la dimension de trastos: MENDES SOLD OUT, HE DID.

This morning I woke to a bright, sunny and breezy day, a perfect day for some Sergio Mendes, so I went digging. I consider myself somewhat of a casual Sergio Mendes purist, or rather a Brasil '66 purist. I like some of Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66's output, but only the more Brazilian type stuff, not the covers of hits (dude did a lot of covers). Back in 1966, he was what middle aged people who considered themselves hip listened to. But, I tell you, Sergio Mendes has been going downhill ever since Brasil '66 became Brasil '77. Wait a second, when Lou Adler brought him to Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss' A & M Records to audition, it was decided that they would drop the Brazilian female lead, Wanda de Sá, in favor of Lani Hall, a singer from Chicago, and that some material would be sung in English. If that weren't bad enough, somewhere between Brasil '65, and Brasil '66, Jorge Ben was out of the group. Huge loss. Listen to a couple Jorge Ben '65 era cuts below, and don't miss his 1963 original version of "Mais Que Nada". They're way better. If I wasn't already so vested in this post, I'd start all over with just his stuff. So let me rephrase what I said earlier. Sergio Mendes has been going downhill since Brasil '65.

So, there's a few Jorge Ben cuts, and a chronological metamorphosis of Mendes' sound. I purposely left out his collaborations of a few years back, with the Black Eyed Peas and others, because, quite frankly, I think they blow. One interesting early/mid-era cut is the one with Brasil '77, "Promesa de un Pescador," which is surprisingly different.

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Sunday, June 5, 2011

MENDES SOLD OUT, HE DID.

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