The Sergio Mendes Album-by-Album Series

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Rudy

Rudy

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Over the next few months, A&M Corner is going to be featuring an "Album-by-Album" (also called "AxA") series for Sergio Mendes. This will include as many different recordings as we can feature here, more or less chronological (as it may include compilations), and will cover everything from his debut "Dance Moderno" up through his latest, "Encanto".

Each album will be featured in its own thread, and any data we post here, along with any member comments, will be used to help create new, enhanced discography listings in an upcoming new section at A&M Corner.

This information will also be mirrored over at our brasil66.com spin-off site, and each recording will be featured in our A&M Corner "Astore" (powered by Amazon) so you can find it easily.

I'll begin the official AxA Series for Sergio Mendes within the next day or so. This is just a heads-up to get the word out. Enjoy!
 
Looking forward to this. Sergio's earlier work definitely needs to be explored more thoroughly.
 
So, then, will this cover Sergio's (earlier?) works on Atlantic and also include the later works on Elektra and Bell?

Glad to see an additional feature to the Sergio Mendes/Brasilian music forum and going to enjoy expansion on its major perennial artist...



Dave
 
Yep. we'll be covering the early instrumental works and all of his later albums regardless of label, and hopefully we'll gather some great information.

Harry
 
We'll hopefully try to keep this chronological. There may be some incorrect or missing data--these threads will remain open for corrections and additions. It should prove to be an interesting series!
 
Despite the poor showing for Sergio's first album in our series, we'll try one or two more. Coming up next is a rarity, not yet released on CD. Should have it posted in the next day or so--still getting a few details in order on it. :thumbsup:
 
2 weeks between the 1st and 2nd....and another 2 weeks have passed....i am seriously eager for the next, and to be able to comment when the thread is fresh, dont keep me waiting!
 
Aha--got you in suspenders! :D

I'm trying to juggle paying jobs with my time here, so it'll probably be a couple more days until I can get to the next one. It's almost wrapped up--just doing some fact checking and getting it formatted.

One problem we have is that we don't exactly know the order in which some of these were recorded. "Quiet Nights" was reported recorded one year, and released a few years after. Others had multiple releases, in different countries, with different titles (like "Bossa Nova York" and "Swinger from Rio"). That's one reason why I wanted to put together this series: to gather more information about release dates and titles, so I could beef up our discography to cover ALL of Sergio's albums.

One of our staffers also mentioned that we should have a sub-section for albums that Sergio had a hand in, such as albums that he produced (like his "Sergio Mendes Presents" series), or albums where his band backed up another artist (like Cannonball Adderley's "Cannonball's Bossa Nova", which is actually a pivotal album in his career). In fact, I was debating including Cannonball's in his discography...but I may mention it in passing in one of the next entries.

I'm hoping to get enough participation here, with factual corrections and additions, to help get the material shaped up for a permanent spot in the discography. (And a copy of this will appear on the brasil66.com site, which is also due for a structural overhaul.)
 
One problem we have is that we don't exactly know the order in which some of these were recorded. "Quiet Nights" was reported recorded one year, and released a few years after. Others had multiple releases, in different countries, with different titles (like "Bossa Nova York" and "Swinger from Rio"). That's one reason why I wanted to put together this series: to gather more information about release dates and titles, so I could beef up our discography to cover ALL of Sergio's albums.
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...and that's why I am so excited for you to cover the next album! I as well have been trying to figure this stuff out for far too long.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sérgio_Mendes&action=history

I personally put alot of work into Sergio's wikipedia entry last fall. His discography has since been moved to its own page, but I definately laid the groundwork. I eventually backed off because I was so utterly confused with his pre-Brasil '66 career that it drove me nuts. (I did however get the album pages up for all seven Brasil '66 records, as well as the first four Lani Hall albums)

www.brasil66.com was my first 'line of defense' in the war against bad information when I began to gain interest in Sergio's career. Perhaps I should explain my own odd introduction to Brasil '66s music, which has now brought me here....
 
I did the first "real" version of Sergio's Wikipedia entry years ago (there was a template but no actual info). I likewise simply gave up, not because I didn't know the facts, but because it's futile dealing with self-appointed "experts" and others who really have no clue, but continue to edit there, often introducing inaccuracies in articles.
 
For instance (just a very minor example) right now in the discography they don't include the 1975 Elektra release "Sergio Mendes" anywhere in its original release form (it should be in "solo" works, although they have a ton of stuff that doesn't belong there right now). Instead, they have the Som Livre re-release, which was retitled "I Believe" under "Brasil '77." Just plain stupid IMHO.
 
It's not all as simple as 'stupid' or 'smart', I think people, myself included, have done their best and stopped because they realized they were in over their head. I take your 'stupid' comment personally because as I've already acknowledged, I was a part of what you are referring to. There is no need for that kind of nastiness.

You keep referring to a 'they' as if there is a gang of people looking to purposely piss you off or vandalize these articles in particular. There is no conspiracy, just a lack of information.
 
I meant no offense, Satan (hey, that sounds kind of funny)--I am talking about people who, for example, insisted that Sergio was part of the Brasilian coup (if you go back through enough changes, you'll see that that was one of the changes). I do disagree that people have tried their best--some people (like you and, frankly, me--yes). But others are there simply to vandalize and make trouble. That's all I meant by my comment.

My "stupid" comment was about the listing and its (currently) haphazard organization, not about you or indeed any individual, and I stand by that comment. I actually did a lot of work on it probably two years ago and had it chronlogically arranged, with all the major albums, and with spelling errors corrected (all those Z's in Sergio's name and Brasil '66).
 
I can relate to Wikipedia: I can't mention names, but there was a person in the music industry who had a bunch of followers who took to defacing his Wikipedia entry. Some of us tried to change it back, but the others made diligent efforts to explain their actions. Our "edit war" got it locked, but only temporarily.

As it stands, I can only say that I don't trust much of what I read on Wikipedia, UNLESS I personally know the person(s) who did the writing and editing. There are well-intentioned folks out there (such as both of my colleagues above, who have tried to work within the Wikipedia "system"), but there are others who indeed are self-appointed experts who don't know enough, or even a small faction who take delight in defacing others' work.

Rest assured, though: whatever we put up here, we'll try to get it as accurate as possible. We are actually working behind the scenes on our own project called A&Mpedia, and have just a couple of areas completed. I haven't announced it yet, but we're about ready to. Call this the "unofficial announcement" if you will... :wink:

It is powered by MediaWiki, same software that Wikipedia uses, BUT, I have enabled the permissions system so that only approved writers and editors can contribute. (IOW, the general public will NOT be able to modify content...although they are free to go through our screening and become volunteer contributors.) Anyone who is a regular of our forum is welcome to inquire about being a contributor--more details will follow in the coming days. I've had it installed for awhile and am having some of the staff get familiar with it before we unleash it.

Having said that, I personally don't claim to be an expert in anything, which is why I started this album series. My idea for A&M Corner was originally twofold: 1) a place for collectors to discuss their passions, and 2) to collect reliable (and hopefully accurate) information and present it in an easily-readable format. And that still stands today.

I don't have anywhere near the knowledge to do any subject on my own, so I'm hoping that with some feedback here in this thread, and the help of anyone else who may want to add information or even become a contributor, I can sort out the mess of the Mendes catalog.

As I see it, if we can get our details more accurate than All Music Guide, we'll be doing good. :D (They're actually very good, especially given the sheer volume of information they deal with, but I always double-check minor details if they don't seem correct.)
 
Kudos to your intentions and definitely the A&Mpedia. I look forward to taking part....or at least taking copious and obsessive notes from the sidelines for my own personal ends!

JMK-no harm, no foul. I took such offense because after I put up all the Brasil '66 pages (a rather simple task for such an easily defined discography), I took upon attempting to work on Sergio's solo discography (a rather ambitious task and one I was not qualified to do now, and certainly not 6 months ago).

I indeed did put up 'I Believe', and you'll notice that it is one of the only solo albums that has an album page. Because I also realized that it is a Brasilian release and therefore should not be listed in the discography in this manner (as an 'official' release), at which point I became highly disheartened and pulled the plug.

I was working from a number of online sources and trying to assemble them all into a master list so others would no longer be as confused as I was (and still am!) about Sergio's discography. Which was probably the same force that helped to create the blogs and personal websites I was citing as sources.

Plenty of good intentions out there from people trying to navigate this mess, but not enough information in one place so that it can be put together...which is why AxA is the definitive end all to this conundrum. Thank you Rudy!
 
You're welcome! :wave:

I just hope that my forum posts here are enough of a seed to start gathering more information about these albums. I can't claim we'll ever be 100% accurate, but we've got so much collective knowledge here that we stand as good a chance as anyone to make sense out of Sergio's discography.
 
but we've got so much collective knowledge here that we stand as good a chance as anyone to make sense out of Sergio's discography.
Click to expand...

There is no question in my mind that the people available to contribute to this cause are the #1 most qualified group available anywhere in the world for the task ahead.
 
Love "Brasil '65 Live at El Matador" because it showcases the group in a raw setting. The sound of Brasil '66 pops up here and there, providing a glimpse of what's to come.
 
I'll have a new installment next week--I haven't even been near a computer for the past few days, and am already lined up to do things offline through the weekend.
 
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