Chris Martin
New Member
I was browsing on the Carpenters forum and one enterprising contributor is holding a weekly poll: favorite song from a given album. It sounds like a good excuse to dust off an old album we may not have listened to for a while and revisit it.
I'd like to start the ball rolling with "HOMECOOKING" (1975).
I love "Homecooking". It sounds like a Brasil '66 album transposed into the mid seventies. Plenty of hot rhythms, sweet melodies, hardly a clinker in sight.
The sleeve is great too. It's from around the time when Sergio was dabbling with releasing under Sergio Mendes without the Brasil+number tag. So, Sergio is on his own in what looks like a Macy's themed window display, the theme being 'Favelha kitchens can be fun, so long as you have lots of Tabasco and beautiful accessories!' It's that rare thing, a gatefold, and I guess this is the first time we get a full lyric sheet. Great group shot too (dig those chiffon brunch coats).
Tracks are:
SUNNY DAY
HEY PEOPLE, HEY!
IT'S SO OBVIOUS THAT I LOVE YOU
EMORIO
SHAKARA
WHERE TOO NOW SAINT PETER
CUT THAT OUT
TELL ME IN A WHISPER
IT'S UP TO YOU
HOMECOOKING
My selections are:
(1) SUNNY DAY:
This got loads of airplay on local FM. It made me feel kinda proud as no one at school got my obsession with Brazilian music, yet here it was on the radio. It's got the horny horns, parping keyboards, tight vocals. Okay, so the lyrics are jejune with a kind of camp optimism, but it sounds hot. Only problem is it's over almost as soon as it's begun.
(2) IT'S SO OBVIOUS THAT I LOVE YOU/TELL ME IN A WHISPER/IT'S UP TO YOU:
This triumverate of songs is perfect Brasil '77 in '75. There's something slick and crafted about them -- adjectives which were sometimes used as negatives against Brasil '66. Personally, I like to admire music for its chic sound and polished production.
(3) CUT THAT OUT:
I never liked the Gilberto Gil album produced by Sergio Mendes, but this album turns me on to his music in a way the originals cannot. The arrangement works like patchwork, and that's a good thing. It has a choppy, relentlessness about it.
(4) EMORIO:
Gil again. I've no idea what or whom "Emorio" is. Is it something votive? I love Lize Miller's raunchy vocals, and, more jazz flute please, Sergio.
(5) HEY PEOPLE, HEY!:
Like this whole album, percussion is really upfront. But what's with that rasping gurgle voice just before the track starts? I prefer the sound of Lani giggling just before "Upa Neguinho".
(6) HOMECOOKING:
Nice up-tempo play-out to the album. I can't figure out whether the lyrics are sexy or hippy. I love all of Sergio's piano solos, but prefer acoustic to electric.
(7) WHERE TO NOW ST. PETER:
Sergio's sort of rocking out here (but more more successfully than on something like "Superstion"). This song is a virtuoso vocalist's showcase. Lyrically, what was Elton on? Sergio seems nonplussed too, by the deliberate bum note that ends the song.
(8) SHAKARA:
This I can live without. It's inconsequential. When it kicks in it sounds like a back-up theme to some mid-70's cop series.
Any thoughts........?
I'd like to start the ball rolling with "HOMECOOKING" (1975).
I love "Homecooking". It sounds like a Brasil '66 album transposed into the mid seventies. Plenty of hot rhythms, sweet melodies, hardly a clinker in sight.
The sleeve is great too. It's from around the time when Sergio was dabbling with releasing under Sergio Mendes without the Brasil+number tag. So, Sergio is on his own in what looks like a Macy's themed window display, the theme being 'Favelha kitchens can be fun, so long as you have lots of Tabasco and beautiful accessories!' It's that rare thing, a gatefold, and I guess this is the first time we get a full lyric sheet. Great group shot too (dig those chiffon brunch coats).
Tracks are:
SUNNY DAY
HEY PEOPLE, HEY!
IT'S SO OBVIOUS THAT I LOVE YOU
EMORIO
SHAKARA
WHERE TOO NOW SAINT PETER
CUT THAT OUT
TELL ME IN A WHISPER
IT'S UP TO YOU
HOMECOOKING
My selections are:
(1) SUNNY DAY:
This got loads of airplay on local FM. It made me feel kinda proud as no one at school got my obsession with Brazilian music, yet here it was on the radio. It's got the horny horns, parping keyboards, tight vocals. Okay, so the lyrics are jejune with a kind of camp optimism, but it sounds hot. Only problem is it's over almost as soon as it's begun.
(2) IT'S SO OBVIOUS THAT I LOVE YOU/TELL ME IN A WHISPER/IT'S UP TO YOU:
This triumverate of songs is perfect Brasil '77 in '75. There's something slick and crafted about them -- adjectives which were sometimes used as negatives against Brasil '66. Personally, I like to admire music for its chic sound and polished production.
(3) CUT THAT OUT:
I never liked the Gilberto Gil album produced by Sergio Mendes, but this album turns me on to his music in a way the originals cannot. The arrangement works like patchwork, and that's a good thing. It has a choppy, relentlessness about it.
(4) EMORIO:
Gil again. I've no idea what or whom "Emorio" is. Is it something votive? I love Lize Miller's raunchy vocals, and, more jazz flute please, Sergio.
(5) HEY PEOPLE, HEY!:
Like this whole album, percussion is really upfront. But what's with that rasping gurgle voice just before the track starts? I prefer the sound of Lani giggling just before "Upa Neguinho".
(6) HOMECOOKING:
Nice up-tempo play-out to the album. I can't figure out whether the lyrics are sexy or hippy. I love all of Sergio's piano solos, but prefer acoustic to electric.
(7) WHERE TO NOW ST. PETER:
Sergio's sort of rocking out here (but more more successfully than on something like "Superstion"). This song is a virtuoso vocalist's showcase. Lyrically, what was Elton on? Sergio seems nonplussed too, by the deliberate bum note that ends the song.
(8) SHAKARA:
This I can live without. It's inconsequential. When it kicks in it sounds like a back-up theme to some mid-70's cop series.
Any thoughts........?