🎵 AotW Classics Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 FOURSIDER (SP-3522)

How would your rate FOURSIDER as a compilation?

  • ***** Perfect

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • **** Very Good

    Votes: 7 63.6%
  • *** Good

    Votes: 2 18.2%
  • ** Poor

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • * Extremely Poor

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I've never hear of it

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    11

Harry

Charter A&M Corner Member
Staff member
Site Admin
SERGIO MENDES
AND BRASIL '66
FOURSIDER
A&M SP-3522

FoursiderMendes.jpg

Released as SP-3252, later renumbered SP-6012, and issued on CD as CD-6012

Track listing:

Side One
1. MAS QUE NADA (Jorge Ben) 2:37
2. ONE NOTE SAMBA/SPANISH FLEA (Jobim-Mendonca/Wechter) 1:45
3. BIM-BOM (J. Gilberto) 1:52
4. LOOK AROUND (S.Mendes-A.Mattos-A.Bergman-M.Bergman) 2:58
5. (SITTIN' ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY (S.Crooper-O.Redding) 3:09
6. WATCH WHAT HAPPENS (M.Legrand-N.Gimbel) 2:44
7. WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS (Lennon-McCartney) 2:33

Side Two
8. LOOK OF LOVE (Bacharach-David) 2:42
9. NORWEGIAN WOOD (Lennon-McCartney) 3:52
10. WAVE (Jobim) 2:15
11. AFTER MIDNIGHT (John J. Cale) 3:53
12. CHELSEA MORNING (J. Mitchell) 2:59

Side Three
13. FOOL ON THE HILL (J.Lennon-P.McCartney) 3:10
14. FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH (Stephen Stills) 3:41
15. DAY TRIPPER (Lennon-McCartney) 3:04
16. CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS (Memorias De Marta Sare) (E.Lobo-L.Hall-J.Guarnieri) 7:47

Side Four
17. PAIS TROPICAL (Jorge Ben) 2:44
18. YE-ME-LE (Luis Carlos Vinhas-Chico Feitosa) 2:25
19. LAI LADAIA (REZA) (E.Lobo-J.Guerra) 3:10
20. PROMISE OF A FISHERMAN (Dorival Caymmi) 2:56
21. AFTER SUNRISE (S.Neto-O.Neves) 2:22


VARIOUS SELECTIONS PRODUCED BY COMBINATIONS OF
HERB ALPERT, JERRY MOSS, AND SERGIO MENDES


Compiled and edited by
Claire Baren and Richard Burns
Art Direction by Roland Young
Concept and Design by Junie Osaki
Illustrations by Jim Gilbert

A&M Records, Inc.
P.O.Box 782, Beverly Hills, Calif. 90213
Printed in U.S.A.
 
Very small trivia tidbit: album cover designer Junie Osaki will later get married to Chuck Mangione.
 
I don't believe I ever purchased the Sergio FOURSIDER as an LP. My copy has the die-cut words "PROMOTIONAL NOT FOR SALE" stamped into the jacket, so it probably came from a radio station. The promotional version has no angled titles on the front, just black borders.

I did however purchase the CD the first time I saw it. That was back in those exciting days of CDs when you'd go to your favorite record store and see just what new old titles you had to have on CD. The CD must have been issued in the giant A&M CD roll-out of 1988, at least that's the copyright date on the CD, with a "4/88" stamped on the inner ring.

My first Sergio CD was the green GREATEST HITS, with the second being FOOL ON THE HILL. FOURSIDER would have been third or fourth with CLASSICS 18 being the other one. Both were welcome additions at the time, filling in some of the tracks not found elsewhere, like two tracks from PRIMAL ROOTS, an album that at the time, I had yet to discover.

Harry
 
What I believe is the "everything you need by Sergio" set! I mean, it even has the first two tracks from Primal Roots, "Promise Of A Fisherman" and "After Sunrise"...

I dreamed I was racing someone on motorized skateboards you sit down on while this played in my sleep! (Think "Norwegian Wood" was what came on & "I lost!"; "Wave", then played...)

A near-flawless set, in that it's fairly filled-out in Sergio's career, and I think at least as an introductory set for novice & an addition for the completest, this set, containing both hits & some good filler, should satisfy both...!


-- Dave
 
I gave this a very-good rating as it is a decent compilation for a newbie to Sergio. The fact that it's still in-print and available says something about it. This compilation is semi-chronological starting with the inevitable "Mas Que Nada" and ending with the PRIMAL ROOTS tracks, Sergio's last for A&M for awhile.

I was not aware of the Junie Osaki/Chuck Mangione connection - thanks for that tidbit.

Harry
 
I didn't care much for this comp at all. I thought it focused way too much on Brasil 66's pop material and not nearly enough of the Brazilian catalog. I got this on CD a few years back mainly as an afterthought but rarely put it on.


Capt. Bacardi
 
I bought this album a few years after its release. I was puzzled by some of the selections, both those included and some omissions. There is definitely room for more selections to have been included as the time for each side is rather short compared to other albums of the time.
 
I was surprised to see “Pretty World” and “Scarborough Fair” left out. But I like all the songs they did include.

My biggest gripe was, not enough love for Fool on the Hill. But that album got hosed on most if not all the official compilations.
 
"Scarborough" was the song I used to hear on XM Radio all the time, and I think it may also have charted.

For compilations, you're right--only "Scarborough" and "Fool" are usually the primary songs singled out for inclusion. I'm more a fan of the Brazilian tunes on that album. But those don't sell compilations.

Now I'm tempted to make my own playlist with the better "Brazilian" songs on it...
 
Perhaps a better compilation for you FOOL ON THE HILL fans (assuming you're not making your own) would be this one issued in 2009 in Europe:


ODEtMTE0MC5qcGVn.jpeg


ODAtOTg1Ni5qcGVn.jpeg


It contains SIX of nine tracks from FOOL ON THE HILL, plus some other assorted Brazilian titles. It's not too common, probably out of print, but there are a few on Discogs from other countries.
 
Perhaps a better compilation for you FOOL ON THE HILL fans (assuming you're not making your own) would be this one issued in 2009 in Europe:


ODEtMTE0MC5qcGVn.jpeg


ODAtOTg1Ni5qcGVn.jpeg


It contains SIX of nine tracks from FOOL ON THE HILL, plus some other assorted Brazilian titles. It's not too common, probably out of print, but there are a few on Discogs from other countries.
Now this is a very good compilation as it has excellent selections from Fool On The Hill. Crystal Illusions and YeMeLe and Stillness got the short end of the stick in this grouping.
 
"Scarborough" was the song I used to hear on XM Radio all the time, and I think it may also have charted.

Rudy, "Scarborough Fair" did chart, but it peaked at #16, which after #6 for "Fool on the Hill" and #4 for "The Look of Love", was a disappointment.

Of course, everything that followed made #16 look pretty good. "Pretty World" peaked at #62, "Dock of the Bay" at #66 and "Wichita Lineman" at #95---with "Norwegian Wood" and "For What It's Worth" doomed to the "bubbling under" chart (#107 and #101 respectively).

Chart numbers don't explain the choices on FOURSIDER....and personally, I'd have skipped "Crystal Illusions" to include "Scarborough Fair" and "Pretty World". I probably would have sequenced it purely chronologically, too.
 
Chart numbers don't explain the choices on FOURSIDER....and personally, I'd have skipped "Crystal Illusions" to include "Scarborough Fair" and "Pretty World". I probably would have sequenced it purely chronologically, too.
The Foursiders really make no sense, once you think about it. I never went out of my way to get them
 
The Foursiders really make no sense, once you think about it. I never went out of my way to get them

I appreciated them at the time because I was still programming a station that played MOR music---fresh copies of A&M material, a lot of which was by then out of print. But I don't think I ever took a duplicate copy for myself.
 
The Foursiders really make no sense, once you think about it. I never went out of my way to get them
I got the Foursider for Sergio Mendes as Pais Tropical and Primal Roots had disappeared from my local stores. I really liked the selections from those two that were included on Foursider. I found Pais Tropical a couple of years later but it took until about 1985 before I ever found Primal Roots.
 
We only had the first four Brasil '66 albums at the time and I probably didn't even know it existed. And I was one of those where, if I didn't recognize some of the songs, I really saw no point in buying it. But, that was just the logic of some dumb kid who owned a couple of A&M titles. 😁

I did get the CD but only because there wasn't much out there at the time. And I can't say I played it much at all.
 
I don't think I bought a Sergio Mendes FOURSIDER until I saw it on CD. At that time (1988), there wasn't much Brasil '66 on CD and this offered some songs that weren't on GREATEST HITS which I'd picked up in Japan.

I own a copy of Mendes' FOURSIDER on a Promotional LP that I must have picked at a radio station getting rid of its library. It has a die-cut "Promotional Not For Sale" etched into the cover and the LPs have white labels, of course. My version is the SP 3522 catalog number with no angled titles on the cover. But the CD has those.
 
I don't think I bought a Sergio Mendes FOURSIDER until I saw it on CD. At that time (1988), there wasn't much Brasil '66 on CD and this offered some songs that weren't on GREATEST HITS which I'd picked up in Japan.

I own a copy of Mendes' FOURSIDER on a Promotional LP that I must have picked at a radio station getting rid of its library. It has a die-cut "Promotional Not For Sale" etched into the cover and the LPs have white labels, of course. My version is the SP 3522 catalog number with no angled titles on the cover. But the CD has those.
I'd have to look at my lp to see the catalog number and whether or not the titles are on the cover. It is actually a bit surprising but it is still in print so copies are still being sold somewhere.
 
When the TJB Foursider came out, I grabbed it instantaneously because of that one new track stashed at the end of the fourth side. After that, I was really excited to get the Sergio Mendes one, thinking it would maybe have another "bonus" treasure like that. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Those were the only two of the Foursiders I ever owned.
 
I couldn't find Sergio's four-sided on vinyl Despite my efforts but then came the CD Era and I was finally able to score a copy and being that Pais Tropical and Primal Roots were long out of print this served as my source material for the tracks represented there especially After sunrise and Pais Tropical. As well as clean digital versions of certain album tracks that were unavailable any other way until The Verve reissues of the A&M albums
 
When the TJB Foursider came out, I grabbed it instantaneously because of that one new track stashed at the end of the fourth side. After that, I was really excited to get the Sergio Mendes one, thinking it would maybe have another "bonus" treasure like that. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Those were the only two of the Foursiders I ever owned.
I have always thought that there has to be some Brasil'66 recordings that never made it to the final album cut. it would have been great to have had a box set to include some unreleased gems.
 
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