| A pianist,
composer and bandleader inextricably linked to the bossa nova
craze of the 1960s, Sergio Mendes was born on February 11, 1941
in Niteroi, Brazil. After rising to prominence as the leader
of the Bossa Nova Trio, he settled in the United States in 1964
and worked on recordings by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Art Farmer.
A year later Mendes formed Brasil
'65, the first incarnation of the group rechristened several
months later as the more famous Brasil '66. In addition to Mendes,
Brasil '66 - once marketed as "a delicately mixed blend of pianistic
jazz, subtle Latin nuances, John Lennon/Paul McCartney style,
some Henry Mancini, here and there a touch of Burt Bacharach,
cool minor chords, danceable upbeat, gentle laughter and a little
sex" - comprised vocalist/percussionist Jose Soares, bassist/vocalist
Bob Matthews, drummer Jao Palma and singer Janis Hansen.
Most importantly, the group also
featured vocalist Lani Hall, the wife of musician and A&M Records
cofounder Herb Alpert, who released their debut Sergio Mendes
and Brasil '66 and watched it rise into the Top Ten on the strength
of the hit "Mas Que Nada."
Equinox followed the next year,
spawning the minor hits "Night and Day," "Constant Rain (Chove
Chuva)" and "For Me." 1968's Look Around rocketed Brasil '66
to the Top Five, while Fool on the Hill reached the Top Three,
launching the hit title track (a Beatles cover) as well as a
smash rendition of Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair."
A cover of Otis Redding's "(Sittin'
On) The Dock of the Bay" highlighted 1969's Crystal Illusions,
which also notched the minor hit "Pretty World." Apart from
a rendition of "Wichita Lineman" which garnered some airplay,
1969's Ye-Me-Le fared poorly, barely cracking the Top 75;
after 1971's Stillness met with
virtually no commercial response, Mendes changed the group's
name to the more forward-thinking Brasil '77, but to little
avail - after the chart failure of 1972's Primal Roots, the
band's long association with A&M ended, and they moved to the
Bell label for 1973's Love Music.
By 1975's Sergio Mendes - his
first solo effort - he had moved to Elektra; after re-launching
the backing unit with 1977's Sergio Mendes and the New Brasil
'77, Mendes dropped from sight for several years, re-signing
to A&M in the early 1980s.
Also titled simply Sergio Mendes,
his 1983 A&M comeback was his first Top 40 smash in close to
15 years; the single "Never Gonna Let You Go," which featured
vocalists Joe Pizzulo and Leza Miller, was his biggest hit to
date, reaching the number four position on the U.S. charts,
and the track "Rainbow's End" also received considerable airplay.
Despite the Top 40 success of
the single "Alibis," the 1984 follow-up Confetti did not fare
as well as its predecessor, and Mendes again disappeared. At
the dawn of the 1990s, he formed the new Brasil '99; as the
decade progressed, he began exploring Bahian hip-hop. |
