Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 [Archive]

Dan

02-24-2002, 06:44 PM

I find these albums to be interesting. They were kicking around my parents house in the early 70's when I was a toddler.

I bought two nice copies of "Brasil '66" and "Equinox" today at a thrift shop. "Brasil '66" especially has a nice sound.

One thing I never realized, "Brasil '66" was engineered by Bruce Botnick and "Equinox" by Botnick and Larry Levine.

I wonder if Herb Alpert has any control over these masters or if they went to Universal. Most of them are out of print here, but I noticed there is a Japaneese version of "Brasil '66".

--Dan

Steve Hoffman

02-24-2002, 06:51 PM

Those first two "Brasil '66" are really great. Botnick got a really good sound on that first LP.

Universal controls all A&M masters except Herb Alpert, solo, and with the TJB.

Holy Zoo

02-24-2002, 07:22 PM

Yep, the first Brasil '66 album, "Herb Aplert Presents" is one of my all time favs. Indeed, I have four versions of the album: the original mono LP, original stereo LP, the MoFi remastered LP, and the Japanese import CD (which seems to be awol at the moment :()

Of the three vinyls, I far prefer the original mono - the mix is just right. Also, the original stereo is kinda bland.

Between the stereo versions, the MoFi wins IMO.

Steve Hoffman

02-24-2002, 08:04 PM

Huh. I'm impressed, Holy Zoo. I never know about you.

You just never can tell what someone will like..

Grant

02-24-2002, 09:42 PM

Thanks, Holy Zoo! I'm going to search for the mono versions now.

Michael

02-24-2002, 11:36 PM

There is a Fantastic 2 CD set from England! I don't have the CD handy. I own all of the US CD's and they don't even come close.

mikenyc

02-24-2002, 11:49 PM

There are many japanese and foreign CD issues of these early albums out there, and they've been out for a couple of years now ! Check them out !!!!!

PsychFan

02-25-2002, 05:44 AM

It's strange that this has been mentioned; I just got a mint brown-A&M-label stereo copy in an antique store for 25 cents a few weeks ago, and I spun it last night.

It sounds fantastic to my ears (though now I want to hear a mono too). Love that cover of "Day Tripper"!!!!

Grant

02-25-2002, 08:57 AM

I always liked their cover of "Fool On The Hill". They played it a lot on radio back in 1968 right next to Steppenwolf and Merilee Rush.

Dan

02-25-2002, 09:49 AM

My favorite track is "O Pato". I kinda like the sound of the original stereo LP. Of course I have nothing to compare it to.

To Holy Zoo: Is the Japaneese CD any good?

---Dan

Jeff H.

02-25-2002, 10:40 AM

I love Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 and have almost all of their albums up to the "Stillness"(very underrated)album. I wanted to see if Steve or someone else can respond to this question. All of the stereo albums with the exception of "Fool On The Hill" and "Ye-Me-Le" sound great. These two albums are marked stereo but have a really strange out of phase sound to them like "reprocessed stereo" but neither album indicates this. On the back of "Ye-Me-Le there's a line in credits stating this recording employs the HAECO-CSG System. Does anyone know what this is?:confused:

BradOlson

02-25-2002, 10:45 AM

CSG=Compatible Stereo Groove. A big trend in the late 1960's to make stereo LP's compatible and playable on mono equipment. Check out the Association WB Greatest Hits CD in print or the LP for a major example of the CSG sound.

Humorem

02-25-2002, 11:06 AM

"Look Around" never sounded good on the originals I heard. Bad mastering. The new heavy vinyl one is excellent.

First album: find a reissue, the one without "CA-5" in the dead wax. Later label. Gets rid of the cutter distortion if you find a good one.

"Stillness": I revere it! Ask Steve. He's heard it over here many times.

Three different stampers: P-1, forget the other two, all very different. Keep looking.

Also, "Foursider". Cut with very low distortion. Will show you the faults in most pressings.

TP

lukpac

02-25-2002, 11:27 AM

Actually, I believe CSG stands for Compatible Stereo Generator. It was employed in the mixing process and threw all the center information about half way out of phase, so when played back in mono it didn't get too loud.

About half of Wheels Of Fire was mixed this way. Invert one of the channels of White Room and play back in mono. The vocal will *not* go away, due to the fact that it is slightly out of phase.

Steve Hoffman

02-25-2002, 11:30 AM

Thank God the CSG fad only lasted a short time in 1968. So short that only SOME of "Wheels Of Fire" was affected.

Kym

02-25-2002, 01:56 PM

I really dig their version of "For What It's Worth." Really groovy stuff!

Jeff H.

02-25-2002, 02:13 PM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lukpac
[B]Actually, I believe CSG stands for Compatible Stereo Generator. It was employed in the mixing process and threw all the center information about half way out of phase, so when played back in mono it didn't get too loud.

Luke that's exactly what the problem with those albums are. The vocals are way out of phase which really detracts from enjoying them. Anyone know if these albums were ever cut again without the CSG process?

To Humorem: About "Look Around", other than the pressings being noisy, I never thought the original copies sounded that bad. A very well engineered, great sounding recording for it's time.

Humorem

02-25-2002, 02:18 PM

Originally posted by Kym in Hawaii
I really dig their version of "For What It's Worth." Really groovy stuff!

Copied note for note in the movie Spy Game too! Listen for it, right down to the bass guitar pluck.
TP

Humorem

02-25-2002, 02:23 PM

Originally posted by Jeff H.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by lukpac
[B]
To Humorem: About "Look Around", other than the pressings being noisy, I never thought the original copies sounded that bad. A very well engineered, great sounding recording for its time.

My copies all suck but there must be some good ones out there, I just never found one. Never liked the album until I could hear it right. Now I love it.

And all the CDs I've heard sounded like they needed a lot more TLC than they were given.

Which means if you're one of these CD only types, you can forget listening to Sergio Mendes. Most of his stuff isn't even ON CD.

TP

Jeff H.

02-25-2002, 06:25 PM

Originally posted by Humorem

My copies all suck but there must be some good ones out there, I just never found one. Never liked the album until I could hear it right. Now I love it.

And all the CDs I've heard sounded like they needed a lot more TLC than they were given.

Which means if you're one of these CD only types, you can forget listening to Sergio Mendes. Most of his stuff isn't even ON CD.

TP

Too true. So far only "Look Around" has been re-issued domestically(back in 2000). All of the other A&M albums either haven't turned up on CD yet or they're only available as expensive Japanese imports that are very hard to find, and I have no idea how any of them sound.

BradOlson

02-25-2002, 06:37 PM

Here are the domestic CD's that have been issued:
Fool On The Hill (OOP)
Look Around
Greatest Hits (compilation)
A&M Classics Vol. 18 (compilation)
self-titled
Foursider
The Swinger From Rio/The Beat Of Brazil (Collectables)
Great Arrival/Bully (Collectables)
In Person/Favorite Things/Pele (Collectables)

Humorem

02-25-2002, 07:19 PM

Originally posted by cbsolson
Here are the domestic CD's that have been issued:
Fool On The Hill (OOP)
Look Around
Greatest Hits (compilation)
A&M Classics Vol. 18 (compilation)
self-titled
Foursider
The Swinger From Rio/The Beat Of Brazil (Collectables)
Great Arrival/Bully (Collectables)
In Person/Favorite Things/Pele (Collectables)

I have every '66 title except Fool and the first album. Not a gem in my bunch I'm afraid. The records kill em.
TP