🎵 AotW Classics Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 EQUINOX SP-4122

[Michael Hagerty]

Pet peeve of mine re: Mendes (which happened way too often on these later A&M records)--knowing the original "Moanin'" as @JOv2 and I do, turning what is basically a call and response gospel/blues-based tune into an overly-commercialized, trite pop song drowned in Grusin's overbearing arrangement makes no musical sense other than a desperate attempt to sell records and chase down a hit.

Which, for Brasil '66 in 1969....

 

[JOv2]

...turning what is basically a call and response gospel/blues-based tune into an overly-commercialized, trite pop song drowned in Grusin's overbearing arrangement makes no musical sense other than a desperate attempt to sell records and chase down a hit.

Touche'!

I wrote the following back in 2008:

...the raucous and brash Moanin’ might easily qualify as the worst Brasil ’66 effort to date... The imaginative rhythmic interplay aside, all that hooping/hollering in the middle (you know, the "moaning" section) is so annoying it renders the song unlistenable. …and of course it’s always these kind of songs that totally go in for the 45-second fade. This mess should have never made it beyond the rehearsal stage.

 

[lj]

Pet peeve of mine re: Mendes (which happened way too often on these later A&M records)--knowing the original "Moanin'" as @JOv2 and I do, turning what is basically a call and response gospel/blues-based tune into an overly-commercialized, trite pop song drowned in Grusin's overbearing arrangement makes no musical sense other than a desperate attempt to sell records and chase down a hit.

For a vocal version, I'd turn to the Lambert, Hendricks and Ross version, which at least respects the song enough to get to its roots. Jon Hendricks wrote most of the group's lyrics and in opportunities like these, he was able to latch onto a lyrical theme that touched on the musical roots of the song (a gospel-themed instrumental written by Bobby Timmons, the first and definitive version performed by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers) while also incorporating the song's title as the subject of the narrative. Here are the unaltered lyrics of the LH&R original:

Every mornin' find me moanin' (yes, lord)
'Cause of all the trouble I see (yes, lord)
Life's a losin' gamble to me (yes, lord)
Cares and woes have got me moanin' (yes, lord)

Every evenin' find me moanin' (yes, lord)
I'm alone and cryin' the blues (yes, lord)
I'm so tired of payin' these dues (yes, lord)
Everybody knows I'm moanin' (yes, lord)

Miles Davis even built his classic "So What" in the same manner--the bass plays the call, and the horns the response. (Interestingly, the same lyrics for "Moanin" almost nearly fit this song.) Davis mentioned in his autobiography even mentioned that he was inspired by hearing gospel wafting out of rural churches late at night.



We're actually in the wrong thread for Ye-Me-Le discussion but on that album, it's perplexing how such a great arrangement as "Norwegian Wood" (6/8? Who'd have thought??) can coexist next to something like "Moanin'" or the other Grusin-drenched songs. Other than the female vocal leads, the rest of the musicians may have well phoned it in on these records--they're barely heard. What a waste of talent.

Just my two cents' worth...and you know what that'll buy you in today's world...

Rudy--I'm glad you referenced to the great Jon Hendricks. He was a master in the use of the English lyric. He was well grounded, as he studied English literature at the University of Toledo. I always preferred by far his English lyrics to "One Note Samba" over those of Gene Lees. Jon's were beautifully poetic.

 

[lj]

Rudy--I'm glad you referenced to the great Jon Hendricks. He was a master in the use of the English lyric. He was well grounded, as he studied English literature at the University of Toledo. I always preferred by far his English lyrics to "One Note Samba" over those of Gene Lees. Jon's were beautifully poetic.

I have to make a correction here. Jon Hendricks and Gene Lees wrote two different sets of English lyrics for "Desafinado." The lyrics by Gene Lees were closely based on the original Portuguese lyrics by Newton Mendonca. However, in my opinion they seemed a bit cold, lacking the rhyme and poetic beauty I associate with the lyrics by Hendricks.

Now it gets very interesting regarding the English lyrics to the music of Jobim's "One Note Samba." On the YouTube video "The New Beat CBS Eyewitness" from December 1962, Gerry Mulligan said in reference to "One Note Samba": "You did an English lyric with a lot of help from Americans." And Jobim replied: "North Americans living in South America helped me." Sheet music to this song shows that Jobim wrote the English lyrics. And yet, after doing a thorough search on the Internet, various articles attribute the English lyrics not to Jobim, but rather to Jon Hendricks. Could Hendricks have been one of the helpers Jobim alluded to? And how were the royalties divvied up?

 

[lj]

I went to the BMI website--the music rights organization--and it shows for ONE NOTE SAMBA that the writer/composers are listed as: Jobim Antonio Carlos and Mendonca Newton Ferreira. Jon Hendricks name is not listed as a writer for this song. This suggests that even if Hendricks wrote some or all of the English lyrics to One Note Samba, he apparently did not have copyright ownership of that song.

 

[rockdoctor]

I went to the BMI website--the music rights organization--and it shows for ONE NOTE SAMBA that the writer/composers are listed as: Jobim Antonio Carlos and Mendonca Newton Ferreira. Jon Hendricks name is not listed as a writer for this song. This suggests that even if Hendricks wrote some or all of the English lyrics to One Note Samba, he apparently did not have copyright ownership of that song.

I wonder if maybe Norman Gimbel might have had a hand in the English lyrics and is uncredited. He did English lyrics for songs by Brazilian writers a number of times.

 

[Rudy]

I wonder if maybe Norman Gimbel might have had a hand in the English lyrics and is uncredited. He did English lyrics for songs by Brazilian writers a number of times.

Wasn't Gene Lees another who used to write English lyrics to Brazilian songs?

 

[rockdoctor]

Wasn't Gene Lees another who used to write English lyrics to Brazilian songs?

I do not recognize the name Gene Lees right off the bat. I have seen Gimbel's name many times and I guess his most famous is Killing Me Softly With His Song.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Wasn't Gene Lees another who used to write English lyrics to Brazilian songs?

Yep. Quite a few for Jobim ("Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars", "Dreamer"). In fact, "Quiet Nights" was his first professional lyric credit. He also contributed lyrics to Milton Nascimento's "Bridges".

 

[Rudy]

I do not recognize the name Gene Lees right off the bat.

Gene Lees was a biographer, music critic, lyricist, and journalist, originally from Canada. He was editor of the jazz magazine Down Beat for about three years in the early 60s, and also wrote liner notes for nearly a hundred albums. Aside from Down Beat, he also wrote for Stereo Review and High Fidelity magazines, the New York Times, and a handful of other publications in Canada.

Of the books I own, he co-wrote the biography Did They Mention The Music? with Henry Mancini. And of course, more than a few Brazilian songs feature his lyrics.

 

[JMK]

Before moving on to valuable trivia, I'll simply say as your resident contrarian, I love B66's version of Moanin' and think Grusin's orchestration is spot on.

I met Jon and Judith in my twenties in Portland. Judith was evidently quite taken with me and kept peppering me with questions about my background, which hilariously seemed to tick off Jon, but Jon was one of the judges for the Jazziz Vocal Jazz contest that I won many years ago, so if he remembered me, he didn't hold a grudge.

Jon wrote "alternate" lyrics to any number of Brasilian standards which are interesting to contrast with the work of Gimbel and Lees. I would *still* love to get the published version of Gimbel's lyric for With Your Love Now, so that I could finally figure out what the frell Pery and Gracinha are singing LOL. A friend gave me Norman's son's email, and I sent one but never heard back (again LOL).

Re: Gene Lees. For those wanting some *really* odd revisionist music history, look into Gene's kind of confounding claims about Les Baxter, something that really strikes me as odd to this day. Gene's journalism is still high on my list, and I will forever honor him for mirroring my unapologetic love for Percy Faith's arranging excellence.

 

[Harry]

I would *still* love to get the published version of Gimbel's lyric for With Your Love Now, so that I could finally figure out what the frell Pery and Gracinha are singing LOL.

Ah, that fun game, "What's the heck is Gracinha singing?" © A&M Corner

For the last hour, I've been trying to figure that out. Starting with a some lyrics posted on a YouTube video, I've put the song into Audacity, slowed it down, goosed some highs, removed some backing instrumentation, --- and it's still not totally clear. But here's what I'm getting. The bolded text is something I'm not at all sure of. The bracketed sections make no sense whatsoever, but is what I hear.

WITH YOUR LOVE NOW - Bossa Rio

Endless day, endless night
Things of the past, you are here
Life is right
Sunshine at last
Got a grip, got a load now
Brave and bold now

Headin' up, headin' out,
Eye on a star, not a fear, not a doubt
I'm flying far
Future fits like a glove now
With your love now

With your love now
I can be what I want to be
I can see there's a chance for me
I can be the me that's deep inside
I can [free the hearts I used to lied]*

Give me room, give me air
I'm gonna soar like a broom
Sweeps despair right out the door
Life's a dream, I can love now
With your love now, with your love now
With your love now

La la la...

I can be what I want to be
I can see there's a chance for me
I can be the me that's deep inside
I can [free the hearts I used to lied]*

Give me room, give me air
I'm gonna soar like a broom
Sweeps dispair right out the door
Life's a dream, I can love now
With your love now, with your love now
With your love now, with your love now

La la la...

 

[Rudy]

Ah, that fun game, "What's the heck is Gracinha singing?" © A&M Corner

If it were me, I'd just skip the track.

Before moving on to valuable trivia, I'll simply say as your resident contrarian, I love B66's version of Moanin' and think Grusin's orchestration is spot on.

We'll have to agree to disagree. I feel the arrangement is not only in extremely poor taste and a brash insult to the composer, it's slathered with the typical syrupy dreck of Dave Grusin's arrangements at the time. One of the most absolutely wretched things ever committed to vinyl.

 

[JMK]

I may have posted this before, this was the lyric several of us (including some native Portuguese speakers I contacted who I thought were appropriate accent decipherers) came up with:

Endless day, endless night
Things of the past
You are here, life is right
Sunshine at last
Got a grip, got a hold now
Brave and bold now

Headin’ up, headin’ out
I own a star
Not a fear, not a doubt
I’m flying far
Future fits like a glove now
With your love now

With your love now
I can be what I want to be
I can see there’s a chance for me
I can be the me that’s deep inside
I can free two hearts that used to hide

Give me room, give me air
I’m gonna soar
Like a broom sweep despair
Right out the door
Life’s a dream I dream of now
With your love now

 

[Harry]

Got a grip, got a hold now
Brave and bold now

The word "hold" certainly makes the most sense, but it sounds like Gracinha's starting the word with an "L" sound.

Still "hold" rhymes with "bold", yet it sounds more like "load" to me.

Life’s a dream I dream of now
With your love now

I think you're right here. The more I listen to it, it sounds correct - it even makes a bit of sense!

 

[JMK]

BTW, if you haven't seen it, here's a fun clip of them live on Playboy After Dark, where you can also try to read Gracinha's lips. The *really* interesting thing about this performance is the keyboard player is def not Manfredo LOL (I think Manfredo must be on the organ stage right, where you never really get a look at him). I almost wonder if it's George Duke.