Sergio Mendes "Favorite Things"

[Trevor]

This is a 1968(?) album on the Atlantic Label. (not A&M) Instrumental, too.
Is there a story about this album that I am missing? It just seems a bit random to have another album on a different label separate from the very popular Brasil'66 group.
OH... Was this made in between the first Brasil'66 and the second Brasil'66??

 

[Harry]

That album, MY FAVORITE THINGS, was part of a deal that Sergio had with Atlantic. Apparently he'd signed a deal to do X number of albums for them and was one short when the Brasil '66 thing came through with A&M. So he gathered up some musicians, John Pisano was one of them, and did this instrumental album for Atlantic. They of course wanted to capitalize on Sergio's new found success with Brasil '66.

How he got around the loopholes of contracts with A&M and Atlantic is anyone's guess. Possibly just not using "Brasil '66" on Atlantic was enough.

Harry

 

[RichardWarner]

When Sergio created the new Brasil '66 in 1965, a bidding war ensued between Atlantic and A&M.

Jerry Moss said this was A&M's first experience competing to sign a major act and he wound up saying "yes" to everything asked. To top it off, Herb Alpert, then at the peak of the TJB's popularity, offered to make Brasil '66 his opening act on the road.

Ahmet Ertegün of Atlantic finally said to Sergio Mendes, "look I think these people can do more for you than I can." Sergio agreed to record for Atlantic as a solo artist.

 

[TulitaPepsi]

Judging from the cover of Sergio with the two female models (that groovy chartreuse leatherette catsuit!) did anyone expect to hear female vocalists on this album? I sure did.

 

[Trevor]

Yes, with two ladies on the cover - I thought there would be vocals too. I have never paid much attention to this album because it is instrumental. Actually, I thought it was released before the Brasil'66 time period. I am not a big fan of instrumentals myself. I consider Zanzibar, Casa Forte, etc with the "vocalise" to be vocal songs (not instrumentals). Anyways, this album did not do that great on the album charts and that proves that Brasil'66 was the way to go for Sergio.

 

[JMK]

Sergio was signed to Atlantic long before Brasil '66. "The Great Arrival" debuted more or less at the same time as the first B66 album (after previous Atlantic releases which included both licensed re-releases of two of Sergio's Brasilian albums as well as the B65 album). "Favorite Things" was simply the last album of the pre-existing deal, released in 1968 right when Sergio was at the height of his B66 popularity.

 

[Bobberman]

This is my favorite instrumental album by Sergio. From his Atlantic years. I remember buying the vinyl in 1985 in excellent condition. ( and i am a diehard fan of instrumentals) for me this is one of those standout Sergio Mendes Classics. From start to finish.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

When I was a teenager, I bought these Sergio Atlantic albums as they were released. Way before the Internet, there of course was mail order. My source was an outfit called King Karol Records in New York City, which is about 75 miles away. Just about any album could be had, no sales tax, shipping included for about $4 and change, Those were the days my friends!

 

[Rudy]

Steve's note has reminded of the mail order club I belonged to--Discount Record Club. It almost sounded like it was a distributor/rack-jobber doing mail order as a side business, as their "catalog" was the Schwann catalog, with their own custom-printed back cover which listed the pricing matrix. Their prices were quiet good, and shipping reasonable. And as long as the catalog listed it, they'd ship it. The only time I could beat the price is if one of the local stores had a really good sale (like 20-25% off). And even there, no local stores would ever stock the entire Schwann catalog. I can't even recall if they had a membership fee--if there was, it was so minimal as to be inconsequential. (It may have been just enough to pay for the quarterly Schwann catalog.)