B66 & The Christmas Song

[Brasil_Nut]

Trivia time!!

(From an inside source)

Did you know the vocal arrangement on "The Christmas Song" by Brasil '66 marks the beginning of Sergio utilizing Lani and Karen in equal parts? Indeed, Sergio and Lani open the song, with Karen singing background. The second, "...So, I'm offering this simple phrase..." is, indeed, Miss Philipp!! The closing is also Lani and Karen being "ping-ponged" to wish us all a Merry Christmas!!

Jon

NP: "The Christmas Song" by Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66

 

[seashorepiano]

Yes, you can tell from the different intonations that both Mss. Hall and Philipp were doubling on that track. However, the producer was probably watching the microphones very, very carefully and probably controlled them himself, so that he could switch on and off each mike during the girls' respective segments. This would have prevented any unused microphone, left on in the studio, from admitting background noise channel into the tape.

 

[Cortnee]

The first time that I had heard Brasil 66's version of The Christmas Song was in December of 91 on the Muzak at my Arby's restaurant.When I had heard it, at first I couldn't believe my ears.Then I had got really excited when I had realized that it indeed was Lani Hall & Brasil 66. Later on that week I had searched for it in my local records stores and I had failed to locate it . I am still searching for it to this day.

 

[Harry]

Cortnee,

The Brasil '66 "Christmas Song" was originally found only on the A&M/B.F.Goodrich-sponsored album called SOMETHING FESTIVE, a 10-song Christmas album featuring the A&M stars of the day.

Until last year that was the ONLY place to find it. Then Shout! Factory released a CD called YULESVILLE that included it. I was so happy to read the news that it was coming out, and I serached all over on release day, only to finally order it online. When it came, I was disappointed that someone, somewhere actually edited the recording. It's not that there's anything missing - on the contrary, the middle instrumental bridge with Sergio's electric piano solo is sloppily edited to play twice, not once as originally recorded. So the recording is longer, but it's all there. If one wanted to use their own editing tools, one could pare it back to the way it's supposed to be.

The other problem with the CD version is it's a bit gritty, not clean and natural the way it sounds on SOMETHING FESTIVE vinyl. But it IS available.

Harry
NP: Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, "The Christmas Song"

 

[Harry]

Update: I think I just convinced the music director of our oldies station, WPEN 950 to play the B'66 "Christmas Song". Those in the Philly area, stay tuned!

Harry

 

[Brasil_Nut]

You know, I never did buy a copy of "Yulesville". Reason being, by the time I got around to reading about it, I'd heard (here at the Corner) about the song being tweaked in some way or another. I'm so glad my Father had recorded his original copy of "Something Festive" (right out of the plastic!!) onto a reel-to-reel. It made a clean CD transfer and gets a lot of play in our household during the Holidays.

As a sideline: Dad always labeled his reel-to-reels. Rarely were they blank-labeled, if at all. However, there was a box of old blanks that had odds and ends. My nephew discovered "Something Festive" unlabeled in this box last year!! To say we were happy is an understatement!! Our Dear Paula Worhatch had made a cassette copy of "Something Festive" for me about five years ago...it got a lot of play as well. However, it's still great to have a clean CD copy of "Something Festive" all the same.

Jon

 

[walterphil]

i thought the cd version sounded pretty good
and i love the longer take of it
because the best part is when lani sings
"they know that santa's on his....way
he's loadedlottsatoysngoodieson his sleigh...

you get to hear it twice

 

[RichardWarner]

...my all time favorite Christmas song. The strings and slight echo on the fade bring up a mind's eye picture of a December sunset --- orange horizon, bare trees...

 

[seashorepiano]

I have given this track a listen on a nice, quiet vinyl copy I won recently. This song has a lush and beautiful string backdrop. Granted, Sergio's vocals are different, but I like the flavor they add to the track. Lani does a very nice job, as does Karen.

This track sounds like it could drop right into Look Around and fit in, because the arrangement sounds a heck of a lot like Dick Hazard's hand was involved. Any thoughts?

 

[Rudy]

This track sounds like it could drop right into Look Around and fit in, because the arrangement sounds a heck of a lot like Dick Hazard's hand was involved. Any thoughts?

It sure sounds like Hazard's work--compare it to the strings on "So Many Stars", playing up in a high register to stay out of the way of the melody. Many similarities! Can't say that for a certain string arranger who would work on later B66 albums.

 

[Brasil_Nut]

Yeah, this one's a definite classic as far as Brasil '66 is concerned. Such a shame that the group didn't record an entire Christmas album, as their sound was well-suited to Holiday-inspired material.

I had always wondered if an entire album existed, but that was shot down when Sergio and Lani appeared on a Christmas Eve episode of the long-defunct "Thicke Of The Night" program (they performed "Never Say Never Again," "The Look Of Love" and the show closed with Lani singing -- I think -- "The Christmas Song"). Alan asked them during the interview if they had recorded an album of Christmas tunes. The answer was no...drat!!

Jon