Tamba 4 - California Soul / Berimbau

[Harry]

I've never found this single from an unreleased album anywhere, and until just a couple of years ago, had never heard either track. Somewhere in 2010 - it might have been here - someone posted a link to "California Soul" as a 128 kbps mp3. As that was all that was available, I seem to have downloaded it and still have it on my hard drive.

Looking around today, I see that the song "California Soul" was released on a BOSSA JAZZ compilation on CD:

...and someone has dutifully uploaded that track to YouTube.



It's nice and clean and mono.

But wait a minute --- that old MP3 file I have on my disc - it's in stereo. How'd that happen?

The pictures on the net of the single:

...all seem to look like they'd be in mono.

It just got me to wondering where in the world the stereo version came from. And I'd sure love to at least hear "Berimbau" too.

Harry

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I have a promo 45 of "California Soul" - stereo on one side and mono on the flip side.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Harry]

Well that explains it! Thanks.
Harry

 

[Rudy]

I've never heard a Tamba 4 version of "Berimbau", but Tamba Trio did record it on their Tempo album. Chances are the arrangement is similar. But I do have that bossa compilation CD above--it was a surprise to see the track on there, knowing it only had a single release.

Most commercial A&M singles back then were mono, and all of the CTi albums were pressed in stereo (with an early few in mono), so it's no surprise that the song is available in stereo. I wonder though if there are really a bunch of Tamba 4 tracks in the vault, as one site once claimed. They would have surfaced on a reissue by now. Samba Blim would have been a good home for those tracks as bonus tracks.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

So who are the trombonists on the cover? I can't really make them out.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

So who are the trombonists on the cover? I can't really make them out.



Capt. Bacardi

Maybe the ones who played on Sergio's "Agua Du Beber"...!


-- Dave

 

[Rudy]

So who are the trombonists on the cover? I can't really make them out.

The track listing shows all the groups involved, but that really won't help. The groups range from smaller jazz trios to larger combos with varied instrumentation.

The label (Soul Jazz Records) has put out some really nice 180g vinyl reissues, and even sticking to CDs, they cover a lot of the music from those early Bossa Nova years. If you want to hear where all of A&M's Brazilian influenced stuff came from, these are the source.

One great compilation they've issued is Brazil Bossa Beat! Bossa Nova and The Story of Elenco Records, Brazil. Elenco was a popular record label that artists like Edu Lobo, Baden Powell, MPB-4, Roberto Menescal and many others of the MPB movement recorded albums for. (Tamba Trio recorded for Philips, so they are not on this compilation.)

 

[Dave]

I had that Single, in both the W/L Promo & an Ochre label, the latter of which the real surprise find! (In a box o' '45's labeled Herb Albert & The Boys"...!)

I had a Tamba Trio CD, which I'd found, for my non-Brasilian ears, to really warm up (much like my initial impression of "Berimbau") to & quickly dismissed...


--- Dave