The Sandpipers and Brasil '66??

[Brasil_66_Fan]

Has anyone listened closely to The Sandpipers' song "Let Go" (The Wonder Of You/SP-4180), which got quite a bit of air play eons ago, when there were real 'MOR' stations? If I'm not mistaken, the female backup vocals sound like Lani and Janis, the drumming style like Joao Palma, and percussion much like Jose Soares. Something I've been debating all these years (so I guess you could say I'm finally coming out of the closet?!?!)...

 

[William]

I haven't heard the Sandpipers album, so I can't comment on how much it sounds like Brasil '66--but I do know that by the time The Wonder Of You was released in 1969, Janis, Jose and Joao had left Sergio; Janis was pursuing an acting career full-time and Joao was doing studio work in New York city.

Seems unlikely that they would all reconvene for an uncredited appearance on a Sandpipers tune, but I could be wrong.


- William

 

[Brasil_66_Fan]

I haven't heard the Sandpipers album, so I can't comment on how much it sounds like Brasil '66--but I do know that by the time The Wonder Of You was released in 1969, Janis, Jose and Joao had left Sergio; Janis was pursuing an acting career full-time and Joao was doing studio work in New York city.

Seems unlikely that they would all reconvene for an uncredited appearance on a Sandpipers tune, but I could be wrong.


Thanks William, you brought up a couple of good points. Although the album was released in '69, the track may have been recorded earlier, but who knows? Or maybe it was the second generation B66? As for uncredited accompaniments, it seems A&M did quite a bit of this based on past postings (Ex.- Agua De Beber's trombone).

And as for the breakup of the original Brasil '66 - I may have missed it, but did anyone come up with the reason for it, since it was my (and many others) favorite combination??

 

[Harry]

"Let Go" is one of my favorite Sandpipers tracks, but I'm doubtful of any connection between it and Brasil '66, save for the label and the fact that it's a Brazilian song (done by Tamba 4 on the A&M/Cti WE AND THE SEA as "Chant of Ossanha").

It's likely that the backing vocalists on "Let Go" were studio singers hired for the session. I wish we could get credits on some of the early sessions.

Harry
NP: "Let Go" - Sandpipers

 

[Rudy]

As for uncredited accompaniments, it seems A&M did quite a bit of this based on past postings (Ex.- Agua De Beber's trombone).

I think it was at some point in the early 1970's, if memory servers me correctly, the musicians union started requesting that any musicians on a recording be credited. (This is also the same reasoning that has caused movie credits to expand to hundreds of names.)

About four years ago this month, we had session guitarist/bassist Carol Kaye stop in and tell us about her work with early A&M albums, including Herb's Whipped Cream (the album and the song, on which she played the electric bass). Hal Blaine is also widely known as the drummer who gave "A Taste Of Honey" its trademark bass drum kick-off, and it's also known that long-established musicians like Pete Jolly and even Julius Wechter played on TJB albums back then. (And on the opposite end of the scale, Tonni Kalash was a TJB member, but for touring only.)

From the covers, you'd think it was the band on the album cover that provided the music...but this seems to be the standard among pop albums of the 50's and 60's. If you think about it, how many people thought the Monkees actually played all of their own instruments? Or that the white suburban kids on the cover of those classic Motown albums had anything to do with the music?

Unless it's a jazz album, the pop and "easy listening" albums never had credits, except to point out a particular soloist. RCA albums, as an example, didn't list the musicians. Mancini's albums would usually list a featured soloist, and would usually list all of the band members if it were a jazz album (like Combo!, Uniquely Mancini, etc.). But for the soundtracks, you were on your own to guess who played on it.

-= N =-

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I would love to see full musician credits on the Burt Bacharach albums, too. There's some very cool instrumentation there.