Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77 The Crab singers?

Trevor

Well-Known Member
Ah... The Crab!
I was looking and it seems that "The Crab" was released before Primal Roots!?
Billboard said that "The Crab" single was being released (April 15, 1972) in conjunction with a 5 week tour in Japan. "Primal Roots" was released in July of 1972.
So... is "The Crab" a part of the "País Tropical" recording? (was this Karen Philipp?)
What about "Primal Roots"? Is there a chance that Karen might be on that album?? I know that Geri Stevens is given credit on the album, but... I remember that the new line up of Brasil'66 was on the release of "The Look of Love", which is clearly Janis Hansen's lead vocal.
 
Since PAÍS TROPICAL was from 1971, I can see why "The Crab" is lumped in with PRIMAL ROOTS. It's a bonus track on the Japanese CD of PRIMAL ROOTS - and was even on the Mexican LP:

3298
 
I will bet my unused Sergio Mendes concert ticket that the singer on "The Crab" is Gracinha....her voice is unmistakable.

I have always thought the song should have been included on the Pais Tropical disk - because it fits right in with that album stylistically. It sounds like an anomaly on Primal Roots. They put it on Roots to help it sell better maybe?
 
Oh for sure it's Graçinha. That's a given - but who else might be on it? Good question.
 
País Tropical had the Japanese version as a bonus track. So, I guess that The Crab would be a bonus track for Primal Roots. If Karen were still touring with Sergio for that April 1972 concert, then we would know the answer. Geri Stevens might have gotten the credit on Primal Roots, but was that more for convenience?
 
Seeing the group in that era, I can definitely say that Karen and Gracinha sang The Circle Game on stage. Karen was masterful and amazing. However, when Primal Roots came out, it was Geri Stevens and Gracinha on vocals. I doubt that Karen is on the recording or album.

The combination of Karen/Gracinha vs. Geri/Gracinha was a big difference in sound. Also, Geri told me in an e-mail that she had to learn everything for the album/stage performances, which leads me to believe that Primal Roots is, indeed, Geri and Gracinha.

Just my two cents. Don't quote me. Just a gut feeling.

Jon...the "Brasil Nut"
 
Seeing the group in that era, I can definitely say that Karen and Gracinha sang The Circle Game on stage. Karen was masterful and amazing. However, when Primal Roots came out, it was Geri Stevens and Gracinha on vocals. I doubt that Karen is on the recording or album.

The combination of Karen/Gracinha vs. Geri/Gracinha was a big difference in sound. Also, Geri told me in an e-mail that she had to learn everything for the album/stage performances, which leads me to believe that Primal Roots is, indeed, Geri and Gracinha.

Just my two cents. Don't quote me. Just a gut feeling.

Jon...the "Brasil Nut"
I bought the original release of "Primal Roots" on vinyl in July 1972. I am looking at the liner notes right now and they definitively state that it is Geri on vocals along with Gracinha. I have seen Billboard Magazine's full page Brasil 77 advertisements from the Spring of 1972 and it also shows Geri with Gracinha.

As for 1972's "The Crab"--my ear tells me that its a solo Gracinha recording--no extra female voice singing in unison.

I remember in 1972 hearing "The Crab" and said wow--Mendes and Company sound better than ever with their trademark Brazilian sound. And then out came "Primal Roots" like nothing Mendes ever recorded. I knew it was an instant classic, which over time would stand out as his greatest album ever. A hybrid Brazilian folk/jazz album that holds up as A+ forty seven years later. Then their third effort from 1972 was the "Live at the Greek Theater" album which I bought several years ago. Fantastic. Geri and Gracinha's singing was amazing and made me forget about Lani and Janis for a moment. Indeed for me, while Sergio Mendes was at his peak in popularity in 1968 and rightfully so, his artistic summit in was in 1972 never to be equaled again.
 
Today, I really regret my dismissal of Sergio Mendes around the time of PRIMAL ROOTS. I never heard "The Crab" at all, with tracks from PAÍS TOPICAL being the last songs I'd heard of Sergio on the radio until the LOVE MUSIC album.

I'd read somewhere that Sergio's latest album, PRIMAL ROOTS, was a departure from his normal stuff and wasn't really designed for hit radio at all. So I totally ignored it. If it wasn't good enough for radio, then it wasn't to be for me. When LOVE MUSIC came out, there were a bunch of radio-friendly songs on that, and I enjoyed it, but was disappointed with the change of label, and further changes in personnel.

It wasn't until logging in to the Corner here in the late 1990s that I began to read other fans' notes about how they loved PRIMAL ROOTS, and I was compelled to go out and find a copy out in the used records stores. Until I found it, the only recourse was to enjoy the few tracks that had found their way to compilations like FOURSIDER, etc. And what a joy it was to hear the full album after all those years. It's an amazing tour-de-force to be sure.

As for "The Crab", that was a few years later when I finally heard that one. Again, someone brought it up here on the Corner, and I had to run over to the "Record Nazi" to get a copy. (I affectionately call Val Shively in Upper Darby, "The Record Nazi", as his treatment of customers in his store was akin to "The Soup Nazi's" in SEINFELD. I hear he's changed a good bit, but at that time, he was surely a gruff son-of-a..... But he always had whatever I asked for.)
 
Good ol' Val Shively--I guess he had some sort of spiritual awakening, and is no longer gruff like he used to be.
 
Ah... The Crab!
I was looking and it seems that "The Crab" was released before Primal Roots!?
Billboard said that "The Crab" single was being released (April 15, 1972) in conjunction with a 5 week tour in Japan. "Primal Roots" was released in July of 1972.
So... is "The Crab" a part of the "País Tropical" recording? (was this Karen Philipp?)
What about "Primal Roots"? Is there a chance that Karen might be on that album?? I know that Geri Stevens is given credit on the album, but... I remember that the new line up of Brasil'66 was on the release of "The Look of Love", which is clearly Janis Hansen's lead vocal.
Since the flipside of "The Crab" was "After Sunrise" they were probably recorded about the same time as the album "Primal Roots."
I had seen that album in a few stores but it disappeared quick. I eventually got a copy from a used bookstore. My favorites on Primal Roots are After Sunrise and the Circle Game.
 
In memory of João Donato, here's my clean promo 45 of "The Crab". I think this 45 is a little cleaner than the one that Japan used on the PRIMAL ROOTS compact disc.

 
Thank you, Harry. A big difference! Also The PRIMAL ROOTS "Crab" is speeded up.

Has anyone ever found the lyrics to THE CRAB online?
I would love to Google translate then to see what comes up.
 
Thank you, Harry. A big difference! Also The PRIMAL ROOTS "Crab" is speeded up.

Has anyone ever found the lyrics to THE CRAB online?
I would love to Google translate then to see what comes up.
I thought that the version I heard on Primal Roots seemed a bit fast from what I remember hearing back in the day.
 
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