Customer Reviews

Foursider

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The pop music of Sergio Mendes and Brazil '66 has aged well over the past 40 years. Brazil '66 quartet fronted by a pair seductive female singers, Lani Hall and Janice Hansen who sang American pop music and contemporary Brazilian bossa nova and samba music in the Portuguese language of Brazil. Hall and Hansen's lilting, frothy vocals gave Brazil '66 it's distinctive signature sound. Four decades later the pop/jazz/Brazilian fusion music of Brazil '66 sounds suprisingly fresh, while a lot of the critically lauded experimental music of the Sixties sounds...well.. quaint by comparison. It's a credit to the vision of Mendes who assembled a band of great players like guitarist John Pisano and others musicians schooled in the Afro/Brazilian and cool jazz traditions. Those who once dismissed Mendes as a musical lightweight with a gimmicky bossa nova sound have been proven wrong. Mendes' music anticipated much of today's world fusion music that combines conventional pop music with the exotic percussion and swaying tempos of third world music.

Today's Menedes fans are hipper than the cocktail hour core Brazil '66 Sixties fan base. The newer Sergio Mendes devotees are twenty and thirty somethings raised on punk and post-punk. It's the same musically sophisticated audience that rediscovered a a host of overlooked world music icons including; the French pop of Serge Gainsboro, the samba music of Carlos Antonio Jobim, the eccentric psychedelic music of Os Mutantes, the Afrobeat of Fela Kuti and buoyant ska rhythms of jazzy Jamaica's Skatalites. To their credit, these younger fans have created a demand for re-release of material by these overlooked artists, including Sergio Mendes

This album, "Four Sider" has more songs than any anthology, BUT song per song "Four Sider" is not as consistently sumblime as another Brasil '66 anthology, "Classics Vol. 18." "Four Sider's" inclusion of weak cover versions of songs like, Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" or Otis Redding's "Sitting On the Dock of the Bay" may test the patience of a novice fan. "Classics Vol. 18" avoids some of Brazil '66's less inspired music.

On the other hand, the internet bible of music criticism AMG, has selected "Four Sider" as the best Mendes anthology. It's a toss of a coin..."Four Sider" may have four more songs than "Classics Vol. 18, but not necessarily songs of the 24 karat variety. The choice is yours. As a footnote, in 1992 Sergio Mendes released a solo album, the "Brasilerio" which has become a cult masterpiece of Afro/Brazilian roots music. Fans of Mendes should check out that CD, as well.

Foursider was originally released as a two disk vinyl compilation at a bargain price. It was a good buy then & it still is now. A few hits mixed with a tasty selection of album tracks from the Sixties, Foursider is one of the "must own" releases until we get a definitive Greatest Hits package or a box set of the original albums.

Someday maybe A&M's corporate overseers will decide to release a collection with EVERY Brasil '66 single & B side plus the finest album tracks - I mean one including "Night & Day," "For Me," "Fool on the Hill," "Like a Lover" AND "The Look of Love" among others. If they need someone to do the job, I volunteer.

Bob Rixon, WFMU

It was Brasil 66 that made me want to go to Brazil (and I lived there, later). This is a great compilation. Brasil 66 evokes the friendliness of Brazil. The songs are mostly American and British hits done in an upbeat Brazilian style that I think was unique to Sergio Mendes in Brazil. He had a lead singer with a chorus of female and male singers chiming in. The closest comparison in english would be the Fifth Dimension. Sergio Mendes is the arranger but the lead singer was Lani Hall. She now has a solo career but her solo work is much different than Brasil 66: more balads and jazz. Sergio Mendes continues to produce some upbeat new material mostly in Portuguese with his wife Gracinha Leporace-Mendes on lead.

This is the best of two Sergio Mendes/Brasil 66 CD's. A great collection of their hits from the late 60's--"Fool on the Hill", "Norweigen Wood" and my going to Vietnam song, "Sittin on the Dock of the Bay". Great CD, Brasil 66 was and still is fantastic!!

This album is FINE. Mix up some fruity drinks, slap on the 'Foursider' and let the child within you sing.

Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 made some of the most beautiful music I've heard ever; an album like this is an absolute must-have for any Sergio Mendes fan. Lani Hall and Janice Hansen sing faultlessly, too. This CD overall has an irresistible pop Brazilian flavor to it that makes it tough not to push the "play" button on your CD player right after you finish listening to it; this music is all THAT good. In addition, the quality of the sound on this CD is excellent. The artwork is quite well done; it's even faithful to the cover artwork of the record album release of this CD.

The CD opens up with Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 doing a fantastic rendition of "Mais Que Nada;" they make this sound better than ever and the musical arrangement is sophisticated and elegant at once. There's also a fine medley of "One Note Samba" and "Spanish Flea;" I really like this track even though you wouldn't initially think that these two songs could be fused together and still sound well. Let me reassure you--these talented people pull it off without a hitch! "Mira Alrededor (Look Around)" has a fine bossa nova style arrangement; the percussion adds a lot to the melody and it's great for easy listening as well. Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 also do a splendid cover of "(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay;" they deliver this without ever skipping a beat and I'm very impressed.

"With A Little Help from My Friends" sounds terrific when these artists bat it straight out of the ballpark; this is clearly a major highlight of this album and I would like to think The Beatles approved this rendition of their ballad! "The Look of Love" sparkles brighter than silver and gold when Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 perform it; Dusty Springfield just may have to look out! (Nah, Dusty can hold her own any day, too.) There's another Beatles cover as they perform a creative treatment of "Norwegian Wood;" and there's yet another gem in "Wave" written by the great Antonio Carlos Jobim. I love it!

"Chelsea Morning" is very well done; the music fits perfectly with the vocals but wisely the vocals remain squarely up front--you never have to strain or guess what they are singing. "The Fool on the Hill" is another shining Beatles cover; and "Day Tripper" ranks high in my book, too.

"Crystal Illusions (Memorias De Marta Sare)" gets a most sensitive treatment from Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66; they make it seem so easy but of course we know it really wasn't. Their talent carried them through. "Ye Me Le" is very pretty; and "Promise of a Fisherman" is quite well done as well. The CD ends strong with Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 performing "After Sunrise." The guitars on this tune really enhance the melody and the singing charms me with its natural beauty.

Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 do nothing but perform outstanding music on this album; it's great for Sergio Mendes fans. In addition, people who like Lani Hall and Janice Hansen, the ladies who sing on this album, would do well to get this for their music collections. This is a fine bossa nova pop CD.

'Mas Que Nada' and 'Pais Tropical' are worth the price of the CD. They are cool songs that will never get old.

The finest Beatles covers ever recorded -- Norwegian Wood by itself is worth the full purchase price.

My parents had this when I was young, and it brings me back. I don't get into all of the songs, but the ones I don't seek out are not so bad. I remember the Beatles covers, but I forgot about "Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay", "After Midnight" and "For What its Worth" are really sweet.

Janice Hansen's voice in my opinion was better than Lani Hall, and she is just beautiful. Does anyone know what became of her and does she have a website/fan club.