On vocalist Janis Hansen + thank you to '66 Mendes group

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Berimbau

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Are the vocals on Herb Alpert presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 primarily Janis Hansen or Lani Hall? Where can we see videos and news of Janis Hansen today? Are there any performances to view on You Tube from this era? I grew up with this lp and I would like to thank all of the members from the 66 band for the excellent music. If any of you are out there, I would just like to say thank you for the music; IT stands the test of time .... :angel:
 
Welcome to the forum!

Can't answer all of your question but I can answer the first one: ALL of the vocals on the HERB ALPERT PRESENTS are by Lani Hall (sometimes double-tracked). In fact I think most of the vocals from the first three albums are exclusively Lani. The only time Janis is singing lead vocals is on the song "The Look Of Love," from LOOK AROUND.
 
The first album is Lani Hall on vocals. Bibi Vogel, a Brasilian actress/singer was originally signed to sing with Brasil '66, but left in lieu of an acting career. When Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 was such a success, Sergio was invited to tour with Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. He needed two vocalists. A friend then recommended Janis, who was a vocalist on a popular TV show.

She joined Lani on vocals for both the Equinox and Look Around albums, and can be heard on two solos: "For Me" (from Equinox) singing "Somewhere there's someone else who feels it too..." and of course, the lead track on "The Look of Love" (from Look Around).

Today, Janis co-owns and has authored The Adventure Bible Club books and audio CDs for children.

Jon
 
Forgot to add: Janis wrote to me in an e-mail that when recording, Lani was brought into the studio to lay down the lead vocals. Janis was then called in to harmonize with Lani's tracks. This was the case with most songs, save for the exceptions mentioned above.

Jon
 
I think this is the first time we've heard that Janis does that verse in "For Me." Now that you mention it, it makes sense. It's amazing how close their voices are soundwise, but yet they had quite different styles of vocalizing.
 
Although their phrasing is different, Lani and Janis sound similar. For years, everyone believed the lead vocal on "The Look of Love" to be that of Lani Hall. Much to everyone's surprise, Janis revealed years later that she had, indeed, been called into the studio by Herb and Sergio to give a "crack" at singing the lead. According to Janis, they laid the vocal within ten minutes ("To the surprise of everyone in the studio, except myself. I had no doubt I could sing it...") and had it in the can.

As has been mentioned before, hearing "The Look of Love" for the first time, you knew instinctively that it was Sergio Mendes. Testament to Sergio and the amazing trademark sound of Brasil '66.

Jon
 
It's funny how all these years, just listening to the tracks, there's no way to tell Janis and Lani apart.

Yet, once revealed where Janis' vocals are, you vould slap yourself on the forehead and say, "Of course." The vocal line in "For Me" has been heard by me a thousand times, yet I never picked up on it as "different" from Lani Hall. Now, it's told here that it is indeed Janis, and it somehow sounds "different", and definitely Janis!

Thanks Brasil Nut. We can always count on you to stir up a little Mendes fire!

Harry
 
You know, lip-synching was so popular on TV shows, it was often hard to tell who sang what, especially when both girls would move their lips during an obvious solo! That said, Janis pointed out to me that the close up during her solo on "For Me" reflected what was done in the studio.

It wasn't until I had sent her a copy of the Hollywood Palace show, that I learned she had, indeed, laid that track in the studio.

Jon
 
The beautiful unison Janis and Lani had, and later Lani had with Karen, was something to be respected and enjoyed. That unison went downhill after Karen and Lani left the group. All three ladies sounded so much alike, that after Lani left, I was sure she was on "So Many People" with Karen, and for years could have sworn Lani sang lead on the "Look of Love".

Sergio's arrangements were stellar too and one has trouble hearing any difference in band members from the "Look Around" LP and the change in "Fool on the Hill".
 
Expo '70 did not do Karen justice. Taken separately, Lani and Karen had different voices, not to mention intonations. Lani's style was soft, while Karen had a definite grit to her voice. That said, I recall they sounded much like the records in concert. Collectively, they had an amazing sound. I couldn't agree with you more. Sergio definitely has an amazing ear.
 
Sergio's arrangements were stellar too and one has trouble hearing any difference in band members from the "Look Around" LP and the change in "Fool on the Hill".
Gotta disagree there....to me it's like night and day. But, I think it has to do more with production and orchestration than the players.
 
Expo 70 is a disappointment to me in many aspects. I remember back then, A&M advertising that the LP was going to be released and then they later held it back. I can see why. Both girls' vocals are all over the place. I had seen Karen and Lani in concert and they were spectacular. Not so in Expo. Maybe they were tired, jet lagged, hung over. Who knows? But to me the quality in their delivery just wasn't there and the album is hard for me to listen to. I always though Lani and Karen hit one out of the park with their vocals with the "Ye-me-Le" LP.
 
Funny how different people hear things different ways.

To me, the real vocal tour-de-force of Karen and Lani is STILLNESS. I'm not sure if the two of them ever sing together on any of those tunes, or if their vocals are just double-tracked, but that's their best vocal performance in my opinion. I never cared for the vocals on YE-ME-LE as much (except on the title tune, that one is an A+).

As for the live album -- I have a feeling the vocals sounded great when experienced live, but on a live recording, without studio sweetening (and without the concert hall accoustics) it would be very hard to make them sound as good as on the studio recordings, not to mention how hard it would be for the two singers to be singing EXACTLY in unison the way they are on the double-tracked recordings.
 
I do agree with your comments about Expo vs. Studio. "Stillness" to me was a transition album. You have Lani doing the title track alone. Gracinha doing "Lost in Paradise" alone. Karen doing "For What It's worth" alone. And even Sergio doing "Do Mosso Amor" alone! Maybe Lani and Karen together on "Righteous Life" and "Chelsea Morning" ?? I think I read that all three ladies did "Viramundo". It certainly sounds like it!

Whereas "Ye-Me-Le" is pretty much all Karen and Lani! But There really isn't any one A&M album that I don't enjoy! :)
 
Thanks a million Brasil Nut for commenting that Janis Hansen had that brilliantly seductive solo vocal in the bridge portion of "For Me". I've always been a huge fan of Janis Hansen. To me it is noteworthy that she had the lead vocal in two of the most important songs in the Brasil 66 repertoire, that is, "The Look of Love" and "For Me".

I remember buying the Carnival album in 1971, and much to my regret there was no listing of the band's members apart from the names of the studio musicians who backed up Carnival. The cover photo of the album sure looked like Janis was on it, and the vocals had Janis' unmistakeable sweet soprano style. Well nine years later in 1980 my curiosity got the best of me and I called the studio that made the Carnival album and asked the receptionist if the album's producer/engineer Bones Howe could identify this "mystery vocalist". The phone receptionist said Bones comes by their office many times and she would ask him. Several days later we had another phone chat and she conveyed to me that Bones said it was Janis on the vocals. Needless to say, I was a very happy man to have found out.
 
Just wondering who did the lead vocals in: "Like A Lover", "The Trouble With Hello Is Goodbye" and "So Many Stars"
 
"Like A Lover" and "So Many Stars" are Lani Hall lead vocals.

If I'm not mistaken, "The Trouble With Hello Is Goodbye" was Bonnie Bowden, but I'm less familiar with that one.

Harry
 
Bonnie Bowden alone on "Trouble" and and Lani alone on "So Many Stars". It also sounds like Lani AND Janis Hansen on "Like a Lover".
 
You will also hear Janis' unmistakeable voice in the song So Danco Samba on the Equinox album singing the words "vai. vai. vai, vai, vai", with the same vocal tone as she used on "The Look of Love". Later you will hear Lani's unmistakeable voice singing about the twist, calipso, and the cha-cha-cha during the bridge portion. Ah yes, Janis and Lani--the incomparable duo of Brasil 66. I can play songs like this Bossa Nova standard over and over again and never tire of them.
 
On "The Christmas Song," Karen can clearly be heard toward the end with the line, "...So I'm offering this special phrase to kids from one to ninety-two. Although it's been said, many times, many ways...Merry Christmas...Merry Christmas...to you..." The song ends with Lani and Karen singing "...to you..." back and forth until it fades.

There's a "twinge" to Karen's voice. It gives her away and it's magical. From the way she sings "although" to "Merry Christmas" (the way she draws out the word "Christmas") to the way she sings the higher notes, it has Karen written all over it.

I do not care for the CD version that added Sergio's piano solo twice in a row. In addition to being a bad cut, it just doesn't fit the song. I've often wondered if this was somewhat of a copyright issue or an error in remastering. Whatever the case, I'll settle for my cleaned up CD-R copy with the original arrangement.

Peace,
Jon
 
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