The MG Album Club - #34: Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66

[Old Uncle Toe]

This was a tough year. There are so many albums to love, both mainstream and mildly eclectic. I listened to them all day today. I just had to throw a dart into the year and it landed on this, a Brazilian artists' record that proudly does not include Girl From Ipanema:

Sergio Mendes And Brasil 66 - Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes And Brasil 66



I've often mentioned on this board that I'm just not smart enough for jazz music. I realized that the issue here is that our main jazz aficionado prefers improv jazz. I don't understand that stuff. But there is some jazz I do understand and enjoy and this is some of it.

My father, a Czech immigrant, loved South American music. This album was played a lot in my home when I was a child. I learned to love it then and found that I still do.

I love the percussion, the Latin rhythms, Mendes' ever-present piano riffs. I feel like this is a record to dance to, not one to sit still with headphones on and critique. So to me, the fact that the vocalists are very good, just not very unique is absolutely fine.

A side note: This album sounds very 1966 but to my ears that's due to it's content, not it's quality. It seems to be missing that stripped-down, amateurish feel that many rock 'n roll records of that era suffer from. So part of my choosing this record was that it was a pleasure to hear, while others could be kind of a chore.

Dance and be merry, my friends!

 

[Nickyboy]

What a delight! This entire album sounds like it could be a soundtrack to a romantic, groovy, 60s movie. "Mas Que Nada" sets the bright tone right off the bat. Their version of "Agua de Beber" is much more peppy than Astrud Gilberto's sultry version, and "Berimbau" and "One Note Samba" are bright ditties here, rather than cheesy organ tracks from Walter Wanderly. I would be remiss in my fandom duties if I didn't point out that I would be happier if "Day Tripper" had been left out, but that's just me. Overall, a lot of fun and a throwback to gentler, more easy-going times. Grab a pina colada and I will meet you at Ipanema under the palm trees!

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

I would be remiss in my fandom duties if I didn't point out that I would be happier if "Day Tripper" had been left out, but that's just me.

It's not just you. I wish it had been left out too.

I wonder if it was foisted upon Mendes to do a Beatles cover, as so many popular bands were doing the same. One review I read mentioned that up to this point he'd only recorded Portuguese lyrics and would have remained doing so, had A&M not insisted he get some English lyrics on the record. (This was his first A&M release.)

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

As a fan of both the rock/psychedelia of the era but also of the AM staples, smoother (and a bit cheesier) stuff too (Burt Bacharach, Herb Alpert, etc), really dig the vibe of old Sergio Mendes. Never gonna appear on best of the era lists or most influential lists, but a cool, mellow listen.



Sergio Mendes...he can't even walk down the street in South America!

 

[Ojai Sam]

 

[Ojai Sam]

Obrigado pelo ótima música, Toe. This has been one of my favorite albums since it came out.

Herb Alpert built a record empire based in large part on his unique ability to shrewdly reinvent unsuccessful artists. He began logically enough with himself, the son of a Ukrainian tailor, who became a mariachi trumpet icon in the heyday of lounge music. In like manner, he took one-hit wonder Chris "Let's Dance" Montez and turned him into a suave samba crooner. Four Freshmen clones "The Grads" struck gold with a Cuban standard "Guantanamera" under the name "The Sandpipers" which Alpert found in a dictionary.

Brazilian Sergio Mendes presented a bigger challenge. He had been recording since 1961 and emigrated to the US to seek fame and fortune as a Latin jazz artist ala Cal Tjader. Wiki tells the story:

All of Mendes' jazz albums for Atlantic Records, through Nesuhi and Ahmet Ertegun, had low sales. Richard Adler suggested that Mendes and the group sing in English, as well as Portuguese that Mendes had demanded, and Adler sought new English-based material such as "Going Out of My Head" by Teddy Randazzo and Bobby Weinstein. In order to sing these songs properly in English, Adler suggested that the group find two American girl singers who would sing in both English and Portuguese.

Adler called his friend Jerry Dennon, and A&M Records founders Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, and arranged for an audition for Mendes' new group, which was dubbed "Brasil '66.'" Alpert and Moss signed Mendes and his group to A&M Records. Adler then went to the Ertegun Brothers at Atlantic Records and sought to have them release Mendes from his Atlantic Jazz contract. Ahmet agreed to allow him to record albums under name "Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66" with A&M. Mendes was not at this meeting, only Adler and Ahmet Ertegun. Alpert took over as producer for the A&M albums, and the group became a huge success with their first single, "Mas Que Nada", by writer Jorge Ben.

I always thought "Mas Que Nada" meant "More Than Nothing." Wiki just set me straight:

Brazilians use Mas que nada (or just que nada) colloquially to disagree with someone. A fitting English translation might be a sarcastic "Yeah, right!".

Alpert's keen insight wasn't limited to music. Lani Hall, one of the two new "American girl singers", became his wife in 1973 and they are still married.

This album is a joy from start to finish, blending Brazilian and American influences with an irresistibly percussive beat. I have to stand up for "Day Tripper", the first of many Beatle covers for Mendes. Later, he reworked "Fool On The Hill", "With A Little Help From My Friends", and even "Norwegian Wood" sans sitar. Rock purists may not be thrilled, but Lani Hall and Bibi Vogel did as much as anyone to cause mainstream listeners to take Lennon and McCartney seriously.

on the Sam-O-Meter. Mas que nada!

 

[Unsomnambulist]

A pleasant, mellow listen. Also reminds me of watching 60s movies in the afternoon as a kid on my local UHF station.