Mendes is married to the singer Gracinha Leporace who regularly performs vocals alongside Mendes and can 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 1961. 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 Brasil '65 group name 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 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
Lost In Paradise
Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cannot fly very high
I find you so far from my sight
I′m lost in my own green light
Don't help me my love
My brother, my girl
Just tell your name
A big white plastic finger
Surrounds my dark green hair
But it′s not your unknown caress
It's not from your unknown right hand
Dont help me my love
My brother my girl
Just tell your name
Just let me say who am I
I am the sun, the darkness
My name is Green Wave
Death, salt, South America is my name
World is my name, my size
And under my name here am I
Don't help me my love
My brother my girl
Just tell your name
Just let me say who am I
My little grasshopper airplane
Cannot fly very high
The lyrics of Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66's song Lost In Paradise depict a sense of displacement and disorientation in a vast and unknown world. The singer of the song has embarked on a journey but finds himself lost in his own green light with his little grasshopper airplane unable to fly very high, leaving him far from the sight of his destination. The reference to a big white plastic finger surrounding his dark green hair represents society's superficial and artificial influence on him, which is not comparable to his love's, brother's, or girl's assistance as he struggles to discover his identity. The singer goes on to assert that he is the sun, the darkness, Green Wave, Death, salt, South America, and the world, giving a feeling of universality to his struggle. However, beneath all of those names is the person he is, asking those around him to let him say who he is.
The lyrics of Lost In Paradise carry an important message, conveying the feeling of being lost on a journey to self-discovery, and the importance of having a clear sense of identity. The song reflects the larger existential themes that are common to many works of art. It highlights the importance of facing one's inner struggles on the journey to self-discovery.
Line by Line Meaning
My little grasshopper airplane
I am feeling small and insignificant
Cannot fly very high
I feel limited and unable to reach my full potential
I find you so far from my sight
I feel disconnected and distant from those I love
I'm lost in my own green light
I am overwhelmed by my own thoughts and emotions
Don't help me my love
I don't want to burden those I care about
My brother, my girl
The people closest to me
Just tell your name
I just want to know who you are
Just let me say who am I
I need to figure out my own identity
A big white plastic finger
I feel restricted and controlled
Surrounds my dark green hair
My thoughts and ideas are being suppressed
But it's not your unknown caress
This feeling is not caused by a lack of affection from others
It's not from your unknown right hand
This feeling is not due to the actions of others
I am the sun, the darkness
I am complex and contain both light and dark aspects
My name is Green Wave
I am unique and unconventional
Death, salt, South America is my name
I am influenced by my surroundings and past experiences
World is my name, my size
I am part of something bigger than myself
And under my name here am I
I am still trying to figure out who I am
Writer(s): Caetano Emmanuel Viana Telles Veloso
Contributed by Sarah G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Soledad muñoz
Atemporal música de mi juventud