Nice to see my favorite Sergio Mendes album getting a reissue. The review on the website linked above is probably the most glowing review I've ever read about this album -- I never really knew it was considered a "cult classic" but that's a fine tag to hang on it.....I just figured I was part of a very small cult!
STILLNESS is my favorite B'66 album as well. A uniquely , delicately haunting album where every cut is strong.
I do wish someone would have thought to include on the re-release CD the alternate, single 'take' of "For What It's Worth", which IMHO is superior to the classic album version.
It was the first Sergio album that I owned, on 8-track. At that time I just thought A&M Records was cool, and I'd heard "Look Around" on the Music Box compilation, so when Stillness came out I just decided to check it out.
It really has no "skip-over" tracks for me. "Chelsea Morning" was an early favorite and still is. I love the percussion break in the middle of "Viramundo," and the 'pop' tunes are some of the best Sergio ever did. And "Sometimes In Winter" is a song I didn't like that well when I first heard it but now it's right up there with "Chelsea."
I guess the thing I like the most is how the album is kind of ethereal and haunting. Such a contrast to his previous albums. Those cover photos were a real clue that this was going to be a lot different from the Brasil '66 we were used to.
I know some people (Rudy!) don't like it as well as some of the earlier stuff but it's a home run in my book.
Back in 2003, STILLNESS was our A&M Album Of The Week. Some good discussion there, and a very good track-by-track description from "Brasil_Nut" along with our forum consensus of the lyrics to "Lost In Paradise".
I think he has a Clint Eastwood (circa Fistful of Dollars) going on there myself. Especially that hat. Just needs the horse and the stump of a cigar. Sergio Mendes of the spaghetti western scene.
Nice to see Soul Jazz Records reissuing this on vinyl. I have three of their 180g vinyl releases so far (the first Edu Lobo album, and two by Tamba Trio) and they're fairly good (although digitally sourced). I might pick this one up if it's cheap enough.
It's been claimed that Stillness was a "concept" album before its time, but with albums like Carol King's Tapestry being released around the same time, I think it was more a case of the unexpected for Brasil '66 as opposed to being ahead of its time. It's an excellent album overall.
Actually, Whipped Cream was a "concept" album due to being songs based on food.
I don't spin Stillness much at all, but I do regret not completing my B66/B77 A&M titles on CD. It is hard to find clean vinyl copies of these titles, although I do have a very nice Primal Roots. I think I had a couple on MP3 but they sound ghastly.
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