Song:The Look Of Love
Album:Foursider
Sergio Mendes was the biggest selling Brazilian recording artist of the late 60s. The Look Of Love was his biggest hit after he performed it on the 1968 Academy Awards broadcast. He also made a major comeback in the 80s. He was born Feb. 11, 1941 in Niteroi, Brazil and studied classical music as a child. He got into Bossa Nova as a teen and started hanging around Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joao Gilberto. He also met visiting jazz musicians like Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1961 he formed his own group Sexteto Bossa Rio and recorded for Philips Records. A 1962 appearance at Birdland in New York led to Mendes recording with Cannonball Adderley and a contract with Capitol Records. Mendes moved to the US in 1964. His early recordings went nowhere. Mendes signed with A & M Records in 1966 and formed Brasil '66. The original lineup was Lani Hall and Bibi Vogel on vocals, Bob Matthews on bass, Jose Soares on percussion, Joao Palma on drums and John Pisano on guitar. After their cover of the Jorge Ben song Mas Que Nada charted in 1966, Janis Hansen replaced Bibi Vogel for the 1968 album Look Around. She sings lead on The Look Of Love. The Look Of Love was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and sung by Dusty Springfield in the 1967 film Casino Royale. After Mendes performed The Look Of Love on the 1968 Academy Awards broadcast, his version reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Janis Hansen had already left Brasil '66 to form the similar group The Carnival with Jose Soares. They split up after one album and Janis sang on Ford Commercials. Mendes' next single was a cover of The Beatles' The Fool On the Hill and it reached #6. This budget comp covers his 60s recordings. Mendes went into a decline in the 70s after Lani Hall left to marry Herb Alpert in 1974. Mendes moved to Bell Records. They became Arista in 1975. Mendes also recorded for Elektra. In 1983, he returned to A & M and had a top five hit with Never Gonna Let You Go with vocals by Joe Pizzulo and Leza Miller. He also reunited with Lani Hall for the theme of the 1983 film Never Say Never Again. Mendes currently records for Concord Records. His most recent CD was released in 2010. Sergio Mendes still tours and deserves some credit for popularizing Brazilian music in the 60s. Here's Sergio Mendes performing The Look Of Love in 1988.
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