AOTW: Edu Lobo - Sergio Mendes Presents Lobo

[Captain Bacardi]

Edu Lobo - Sergio Mendes Presents Lobo
(SP 3035)

Produced by Sergio Mendes
Released 1970
Vinyl/CD

Songs:

Zanzibar
Ponteio
Even Now
Crystal Illusions
Casa Forte
Jangada
Sharp Tongue
To Say Goodbye
Hey Jude

Musicians:

Edu Lobo - guitar, vocals
Hermeto Pascoal - piano, electric piano, flute
Oscar Castro-Neves - guitars
Sebastiao Neto - bass
Claudio Slon - drums
Airto Moreira - percussion
Gracinha Leporace - vocal
Norman Herzberg - bassoon
Ron Cooper, Ray Kramer, Kurt Reher, Eleanor Slatkin - cello

Recorded July 1970

LP Cover Photo - Guy Webster


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Captain Bacardi]

This has turned out to be one of my favorite albums since finding it a couple of years ago. It's actually a fairly simple recording, yet it's incredibly lyrical. Lobo has a unique voice and a great sense of time. I used to listen to "Crystal Illusions" over and over. Even his version of "Hey Jude" interests me, although it doesn't quite fit the rest of the album. Still, this is an impressive piece of work.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[snapcrotch]

This LP will join me on my desert island and the 10 albums I bring.
It's one of the most pleasant surprises of my years combing the music library at my college radio station (early 70's). At first, I wondered why it was filed in the jazz stacks. I mean, "He even looks like the Lobo who had a hit with 'Me and You and a Dog Named Boo', so what's the deal?" The 'deal' is a profound and wonderful surprise, with some amazing arranging by Hermeto Pascoal. For 30 years, this LP has been the most-frequent 'blindfold' album I've played to slay and blow-away visitors to my listening room. The musical sophistication within this is at the next level beyond Brasil '66 -- not to knock Sergio, because he made this release possible.
To everyone on the A&M Corner (and beyond) I say,"Buy the CD now while it's got an $11.99 list, cause one-shot 'sleepers' like this have a habit of vanishing overnight.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I like the album better now than when I first heard it. My favorite song on it was always "Ponteio."

I've always considered Edu Lobo to be to Brasilian music what Paul Williams is to American pop music. Both are great writers; but their material sounds better in the hands of other musicians. Sergio Mendes made Lobo's material sound better on the Brasil 'xx records, in my opinion.

 

[seashorepiano]

Lobo was forced by contractual obligations, because he was recording in the United States, to record a pop hit in the United States, thus the sore thumb "Hey Jude."

 

[snapcrotch]

If the inclusion of the pop hit 'Hey Jude' was the single concession (pun intended) required to give this A&M album project the final 'go ahead', I sure have no objection. Edu Lobo scat-sings the melody and arranger Hermeto Pascoal makes the ending a busy groove. Am I offended by it? Heck no, I even sing along while driving. (As a college radio DJ, I aired it one time.) In playing the CD now, there's no impulse to grab the remote when 'Jude' comes up. Sure, the rest of the tracks are jewels, although I must confess,'To Say Goodbye' is probably the one that makes my remote trigger finger get twitchy.
BTW, his prior U.S. album,'Presenting Edu Lobo', was released around 1967-68 by Philips, PHS 600-297, pressed and distributed by Mercury.

 

[Harry]

I decribed my introduction to this album just a short time ago in another thread:

My first experience with Edu Lobo was about three or four years ago. Paula and I had swapped a few albums and tapes back and forth and she had an LP copy of the A&M Edu Lobo album. I was enough of a fan of his songs through Brasil '66 to want to hear it. I recall instantly liking it, even through a cassette tape of scratchy vinyl, and knew I had to own it (and the whole thing too -- Paula's vehement dislike for the final "Hey Jude" track prevented her from even taping it for me!). It wasn't too long after that that the Japanese re-issue came out on CD -- and then recently we were blessed with the Verve re-mastered reissue here in the States.

I find myself going for this album all the time when I'm in the mood for something Brazilian but not a Sergio Mendes album. So many of the songs were already familiar to me and Edu's take on them seems perfect.

I'm happy that Verve reissued this as well and urge anyone who's at least considering this album to run to the store or online site and get one while it's available.

Harry
...enjoying two good AOTWs, online...

 

[Rudy]

And if anyone can find the Personalidade compilation, grab it...if you don't already have the albums the tracks are sourced from. The version of "Upa Neguinho" runs circles around the Brasil '66 version IMHO...probably due to the "clean" arrangement.

 

[JMK]

I'll never forget how excited I was when I found the **LP** (remember those?) of this in a used record store in the 80s after 10 years of fruitless searching. While I love this album, as I have stated elsewhere, it's not my favorite Edu--I go to his original Brasilian releases for some more representative work.

I have to say I respectfully disagree with one of the comments above--I think Edu does beautiful work on his own with his own music. His voice has a haunting quality filled with a little twinge of sadness. However if you want to hear some really incredible versions of Lobo's tunes by other artists, I can't recommend highly enough the 2CD release "Songbook Edu Lobo". There are some killer tracks on this one, including a really beautiful "Reza" by Be Happy & Tavito.

In talking about this album with Sergio, it's my distinct impression that, as Sergio has stated in "defending" (as if he needed to) his choices through the years as arranger/producer, there was no label pressure whatsoever to include this or that song--and Sergio had had some major successes with Beatles covers, after all.

 

[Trevor]

There is also a double CD called Sem Limite. It may be easier to find than the Personalidade CD.

(they are about the same quality)

It amazes me that no one ever mentions the "edu e tom" cd. It's Edu Lobo and Antonio Carlos (Tom) Jobim.

Also, I don't much care for the "Hey, Jude". And the "Sharp Tongue" track.

Does anyone know if Edu knew what he was singing in english?

 

[Kathy]

I wondered why it was filed in the jazz stacks. I mean, he even looks like the Lobo who had a hit with "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo", so what's the deal?

You mean he's NOT??!!

Kat

 

[snapcrotch]

Kathy, I'm sure JMK and others can tell you how -- in searching for the elusive A&M LP of this thread, we've endured more slings from 'knowlegeable' clerks who'd say, "Sure, we've got it." Then they'd produce a copy of Kent 'Lobo' Lavoie's 'Introducing Lobo' on Big Tree (and also from 1971). And then there's the majority of conversations with the dreaded response,"Didn't he have a hit with 'Me and You and a Dog Named Boo"? ("Uhhh, no way.") The darn thing is that both singers were born in 1943 and they do look alike. Even though the Brasilian Lobo recorded first (in 1964, and with the Tamba Trio!), maybe he would've fared better in the States with a name like Eddie Wolf or, even worse, Jim Battey.

 

[Kathy]

Kathy, I'm sure JMK and others can tell you how -- in searching for the elusive A&M LP of this thread, we've endured more slings from 'knowlegeable' clerks who'd say, "Sure, we've got it." Then they'd produce a copy of Kent 'Lobo' Lavoie's 'Introducing Lobo' on Big Tree (and also from 1971). And then there's the majority of conversations with the dreaded response,"Didn't he have a hit with 'Me and You and a Dog Named Boo"? ("Uhhh, no way.") The darn thing is that both singers were born in 1943 and they do look alike. Even though the Brasilian Lobo recorded first (in 1964, and with the Tamba Trio!), maybe he would've fared better in the States with a name like Eddie Wolf or, even worse, Jim Battey.

'43 eh? That's when I was born, too! Well, not being your typical Jazz LP buyer...or really ANY music, other than some Classical...I might not have noticed Edu, or the other Lobo who named one of his albums, CALMUET (CALUMET?).

Another 'Lobo Song" was "How Can I Tell Her?", which was almost as big as "A Dog Named Boo". Another version of "Me And You And A Dog Named Boo" that I know of was done by a Country Singer, Kenny Price (who's got an almost Jimmy Dean-like voice).

Back on topic, there's quite a lot here I never would have thought of buying, despite 'being around' when A&M started! Had no idea, I should have been buying those LP's displayed on that inner sleeve (of the ONE A&M LP I DID buy--The 2nd Sandpipers' Album--which I rendered too unplayable to pass on down; Dave found one Still Sealed years later) and that years later they'd be so valuable.

Kat

...not your average Merry Go Round fan, either...

 

[Brasil_Nut]

I'm late on this one, but here's my take on Sergio Mendes Presents Edu Lobo...

Like JMK, I look to Edu's original Brazilian material for inspiration. I found this album back in high school in a used record store and bought it immediately. Although I like Edu's earlier material, this album is special in its own way. It's like "Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 Meet Edu Lobo".

Of course, "Zanzibar" and "Casa Forte" are magnificent, with his nasal-toned vocalese. "Hey Jude" I can do without. It never did anything for me. "Sharp Tongue" is another adventure in vocalese that I find masterful. He and Gracinha match each other note for note, verse for verse. Amazing. Edu's "Crystal Illusions" is wonderful -- a simpler, stripped-down version -- more relaxing than Sergio's.

Now we come to "Corrida de Jangada" and "Even Now" -- both of them masterful. I'm of the belief that both of these would have been well-suited to Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66. Although Lani recorded a masterful version of "Corrida de Jangada" on Hello It's Me, Edu gives one the idea of what might have happened had Sergio recorded this tune. Same with "Even Now" -- talk about a song well-suited to the sound of Brasil '66!! Why Sergio never recorded this gem is beyond me. It would have been well-suited to Fool On The Hill or Pais Tropical. I could easily hear Lani and Karen or Karen and Gracinha sing this tune.

This leads back to JMK's original statement. Sergio "produced" Edu's album with a "Mendes" twist. The original work of Edu is beyond compare. Sergio Mendes Presents Edu Lobo is a wonderful album. Makes me wish there had been further collaboration between Sergio and Edu. Then again, Edu doesn't need slick arrangements to sound sensational. He's masterful by himself.

Jon

 

[Lord Lurking]

Oh hell... now I've got to go find yet another Sergio album...my bank manager will not thank you


Terry

 

[Kathy]

Well, this one must be worth seeking out from what I've read! Not the author of compositions "Of A Simple Man" or "A Cowboy Afraid Of Horses", but a Sergio Protege who easily matches his mentor!

If only someone could run over to Harmony House and just buy that CD copy that's there, instead of running up his charge account ordering it on vinyl from those online dealers!

Oh, well, if he wants to fill in those spaces in his 3000-series, then...

Kat