The Sunday Comments ( 09 - 08 - 24 )

Tough Week!

This past week’s rock and roll health report includes the passing of ‘60’s teen idol James Darren, session bassist Herbie Flowers and innovative icon Sergio Mendes, a stroke for Brian May of Queen, near blindness for Elton John, as well as the cancellation of Paula Abdul’s upcoming tour.

Sergio Mendes passed away on Thursday, September 5^th.  He was 83 years old and it is believed this may be the result of a severe case of Covid.

Mendes brought a whole new sound to the music scene when he burst on the charts in 1966 … but it was the “Anything Goes” ‘60’s and we were quick to embrace his Brazilian jazz.  An early favorite, “Mas Que Nada,” only got as high as #47 (and that was in Billboard … Cash Box ranked it at #75!) but my guess is despite this fact, you’d recognize it the moment you heard it.  (Still, that’s not bad for a song sung entirely in Portuguese!)

Signed to the A&M record label,  Sergio’s interpretations of hits like “The Look Of Love,” “The Fool On The Hill” and “Scarborough Fair” kept him in The Top 20 for most of the decade.  (We were fortunate enough to see him a few years ago … and it was a very enjoyable show: https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/search?q=sergio+mendes)

Mendes made a bit of a comeback in the early ‘80’s with hits like “Never Let You Go” (#4, 1983) and one of my favorites, “Alibis” (#29, 1984)

When labelmate (and his boss!) Herb Alpert married one of Mendes’ lead female singers (Lani Hall), it siderailed the group for a little bit … but Sergio bounced back when he married one of his new lead singers, Gracinha Leporace, a union that had already lasted over fifty years at the time of his passing.

Mendes was a three-time Grammy winner.  Alpert posted:

“Sergio Mendes was my brother from another country. He was a true friend and extremely gifted musician who brought Brazilian music in all its iterations to the entire world with elegance [and] joy.”  (kk)

From Jim Roup (by way of Harvey Kubernik):

RIP

Here is Sergio and his wife Gracinha after dinner at Le'Dome restaurant.

More from Harvey …

I interviewed Bones Howe in 2014 and we talked about hit record Brazilian Pop Innovator, Sergio Mendes

"None of us really knew how much influence the transistor radio was gonna have," engineer and producer Bones Howe told me in a 2014 interview. Portions were published in my 2014 book, "Turn Up The Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll in Los Angeles 1956-1972." 

"The transistor radio was for the ball games. Studio guys had the thing in their pocket and an earphone; while they were recording, [they] were really listening to the Dodger game. What you had to do was listen to the radio and know what your records were gonna sound like when they got played. That’s how people went and bought them." 

In 1964, Herb Alpert formed a live Tijuana Brass unit for touring that formally debuted in 1965. The group recorded the most popular instrumental version of “A Taste of Honey,” included on their 1965 album, Whipped Cream and Other Delights. Their rendition ruled the easy listening charts for weeks, and Whipped Cream won Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 1966.

(EDITOR’S NOTE:  Did you mean this one??? <--kk)

The critical and retail success of Alpert and his band encouraged A&M to sign additional acts, including South Bay’s Chris Montez, the Sandpipers, Burt Bacharach, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, Sergio Mendes and Brazil ’66, and the Baja Marimba Band with Julius Wechter, the marimba player with the Tijuana Brass.

"This is how loose AM radio was back then," continued Howe.

"Herb Alpert and I had known each other. He was sort of on the fringe of the jazz world. I got a call from him in 1966, and he wanted to do a session at Western Studio 3. 'I’ve signed this Brazilian band, and I’ve got to do a single record with them. I’m going through the Brazil ’66 songs now, and I’ve got to get through this in three hours.'

"So we go into the studio, and we do this song called “The Joker” from a Broadway show. Now, we’ve got half an hour and have to do a B-side. Sergio Mendes says, 'I’ve got this song that we do that everybody likes. Let’s put it on the B-side.' [It was] 'Mas Que Nada.'

"I loved that session. The percussion elements — those were real players, not studio players. The difference between them playing 'The Joker' and then, when they got cut loose, 'Mas Que Nada' . . . it was completely different, and just wonderful. It had so much energy. It carried the other side.

"Jerry [Moss] was a terrific promotion man. He took the 'The Joker' record out and played it to a DJ, who said to him, 'What’s on the other side?' He spun it. 'We’ll put that on the radio.' Can you imagine?

"The wonderful thing, later, about FM was that it was much truer to the studio mix than it was on radio station KHJ, coming out of little car radios and all the rest of that. Because it was very squelched, very limited on AM." 

James Darren died last week, too … he was 88 years old.

Known as both an actor and a singer, Darren hit The National Top 40 six times between 1959 and 1967, scoring back-to-back Top Ten Hits with “Goodbye Cruel World” (#2, 1961) and “Her Royal Majesty” (#6, 1962.)

His first chart hit was the title song from the hit teen film “Gidget” (#24, 1959), in which he also starred, opposite Sandra Dee (who married ANOTHER Darin a year later!)  Darren also starred in the television cult hit “Time Tunnel” in 1967, returning to the charts that year with the #33 Hit “All.”

Haven't seen this pop up in this week's blogs, but then again the caffeine hasn't kicked in yet.

Movie star (Moondoggie in the Gidget films), TV Star (The Time Tunnel and The Flintstones as James Darrock), and singer James Darren passed on Labor Day, September 2, at the age of 88.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/03/movies/james-darren-dies.html

-- Tim Kubat

No, that’s just me falling behind again … but as you can see, the info is posted right above your inquiry!  Thanks, Tim!  (kk)

And we just read this morning about the passing of innovative bassist Herbie Flowers, who also died on the 5th of September.

Flowers' bass lines helped to define British hits like "Bang A Gong" by T.Rex and "Rock On" by David Essex.  He also played the memorable riff on Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side," David Bowie's "Space Oddity," Nilsson's "Jump Into The Fire" and recorded with legends Elton John, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Herbie (real name Brian Keith Flowers) was 86.  (kk)

Brian May of Queen suffered a minor stroke last week.  The news was kept very quiet until Brian could determine as to what extent this might affect his ability to play the guitar.

He was therefore very happy to report:

“The good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days.  I say this because it was in some doubt, because [a] little health hiccup … happened about a week ago – what they called it was a minor stroke.

“All of a sudden, out of the blue, I didn’t have any control over this arm. So it was a little scary, I have to say.” He went on to thank the staff at the hospital he’d attended, recalling the experience of “blue lights flashing, the lot” as “very exciting.”

May had kept quiet because, he explained, “I didn’t want anything surrounding it. I really don’t want sympathy – please don’t do that, because it’ll clutter up my inbox, and I hate that.”

“I’m okay and doing what I’m told, which is basically nothing. I’m grounded; I’m not allowed to go out, drive, get on a plane; I’m not allowed to raise the heart rate too high. But I am good.”

Meanwhile, Elton John is recovering from a severe eye infection that caused him some blindness in one eye.

From Sir Elton:

"Over the summer, I've been dealing with a severe eye infection that has unfortunately left me with only limited vision in one eye.  I am healing, but it's an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye.

"I am so grateful for the excellent team of doctors and nurses and my family, who have taken such good care of me over the last several weeks.  I have been quietly spending the summer recuperating at home, and am feeling positive about the progress I have made in my healing and recovery thus far."

Paula Abdul was scheduled to begin a 21-city tour on September 25^th, taking her to Canada, Alaska and North Dakota.

However, due to the proper amount of recovery time needed for a recent injury (which will also require a minor medical procedure), she had to announce the cancellation of her upcoming dates, which included Taylor Dayne and Tiffany as opening acts.

“It’s with an incredibly heavy heart that I need to share with you an update regarding some injuries I’ve recently sustained. In an effort to keep going, I’ve received targeted injections that will allow me temporary relief, but the demands of an entire tour is a different story.

“After multiple consultations with my doctors and exploring all available options, I’ve been advised that one of my injuries requires a minor procedure followed by a 6-8 week recovery time.  Therefore, it will prohibit me from proceeding with the Straight Up! To Canada Tour as well as the dates in Alaska and North Dakota.”

No mention was made as to whether this was a postponement (meaning these dates would eventually be rescheduled once Paula was strong enough to tour again) or a flat out cancellation altogether.  (kk)

Stephen Stills will join Neil Young on October 5^th for a special benefit performance to raise money for The Painted Turtle Camp and The Bridge School in Lake Hughes, California.

Although they are scheduled to perform separate sets, you just KNOW they’re going to get together at some point during the night to rock the crowd.

All proceeds will support The Painted Turtle, which provides children with serious medical conditions a free and transformative camp experience year round, and The Bridge School, which offers essential educational services to children with severe speech and physical disabilities.

Tickets are on sale now:  https://www.harvestmoongathering.com/

Here’s a review of a recent Beach Boys concert (September 1^st) …

Sounds like Mike and Bruce are still having fun, fun, fun performing all of their classic hits!  (kk)

https://bestclassicbands.com/beach-boys-2024-review-9-5-24/

This week's Satellite Survey on Sirius / XM's '60's Gold Channel is counting down the 40 biggest hits for this week in 1964 ...

Just like WE did yesterday with this week's SUPER CHART from exactly 60 YEARS AGO TODAY!  (scroll back to see it!)

As mentioned, we've fallen a bit behind again ...

So look for more Comments Pages Monday and Tuesday!  (kk)

 

SERGIO MENDES

Sergio Mendes put on a couple of very upbeat, high-energy shows at The City Winery last Sunday Night, February 25^th.  (We caught the earlier show at 5:00 ... and both shows were complete sell outs.)  The show started a little bit late (around 5:15) and lasted exactly an hour before he came back out for three encores.  Still, we were out the door and picking up our car by 6:30.

What may have been lacking in the overall length of his performance he more than made up for with a non-stop barrage of music, all brilliantly executed by his six piece band.  (Mendes played keyboards the entire night as well and was joined on stage by two female vocalists (one of whom is now his wife, Gracinha Leporace), recreating his trademark sound that made the group so popular in the mid-to-late '60's.

Mendes introduced many of us to the sounds of Brazil for the very first time back then with a string of hits released on Herb Alpert’s A&M Records label.  His unique arrangements of currently popular songs into a Bossa Nova backbeat rewarded him (and Brasil ’66) with three straight Top 20 Hits in 1968 alone:  “The Look Of Love” (#4), “The Fool On The Hill” (#6 - Paul McCartney once told him that this was his favorite arrangement of his song) and “Scarborough Fair” (#14).  (Although “Scarborough Fair” was noticeably missing from the set list Sunday Night, his current outfit performed an excellent version of “Goin’ Out Of My Head.”)

Sergio told of an earlier trip to Chicago back in 1965 where he was performing at a small club and then, while doing a bit of sight-seeing, he happened to stop by another club and encountered there a beautiful singer with a beautiful voice.  He instantly recognized how much that voice could add to his sound.  That young singer’s name was Lani Hall and her voice, along with that of Janis Henson during the hit years, would go on to create the unique blend that defined the signature sound of Brasil ’66 in the ‘60’s. (Hall, of course, would go on to marry Herb Alpert several years later.  We saw Lani and Herb at The City Winery last year.)

Because it was the female voices, when coupled with the smooth, Latin rhythms that became the driving force of their sound, I was a bit surprised by how much Sergio sang during Sunday’s performance … and it really helped to enhance the overall sound.  (A number of tunes were performed in Portuguese … but the rhythmic beat was infectious … you couldn’t help but feel yourself move during his set.  In fact, at one point the band went into a lengthy, jazz-inspired jam and we saw several of the waitresses come back out from the kitchen just to watch the band as things began to heat up on stage.)  He also featured rapper H2O, who kicked things up another notch with his exciting performance.  (Ironically, Sergio mentioned on stage that this is the best band he has ever played with ... yet I can't find their names listed ANYWHERE and I've been searching for two days!!!  You'd think he'd at least give them credit on his website or Facebook page.  This just seems to be way too common place these days where the artists who help you achieve your incredible sound live in concert are not properly credited in the places fans are most likely to look.)  During a quick round of introductions to close the set (I guess I have to learn to tape record these things!!!) it was interesting to note that a few of the players are from Brazil ... and one is from right here in Chicago!

That being said, his musical director was also quite impressive, playing keyboards, flute and sax and also helping out on lead vocals on a few of the tunes featured.

After the first round of hits stopped in the late '60's, Mendes revived the band as Brasil ’77 for a portion of the ‘70’s … (and again very briefly in the ‘80’s as Brasil ’88!) and then came back with a couple of big hits under his own name (“Never Gonna Let You Go,” #4, 1983 and “Alibis” ... one of my favorites and also not performed that night, #29, 1984, both featuring vocals by Joe Pizzulo, accompanied by Leza Miller on the former.

After fielding off a couple of requests for this tune earlier in the show, the band featured their 1966 favorite “Mas Que Nada” as their first encore.  (Surprisingly this record only reached #47 at the time but is perhaps the song they are most identified with today.)  The verses were reworked into a rap which surprisingly worked very well … and the entire audience at The City Winery were up on their feet for this one, a scene we’ve never experienced before at this venue where things seem to always be a bit more mellow and laid back.  (Management was beaming during Sergio’s set … I can assure you they’ll be back!)

They’ll be heading Down Under in April before returning to The States for shows on both the west and east coasts in June and July … here’s their current itinerary should you want to check them out.  (Well worth it!)

http://www.sergiomendesmusic.com/tour/

Prior to taking the stage, The City Winery Management Team announced that per Sergio Mendes’ request, there would be no photography or video taping allowed during his performance.  They then even went so far as to post signs all over the theater during the first few songs to this effect … and we saw several audience members confronted and told to put their phones away during the show.  (Two professional photographers were also told to pack up their gear!)

Nevertheless, Frannie was still able to sneak a couple of shots … and I’m hoping that she’ll share her review of the concert shortly after she gets out of prison for doing so.  (Just kidding … here they are) …

It was a very enjoyable experience - and highly reccommended.

*****

Also present at the show were long-time Forgotten Hits Reader Kristy White (not one of the original 35 but pretty darn close!) and her son Mitch, who even sprung for backstage passes to Sergio’s “Meet And Greet.”

Here is her accounting of that night’s event, along with a photo of the two of them with Sergio Mendes …

Kent,  

Do you remember the many rants you posted about the sorry state of radio over the last 20 years? While I have not only always agreed with you, I often quote your statistics. Because of that, I started to seek out other music many years ago.

My first discovery was Sergio Mendes, because I remember my parents having one or two of his records. Since then, I've grown to almost exclusively listening to "world music," with a particular love of all things Brazilian. So his show Sunday night was something I looked forward to as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. (Remembering the once in a lifetime opportunity I missed several years ago when Joåo Gilberto canceled his show in Chicago.)

Along the way, I'd turned my musician son Mitch on to Brazilian music, and he also took to it like a fish to water. This show was his Christmas / Birthday gift. He won't be writing a review for you … he has to write a paper on this for the class he missed to go to this show, haha!

Anyway ... first impressions of the show … I was happy to see a full band. I was worried that it would just be him doing songs no one wants to hear. I hate to be cynical, but you never know what you're getting with older artists. We were thrilled when he announced we would be treated to a lot of Brasil ‘66 songs. His wife Gracinha was in very fine voice. The band was phenomenal. The conga guy from "Skookie" IL was my favorite. He killed it. Sergio told us after the show, about three times, that this was the best band he's ever had. He was very adamant about that.

How did I never know that "Never Gonna Let You Go" was a Sergio Mendes song??

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=0N2nh6sT2WY

 

I'm embarrassed to admit that, but I absolutely loved the performance of it Sunday night. “The Look of Love,” “Mas Que Nada,” and bits of other well knowns, in a medley, were all very thrilling and well done. I was commenting that I really dig H2O's rap send up of his classic songs. I wasn't real crazy about it when the Black Eyed Peas did it, but I enjoyed it last night. I liked that it wasn't over the top, it was very well incorporated. The show overall hit all the right notes, figuratively speaking. It was a perfect mixture of older / not so old songs, highlighting the performers' talents, and getting the crowd up on their feet with a couple encores. We were totally thrilled … plus, sitting eight feet away from him didn't hurt the experience at all!

After the show we had passes for the meet and greet. We were the last in line, so I didn't feel self-conscious as I blubbered to him about what a thrill it was to meet him. Sure, I would also blubber if I ever got to meet Micky Dolenz or Dave Matthews ... but world music is the most important thing in my musical life, so this was different. 

I watched him as he spoke to all the other people ... he was genuine, gracious, not at ALL impatient or trying to hurry anyone along. He listened, he spoke, he touched arms, he took photos, and he smiled, as he does, with his whole soul. It made me smile just watching him. Of course, I introduced my musical prodigy son and mentioned that he's a musician and in college on a full music scholarship. Sergio was very happy to hear this and asked Mitch a few questions and encouraged him to stick with it. He mentioned that his own 24 year old son doesn't want to be a musician, so he was appropriately grandfatherly about his encouragement. He signed my wristband because it's all I had. He tried to find something else to sign for me, but there was nothing around, so he signed it. 

He was incredibly sweet and humble. I told him meeting him was the biggest thrill of my life, and he was actually pretty humble about that. Here's the photo of me beaming ... I should have let him be in the middle, but I was starting to not make sense at this point.

If I had the once in a lifetime chance again, I'd see this show again, exactly as was.

Kristy