Brazilian Bombshell: 25 Hits (1939-47)

Carmen Miranda | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 21, 1998)
• Original Release Date: April 21, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Asv Living Era
• ASIN: B0000063CY
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #289,988 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #92 in Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba > Cuba > Big Band

Track Listings

1. I Want My Mama

2. Bambu-Bambu

3. South American Way

4. Co, Co, Co, Co, Co, Co, Ro

5. Touradas Em Madrid

6. I Like You Very Much

7. Chica Chica Boom Chic

8. Cae, Cae

9. Alo, Alo

10. Arca De Noe

11. A Week-End In Havana

12. The Man With The Lollipop Song

13. Rebola A Bola

14. When I Love, I Love

15. Ella Diz Que Tem

16. Nao Te Dou A Chupeta

17. Manuelo

18. Chattanooga Choo-Choo

19. Tic-Tac Do Meu Coracao

20. O Passo Du Kanguru

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real Carmen Miranda!, January 5, 2003

By 

Luiz De Lima (Hayward, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brazilian Bombshell: 25 Hits (1939-47) (Audio CD)

I am glad to hear a CD with Carmen Miranda singing with the Bando da Lua, the band that made her famous and that she insisted in bringing to Hollywood, when she was invited to work in this country. Beautiful!

This is her true Brazilian face before her music was [influenced] by fancy Hollywood orchestrations that had very little - better say, nothing - to do with authentic samba and Brazilian rhythms.

Great CD by the best paid (believe or not) Holywood actress of her time. God bless you "pequena notavel"!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Collection !!, October 15, 2004

By 

A. Browne "Angie" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Brazilian Bombshell: 25 Hits (1939-47) (Audio CD)

This CD have captured the songs I fondly remembered from Carmen Miranda (aka, the "Samba Queen"). My almost-forgotten and favorite songs from her, "The Man With the Lollipop," "Chica Chica Boom," "Tico-Tico," and more, was nicely restored on this CD coming from a drabby non-stereo, analog-to-digital and to high-digital techniques. Amazing. BUT what's more amazing is that these songs were first recorded from the 1930's, 1940's!! It's a vintage history (document), which we should never ever forget the insatiable Carmen Miranda and her work of art, nonetheless.

This is a must have item for those who also like the song "Mama Eu Quiero" (remember Bugs Bunny was on stage performing and singing it during the 1970s cartoon of Bugs Bunny; he performed the Chiquita Banana woman's song, also known as Carmen Miranda).

To the execs on this CD, thanks for capturing (the fun) history!!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi I LIKE HER VERY MUCH !!!!, March 28, 2007

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Brazilian Bombshell: 25 Hits (1939-47) (Audio CD)

Carmen Miranda possessed a natural charm and wit about her that made her songs amusing and thoroughly enjoyable both at the same time. Oh sure, in retrospect her costumes and some of her songs also have that campy feel to them; but she's great entertainment nonetheless and you will enjoy this album.

The CD starts with the ethnic Brazilian "Mama Eu Quero (I Want My Mama)" from the film Down Argentine Way; and Carmen sings this number to perfection with a male backup chorus. The guitars shine on this number, too! "South American Way" is also from Down Argentine Way; Carmen sings this with great sensitivity and the guitars again carry the bulk of the musical arrangement. The male chorus again backs up Carmen very well.

Then there's the classic and witty ballad entitled "I Yi, Yi, Yi Yi (I Like You Very Much)" written by the great Harry Warren with Mack Gordon. This playful and relentlessly joyous number will make you want to jump up and dance wherever you are--a great love ballad that's a lot of fun, too! Harry Warren and Mack Gordon collaborated again to write the next song entitled "Chica Chica Boom Chic;" Carmen sings this passionately with a lot of drums and percussion to carry the musical arrangement. The Brazilian beat is infectiously catchy even all these decades later. Great!

Other great numbers on this CD include "A Week-End In Havana" by Warren and Gordon; Carmen sings this well and infuses it with a playful romantic flavor that few Latin American artists could ever do. "A Week-End In Havana" comes from the film Weekend In Havana; and you also get another song from the same film entitled "The Man With The Lollipop Song." Carmen sings this to perfection with a lush musical arrangement and an awesome male chorus, too.

One special treat is Carmen performing "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" in Portuguese; this surprise treatment of an American standard works very well! Carmen belts this one out passionately and she makes the lyrics fit so nicely into the musical arrangement. Excellent! "Tico Tico" is a South American standard that Carmen bats out with so much high octane energy you'd better fasten your seat belts before you listen to this track!

The CD ends beautifully with Carmen collaborating with The Andrews Sisters for two great numbers entitled "The Matador" and "Cuanto Le Gusta." Although Carmen did a few numbers with The Andrews Sisters, their work together flows so well that it's a crime that they didn't work together much more often. For "The Matador" the Andrews Sisters start off the song and then there's a back and forth duet between Carmen Miranda and The Andrews Sisters. Oooh, how they harmonize so well! Last but certainly not least, "Cuanto Le Gusta" begins with a great musical flourish and again Carmen and The Andrews Sisters do a magnificent duet to make this a very special track to end the CD.

The liner notes give you an excellent essay about Carmen's life and career written by Peter Dempsey; and you get the song credits, too. The cover art is good, too.

Carmen Miranda's memory may have faded somewhat because of the passage of time but don't let that stop you from getting this terrific CD. Even if you've never seen any of the films Carmen was in you can easily enjoy this marvelous CD. The digital remastering by Martin Haskell reflects hard work, too.

I heartily recommend this for fans of Carmen Miranda; and fans of the carefree musicals from the late 1930s and 1940s will love this CD. People who enjoy Latin American music from that era will also want to pick up this CD.