Mendes is married to Gracinha Leporace who regularly performs vocals for her husband and can also be heard on his 2006 version of the song Mas Que Nada with the Black Eyed Peas.
Early career
The child of a physician in Niterói, Brazil, Mendes attended the local conservatory with hopes of becoming a classical pianist. As his interest in jazz grew, he started playing in nightclubs in the late-1950s just as bossa nova, a jazz-inflected derivative of samba, was taking off. Mendes played with Antônio Carlos Jobim (whom he regarded as a mentor) and many U.S. jazz musicians who toured Brazil.
Mendes formed the Sexteto Bossa Rio and recorded Dance Moderno in 196. Touring Europe and the United States, Mendes recorded albums with Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Mann and played Carnegie Hall. Mendes moved to the U.S. in 1964 and cut two albums under the name Sergio Mendes and Brasil '65 with Capitol Records and Atlantic Records.
Brasil '66
When sales were tepid, he replaced his Brazilian born vocalist Wanda de Sa with the distinctive voice of Chicago native Lani Hall (who learned Mendes' Portuguese material phonetically), switched to Herb Alpert's A&M label, and released Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66, an album that went platinum based largely on the success of the single "Mas Que Nada" (a Jorge Ben cover) and the personal support of Alpert, with whom Mendes toured regularly.
The original lineup of Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 was Mendes (piano), vocalists Lani Hall and Janis Hansen, Bob Matthews (bass), Jose Soares (percussion), and Joao Palma (drums). John Pisano guested as guitarist. This lineup recorded three albums between 1966-1968 (including the best-selling Look Around LP), before there was a major personnel change for their fourth album Fool on the Hill.
Karen Philipp replaced Hansen as the second female vocalist, while veteran drummer Dom Um Romão teamed with Rubens Bassini to assume percussionist duties. Sebastiao Neto was the new bassist and Oscar Castro-Neves the guitarist. This lineup had a more orchestral and big band sound than their predecessors. Most significantly, in the early 1970s, lead singer Hall pursued a solo career and became Alpert's second wife. Some accounts claim that Mendes was upset with Alpert for years for "stealing" Hall away from his group.
Though his early singles with Brasil '66 (most notably "Mas Que Nada") met with some success, Mendes really burst into mainstream prominence when he performed the Oscar-nominated Burt Bacharach and Hal David song The Look of Love on the Academy Awards telecast in April 1968. Brasil '66's version of the song quickly shot into the top 10, peaking at #4, and eclipsing Dusty Springfield's version from the soundtrack of the movie, Casino Royale. Mendes spent the rest of 1968 enjoying consecutive top 10 and top 20 hits with his follow-up singles, "The Fool on the Hill" and "Scarborough Fair". From 1968 on, Mendes was arguably the biggest Brazilian star in the world, enjoying immense popularity worldwide and performing in venues as varied as stadium arenas and the White House, where he gave concerts for both Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.
Middle career
Mendes' career in the U.S. stalled in the mid-1970s, but he remained very popular in South America and Japan. His two albums with Bell Records in 1973 and 1974, followed by several for Elektra from 1975 on, found Mendes continuing to mine the best in American pop music and post-bossa writers of his native Brazil, while forging new directions in soul with collaborators like Stevie Wonder, who wrote Mendes' R&B-inflected minor hit, "The Real Thing".
In 1983, he rejoined Alpert's A&M records and enjoyed huge success with a self-titled album and several follow-up albums, all of which received considerable adult contemporary airplay with charting singles. "Never Gonna Let You Go", featuring vocals by Joe Pizzulo and Leza Miller, equalled the success of his 1968 single "The Look of Love" by reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; it also spent four weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In 1984, Mendes worked with singer Lani Hall again.
By the time Mendes released his Grammy-winning Elektra album Brasileiro in 1992, he was the undisputed master of pop-inflected Brazilian jazz. The late-1990s lounge music revival brought retrospection and respect to Mendes' oeuvre, particularly the classic Brasil '66 albums. His stature in his native Brazil is reflected by "Cantor de Mambo", a song by fellow Brazilians Os Mutantes, which they regularly dedicate to Mendes in concert.
Later career
Timeless features a wide array of neo-soul and alternative hip hop guest artists, most prominently will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas. It was released February 14, 2006 by Concord Records.
The album features the Black Eyed Peas, Erykah Badu, Black Thought, Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, India.Arie, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Q-Tip, Stevie Wonder and Pharoahe Monch.
The 2006 re-recorded version of "Mas que Nada" with the Black Eyed Peas had additional vocals by Gracinha Leporace (Mendes' wife); a version that is included on his album Timeless. In Brazil, the song is pretty well-known for being the theme song for the local television channel Globo's Estrelas.
The Black Eyed Peas' version also contains a sample of their 2004 hit "Hey Mama". The re-recorded song became popular on many European charts. On the UK Singles Chart, the song entered at #29 and rose to and peaked at #6 on its second week on the chart.
Official website of Sérgio Mendes: http://www.sergiomendesmusic.com
Olympia
Sérgio Mendes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The bravest and the best
To write their names in history
And to face the final test
And they gather as they've always done
With one purpose and the one aim
To give their souls and bodies to
Olympia, Olympia
Light the flame
And let it burn
Olympia, Olympia
You will teach
And we will learn
We will learn
In your name
We have come
To honor courage
More than glory
More than fame.
We will learn
If we can
The triumph of the spirit
Is the victory of man
And they reach out to each other
To make us all aware
That we celebrate our brotherhood
In the struggles that we share
Olympia, Olympia
Light the flame
And let it burn
Olympia, Olympia
You will teach
And we will learn
We will learn
In your name
We have come
To honor courage
More than glory
More than fame.
We will learn
If we can
The triumph of the spirit
Is the victory of man
And the truth of what you stand for
Will endure when we are gone
Just as long as people dare
To dream
Olympia, Olympia, Olympia
You live on, you live on
Olympia, Olympia
Light the flame
And let it burn
Olympia, Olympia
You will teach
And we will learn
We will learn
In your name
We have come
To honor courage
More than glory
More than fame.
We will learn
If we can
The triumph of the spirit
Is the victory of man
The lyrics to Sérgio Mendes' song "Olympia" pay tribute to the Olympic Games, which bring together athletes from all over the world to compete in a spirit of brotherhood and to celebrate the triumph of the human spirit. The song speaks to the dedication and sacrifice required of Olympians, who come to prove themselves on the ultimate stage of competition.
The opening lines of the song speak to the global nature of the Olympics, as athletes from all corners of the world are drawn together to face the final test of their abilities. The chorus exhorts Olympia to "light the flame" and to teach us, as we have come to honor courage over glory and fame. The bridge of the song emphasizes the unity that the Olympics represent, as athletes reach out to one another in brotherhood and in celebration of the struggles that they share.
The final verse of the song speaks to the enduring legacy of the Olympic spirit, which will continue to inspire and challenge us long after the athletes themselves have passed away. The song ends with a final exhortation to Olympia, to keep the flame burning and to keep teaching us through the example of courage and triumph that the Games represent.
Overall, "Olympia" is a powerful tribute to the Olympic Games and to the athletes who compete in them. It speaks to the importance of courage, brotherhood, and the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity.
Line by Line Meaning
From the corners of the world they come
People from all over the world are coming to Olympia.
The bravest and the best
Only the bravest and the best are coming to Olympia.
To write their names in history
They want to make history at Olympia.
And to face the final test
They are ready to face the final challenge at Olympia.
And they gather as they've always done
They are gathering as they always have at Olympia.
With one purpose and the one aim
They all have one purpose and one goal at Olympia.
To give their souls and bodies to
They are willing to give everything they have to Olympia.
The challenge of the game
They are ready for the challenge of the game at Olympia.
Olympia, Olympia
Addressing Olympia.
Light the flame
Start the games at Olympia.
And let it burn
Let the flame keep burning throughout the games at Olympia.
You will teach
Olympia will teach us.
And we will learn
We will learn from Olympia.
We will learn
We are here to learn.
In your name
We are here in the name of Olympia.
We have come
We have come to Olympia.
To honor courage
We are here to honor courage at Olympia.
More than glory
Courage is more important than glory at Olympia.
More than fame.
Courage is more important than fame at Olympia.
If we can
If we are able to.
The triumph of the spirit
The victory of the spirit.
Is the victory of man
Is the victory of humanity at Olympia.
And they reach out to each other
They are helping each other at Olympia.
To make us all aware
To make us all aware of the struggle at Olympia.
That we celebrate our brotherhood
We celebrate our unity at Olympia.
In the struggles that we share
We are in the struggles together at Olympia.
And the truth of what you stand for
The truth of what Olympia stands for.
Will endure when we are gone
It will last forever even after we are gone.
Just as long as people dare
As long as people dare to dream.
To dream
To dream of what they can achieve at Olympia.
Olympia, Olympia, Olympia
Addressing Olympia once again.
You live on, you live on
Olympia will always live on.
Contributed by Jayden M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Cecilia Galdino
A MÚSICA MAIS LINDA DE TODAS AS OLIMPÍADAS. AMO ESSA MÚSICA!!!!!!!!!!!
Silvio Boebel
com certeza!
Geraldo Filho
Vdd
Marcelo Martins
@Jeferson Almeida Engano seu.
Mas... taí a su opinião.
Jeferson Almeida
Depois daquela do John Williams é sim
Hércio Arantes Filho
Show! Faz anos que queria achar ela, e não lembrava quem cantava, descobri por acaso nesse canal sensacional dos anos 80: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBWme6cWJNk
Alessandro Viana
A melhor música de abertura das olimpíadas, marcou minha infância em 1984, grande Sergio Mendes.
Mas "Hand in Hand" do Koreana de 1988 em Seul também é maravilhosa.
Viva o esporte.
Delta Quadrant
Esta música, feita para ser o hino dos jogos olímpicos de 1984, poderia ter sido o hino definitivo de todas as épocas. Pena que tenha caído no ostracismo.
Jeferson Almeida
O hino dos jogos de 84 é de John Williams
luz divina
Sim no BR foibesquecido sim,uma pena.