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
The Fool On The Hill
Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Alone on a hill
The man with the foolish grin
Is keeping perfectly still
But nobody wants to know him
They can see that he's just a fool
And he never gives an answer
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning 'round
Well on his way
His head in a cloud
The man of a thousand voices
Talking perfectly loud
But nobody ever hears him
Or the sounds he appears to make
And he never seems to notice
But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning 'round
And nobody seems to like him
They can tell what he wants to do
And he never shows his feelings
But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning 'round
is seeing the world anew.
The lyrics of Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66's song The Fool On The Hill describe a man who is isolated and misunderstood. He is alone on a hill with a foolish grin, but nobody wants to know him. He is seen as a fool, and he never answers when people approach him. However, even though he is alone and misunderstood, he sees the world in a different light. The sun going down and the world spinning around are seen through the eyes in his head. The second verse describes the man's journey, where his head is in the clouds, and he talks with a thousand voices, but nobody ever seems to hear him. He is again seen as a fool by others who dislike him, but this man never shows his feelings. Instead, he sees the world anew.
Line by Line Meaning
Day after day alone on the hill,
The person spends his days on a deserted hillside.
The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still,
Even though he has a silly smile on his face, he remains motionless and silent.
But nobody wants to know him,
No one desires to be acquainted with him.
They can see that he's just a fool,
They assume he's foolish despite not knowing him.
And he never gives an answer,
He doesn't respond to their questioning.
But the fool on the hill
He remains isolated and alone on the hill.
Sees the sun going down,
He watches the sunset every day.
And the eyes in his head,
He has a unique perspective and outlook on the world.
See the world spinning around.
He observes the constant, chaotic motion of the world.
Well on his way his head in a cloud,
He's lost in thought, daydreaming as he walks.
The man of a thousand voices talking percetly loud
He seems to have many ideas or plans that he can't articulate well, despite trying to express them.
But nobody ever hears him,
Despite his loud voice, no one listens to him or takes him seriously.
Or the sound he appears to make,
Even though he thinks he's making noise, it's unclear what this noise is.
And he never seems to notice,
He's unaware that people aren't listening to or understanding him.
But the fool on the hill,
As always, he remains on his lonely hill.
Nobody seems to like him
He's not well-liked by others.
They can tell what he wants to do.
They assume they know what he intends or desires without him telling them.
And he never shows his feelings,
He doesn't let others see his emotions or intentions.
But the fool on the hill
He remains alone, misunderstood and underestimated.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@phila2361
I think it's extremely rare that a "cover" equals (let alone surpasses) the original. But in my humble opinion, this is definitely up there.
@WriterandPhotographer
Agreed.......just posted this video to Facebook and said the same thing
@valerieteti1755
You’re right!
@crumpingtons
love the beatles, however this verrsion is the best.
@raypeal1876
Earth Wind and Fire's cover of Got to Get You Into My Life is another.
@thelibran11
It is by far the best version...by far!
@angelicapleger6793
Sérgio Mendes is a musical treasure...
@i_am_chaplin
I didn't realize how cool my dad was when I was a little girl. He was a pianist who had all of Sergio Mendes records. I would listen along with him. I still to this day, love Lani Hall and Karen's amazing vocals. This cover of Fool On The Hill is magical.
@zdogg8
The studio versions were all Lani with her doubling or tripling her voice, IOW, no Karen. There have been many great singers in Brazil 66,77,88,99 etc but nobody had the impact and sound signature as did Lani, perhaps not a stupendous singer overall, i.e.: as per operatic standard or distinctive song stylist, but the EXACT right sound for Brazil 66. Warmth, color, flexibility, precision and just the right amount of inflection and her non native Portuguese was excellent.
@i_am_chaplin
@@zdogg8 Yes, Lani is the only vocalist singing Fool On The Hill. There are so many different levels to her vocals. Again, just pure magic.