LANI HALL--DISCUSSES HER SINGING CAREER IN JAZZ TIMES

I like in the article where Dori Caymmi, composer of "Like a Lover," was delighted with Lani's recording of the song to help make it a pop standard. I have a hunch that among Brasil 66 fans their top two favorite songs from its repertoire would be "Like a Lover" and "Mas Que Nada."
 
What I found most heartwarming from the article is how Lani always put her marriage and family ahead of her career. Try to find that in the show business today.
 
In the article, Lani told Sergio in late 1970 that she was quiting Brasil 66. Well I remember it was November 1970 and on the Tim Conway Show the group appeared without Lani--Karen and now Gracinha performed "Chelsea Morning." Does anyone know when Gracinha started to officially tour with the group without Lani? Was Gracinha slowly phased into the group for live performances in 1970?
 
What I found most heartwarming from the article is how Lani always put her marriage and family ahead of her career. Try to find that in the show business today.
Very true Lani Definitely has her priorities Right I couldn't agree more with the above quote
 
Interesting that Lani seemingly did not disagree with Janis' description of Sergio's cavalier treatment of the group, and that Lani came close to leaving Brasil '66 very early on with the rest id the "Carnival" crowd.
 
A correction to the above: I wasn't reading carefully: Lani DID leave Brasil '66 with Janis & Co., but Herb convinced her to go back to Sergio. And though Sergio has gallantly soft-pedaled Lanis departure, it was understandably a cause of great friction between Sergio & Herb at the time. So glad those fences are long-mended (at the latest 1983, when Sergio & Herb collaborated on producing Lani's "Never Say Never Again") and all three are great friends and occasional collaborators again.
 
This is also the first article where Lani openly admits that the relationship with Herb pre-dates his divorce. There have been conflicting timelines in their accounts over the years.
 
This is also the first article where Lani openly admits that the relationship with Herb pre-dates his divorce. There have been conflicting timelines in their accounts over the years.
I thought I understood they didn't become close until after Herb and His First wife separated I know Herb and Lani were Friends from the beginning but details notwithstanding Herb and Lani Are Still a Very Harmonious couple and I find that most encouraging
 
Don't get me wrong---Herb and Lani were made for each other and no one's judging. I just have seen more than a few timelines in their interviews over the years (including one that said they didn't date until Herb's divorce was final). This one in Jazz Times feels right and makes sense.
 
I know that as low key of a couple as they are, having a possible scandal on their hands if Herb was dating someone else prior to his divorce was probably something they would have wanted to avoid. All these decades later, it's non-issue now. :)
 
Janis had said in the liner notes of the Carnival CD that the original Brasil 66 had been fired. Lani said they all quit. Perhaps there is a degree of truth in both accounts. We all remember the past differently. You can call this the fog of history. Recall how each of the former Beatles had different accounts of how and why the group broke up.
 
This is also the first article where Lani openly admits that the relationship with Herb pre-dates his divorce. There have been conflicting timelines in their accounts over the years.

The only date I've ever seen given by either Herb or Lani is 1969, when their relationship went beyond being _just friends_.
The article said that it was after Herb separated from his first wife -- (but not-then yet an official, finalized divorce).
(I should read the article again, in case I'm missing something -- or, fill me in.)
 
The interview/article is great. It answers a number of questions that I had about Ms. Hall.

One thing that I was surprised to read was that, after Lani left the employ of Sergio Mendes -- she wasn't relying on any money from Herb and instead had savings, until those ran out. (She didn't actually marry Herb until late 1973.)

Here is a strange question --
Could Lani have gotten a job during the early 1970s?
I mean, she wasn't a well-known face or name. (I suppose many big celebrities couldn't just get a normal job, right?)
It's not like she would have walked into the room and people (particularly in L.A.) would have immediately recognized her or even her connection with the famous Sergio and/or Herb Alpert (correct?).

How could/would she have represented her employment history? Well, she was working some sort of Monday-Friday job in 1965, when she was singing on weekends in Chicago clubs like Mother Blues , when Sergio discovered her.
She could have written on her resume, or application that she worked for A&M records from 1966-1970, and her direct supervisor was Sergio Mendes, or even Herb -- hmm …

Well, why didn't she become a session singer? Couldn't Herb have helped her get some of those gigs? She could have brought in income that way, if not anything else. What do you (all) think?
 
I think she really got two lucky breaks, is what happened.

If you think about it.... by the early 70s the big thing was either rock bands, or singer-songwriter folkies. Lani was neither of those, although her first solo album was a serious stab at the singer-songwriter style of material even though she didn't write much of it. Lani was much more in the style of Barbra Streisand, which (except for Barbra herself) was a style that was seriously OUT of style for the most part by the time Lani came along.

If Sergio hadn't come along, it's very possible she wouldn't have had a singing career at all. If Herb hadn't come along, it's possible she would have stayed with Sergio much longer... especially if the Stillness album had had a hit single or two. But then, if Herb hadn't been there from the beginning, it's possible that Brasil '66 wouldn't have gotten signed to a record deal....he might never have had the hit with "Mas Que Nada" (which Herb suggested major changes to during production)... who knows? You can drive yourself crazy with what-if thoughts.

Lani certainly could have become a session singer post-Sergio if she wanted to, but I suppose once you've been a lead singer (especially having had hit records), you probably would consider that a step backward, careerwise.
 
When I think about it -- her appearance on Herb's version of "Summertime" was like being a session singer.
And so was the Michael Colombier's Wings "We Could be Flying", as well.
-- Session singers sometimes do lead. (After all, Lani wasn't a famous singer, even if she had been doing leads on most of the B'66 productions.)
Lani seemed shy and doesn't like the spotlight anyway. She always loved to sing -- sounds perfect for the role of a studio session vocalist.
 
She kind of had the Latin market for a while. I would have liked to have seen more albums like that.
 
She kind of had the Latin market for a while. I would have liked to have seen more albums like that.
Me too I Love how she nailed it on the Brasil 66 medley and some of her other Spanish Gems such as Te Quiero asi the duet with Jose Jose as one example it was unfortunate when she got Ill and her career was put on hold but in time she came back and with her collaborations with Herb She came back with a vengeance in a good way of course.
 
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