My comments pertain to 2009 post started by Harry entitled Classic AOTW Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 Look Around. Steve contributed that Like a Lover had recording sessions of 10/7/67 and 10/17/67. Wow! Here it is exactly 50 years later to the very month when my favorite of all Brasil 66 tracks was recorded. I have a lot of sentimental feelings associated with this song. I'll simply repeat what I posted in 2009: "From the opening Bossa Nova guitar chords of John Pisano, to the smooth as silk vocal styling of Lani Hall, to the vocal counterpoint of Mendes, Matthews, and Soares, with Dick Hazard's shimmering strings, composed by the brilliant lyricists the Bergmans, and an unforgettable melody by Dori Caymmi--this is as close as you can get to pop music perfection."
LIKE A LOVER & BRASIL 66--50 YEARS AGO
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Charles H.
Well-Known Member
As I've repeatedly mentioned, this is the song that hooked me on B66 when I was a little boy. My eldest sister brought home the first three B66 albums from college and wanted to write the lyric of LAL to her boyfriend and needed my help deciphering some of the words. We spent hours listening to that track and my life was never the same. 
It's the one that hooked me on Brasil '66 also. My parents brought home a copy of FAMILY PORTRAIT, knowing of my fondness for all things "Alpert", and I was initially just a little less than thrilled, since it only had one Tijuana Brass track, "Flea Bag", and I already had that on NINTH. But it was something new to explore.
I remember latching onto Burt Bacharach's track next - "I Say A Little Prayer". It was track one on the B side of the album, and it had a lead trumpet on the verses. I still like that track a lot to this day.
Having seen a number of A&M Innersleeves at the time in Herb's albums, I recognized the mysterious-looking Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 and thought I'd check out that track, "Like A Lover". Not yet knowing that the opening guitar was played by John Pisano of the Tijuana Brass, I was quickly drawn to the lead female vocals and there and then, I knew that I was going to have to explore more of this group. There were three albums out there, and one by one I saved my money and bought them.
So, FAMILY PORTRAIT, and the wonders of "Like A Lover" hooked me on Brasil '66. It wasn't too much longer until I'd see them in concert at Philadelphia's Academy of Music, a true joy.
I remember latching onto Burt Bacharach's track next - "I Say A Little Prayer". It was track one on the B side of the album, and it had a lead trumpet on the verses. I still like that track a lot to this day.
Having seen a number of A&M Innersleeves at the time in Herb's albums, I recognized the mysterious-looking Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 and thought I'd check out that track, "Like A Lover". Not yet knowing that the opening guitar was played by John Pisano of the Tijuana Brass, I was quickly drawn to the lead female vocals and there and then, I knew that I was going to have to explore more of this group. There were three albums out there, and one by one I saved my money and bought them.
So, FAMILY PORTRAIT, and the wonders of "Like A Lover" hooked me on Brasil '66. It wasn't too much longer until I'd see them in concert at Philadelphia's Academy of Music, a true joy.
Bobberman
Well-Known Member
When I first had my vinyl copy of Brasil 66 greatest hits lp Like a Lover was one of my favorite standout tracks. I concur with everybody here it truly is one of the greatest ballads of all time I knew from there I had to get more of Mendes and not only Brasil 66 but as much as I could before and afterwards it was 1983 when I first bought the lp it was the best $6.00 I spent and I wore it out completely thankfully a few years later came my opportunity to get the CD version along with everything else I was able to get on disc.
Mike Thomas
New Member
Greetings Bobberman: Found the G.H. album in a used record store in mint minus condition! Vinyl blows away the CD! They are out there. Search the bins.
I just gave a quick listen to all of the versions of "Like A Lover" that I own on CD and have concluded that the best-sounding to me is found on the 20th Century Masters Millennium Collection: The Best of Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 disc with the Verve Look Around coming in a close second. Still, there's something sweet about the sound on that Millennium disc.
While that disc is a short 11-track album, it contains some really nice mastering. Unfortunately, it came in one of those eco-friendly packages that was all paper and recyclable material - and no booklet. Supposedly you could go online and read the booklet, but for this disc, it was never posted. I know - I checked often.
While that disc is a short 11-track album, it contains some really nice mastering. Unfortunately, it came in one of those eco-friendly packages that was all paper and recyclable material - and no booklet. Supposedly you could go online and read the booklet, but for this disc, it was never posted. I know - I checked often.
Bobberman
Well-Known Member
Greetings to you Mike as well i have almost all the discography on cd and I'm content with what I have and to clarify when I bought the greatest hits lp in 83 it was sealed the price tag was $5.99 and the Label was the silver/tan A&M used from 1973 to 1986 and that's the one I wore out Just thought I'd Clarify and by the way "Welcome to the Forum".
TulitaPepsi
Well-Known Member
Bobberman
Well-Known Member
I think this version is the more definitive version by Sergio and Brasil 66 it's one of my all time favorite ballads
In addition to Lani's awesome vocal, respect must be paid to the subtle background vocals from Bob, Jose and Sergio on Like a Lover. For me what made the first three albums of Brasil 66 so special was the the vocal interplay between those three guys and the two gals--Lani and Janis. On so many of their early songs from 1966-1967 there was a unique and sophisticated vocal blend and call and response between the guys and gals, which was missing from the later Brasil 66 albums where Mendes was the only male vocalist. In what may be the first Bossa Nova song ever written--Bim Bom-- composed by the "father of Bossa Nova"--Joao Gilberto, the Brasil 66 vocal arrangement of this song is extraordinary. You will hear the guys singing Bim Bom and Lani singing vocal harmony with da, da, da etc. A perfect example of the sophisticated Brasil 66 male/female vocal harmony from their early days.
Here is the original version of Bim Bom by its composer, Joao Gilberto, with the arrangement by none other than Jobim. When I first heard it only recently, I said my gosh his version is as good as the Brasil 66 version. If I had to choose a favorite of the two, I would choose the Brasil 66 one for sentimental reasons-- as in the summer of 1967 when I first heard it from the Equinox album, I just turned 18 and was about to start my freshman year in college that fall.
rockdoctor
Well-Known Member
I used to be a deejay (for dances) in the '70s into the '90s. I was just thinking, "Like a Lover" would have made a great slow song for events with a lot of older people.
Last night I was burning dinner in the kitchen, because my wife is out of town, and while cooking I asked "Alexa" to play Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, and "Like a Lover" was the first song to come up.
In my early fan days, I liked the uptempo songs better than the slow ones, but since then I've gotten to enjoy them all. There's not really a guaranteed-skip song in the B'66/77 catalog for me, except maybe two or three.
Last night I was burning dinner in the kitchen, because my wife is out of town, and while cooking I asked "Alexa" to play Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, and "Like a Lover" was the first song to come up.
In my early fan days, I liked the uptempo songs better than the slow ones, but since then I've gotten to enjoy them all. There's not really a guaranteed-skip song in the B'66/77 catalog for me, except maybe two or three.
TulitaPepsi
Well-Known Member
I've never understood why "Like a Lover" has never become the jazz standard that "So Many Stars" is. There is something about the lyrics to the latter that don't hit with me the way "Like a Lover" does.... It features sone of the Bergmans most achingly sensual lyrics, the all-day yearning starting with "Morning sun", ending with the "velvet moon" through "how I envy a cup that knows your lips ...and a table that feels your finger-tips" ...set aglow by Lani's tender, vocals filled with a gentle eroticism... all come together to make it one of my favorite Brasil '66 ballads.
rockdoctor
Well-Known Member
Since it was on the flipside of The Look of Love the people who bought the single were the ones to hear it the most besides the album buyers. I did hear Like A Lover on a couple of stations back in the day not long after Greatest Hits was released.
Funny how Harry and I were both ushered into Sergio Mendes fandom by a track on one of those A&M compilations. For me, it was "Look Around," which appeared on the Music Box album. That led me to buying Stillness (on 8-track) and I started collecting the others slowly. Herb Alpert Presents was actually the last Brasil '66 album I heard! I had quite a few of them on 8-track, including Equinox which came on one of those notorious black cartridges that tangled up frequently, but I'm pretty sure I had switched to LPs by the time I picked up Look Around.
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