Sergio Mendes: retro-cool or cringingly cliched?

Cafe Society
1

Yes, the 90s Lounge Era is long dead, but the music of Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 still enchants me. Who can’t listen to some of their hits (Mas Que Nada, So Many Stars, Pretty World, Look Of Love, Like A Lover) and not feel good?

Though they appeared about when I was born, I think Mendes and Brasil '66 cut some great bossa-pop back in the day. Among the notable collaborators were the great Art Farmer, Wanda de Sah, Antonio Carlos Jobin, and Gil Giberto. And then there’s the incomparable Lani Hall, whose voice seemed born for that era.

Cosmo Kramer apparently agreed, but that’s Kramer for you. So I ask the Teeming Millions: Does Sergio Mendes’ music stand the test of time, or is it a hopeless relic?

2

I am of the opinion that Mais Que Nada (it’s Portuguese, not Spanish, so it’s Mais pronounced mahsh) may be the single greatest pop song of all time. It would get the dead to dancing. It’s never being played on any radio station is a criminal offense.

But their many English cover versions of pop songs have none of the same oomph or the driving samba beat or even the underlying musical brilliance. Some are certainly pleasant enough but don’t collectively make much of a case for their revival.

I completely understand commercially why they recorded as they did at the time. But a more purist approach would have resulted in greater longevity.

3

Oh man I LOVE that stuff.

Know the best of the bunch though?

Walter Wanderly. Do yourself a favor.

4

I reallly love a Sergio Mendes record, “Walk The Way You Talk”. I have several of his singles in my collection, including a 45 RPM 4-song EP that was handed out as a souvenir of their playing at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto in 1969. The things you find just browsing in record stores!

He was master of that genre. Perhaps he didn’t invent it, but he found his niche in that type of music, and created an instantly recognizable sound, with Lani Hall on vocals.

5

I think they’re great records that don’t just work as novelties. Some of those covers, as goofy as they are, are AMAZING - “Going out of my head” is just life-changing in its pop perfection. I’ll even get down with the “Scarboro Fair.”

6

“Pretty World” is a gem–and exemplifies in my mind “Amerizilian” pop.
I will also say that Lani Hall had one of the great female pop voices of the 20th century.

7

If you want an album that will light you up, try “Brasileiro”. Mendes is mostly known for his latinized pop, but this is pure Carnival samba.

8

Some may call me a heretic, but I greatly prefer Sergio’s version of “Norwegian Wood” over the Beatles’ original.