Sergio Mendes Music

A&M 75021-3503-2 --1. Freedom and Fear
2. Earth
3. Thalassa
4. Doesn't Anybody Know?
5. Pourquois Pas?
6. Morning Is Come Again
7. For Those Who Cannot Hear
8. We Could Be Flying
9. Emmanuel
10. All in All
----With the Tijuana Brass mostly on hold at the time, Herb Alpert commissioned what was immediately touted as a landmark project from French musical polymath Michel Colombier -- a pop symphony with the positively Mahlerian ambition to encompass the entire world in about 37 minutes. Alpert produced it, the gnomelike Paul Williams contributed lyrics, and Colombier composed the music and recorded it mostly in Paris, with additional big-band tracks and voices added at A&M Studios in Los Angeles. In a nutshell, Wings is a journey from darkness to light, with the hellfire of opening song "Freedom and Fear" -- powered by the anguished voice of Bill Medley (of the Righteous Brothers) -- eventually giving way to the redemption of love (Colombier might disagree that there's any storyline, but the evolution seems quite clear). The ensemble is huge -- a French symphony orchestra and a smaller so-called "pop" orchestra, an American big band, and voices, as well as electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty providing occasional slithering, edgy commentary. At first, you wonder where all of this rampant eclecticism is headed; the music thrashes about from combo jazz to soft rock to big-band wailings to film music to atonal classical music, without much coherence. Then, all of a sudden, about two-thirds of the way through, the piece comes together -- and from here on,Wings takes off, inspired to the finish. A grand flourish worthy of a Biblical film epic ushers in "We Could Be Flying," a beautiful song in the Sergio Mendes idiom of that time, sung delicately by Mendes' most celebrated vocalist, Lani Hall. A classical intermezzo, "Emmanuel," follows -- re-recorded, sweetened, and lengthened on the 1977 reissue of the album -- and the final paean to the power of love, "All in All," becomes a vehicle for Alpert's plaintive voice. Upon first release, Wings was lauded to the skies by the press -- especially those who weren't sold on rock -- and received three Grammy nominations and a Grand Prix du Disque but was relegated to cult status in sales, and the re-release in 1977 attracted hardly any attention at all. In hindsight, Wings is an artifact of its time, but one with passages of genuine beauty that ought not be relegated to oblivion.

This album is a really mixed bag. The middle third of the album from "Moanin'" to "Masquerade" is top-notch Brasil '66. "Moanin'" swings hard with a dynamite big band arrangement. "Look Who's Mine" is a gorgeous ballad with sweet lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Ye-Me-Le is another excellent Brazilian song in Portugese. "Easy to Be Hard" is a surprisingly good cover of the song from Hair. And "Masquerade" has a kind of 1970's feel to it; as if Mendes were peering into the future.

However, some of the cover songs are ill advised, to say the least. "Wichita Lineman" and "Norwegian Wood" are just there, with Lani Hall solemnly and slowly singing on the latter "He asked me stay and he told me to sit anywhere/I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair" as if it's the most profound lyric ever. "What the World Needs Now" is an excellent song, but the arrangement is frantic and hurried, as if they were just trying to wrap up the album.

As another reviewer said, the album also suffers somewhat from the absence of male singing voices, except when Mendes takes an unfortunate and self-indulgent solo on "Where are You Coming From?" There is some wonderful stuff here, but it's clearly a step down from the five previous Brasil '66 albums, which were pretty much all wonderful all the way through.

What can I say? I liked the Brasil '66 which was a vocal jazz combo: six people, totaling four instruments and five voices, with occasional guests such as a guitarist or a trombonist. That was unique, fresh, and swinging. But here, continuing the trend that began tastefully with LOOK AROUND and continued with less subtlety through FOOL ON THE HILL and CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS, there is a lot more of orchestrator Dave Grusin on this disc than there is Brasil '66.

Additionally, this album's supporting musicians (bassist Sebastiao Neto, percussionist Rubens Bassini, drummer Dom Um Romao) apparently couldn't sing, unlike the Matthews/Soares/Palma rhythm team. What was once a true vocal group is now best described as Dave Grusin's orchestra featuring electric pianist Mendes and a pair of female singers. To put it plainly, there is nearly nothing in YE-ME-LE that hints toward what Brasil '66 originally was.

The lone exceptions to that are the few tracks which are unencumbered by Grusin's orchestra: "Norwegian Wood", "Some Time Ago", and "Masquerade". Of those, only the latter has Sergio playing an acoustic piano and collaborating with the girls in harmonized vocals, both integral parts of the original Brasil '66 sound. The remaining seven tracks are over-orchestrated and too electric; their Brazilian influence is minimal. (Only one track is sung in Portuguese, compared with four on their A&M debut.)

All in all, unless you like HERB ALPERT PRESENTS (et al) for very different reasons than I do, I cannot recommend YE-ME-LE.

When Ye-Me-Le was released in 1969, the Bossa Nova sound was dwindling within the United States. Thus leaving Sergio Mendes with a decision: to either leave the Brasil'66 sound the same, or to create a new balance of the Bossa Nova with the popular music of that time. Sergio Mendes decided to move ahead into the current popular sound. Although, the Familiar Brasilian Sound is still found through out this CD. It was still the same Brasil'66 as the Brasil'66 featured on the very popular "Fool on the Hill" album. "Wichita Lineman" (b/w "Ye-Me-Le") was the first single from the album. It was an up tempo approach to this Jimmy Webb tune. It did not fair well in the Billboard charts. The second single The Beatle's "Norwegian Wood" (b/w "Masquerade") was even less successful. Personally, I think that all four of these songs are still very strong songs. It is not clear to me why they didn't succeed, but they didn�t. This album contains beautifully arranged English versions of "Dia da Vitória" ("Look Who's Mine") and the very popular Brasilian tune: "De Onde Vens" ("Where Are You Coming From"). Also, this album has Bacharach and David's "What the World Needs Now", the classic tune from the musical "Hair": "Easy to Be Hard", and a soulful version of Bobby Timmon�s "Moanin'". �Some Time Ago� is a rare song in itself. It features both singers individually, Miss Hall doing the first part of the song, and Miss Philipp singing after the piano solo. Sergio allowed the singers, Lani Hall and Karen Philipp, complete freedom on this album. This allowed each singer to interoperate the song with her own personal emotion, understanding, and vitality. By far, this album, (along with "Stillness") is one of my favorite Brasil'66 albums. Ye-Me-Le's repertory is a good representation of the current music scene, in both Brasil and The United States. Sergio Mendes� personal touch on each song through arrangement, keyboards, and the occasional voice, �Where Are You Coming From�, complete this album. This album is an overlooked classic, and can nicely fit into anyone�s CD collection.

SERGIO MENDEZ AND GRUOP ARE THE BEST SOUTH OF THE BORDER GROUP EVER!!!!!!!!!!

CAN LISTEN TO THEM FOR DAYS, NON STOP

During the late 60's as america looked for an escape from the the news of war and violence they turned toward latin music.Artist like sergio mendes and herb alpert came out with music that mixed latin music with american pop.This album came out in 1969 when the interest in latin music started to wane and was not as popular as earlier albums by Brazil 66.My favorite songs are Wichita lineman with it's great vocal arrangment and YE-ME-LE.Both of these songs were performed on the tv show music scene and are available on dvd.

Ye-Me-Le is the best album put out by Sergio Mendez and Brasil '66. Lani Hall and Karen Philipp on vocals really brought the Beatles song "Norwegian Wood" to life and they are terrific with the Jim Webb classic "Wichita Lineman". If you like Latin American rhythms this CD is for you.

I have had a copy of Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66's Greatest Hits on vinyl since the early 70's and always enjoyed it. But I had never heard any of their other albums until I was in a used record store in the 80's and bought a used Ye-Me-Le LP on a whim. I absolutely fell in love with this album. "Masquerade" is now my favorite Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 song. "Some Time Ago", "Moanin'", "Look Who's Mine", and "Ye-Me-Le" are all wonderful songs.

I usually don't go much for cover songs, Glen Campbell's "Witchita Lineman", the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood", and Three Dog Night's "Easy to be Hard" are among my favorite songs, but the cover versions on here are excellent renditions as well. I enjoy them as much as I enjoy the originals.

And finally, the version of "What the World Needs Now" on this album is perhaps not my favorite version the Bacharach/David tune, I still quite enjoy listening to it because of the unique treatment.

I waited for years for this album to come out on CD and I was so happy when it did. If you like Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 you should definitely have this CD.

"Ye-Me-Le" was almost a return to the original group sound heard on "Herb Alpert Presents" and "Equinox" and, in my opinion, is a much better album than its 2 predecessors, "Fool on the Hill" and "Crystal Illusion".

The album starts out with a bang with a cover of Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman" that puts the original to shame. Mendes follows this with a mind blowing cover of "Norwegian Wood". Very seldom does a cover of a Beatles song come even close to the original, but this one does. "Moanin'" and "Masquerade" are great high energy songs combining a touch of R&B with the bossa nova. The title song sounds like a Brazilian street carnival with the band approaching from a distance and then suddenly exploding right in front of you. This song is guaranteed to make anyone smile. The album finishes with a great cover of "What The World Needs Now".

This is indeed a group album with all members participating and orchestrations kept to a tolerable level. Mendes and company sound like they really enjoyed recording these songs and they are a treat to listen to.

A lot of long-time Brasil '66 fans dismiss this album as the "beginning of the end" of the classic era for Sergio Mendes, but it's always been one of my favorites. True, the album only has one Brasilian tune (but it's a killer--"Ye Me Le", with an incredible flute solo by Hermeto Pascoal and guest vocals by the soon-to-be Mrs. Mendes, Gracinha Leporace), and tends to concentrate more on the American pop side of things ("Wichita Lineman," "Easy to Be Hard"), but there is still sufficient magic that any fan of the early Brasil '66 albums should find it more than sufficient. Sergio's reworking of "Norwegian Wood," with its changing tempi and beautiful Rhodes solo; Lani's playful reading of the jazz waltz "Some Time Ago"; Lani's heartfelt belting on the Marcos Valle penned "Look Who's Mine" (with one of those patented Alan & Marilyn Bergman lyrics); Lani and Karen Philipp tearing into Bobby Timmons' classic "Moanin'" with a great Dave Grusin big band arrangement (this is not your mother's Lambert, Hendricks and Ross interpretation); and the magnificent Dave Grusin orchestral wrapping of an almost McCoy Tyner-ish arrangement of "What the World Needs Now" are just some of the great things listeners have in store on this neglected gem. It may not be "Fool on the Hill," but I for one highly recommend it.

I gave this album a four-star rating because one or two of the songs aren't great, but overall, it's very good. Sergio had a way of taking hits and making them even better. Witchita Lineman and Norwegian Wood are a couple of examples. If you are a fan of his earlier work, you should be pleased with this.
By the way, why is it that it takes a Japanese company to produce many of these old A & M albums?