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

[Murray]

I've been listening to Equinox quite a lot lately, and it's my absolute favourite Sergio Mendes album. Picking a favourite song is difficult, as there are so many good tracks! Ultimately, I chose "For Me", as it's as close to pop perfection as you can get, and Lani's vocals are simply sublime.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

"For Me" is my favorite from the LP and probably from Brasil '66's entire body of work. "Chove Chuva" is a close second from the LP, but would probably slip a position or two overall.

As much as I love those songs (and everything else on the LP), I never actually owned a copy of EQUINOX until the most recent CD reissue.

---Michael Hagerty

 

[rockdoctor]

Equinox was a good sophomore album from Brasil'66 but I wonder why they were not allowed to have more songs on the album. Most artists of the time were having 11 -13 songs per album. Also since Bim Bom and So Danco Samba were so short, there was not a time constraint issue. The album is a bit dated by the sitar sound in Constant Rain as the sitar was used on a lot of material at that time. The Rolling Stones, Beatles and 5th Dimension used them at the same time and that was about the time I was learning about Ravi Shankar who was a master of the sitar.
I voted For Me as the best on the lp but I also really like Triste and Wave. My vote threw For Me and Constant Rain into a tie.

 

[Bobberman]

I voted for Wave as it was the first version of the song I ever heard as I purchased the album originally in November 1984 ( I acquired Jobim's Wave Lp a few months later) and given my mood and frame of mind at the time the song and the lyrics just grabbed me

 

[rockdoctor]

When I first got this, it was the Verve release. I had gotten the other albums from Amazon and were all Japanese releases but somehow this one may not have been listed at the time I purchased the others. I also seem to remember reading a review that a selection was missing from the Japanese issue.
I have also been on the watch for a mono copy of the lp at the usual haunts for used records. I have seen one but the condition was not good so I left it behind. The next time I was at that particular store, that copy was gone so someone bought it.
There is also a copy of the Pickwick issue on Amazon for $54. I will skip that one.

 

[Harry]

I had no trouble locating either the Japanese release nor the Verve release. I found both as they were made available. And as for mono version, back when I started looking for more Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 albums to enhance my collections, the mono version of EQUINOX seemed plentiful. In fact, the program director at the radio station, knowing of my love of Brasil '66, asked me if I'd ever seen a stereo version of the album. In his travels, all seemed to be mono.

As for hard-to-find mono, it took me until just a year or so ago to finally find a domestic mono copy of LOOK AROUND. That one was tough - it's a promo white label with a "monaural" sticker on it.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

I had no trouble locating either the Japanese release nor the Verve release. I found both as they were made available. And as for mono version, back when I started looking for more Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 albums to enhance my collections, the mono version of EQUINOX seemed plentiful. In fact, the program director at the radio station, knowing of my love of Brasil '66, asked me if I'd ever seen a stereo version of the album. In his travels, all seemed to be mono.

As for hard-to-find mono, it took me until just a year or so ago to finally find a domestic mono copy of LOOK AROUND. That one was tough - it's a promo white label with a "monaural" sticker on it.

I remember the switch to stereo only happening fast. We had an old phonograph in the living room from before I was born and it was, of course, mono only. So my early album purchases were mono. By early '68, it had become a largely stereo-only world---at least in the stores I shopped in. Upside: I got a stereo for my room for my 12th birthday.

 

[Harry]

True, from about 1968 on, most albums sold were stereo. Several record companies like A&M mucked around with HAECO-CSG in an effort to only press one slab of vinyl that would work with both stereo and mono phonographs, rather than two. That makes any mono records from 1968 on a bit more difficult to find. Highly sought-after is the mono Columbia record of Simon & Garfunkel's BOOKENDS due to the different mono mixes on that rarer pressing.

Many of the mono versions of A&M albums from 68 on are usually promotional. At the time, there was an effort to cater to the big powerhouse mono AM stations, and to press special stereo singles for the up and coming FM stations.

I've got a few A&M promotional mono albums from the early 70s, like Herb's SUMMERTIME and YOU SMILE, even SOLID BRASS. I found a mono of Lani's SUN DOWN LADY too. But though I've gotten a mono of Sergio's FOOL ON THE HILL, I've never heard-tell of a mono of THE BRASS ARE COMIN' or WARM.

 

[rockdoctor]

True, from about 1968 on, most albums sold were stereo. Several record companies like A&M mucked around with HAECO-CSG in an effort to only press one slab of vinyl that would work with both stereo and mono phonographs, rather than two. That makes any mono records from 1968 on a bit more difficult to find. Highly sought-after is the mono Columbia record of Simon & Garfunkel's BOOKENDS due to the different mono mixes on that rarer pressing.

Many of the mono versions of A&M albums from 68 on are usually promotional. At the time, there was an effort to cater to the big powerhouse mono AM stations, and to press special stereo singles for the up and coming FM stations.

I've got a few A&M promotional mono albums from the early 70s, like Herb's SUMMERTIME and YOU SMILE, even SOLID BRASS. I found a mono of Lani's SUN DOWN LADY too. But though I've gotten a mono of Sergio's FOOL ON THE HILL, I've never heard-tell of a mono of THE BRASS ARE COMIN' or WARM.

Was the Japanese issue of Equinox missing one of the selections like the Pickwick release or was the notice I heard wrong? I do look for a Mono Look Around in my travels. I may have to look for Bookends now.

 

[Harry]

I've got the 1993 Japan POCM-1880. It contains all ten tracks. Looking on Discogs, there are four CDs from Japan, one from 1987, one from 1993, one from 2006, and one from 2008. All have 10 tracks and all look legit to me.

 

[rockdoctor]

I've got the 1993 Japan POCM-1880. It contains all ten tracks. Looking on Discogs, there are four CDs from Japan, one from 1987, one from 1993, one from 2006, and one from 2008. All have 10 tracks and all look legit to me.

Thanks. Maybe what I heard was about the Pickwick release.

 

[Harry]

Thanks. Maybe what I heard was about the Pickwick release.

For that info you'll have to go to the Pickwick Corner website. Good luck finding it... It's always missing something.

 

[Bobberman]

For that info you'll have to go to the Pickwick Corner website. Good luck finding it... It's always missing something.

Haha I so remember that one.

 

[rockdoctor]

For that info you'll have to go to the Pickwick Corner website. Good luck finding it... It's always missing something.

I never bought any of the A&M re-releases on Pickwick. The only A&M re-release that I ever saw in a store that I can recall was Crystal Illusions. I don't remember if it was complete but it had the original cover art.

 

[Harry]

My prize was YE-ME-LE and its ridiculous cover.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

The only A&M re-release that I ever saw in a store that I can recall was Crystal Illusions. I don't remember if it was complete but it had the original cover art.

Well, this is odd -- I had written:

The Pickwick Crystal Illusions was indeed missing one song. I don't have the LP anymore so I can't check which song was missing, but I know side one only had 4 tunes.

Then I got curious and started digging around the internet and found a picture of the Pickwick release on Ebay. Turns out it DOES have all nine songs. So my memory was faulty. I guess it wouldn't be the first time!

 

[Harry]

The Pickwick YE-ME-LE was missing "Moanin'".

There was apparently also a 2-LP release from Pickwick combining CRYSTAL and YE-ME-LE titled MASQUERADE. It was also missing just one track, probably "Moanin'".

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Well, this is odd -- I had written:



Then I got curious and started digging around the internet and found a picture of the Pickwick release on Ebay. Turns out it DOES have all nine songs. So my memory was faulty. I guess it wouldn't be the first time!

What's odd is that Pickwick actually added something. On the A&M original, side one, track two is "Viola".



Pickwick went with the full title, "Viola Enularda".

 

[rockdoctor]

The Pickwick YE-ME-LE was missing "Moanin'".

There was apparently also a 2-LP release from Pickwick combining CRYSTAL and YE-ME-LE titled MASQUERADE. It was also missing just one track, probably "Moanin'".

WAAAAY back when I was in college, I had introduced Brasil' 66 to my roommate. He went to stay with his family during the Christmas break and when he returned, he had bought a copy of Masquerade. His family enjoyed it. I do not know if he still has it or not.

 

[rockdoctor]

My prize was YE-ME-LE and its ridiculous cover.

I said it before and I say it again, that is one creepy cover!

 

[Harry]

But points come off for misspelling the expanded title. It's "Viola Enluarada".

Marcos Valle - Viola Enluarada Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic

Discover Viola Enluarada by Marcos Valle released in 1968. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

www.allmusic.com

 

[Rudy]

My prize was YE-ME-LE and its ridiculous cover.

Still reminds me of one of the many outfits Peter Gabriel wore onstage during the early Genesis years...

 

[JOv2]

Highly sought-after is the mono Columbia record of Simon & Garfunkel's BOOKENDS due to the different mono mixes on that rarer pressing.

Several years ago, an LP friend of mind brought one he found and our group auditioned it. Needless to say, our collective teeth fell out: we're all intimate with the stereo LP but none of us were expecting to hear significantly different mixes -- particularly so given by '68 fold-downs were certainly the norm. (I never found a playable copy; but, on-line, someone had "deposited" a very nice needle-drop, which I now have.)

For that info you'll have to go to the Pickwick Corner website. Good luck finding it... It's always missing something.

I always thought these "budget" labels were marketed for both impulse buyers and the ultra-casual buyers. I'm confident these were probably also sold close to the register where the LP could be picked-quick.

The Pickwick YE-ME-LE was missing "Moanin'".

There was apparently also a 2-LP release from Pickwick combining CRYSTAL and YE-ME-LE titled MASQUERADE. It was also missing just one track, probably "Moanin'".

Well...if ever there was a B-66 song to omit, that low-ebb excursion was it (....with a capital "I").

 

[rockdoctor]

Several years ago, an LP friend of mind brought one he found and our group auditioned it. Needless to say, our collective teeth fell out: we're all intimate with the stereo LP but none of us were expecting to hear significantly different mixes -- particularly so given by '68 fold-downs were certainly the norm. (I never found a playable copy; but, on-line, someone had "deposited" a very nice needle-drop, which I now have.)


I always thought these "budget" labels were marketed for both impulse buyers and the ultra-casual buyers. I'm confident these were probably also sold close to the register where the LP could be picked-quick.


Well...if ever there was a B-66 song to omit, that low-ebb excursion was it (....with a capital "I").

Most of the Pickwick items that I saw were in the cutout bins and were artists that I had never heard of so I ignored them. Crystal Illusions was in the bin for Brasil '66 when I first saw it.
Personally, I liked Moanin for its fast pace and strong vocals.

 

[Rudy]

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...