Walter Wanderley!

[seashorepiano]

And so what do you think of him? And his A&M albums? I call for "When it Was Done" being AOTW one of these days!

 

[Rudy]

I believe it was already AOTW--we've been doing it numerically, and we're now outside of the Creed Taylor era. A search would probably turn up both Wanderley A&M's here.

My favorite is Batucada on Verve, with Rain Forest and Cheganca running close seconds. There were about a half dozen Verve titles, and the two A&M's, released in Japan a few years ago. Worth getting if you can still find them.

 

[JMK]

There's a ton of Wanderley albums before he hit it big in US, and, though quite a few have been CD-ized, there are still many that haven't. He was a regular session player on a lot of the early transitional LPs into the Bossa Nova for singers like Doris Monteiro. I can't get enough of him. That Jobim quote about Sergio's piano playing sounding like a kid drunk on jujube (or something like that--can't quite remember the exact quote right now) is good for Walter, as well.

 

[seashorepiano]

Ahem, please don't compare Walter's playing with Sergio's. They're completely different, and Walter doesn't stumble around on the Hammond (or any other keyboard) like Sergio. I'd like to see Sergio handle a harpsichord, Wurlitzer piano, acoustic piano and Hammond at once. But I digress.

I own all Wanderley's US albums except Popcorn, which I'll be damned if I can find a copy on eBay for a reasonable price. Perhaps it's time I tried Dusty Groove.

Most of Walter's Brazilian albums have yet to come out on CD, but so do two of his US albums. If you may or may not remember (or even heard of them), his 1971 and 1981 albums, respectively "Return of the Original" and "Perpetual Motion Love," have never made it to the disc. They still remain just on vinyl, and are great albums to complete his oeuvre.

I still contend Wanderley was one of the most underrated and underused artists of the CTi/A&M era.

 

[JMK]

Ahem, I wasn't comparing Sergio's playing to Walter's. I said that Jobim's quote about Sergio's playing was equally applicable to Walter. Popcorn was released on CD a couple of years ago and is still readily available at many online establishments.

 

[kenny]

I like the chimp sounds that were on some of the Walter Wanderly records, especially on the song Kee-Ka-Roo. Speaking of chimp sounds, years ago I heard a version of the theme for M.A.S.H on the radio that had chimp's going ook ook in it. Is anyone familiar with this version? Does anyone know who does it? It sounds like something Walter could have done. The radio station doesn't play anything past early 70's so it was probably from the late 60's.

Kenny

 

[Harry]

Speaking of chimp sounds, years ago I heard a version of the theme for M.A.S.H on the radio that had chimp's going ook ook in it. Is anyone familiar with this version? Does anyone know who does it?

Sounds like you're describing "Song From M*A*S*H" by Al De Lory. It was on Capitol Records. I think I have a 45 of around here somewhere. The arrangement has a decidedly Brazilian bossa beat, though until now, I'd not heard the 'ooh-ooh-ooh' parts described as chimp sounds, though it sort of fits. I think the sound was made by a cuica (sp?).

Harry
...trying to cool down after a hot and humid mowing session, online...

 

[walterphil]

i love walter too
but my FAVORITE lp of his
is "a certain smile" with astrud gilberto
in fact its my favorite of hers too.

all tracks are good but the standouts for me are
nega do cabeloduro & voce ja foi bahia

she sounds so effortless and relaxed.

the 3 lps of his that i own are "cheganca", "popcorn",
and my fave "rainforest"

i've yet to hear his a & m stuff.
how does it compare?

does anyone know if he's backed
any other singers, a la astrud?

wp

 

[Harry]

When It Was Done was an Album Of The Week back in September of 2002. The thread is here:

http://www.amcorner.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=679

Harry
...pointing the way, online...

 

[seashorepiano]

The "chimp" sounds to which you refer on Wanderley's Verve albums were authentic Brazilian instruments played by sideman Bobby Rosengarden.

 

[jimac51]

Harry- Yeah, that "chimp" version(WOW-I've never heard that percussive sound given a verbal description-we gotta think of another word)of the Theme from M.A.S.H has to be stalwart Capitol producer/arranger Al DeLory(primarily Glen Campbell). I think it shows up on one from a series of Capitol budget samplers with the word "EASY" in the beginning of them. DeLory put out an album with the song on it(probably did a couple more,too). It charted(barely) in the summer of '70. Hal Blaine was probably the drummer,but I do not know if he did the other percussive additions. Mac

 

[JMK]

According to BJ's rather exhaustive site, it's actually Claudio Slon who played the Brasilian percussion instruments on Walter's Verve (and other) recordings.

 

[Rudy]

i love walter too
but my FAVORITE lp of his
is "a certain smile" with astrud gilberto
in fact its my favorite of hers too.
....
the 3 lps of his that i own are "cheganca", "popcorn",
and my fave "rainforest"

If you like Cheganca, Batucada will really get you going. Nothing against Claudio Slon or Bobby Rosengarden, but he had a slight lineup change on that album, possibly Dom Um Romao on drums, and it just kicks the whole thing up another notch. Yes, it's the same "Batucada" that Brasil '66 covered.

That album with Astrud, though...short as it is, it has to be my favorite also (Batucada is a close second). I'm not discounting either one's efforts, but what really makes that album are the arrangements. Listen to "Summer Samba (So Nice)". That 6/8 beginning section, which switches to a 4/4, is a nice touch. And you'll notice that Wanderley and the others are a perfect complement to her voice when she's singing, but they still get 16 bars to stretch out with a solo and some instrumental work. It's great--they have both put their stamp on the album without one dominating over the other!

 

[JMK]

Neil, I've got Claudio's emails to me around here somewhere in one of the endless stacks of paper I lovingly call my filing system, but I think you're right--I'm pretty sure Claudio told me that Dom did some of those Verve sessions.

In answer to the question above, yes, Walter's A&M output does feature female vocalists, in fact if you look closely at the credits you'll see one of them was Dom's ex-wife, the celebrated Flora Purim, in one of her very first US sessions.

I can't recommend checking out Walter's Brasilian output strongly enough. I actually like his A&M/CTi stuff the least of anything he did (sorry, A&M cohorts). His early Brasilian stuff is popping up more and more on CD--Dusty does a good job of stocking it. For an overall intro, there's a great German Motor Music 2CD set that's phenomenal.

 

[Rudy]

Jeff--agreed about the A&M/CTi sessions. A bit too overproduced. But there are still some tracks that I like, which to me are darker and moodier than his Verve recordings.

From what I can tell, Wanderley recorded three albums with Slon and Rosengarden in the lineup (Rain Forest, Cheganca and the album with Astrud), then changed to a different rhythm section for Batucada. I'm not sure about others--I believe I do have all of the Verve recordings, including Kee-Ka-Roo and Popcorn (both of which I could not really get into like the earlier ones).