Pick Your #1 Favorite Sergio Mendes A&M Album!

[Rudy]

Since it's been awhile, and we have many new members, I've decided to start a poll. This won't be easy either--you must pick one favorite Sergio Mendes album that originally appeared on A&M. Since we're looking for original albums, compilations will not be included here this time around. I gave the poll a generic name of Sergio Mendes to include Brasil '66 and '77. If there is sufficient interest, I will gladly add on the recordings he made for A&M in the 80s as well. (If so, do NOT vote for any other choice--shoot me a private message and I'll add it to the poll.)

Vote for your favorite...and be sure to tell us why it's your favorite!

 

[Steven J. Gross]

I picked "Fool On The Hill" because it really had it all- starting with the unusual cover art . I bought the album when it first came out in June 1968. I was eleven years old and was already an A&M freak then. To me, it was Sergio's Sgt. Pepper. The Edu Lobo influence might have been a big part of the formula, as I have come to learn more about- right here at the A&M Corner. The album is STILL ahead of it's time!!!

 

[Dave]

On Primal Roots, the sound and Sergio's ideas were fully developed! Sure, the suite on Side 2, "The Circle Game" can be meandering, but there are enough variations to keep it interesting. The reprise of "Promise Of A Fisherman" is a nice touch. But Side 1 has great and lively compositions. "After Sunrise" and "Pompa Gira" are my favorites.

It's hard to decide which of the earlier ones are really the best, and Primal Roots is where it all comes together!

Dave

 

[Mr Bill]

Difficult as it is to agree with "crayola Dave" I also voted for Primal Roots. My second place choice would've been Ye-Me-Le. Particularly of annoyance to me is the fact that today I went to both Tower and HMV in Yokohama intending to buy the reissues of both Primal Roots and Ye-Me-Le only to find they were the only titles not in stock at both stores!!! Instead I settled for two more SONIA CDs... So all was not a complete loss!

--Mr Bill

 

[DAN BOLTON]

I have to go with EQUINOX...to me, it's the epitome of the B66 sound...and I love John Pisano's guitar work, sort of understated...almost a precursor of his work with Diana Krall.

The album features my favorite B66 tunes, too... CHOVE CHUVA, FOR ME, WAVE and NIGHT AND DAY.


Dan

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I have to go with STILLNESS. It was the first Mendes album I owned (on 8 track!) and I worked backwards from there once I was thoroughly hooked.

On each of the other albums (except PRIMAL ROOTS, which is in a class by itself), I can find at least one song that sorta "grinds things to a halt" for me. Usually it's the Mendes vocals, like "When Summer Turns to Snow" or "Pra Dizer Adeus," or the ultra-dated '60s-sounding pop like "Tim Dom Dom." But on STILLNESS, there's not one bad track; even the Mendes vocal ("Cancao Do Nosso Amor") is listenable for me.

I know some members don't feel the same way about STILLNESS but for me it has it all: Great Brasilian rhythms + cool American pop = one great record. And it has the best cover photos of the group, too.

 

[Mike]

For me it comes down to having to choose between “Look Around” and “Equinox” – and that’s not so simple. IMHO: “Look Around” is filled with delightful songs that lean more toward catchy pop hits. “Equinox is more rooted in Jazz and the sounds of Brazil. I like catchy pop and I like Brazilian Jazz, so it almost becomes a coin toss or an undecided vote. It’s so close… but I’ll have to go with “Equinox” simply because I think I could listen to it more often than “Look Around” without getting tired of it.

 

[Steven J. Gross]

In reality, I think all of the 1st 4 albums are equally great.

 

[Brasil_66_Fan]

I have to go with EQUINOX...to me, it's the epitome of the B66 sound...and I love John Pisano's guitar work, sort of understated...almost a precursor of his work with Diana Krall.

The album features my favorite B66 tunes, too... CHOVE CHUVA, FOR ME, WAVE and NIGHT AND DAY.

Dan

Definitely agree with Dan - the quintessential Brasil 66 sound, before they became a more mainstream group with more complex orchestral arrangements (although I'm not knocking Look Around, FOTH, etc.)...

 

[jfiedler17]

I went with LOOK AROUND. EQUINOX, I agree, is the best of all of them at capturing the "quintessential Brasil '66 sound," and the best starting point for anybody interested in Mendes, but, pop buff that I am, it's just hard for me to overlook the stellar songcraft on LOOK AROUND ... "The Look of Love," "Like a Lover," "Look Around," "So Many Stars" ...

Jeff F.

 

[Rudy]

It was a touch choice, but today I'm leaning toward "Look Around" as my favorite. Two great Lani Hall ballads, some really good Brazilian tracks ("Batucada", "Roda", etc.), and some others that defy explanation, other than "Brasil '66". The only clinker for me is the trite cover of "The Look of Love"--this is supposed to be a seduction song, not pop fluff. Dusty Springfield nails it, IMHO.

For me, the first three albums have always been the favorites, as they have an unbeatable mix of pop, jazz and Brazilian influences. "Fool" is no slouch either, especially "Festa", "Casa Forte" and "Lapinha"; IMHO they never topped themselves after recording songs like these.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Where's Harry on this one?

 

[Harry]

Harry was in Scandinavia, but back in the saddle again!

If I recall correctly, this question's been asked before, and I think I come to the same conclusion: FOOL ON THE HILL.

As an album, that one just holds together so well, with brilliant Brazilian material filling in between the pop covers of Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel.

Though I've also come to love PRIMAL ROOTS, I'd have a hard time voting for a favorite Mendes album without Lani Hall in it. She was so essential to the original sound and one of the reasons I came to Sergio in the first place.

Any of the first three albums would also be excellent choices for me to pick from, but somehow it all came together on FOOL ON THE HILL.

Harry
...catching up, online...

 

[Aqua do Brasil]

In reality, I think all of the 1st 4 albums are equally great.

I agree with you Steven,

It’s very hard too choose a favourite one.
I choose FOTH, but all Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 albums are remarkeable in their own right:
I try too anylize it a bit:

The first two, HAP and Equinox are both fresh and new.
Equinox with the additional supporting guitar by John Pisano.

Look Around with the Lush string and horn quality arrangments from Richard Hazard an Dave Grusin.

FOTH for it’s strong repertoire and the all over Brazilian/American crossover sound, very innovative at the time. And the combination of fiery combo playing and unison vocals and lush orchestra backings.

Ye-Me-Le, a good follow-up from FOTH, with some fine moments especially the title song.

Crystal Illusions: for the title song, PRETTY WORLD and one of my favourite Mendes tunes ‘YOU STEPPED OUT OF A DREAM’ the oldest song Sergio ever recorded, written by Herb Nacio Brown and Sammy Cahn for the movie The Ziegfield Follies from 1941.

Pais Tropical: Strong album with the highlights Gone Forever, Morro Velho, Zanzibar, Tonga. really Brazilian/Americana cross-over.

Stillness: For it’s folk-orientated quality, and the fine songs Viramundo, Chelsea morning, Some times in Winter, Lost in Paradise ( I loved the way Gracinha sings this song with her charming warm and great voice), and of course the fine great Lani Hall in Stillness.

Primal roots: For it’s interesting musical treatment of Sergio’s Brazilian roots and the use of the acoustic instruments with Tommy Scott in the spotlights, and my favourite Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira as guest.

Live at the Expo: Strong album with a lesser sonic quality but interesting intersection musical movements between the musicians and Lani and Karen. I don’t know if its is due to mastering or tape-transfer but I hear a one valse note somewhere from Sergio’s piano.

Al the best,
Aqua do Brasil

 

[Dave]

Fool On The Hill is my second favorite Sergio Mendes release! The "experimental fare" like a Beatles song for the title-track (and cover-concept) and Simon & Garfunkel's "off the wall" treatment of "Scarborough Fair" speak volumes.

And "Upa Neguinho", which Herbie Mann recorded on his Glory Of Love (A&M/CTi SP 3003) is really the Piece de Resistance!

And who can resist the inner-gatefold-photo-spread of the group members? Funny how that's where the late Rubens Bassini started his career, as I have him playing with Eumir Deodato a few years later.


Dave

...stating #1 and #2, online...

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Oops! Forgot about your trip, Harry! (Welcome back...we didn't wreck the place)

 

[Chris Martin]

Favorite Brasil '66 album? For me it must be "Equinox". I'd already heard a lot of the tracks on the Night & Day compilation album (on A&M/Mayfair, with the bizarre cover featuring the blue and white cats with human lips -- anyone got that?). When, in 1986 yet, I found the "Equinox" vinyl in my friend Emily's record collection, she couldn't resist giving it to me for keeps, so beaming was my smile, so a-tremble the hands. I'd only ever seen the cover reproduced in black and white on the back of the cover of "Introducing Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66". I loved the slightly aerial-view glossy cover photo and the liner notes contained the exquisite description, "very-warm-for-May tempos". Couldn't have put iy better myself, daddy! Fortunately, Emily had a Bang & Oluffson system, so I wasted no time slapping the pristine vinyl on the turntable and demanding silent reverence. "Chove chuva" and "Gente" floored me. Why were they never on a compilation? Rich and complex here, spare there. I love this album. It's a desert island staple.
I'm a new member and look forward to putting in my two cents in future.
P.s. Is the "Ye-me-le" album being called "What the World Needs Now" a peculiarity of the English pressing?

 

[Harry]

Hi Chris, welcome to the A&M Corner Forum.

That NIGHT AND DAY compilation is one I've heard about and some of our members own, but it's eluded me so far.

The EQUINOX album is certainly an excellent one, making the choice in this poll very tough. (I picked FOOL ON THE HILL.)

I assume you're aware that EQUINOX is available in two different CD editions currently. In the US, there's a Verve re-issue with a mini-LP cardboard sleeve, and in Japan the entire A&M Sergio Mendes catalog of original albums was issued within the last couple of years (minus the IN CONCERT album).

I don't believe that "Gente" has shown up on any compilations, excellent recording though it is. "Constant Rain (Chove Chuva)" has fared a bit better, being included on the 2-CD VERY BEST OF SERGIO MENDES AND BRASIL '66 compilation from the UK, a German compilation called EASY LOUNGIN' COLLECTION, and a recent Japanese compilation called SERGIO MENDES SONGS SELECTED BY SHINICHI OSAWA.

Keep adding your two cents here - we're hoping to someday reach a dollar!

Harry
...welcoming Chris to the Forum, online...

 

[Chris Martin]

Thanks, Harry, for your warm welcome.
I think of myself as a bit of a completist. I believe (only believe) I have everything Sergio's ever put out as a Sergio album (as Sergio or in any of his 'Brasil' manifestations, including compilations). My point was (though I failed to say so in my post) that songs such as "Gente" should have been featured on compilations/tasters rather than so much stuff that's repeated everywhere. Of course, they're tasters so any inductee who wants to take his Sergio radar further will inevitably stumble on pearls such as "Gente" or "The Frog" or whatever.
My parents bought the "Night and Day" cat album in 1968 when I was only four! In the mid-80's I came across "Night and Day" in a second-hand record store in London and the cover featured the inner jacket large photo of Sergio from "Fool in the Hill". I was a penniless university student at the time so, crushingly, had to pass it up. The completist in me still weeps.
Any news on whether or not "What the World Needs Now" is only used in Britain for the album conventionally titled "Ye-Me-Le"?
On the subject of how hard it is to pick a favorite Sergio Mendes album, have you ever wondered what would be Sergio's lousiest album? Or is that too cruel a proposed survey for a neophyte contributor like myself on only my second two cents-worth? The quality is so high but after 40 years of output there have to be occasional blips. My second favorite album, for example, is "Homecooking", some 9/10 years later than my number one choice. The only album I would write off wholesale is "Magic Lady". It sucks, down from the cover art to the contents. It kind off clings to the coat-tails of its contemporary musical times. It's the only one beyond redemption.

 

[Harry]

Chris, I can't argue with your choice for worst. Far and away, MAGIC LADY ranks at the bottom of the heap with me. I think I've listened to it maybe three or four times tops, and it does absolutely nothing for me. Though I kind of like the cover...

Being a Sergio Mendes completist takes a lot of effort. It's not like you can walk into your local record shop and find them all neatly filed under M for Mendes. With all of the imports and different record labels, it's a challenge to say the least. I'm still lacking the Pele album, and in compilations don't have that NIGHT AND DAY you mentioned, nor the latest rumored Japanese compilation I read about from our own JMK. Perhaps he'll chime in with more details.

Harry
NP: radio at work

 

[Rudy]

On the subject of how hard it is to pick a favorite Sergio Mendes album, have you ever wondered what would be Sergio's lousiest album? Or is that too cruel a proposed survey for a neophyte contributor like myself on only my second two cents-worth?

What happens when your 15 minutes is up? (Welcome, BTW. )

In my own case, I only really like the earlier A&Ms (up through Crystal Illusions), followed by the Brasil '86 album and Oceano, with an occasional listen to Homecooking (as our jazz radio station used to play a couple of cuts from it). They are about all I listen to. I've tried others but they never grabbed me and, thus, never warrant further listens. Everyone has their own "hot buttons" with any artist.

 

[Chris Martin]

Difficult to find? You said it Harry. The "world music" section is a relatively recent phenomenon in record shops, as is net shopping. Ive found Sergio under "Disco" before now! "Female Vocalists", even! Maybe I'm starting a new thread here, but where d'ya get your Sergio? Here's my odyssey...
"Herb Alpert Presents", "Night and Day", "Pais Tropical" and "Love Music": these I inherited from my folks. OK, I stuffed them into my grab-bag when I left home for college in 1982. (My parents and I, we're still speaking);
"Equinox", "What the World Needs Now" ("Ye-Me-Le"), and "Introducing" I schnorred from friends and family by promising them a better home (better home for the records, that is);
"Look Around" and "Crystal Illusions": I lived in Milan '88 through '98, and there was a tiny specialist shop called Jazz O' Brasil. If they didn't have it they'd import it from Brazil. My crop from here consists of Brazilian pressings. Pricey. They loved me in that shop when I bought "Look Around" twice by mistake. You needed a map to find it, and a buzzer to get in. Chic.
"Fool On The Hill", "Primal Roots", "Sergio Mendes" (1985), "Homecooking" and "Brasil '88" I pre-booked from my folks as birthday and Christmas presents, and these were all bought around the time of release. Hey, how come there's no Bossa-Hanuka connection in my life?
"Stillness", "In Concert" and "Vintage '74" were all found second-hand, and way past their release dates. In the late '70's I used to borrow Vintage '74 from the local library. On cassette! But repeatedly. I denied an entire borough that recording for years!
"The New Brasil '77", "Brasil '86", "Arara", "Brasileiro" and "Oceano" I bought up-front in major chains. I guess I started to have disposable income in 1977.
"Magic Lady" (Oy!), "Allegria", "Sergio Mendes" (the one with the chilli pepper) and "Confetti" I found all together in a shop in Milan called Stradivarius in a section labeled "Mendes, Sergio". Just as I like it. Man, I'd never even heard of these albums. This was 1993. I must have dropped off the Sergio loop for a while. Actually, it was not so much a shop as a boutique. Not so much a boutique as an Aladdin's cave.
"Greatest Hits" and "Expo '70" I have no recollection of acquiring. But boy, did I acquire them!

 

[Chris Martin]

And "Pele" I found in a chemist's!

 

[Brasil_Nut]

My vote went to HERB ALPERT PRESENTS SERGIO MENDES & BRASIL '66 because it was the album that started the ball rolling. Songs such as "Slow Hot Wind" and "The Joker" -- not to mention "Daytripper" and "Going Out Of My Head" established the Mendes Sound of two female vocalists sharing harmony, a tight rhythm section and Sergio's ability to make a song his own -- regardless of who did or did not write it. That said, we all know the first album was composed of a double-tracked Lani Hall, but this established the basic formula for the sound of Brasil '66 -- a sound that would change and shift in the next few years, yet always remained intact. In other words, the moment you heard a new Mendes song on the radio, you knew it was Brasil '66 because of Sergio's trademark sound...amazing!!

Jon

 

[JOv2]

Hello --

I much prefer the combo sound of the group.

That said, the debut is my favourite: the feel is not unlike going to a nightclub...although at about 25min, even for '60s pop it's a very short LP. Berimbau is one amazing performance! (I first acquired the LP at age 11 -- we were down the coast visiting my uncle in Ventura and I had the opportunity to dig through his LP collection -- after pulling some TJB that I didn't already have, I grabbed the B66 debut. He had no problem releaseing the LPs -- being firmly absored in '70s disco and such he said he'd probably never listen to them again...as I'm sure most felt at that time about nearly all pre-'68 music.)

Nevertheless, I selected Equinox -- can't really tell you why...it's just a feeling, I suppose: Edu Lobo's For Me, like Berimbau is the essence of dynamic '60s pop...and that long fade is quite mesmerizing. Yet another short LP for sure -- any word on whether material of merit was left unreleased? (As of late, I've been acquiring Lobo CDs of LPs cut in Brasil during this period -- his '66 version of Upa, Neguino , from Edu e Bethania [Elenco/ME-37] gets me every time!)

As for the subsequent LPs they are certainly competent, and of the three flagship A&M groups during "The Era" ('65 - '69 -- BMB, TJB, B66), Sergio's LPs were the most rewarding -- containing no obvious throwaways and always sustaining the highest level of musicianship. The orchestrated arrangements introduced on Look Around , however, changed the sound away from what initially attracted me to the band...

A question that I'm sure all of you connoisseurs can answer: Why did Mendes fire or otherwise remove Hansen, Palma, Soares and Matthews? Depending on one's opinion at the time, that event must've been one of pop crimes of the '60s! And anytime I look at those "other" LPs I can't help but wonder why -- aren't there even 45 pic sleeves of material from Look Around but with photos of the "new" group? How disturbing!

-James