YOUR NAVY PRESENTS - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66

[Harry]

I just acquired this record, YOUR NAVY PRESENTS - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66. These were radio shows that hawked recruitment into the armed services, hosted by nationally known DJ types, and featured the pop/rock stars of the day.

They were sent to radio stations on LP records, usually clocking in at around 15 minutes a side.

This is one I'd not encountered before and didn't know existed. It features Dick Clark as the host, and offers four or five tunes on each side of the disk.

This one, being from the '60s is in mono, but it's a weird mono. It almost sounds like the source recordings were stereo and they only grabbed the right channel. Typical A&M stereo of the day put the drums/percussion on the left, so most of these tracks sound odd with very little drums in the mix.

The tracks are all from the first three albums, yet Dick Clark refers to the group members and names Karen Philipp as one of the ladies. So it must have been recorded after LOOK AROUND but just before FOOL ON THE HILL.

The first song "Wave", seems to last longer than the versions I'm familiar with.

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Cool find! I wonder if the longer "Wave" was maybe just slowed down a tad? Or does it seem to have a longer fade?

 

[Harry]

The fade on "Wave" seems longer, like maybe it was sourced from a 45 mix.

There are other oddities too like a couple of bad edits, editing out a verse on at least two songs, probably to make each side time out to exactly 14:30.

There's "interview" material with Sergio himself, all sounding very scripted, and even as if Dick Clark and Sergio weren't in the same room at the same time.

Harry

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Just a milestone side note here: this is the 10,000 topic on this forum! Should we pop a little champagne or something?



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

Dave

 

[A&M Retro]

Very cool! The Carpenters' "Your Navy Presents" must be mixed differently from the Sergio Mendes version, as all instruments sound very present. Is it a red label?

 

[Harry]

To be honest, I totally forgot about this LP, that I even owned it, and this thread. Since it's from 2009, and at that time we were getting ready to sell our house and move, I guess I can be forgiven.

Today, I went to pull out CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS on LP. I had been moving some CDs around and noticed that the Japanese CD of CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS had the title and artist on the front cover in black, but the US Verve CD had colors for the two fonts. So I wanted to check the LP to see which was correct - the Verve gets it right with the two different colors in the text on the cover.

Right next to CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS on my shelf, I spotted this YOUR NAVY PRESENTS disc, all nicely preserved in a poly bag with a Dusty Groove sticker on it. That told me I musu have purchased this from them. Eager to explore the disc and then digitize it, I put it on the turntable and started the recorder. All of a sudden, the wonky audio, the stilted interview started coming back and I found this old thread where I'd detailed all of this.

Well, now, for your listening pleasure, here is Side One of YOUR NAVY PRESENTS featuring Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, warts and all:



Harry

 

[Harry]

And here is Side Two:



Harry

 

[Brasil_Nut]

I have one that I believe features Skitch (sp) Henderson interviewing Sergio. Bought it at Rowes Rare Records in Cambell, California many years ago. As Harry said, it sounds scripted, as if Sergio and Skitch recorded their parts at different times. The lp is mono, but the mixes sound fine.

Jon...the "Brasil Nut"

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Skitch (sp)

I think you have the right spelling there.

 

[JeffM]

While I don't have these specific records, it still amazes me how much of this stuff was turned out in the 60's and 70's (maybe beyond) by the Armed Forces and other federal agencies. I usually snap up whatever I see in thrift stores, and have ended up with episodes of "Out of the Blue", a 5-minute mini-variety show for the WAFS (Women in the Air Force) with Carole Richards and Dick Hyman, "Country Cookin'," music and interviews for the Army Reserve which could be played as a 10, 15, or 25-min. show (ads for rock, r & b, and easy-listening sister shows in the LP's gatefold,) "Music In The Air," 5-minute shows with the Air Force big band, a half hour Christmas variety show (Air Force again) hosted by Skitch Henderson (yup, you got the spelling right) and some 5-minute shows in Spanish for the Social Security Administration with Rita Moreno as a DJ playing Latin hits (crunched K-Tel style down to about 2 1/2 minutes each) and delivering a spiel en Espanol.

I suspect most stations that ran these shows played 'em off in "public-service" time slots like 4 AM on Sunday mornings, and what you folks have found (and what I've found) is barely the tip of the iceberg. Wonder if there's some radio maven out there who's really done a discography on these?

 

[Harry]

In addition to this Mendes disc, I have a few others around from 1974-1975.

3 and a half (one disc missing) is Robert W. Morgan For Today's Army. These are 25-minute programs with various pop hits of the day, DJ'ed by Mr. Morgan.

Then I've got three SOUNDS LIKE THE NAVY with Sam Riddle hosting. Each side is a 15-minute program, 4 with Seals & Crofts, 4 with Harry Chapin, and 4 with Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods (I don't think anyone's going to be beating down my door for THAT one! )

Lastly, THE GENE PRICE COUNTRY EXPRESS for the US Army is sort of the country version of the Robert W. Morgan show - 25 minutes of top country hits of the day interspersed with DJ patter and Army commercials. I have three discs of those.

My recollection is that these were sent to the station I worked for at the time, but I don't recall that we ever actually ran any of them. I believe the Armed Services flooded all manor of radio stations with these in hopes of getting some airplay.

Not quite a discography, huh?...

Harry

 

[JeffM]

Thanks for your comments! There was so much of that stuff produced, it's a shame to think most of it probably did end up in landfills... Of the shows I mentioned, "Out of the Blue" was from the 50's (the discs I have are in pretty rough shape; it's a hoot to hear them run down 2 songs plus a recruitment pitch by announcer Don Morrow all in 5 minutes), "Music In The Air" early 60's, the Christmas show is 1969 (the other side is a different Xmas show with Marilyn Maye and USAF singers,) while Rita Moreno and the country show are probably 70's. (The rock and "easy" shows promoted inside were MC'd by NYC radio greats Alison "Nightbird" Steele and William B. Williams, both gone now.)

Some public-service shows do still run here, though not for the Armed Services; there's a show for the Minnesota State Tourism Department that runs on maybe 3 different stations in my area, in werewolf time slots on the weekend; I think it's called "Let's Explore Minnesota."

By the way, I owe a correction here. The female vocalist in "Out of the Blue" was CAROLE BENNETT, not Carole Richards. I was writing this morning without the discs at hand. Carole Richards is remembered for singing the duet of "Silver Bells" with Der Bingle; Carole Bennett I can't find much about. (Though this crowd here, I'm sure, will take up that challenge!)

 

[Brasil_Nut]

Harry...

Neither of the videos will play. It says they are unavailable.

Jon

 

[Harry]

I'm still getting then to play - on my computer here in the thread, on the computer at the YouTube site in both Chrome and Internet Explorer, and on my Android phone with the YouTube app.

Now, that said, I recall that my phone had a problem with it right after I uploaded it, saying not available, but it works now. The YouTube copyright police have also flagged it as not available in "some countries". Whenever I load up something from Sergio Mendes, I usually get a flag that it's not available in Germany.

I guess the bottom line is to listen to these however you can, while you can. You never know when they'll just disappear.

Harry

 

[Brasil_Nut]

Still won't play on my Android, so will check in with the good old stand-by...my laptop. I'm sure the recording is not much different from what I have -- although mine (with Skitch Henderson) is from the Equinox era -- I am interested to hear what Sergio has to say about Karen Philipp...or is it Dick who references Karen? Regardless, can't wait to hear the record!

Jon

 

[Harry]

It's just Dick Clark who mentions the ladies' names. Sorry it's not working on your Android. As I said, it plays on mine now, though it balked right after it was uploaded. I even checked the settings and it says it's valid for all platforms.

Harry

 

[Brasil_Nut]

Good Morning Harry!

We need talk...I saw something I know you would be interested in. Besides that, like I said, will try it on my laptop. Don't know why it does this on my Droid, as I have the updated Youtube app.

Jon

 

[Harry]

You know where I am...

 

[Harry]

We need talk...I saw something I know you would be interested in.

Color me intrigued...

 

[JeffM]

Your posts of the Navy radio show have now both vanished...oh, well...

 

[Harry]

Well this is annoying.

I've just checked again - logging out of AMCorner.com, logging out of YouTube, going into both videos on a smart TV with a YouTube app - and they all work. I cannot imagine why both Jeff and Jon are having trouble. Can either of you post a screen capture of what you're seeing?

Do other embedded videos work? Have you tried going to YouTube directly and searching for "Your Navy Presents Sergio"?

Are you guys in Germany or something?

Harry

 

[JeffM]

Am happy to say they are back again; when I checked earlier today, all I saw was the "jigsaw puzzle piece" icon. A direct search at You Tube for "Your Navy Presents Series" brings up not only the Mendes episodes but the Carpenters as well. (Ain't technology wonderful? )

 

[Harry]

Today, Monday the 22nd, is the perfect day to listen to EQUINOX!

Harry

 

[KentTeffeteller]

In addition to this Mendes disc, I have a few others around from 1974-1975.

3 and a half (one disc missing) is Robert W. Morgan For Today's Army. These are 25-minute programs with various pop hits of the day, DJ'ed by Mr. Morgan.

Then I've got three SOUNDS LIKE THE NAVY with Sam Riddle hosting. Each side is a 15-minute program, 4 with Seals & Crofts, 4 with Harry Chapin, and 4 with Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods (I don't think anyone's going to be beating down my door for THAT one! )

Lastly, THE GENE PRICE COUNTRY EXPRESS for the US Army is sort of the country version of the Robert W. Morgan show - 25 minutes of top country hits of the day interspersed with DJ patter and Army commercials. I have three discs of those.

My recollection is that these were sent to the station I worked for at the time, but I don't recall that we ever actually ran any of them. I believe the Armed Services flooded all manor of radio stations with these in hopes of getting some airplay.

Not quite a discography, huh?...

Harry

My first on air duties were running these Public Service Discs and babysitting Atlanta Braves Baseball on 94.3 in Oak Ridge (LPJim territory). Many stations aired these Public Service Discs as filler programming and on weekends and overnights.