOK AROUND Stereo Jukebox Little LP
    jukebox strips

    [IMG]
    A&M 910 With A Little Help From My Friends b/w Look Around
    promo single

    [IMG]
    A&M 910 With A Little Help From My Friends b/w Look Around
    promo single

    [IMG]
    A&M 924 The Look Of Love b/w Like A Lover single picture sleeve

    [IMG]
    A&M 924 The Look Of Love b/w Like A Lover

    [IMG]
    A&M 924 The Look Of Love b/w Like A Lover

    [IMG]
    A&M 961 So Many Stars b-side of Fool On The Hill

    [IMG]
    A&M 8520 The Look Of Love b/w Night And Day - Forget Me Nots
    single re-issue

    [IMG]
    A&M 8521 With A Little Help From My Friends b/w The Fool On
    The Hill     - Forget Me Nots single re-issue

    Recording Session Notes:
    7/24/67 - T. T. G. - The Look Of Love, The Frog - Sergio Mendes - piano, Joao Donato - piano, Modesto Duran - conga, Nicholas Martinez - ?, Robert Matthews - bass, Joao Palma, percussion, John Pisano - guitar, Jose de Azerei Soares - percussion.

    10/7/67 - Western Recorders - To Say Goodbye, So Many Stars, Like A Lover - Sergio Mendes - piano, Robert Matthews - bass, John Pisano - guitar, Jose Soares - percussion.

    10/17/67 - Western Recorders - So Many Stars, Pra Dizer Adeus, Like A Lover - Sergio Mendes - piano, Robert Matthews - bass, Joao Palma - percussion, John Pisano - guitar, Jose Soares - percussion, Thelma Beach - violin, Joachim Chassman - violin, Bolice Dale - viola, Joseph DeFiore - viola, Alan Dinkin - viola, Adolph DiTullio - violin, Joseph DiTullio - cello, Maris Feris - cello, Sam Freed - violin, James Getzoff - violin, Anne Goodman - cello, Richard Hazard - ?, Robert Helfer - ?, Mort Herbert - violin, Nathan Kaproff - violin, Louis Kievman - viola, Lou Klass - violin, Carl LaMagna - violin, Marvin Limonick - violin, Joy Lyle - violin, Irma Neumann - violin, Joseph Reilich - viola, Dorothy Remsen - harp, Eleanor Slatkin - cello, Sanford Schonboach - viola, Joseph Stepansky - violin, Robert Sushel - violin.

    Trivia: A&M SP 4137 LOOK AROUND was the first A&M album to have the logo with the symbol ® denoting registered trademark.
    Steve Sidoruk, Jun 19, 2009
    #7 Share

  8. JO New Member

    Agreee on all accounts (except the "most Bacharach" part...but that's another post).

    So Many Stars and Like A Lover are my all-time fave Lani vocals; that they were both recorded the same day speaks volumes about capturing a mood. Pradizer...is one of the very few Edu Lobo pieces that is a major yawn; given that Sergio is an uninteresting singer makes this piece a loser from the first couple notes. The Look Of Love is given a moronic arrangement by Dave Grusin -- a man who apparently has little regard for the word "tactful". (I mean it's supposed to be a "look" of love between two people -- not between opposing sides of a football game.) At least he redeemed himself on So Many Stars.

    Overall, I have mixed feelings about the LP. Of course, it's a wonderful record; however, I prefer Brasil '66 being a combo -- at this point Grusin takes control with his engulfing arrangements...at the expense of the wonderful combo interplay.

    I'd nearly give my first born to hear the non-orchestrated versions of Like A Lover and So Many Stars. (Anyone out there got access to the session tapes?)
    JO, Jun 19, 2009
    #8 Share

  9. A&Mguyfromwayback Member

    I must say, it's the fashion to be bashin' Dave Grusin's arrangements on Sergio's albums....but I love it - it's very late 60s and over the top and kind of 'TV variety' sounding but I don't care, I love it. Sergio must have too, or else he wouldn't have hired him over and over and over.........IMHO.
    A&Mguyfromwayback, Jun 20, 2009
    #9 Share

  10. Harry Administrator

    Count me in as a fan of Dave Grusin's work too. I've never understood the bashing he takes here by some.

    We'd heard the sample of Sergio's "tight little combo" sound on the two prior albums (not to mention the instrumental bossa stuff that preceded them), so branching out and adding more to the sound was quite in order, IMHO.

    And you can't argue with success - "The Look Of Love" was the highest charting of all of the Brasil '66 singles, so it's hardly "moronic".

    Harry
    Harry, Jun 20, 2009
    #10 Share

  11. Moritat New Member

    Nice lp. Probably my third favorite Brasil 66 lp after Fool & Equniox. Two songs stand out for me, The Frog & Like A Lover. I'll give my vote to The Frog by a hair. Its an interesting tune, very simple with no bridge, just a repeating melody that keeps building and then fades at the end. Like A Lover is such a well written & pretty tune, I'm surprised there aren't a number of covers out there. Anyone know of any other artists who have recorded this?
    Moritat, Jun 20, 2009
    #11 Share

  12. Harry Administrator

    The song was written by Dori Caymmi as "Cantador". The Bergmans wrote the English lyrics, probablt for this album.

    Dori Caymmi has recorded the song on his 1988 self/titled album for Elektra/Musician (9 60790-2), which was produced by Sergio Mendes.

    Harry
    Harry, Jun 20, 2009
    #12 Share

  13. A&Mguyfromwayback Member

    There's a zillion covers of this out there, aren't there? Just from Google, I found Natalie Cole, Dianne Reeves, Andy Bey, Earl Klugh, Gene Harris, Emilie-Claire Barlow (whoever that is) and Jane Monheit.......
    A&Mguyfromwayback, Jun 20, 2009
    #13 Share

  14. A&Mguyfromwayback Member

    out of curiosity, I went on iTunes and typed in "Like A Lover" and discovered many covers, most of them by people I've never heard of....!
    Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
    Jane Monheit
    Will Downing & Gerald Albright
    Matt Cusson
    Dianne Reeves
    The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra With Kurt Elling
    Emilie-Claire Barlow
    Betty Buckley
    Earl Klugh
    Hilary Kole
    Carla Cook
    Gretchen Barretto
    Shelly Berg
    Carmen McRae
    Shirley Scott
    Jiggs Whigham & Gene Bertoncini
    Gene Harris
    Roni Ben-Hur
    La Tanya Hall
    Danielle Blanchard
    Lynn Bush
    Karyn Uvezian
    Roseanna Vitro
    Lou Watson
    Mady Kaye
    Marco Bosco & Tsuyoshi Yamamoto
    Marica Hiraga
    Cris Barber
    Barbara Montgomery
    Jeff Hamilton Trio
    Victoria Horne
    Barbara Knight with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra
    Cheryl Jones
    Lillian Palmer
    Nadine Chase
    Steve Barta
    Emilie-Claire Barlow
    JOHN VANCE
    Stan Davis
    Dr Dingo
    Michiko Yoshino
    Barbara Leah Meyer
    Tuck & Patti
    Yoko Sikes
    Atila
    Tony Aiello
    David Moody
    KatieCat
    Tina May
    Irene and Her Latin Jazz Band
    Sarah Vaughan
    The Mac Chrupcala Trio
    A&Mguyfromwayback, Jun 20, 2009
    #14 Share

  15. Moritat New Member

    Well I guess there have been plenty of covers! I'll have to check some of these out, as there's some interesting artists listed. Just never had this tune appear on my other cds, nor have I heard it on FM. Thanks for the info.
    Moritat, Jun 20, 2009
    #15 Share

  16. Captain Bacardi Administrator

    This is probably my second favorite Brasil '66 album after the Herb Alpert Presents... album. I'm not a huge fan of some of the orchestrations that were on a few of Sergio's albums, but they work great here. My favorite track is "The Frog", which just has a great groove to it. I've even somewhat learned the syllabic vocals for this song (although it's not necessarily pleasing to hear me sing it...). "Like A Lover", "So Many Stars" and "Look Of Love" just seemed to be a perfect fit on this album. Solid all the way through.



    Capt. Bacardi
    Captain Bacardi, Jun 20, 2009
    #16 Share

  17. Brasil_66_Fan Member

    Voted for The Frog, but 'For Me' it's virtually a toss-up with So Many Stars. Heard it first on WCAR (Detroit) AM jazz station & DJ didn't identify the song or the group, but I knew it was Brasil '66, even with the then-new Grusin orchestral backing - this was prior to album release. So Many Stars is one of those 'songs that bring tears to my eyes'; gotta get around to compiling my list of those sometime for that thread......
    Brasil_66_Fan, Jun 21, 2009
    #17 Share

  18. Dave Active Member



    Yes, you should... Oh, this thread: http://www.amcorner.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4275...???

    Well, yes, you should! Looking forward to it...!



    Dave
    Dave, Jun 21, 2009
    #18 Share

  19. Rudy Spinning The Wheels Of Steel

    Have you heard Al Jarreau's version? I'm not sure if it made it to an official album, but it's the final track on the Warner "Best Of" CD from several years ago. It's not bad, but I find it hard to compare anything to the Brasil '66 version.

    I'm hard pressed to pick any one favorite though--this is another album I like end-to-end. "Batucada" actually ranks among the highest for me, as does "Roda" and Lani Hall's two features. (There's a version of "Batucada" by Walter Wanderley, from his Chegança album on Verve, that really cooks.)
    Rudy, Jun 22, 2009
    #19 Share

  20. A&Mguyfromwayback Member

    Never heard Jarreau's version....by the way, Diane Schuur covered "Look Around" a couple of years ago. I also know "So Many Stars" has been covered a whole lot - but THIS album still has the best versions of these songs - straightforward and classic......
    A&Mguyfromwayback, Jun 22, 2009
    #20 Share
Page 1 of 4

Share This Page