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
Watch What Happens
Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Let him hold out his hand
Let him touch you and watch what happens
When someone who can look in your eyes
And see into your heart
Let him find you and watch what happens
Cold
No, I won't believe your heart is cold
To be broken again
Let someone with a deep love to give
Give that deep love to you
And what magic you'll see
Let someone give his heart
Someone who cares like me
Let someone give his heart
Cold
No, I won't believe your heart is cold
Maybe just afraid
To be broken again
Let someone with a deep love to give
Give that deep love to you
And what magic you'll see
Let someone give his heart
Someone who cares like me
Let someone give his heart
Someone who cares like me
Someone who cares like me
Someone who cares like me
The lyrics of Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66's song "Watch What Happens" speak of the transformative power of love. The song encourages the listener to let someone in, to allow them to believe in you, hold your hand and touch you. The lyrics suggest that when someone is able to look into your eyes and see into your heart, magic can happen. The repeated line "let someone give his heart, someone who cares like me" emphasizes the idea of trust and openness leading to a stronger connection between two people.
The lines "Cold, no I won't believe your heart is cold. Maybe just afraid to be broken again" suggest that the singer is trying to reassure the listener that despite past hurt, there is potential for love to heal and overcome fear. The song speaks of the importance of letting go of past pain and allowing oneself to be vulnerable again in order to experience the transformative power of love. The final line, "someone who cares like me" represents the singer as an example of someone who is willing to offer their heart and care deeply for the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
Let someone start believing in you
Give someone the chance to believe in you and your abilities
Let him hold out his hand
Allow him to offer his hand in support
Let him touch you and watch what happens
Experience the positive effects of physical touch and connection
When someone who can look in your eyes
When someone who can truly understand your emotions by seeing it in your eyes
And see into your heart
And can empathize with what you are feeling in your heart
Let him find you and watch what happens
Let him discover the true you and witness the positive changes that can occur
No, I won't believe your heart is cold
I don't think you are uncaring, just perhaps guarded
Maybe just afraid
Possibly scared to open up to people and show vulnerability again
To be broken again
To experience pain and disappointment like before
Let someone with a deep love to give
Allow someone who has a lot of love to offer in their heart to share it with you
Give that deep love to you
Bestow that love to you unconditionally
And what magic you'll see
You will witness the amazing, transformative power of love
Let someone give his heart
Allow someone to offer you their heart and love
Someone who cares like me
Someone who is genuinely concerned for your well-being and loves you
Someone who cares like me
Someone who is genuinely concerned for your well-being and loves you
Someone who cares like me
Someone who is genuinely concerned for your well-being and loves you
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JACQUES DEMY, NORMAN GIMBEL, MICHEL JEAN LEGRAND
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jmrodas9
Bella canción con excelente ritmo, buenas voces y un piano muy bien tocado y música de fondo excelente. Ha sido una de mis favoritas desde que la escuché.
@LKaramazov
Perfection. Just the right funk, just the right constraint.
@fluxman41
What an incredible voice!
@jmrodas9
This song is really cool, and so nice to hear and remember my long gone youth, when I listened it on the radio and had the record I bought later but lost it somewhere. I like the voice of Lani Hall, and the music as the chorus are excellent too.
@sergiopolo8915
Me encanta from Spain!!!!!! Love it as so much!
@MVR326
So classy and beautiful
@jorgezarco9269
Mas Que Nada is a great song. This is an English version of a Michel LeGrand song from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
@chironjo
Yes sir. There is a bolero rendition titled “Michelle “, by Cheo Feliciano. That’s how I first learned about this beautiful tune.
@DJOZER5
❤️🔥🎶🔥🇫🇷
@tinydancer6949
Eu gosto.