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
You Stepped Out Of A Dream
Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You are too wonderful to be what you seem!
Could there be eyes like yours,
Could there be lips like yours
Could there be smiles like yours,
Honest and truly?
You stepped out of a cloud
I want to take you away, away from the crowd
Alone and apart out of a dream,
Safe in my heart
You stepped out of a dream
You are too wonderful to be what you seem!
Could there be eyes like yours,
Could there be lips like yours
Could there be smiles like yours,
Honest and truly?
You stepped out of a cloud
I want to take you away, away from the crowd
And have you all to myself,
Alone and apart out of a dream,
Safe in my heart
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66's song You Stepped Out Of A Dream is a beautiful love song about discovering someone of pure beauty that is too wonderful to be true. The song starts with the lyrics "You stepped out of a dream", which means that the person they are talking about is almost too good to be true, and that they could have only come from a dream. This is followed by the line, "You are too wonderful to be what you seem!" which expresses the singer's disbelief at how perfect the person is. The following lines compare the person's eyes, lips and smiles to something that is completely unparalleled in beauty.
In the next verse, the singer talks about how this individual has just appeared out of nowhere into their life like a dream. They yearn to take them away from everyone else and be alone with them, cherishing every moment they have together. The final line of the song "Safe in my heart" invokes feelings of warmth and protection, suggesting that the singer wants to hold onto this perfect person and keep them forever.
The song overall is an ode to beauty and love, and the power it has to completely take over someone's heart. Sergio Mendes' beautiful composition and use of a brass section adds a romantic and nostalgic quality to the song, making it timeless and enchanting.
Line by Line Meaning
You stepped out of a dream
I can't believe you are real, it feels like a dream come true
You are too wonderful to be what you seem!
You are incredibly amazing, everything about you stands out
Could there be eyes like yours,
I have never seen such captivating eyes like yours
Could there be lips like yours
Your lips are perfect, something I have only seen in my dreams
Could there be smiles like yours,
Your smile is genuine, it gives me a feeling of happiness and peace
Honest and truly?
I cannot help but wonder if you are really this perfect
You stepped out of a cloud
It's like you appeared out of nowhere, like magic
I want to take you away, away from the crowd
I wish to be with you alone, away from everything and everyone else
And have you all to myself,
I desire to have you for myself and no one else
Alone and apart out of a dream,
Just the two of us together, like in a dream come true
Safe in my heart
I want to keep you forever in my heart, as a memory of this moment
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Gus Kahn, Nacio Herb Brown
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Micky Kirk
Totally awesome song by this great group.
James Bullard
Grew up on this when I was in my teens
spinsandneedles
The best.
franco
❤
Sergio Polo
Leni hall love you!! She was so amazing!!!