Braziliance!
a música de Marcos Valle
1967 Odeon (MOFB 379)
Reissued 2011 as part of the box `Marcos Valle Tudo`
1 Os grilos
(Paulo Sergio Valle, Marcos Valle)
2 Preciso aprender a ser só
(Paulo Sergio Valle, Marcos Valle)
3 Batucada surgiu
(Paulo Sergio Valle, Marcos Valle)
4 Seu encanto
(Paulo Sergio Valle, Pingarrilho, Marcos Valle)
5 Samba de verão
(Paulo Sergio Valle, Marcos Valle)
6 Vamos pranchar
(Paulo Sergio Valle, Marcos Valle)
7 Tando andei
(Marcos Valle)
8 Dorme profundo
(Pingarrilho, Marcos Valle)
9 Deus brasileiro
(Paulo Sergio Valle, Marcos Valle)
10 Patricinha
(Paulo Sergio Valle, Marcos Valle)
11 Passa por mim
(Paulo Sergio Valle, Marcos Valle)
12 Se você soubesse
(Paulo Sergio Valle, Marcos Valle)
Marcos Valle – acoustic guitar, piano on ‘Patricinha’ and vocals on ‘Deus brasileiro’
Eumir Deodato – piano and arrangements on all tracks except ‘Patricinha’
Luiz Marinho and Sérgio Barroso – bass
Wilson das Neves – drums
Rubens Bassini and Jorge Arena – percussion
Ed Maciel, Raul de Souza, and Norato – trombone
Maurílio Santos – trumpet and flugelhorn
Aurino Ferreira and Alberto Gonçalves – baritone sax
Zé Bodega, Cipó, Walter Rosa – tenor sax
Paulo Moura and Jorginho – alto sax
Copinha, Jorginho, J.T.Meirelles – flute
Neco, Geraldo Vespar, Roberto Menescal – electric guitar
Marcos Valle doesn’t have much to say about this album. In fact it is the ONLY disc out of the 11 in this set in which he didn’t write an introductory blurb. It is almost as if he is saying, curtly, to the press, “No comment.” Well, I don’t have much to say either. It is the weakest disc in the box and contributes to bossa nova undeserving reputation as `elevator music` to those who don’t know any better.
He tells a bit of the backstory about this album only in passing, when introducing the “unreleased album” at the end of the boxset. In short, when “Samba de Verão” became a huge international hit and ended up being recorded in the USA by the likes of Connie Francis (!) and Johnny Mathis, record company executives were clammering at his door to bring him to the US and record. In a confusing rapid sequence of events which were only partly clarified for me by Marcos` notes in another disc in this set, but which in truth only left me confused until the contributions of one of my blog friends here, pawylshyn, set me straight, this album was NOT recorded in the US in spite of what I consider a very “American sound.” A production credit by West Coast lyricist Ray Gilbert (who, aside from writing English lyrics for songs penned by Brazilian composers, is probably most famous for the tune “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”) further threw me off in my having thought this album was recorded in Los Angeles or someplace. Nope, it was recorded in Lapa, RJ, but with Gilberto and Aloysio de Oliveira (founder of Elenco Records) and NOT Milton Miranda Once more, a whole bunch of great players here — it’s as if every album adds more incredible musicians who want to work with Marcos, this time bringing in new folks on horns like the inimitable Paulo Moura as well as Zé Bodega. Geraldo Vaspar and Roberto Menescal on electric guitar? This almost seems like a typographical error… Anyway, in spite of the huge cast of great musicians here, and the presence of Deodato again as arranger, the album has a very, well, “American” sound. Too many strings for my taste. Not enough horns, not enough jazz, and most definitely not enough of MARCOS VALLE. Still, there’s some gems here — its the first appearance of ‘Os grilos’ in this box, a song that appears on `Samba 68` with lyrics. It’s an infectiously good tune and would be recorded a few more times by Marcos himself. The version of “Samba de verão” is not too shabby, and “Batucada surgui” actually kind of smokes with jazz swing. Others are sadly watered down, musak-like versions of otherwise great songs. “É preciso aprender a ser só” being one of those. You can pick the others yourself. On the other hand this may be prime material for the crowd who likes ‘kitsch’ and cheesy lounge music to sit around and practice being ironic.
It truly seems like Marcos would rather just forget that he made this album. Obviously (see the comments below from readers), some people like this album or at least find it pleasant. I could call it pleasant, in fact, since it’s not as if it *offends* me or anything. It’s not terrible music; it’s just not terribly interesting.
password:
vibes
I always considered this to be a Deodato album, much more than a Valle album.
It's cheesy, can't deny it, but it's also a wonderful "feel good" album. I like it!
Talking about Marcos' time in the US, Ruy Castro mentions Marcos and Anamaria singing with Sergio Mendes in an early version of Brasil '66. How much i wish they had recoded that group!
I have this on vinyl, but welcome the lossless digital version a lot. Many thanks!
"Feel good" as in I feel numb all over from a morphine drip feel-good? Just kidding. To each his own and cada macaco em seu galo.
Is that story about Marcos and Ana Maria in Castro's "Chega de Saudade"? (I forget the title in English but it is basically the same book, I believe..) Original printings of the Brazilian edition of that book had a pretty thorough discography of bossa nova as an appendix; subsequent printings have done the world the "service" of eliminating all the vinyl from that discography and presenting only items available on CD. A sad thing, that.
Le Porc Rouge, check this out –
apparently they DID record Sergio Mendes with Marcos Valle and Anamaria
http://vallemarcos.blogspot.com/2009/09/sergio-mendes-brasil-65-featuring.html
This blog looks super-cool, just discovered it. Dedicated entirely to Marcos Valle and particularly specialized in presenting records containing covers of his songs, of which there are millions. I found a lovely album cover for a compilation from Norway or someplace with a topless woman (oh the exoticism people impose on Brazil, where topless beaches are damn near non-existent..) that is there solely for a version of 'Samba de Verão'
Arggghhh !!!###???
This must be ultra rare and ultra expensive. Probably something we will never see in our lives…
That page is an awesome source for Valle fanatics, thanks for the link! A few years ago i started collecting info on Marcos cover versions and thought about setting up a similar page, but it never happened. Glad someone did it!
And yes, that story about Marcos is from Castro's Chega de Saudade.
Wow, two Marcos Valle instalments back to back. That can mean only one thing: next up is what I consider his greatest album, and one of the best Brazilian albums ever.
As for Braziliance, I was always under the (mistaken) impression that it was recorded in the States — because it was recorded during the period when Marcos was living there, and because of its occasionally cheesy arrangements. Listening to it again, I don't think it's that bad, and probably more enjoyable overall than Marcos' three post-Odeon 1980s albums. Plus there are three tunes that don't appear on any other Valle albums: Tanto Andei, Se Você Soubesse and the lovely Patricinha. (I'm sure, however, that I've heard Tanto Andei with lyrics, but I can't place it — was it recorded by someone else under a different name?).
Flabb, you mention this is the only CD in the set without bonus tracks, but from what I can see, Previsão do Tempo and Marcos Valle 1974 don't appear to have bonus tracks either (unfortunately, as they're great, great albums). Please, tell me I'm wrong!
pawlyshyn you are not mistaken – this WAS recorded in the US, and released by Warner Brothers there. I thought I had made that clear in my description and now I am ashamed, alas, I did not. But this album was also picked up by Odeon in Brasil, so it gets included in the boxset while Samba 68 (a more enjoyable listen, for me) is still exclusively licensed to Verve as far as I know.
Oh come on now, back-peddling on your opinion!… I know what you mean though, and as I said — It`s not terrible, its just not terribly interesting either.
Oh and I must have been on crack: Neither Previsão do Tempo nor his 1974 album have bonus tracks either, which is disappointing.
Regarding these tunes which don't appear elsewhere on his own albums, lets try and find them HERE in the link I posted above your own comment:
http://vallemarcos.blogspot.com
Flabb, the liner notes say this was recorded in Rio, with an all-Brazilian lineup — although co-produced by Ray Gilbert, the lyricist who did the English versions of the songs on Samba '68.
As for those three orphan songs, I've checked that blog site, which I've been looking at for years, and no luck.
Damnit pawlyshyn that is twice you've made me feel stupid this week, and it's only Tuesday. It does in fact say that it was recorded in Rio. But it does have an American sound to my ears (as if it was recorded FOR the American market), the presence of Gilbert through me off, and Marcos's short narrative about "the lost album" only added to my confusion. There, the impression I had even after reading it twice, was that he was introduced to Gilbert via Jobim and whisked off to the US to make records, and thus had to abandon the 3rd album he was working on for Odeon. He did of course abandon that album, but I guess wasn't whisked off quite yet…
Perhaps I need my vision checked again, I've had these glasses for a few years now and maybe they got something wrong. As for the all-Brazilian lineup that didn't phase me too much since guys like Deodato and Dom Um who would begin spending quite a lot of time abroad..
I do like the presence the of Paulo Maura on this album, I must say even if he's underutilized
…pawylshyn the proper revisions have been made. Feel free to highlight my ig'nance with the coming posts as well (I mean that!)
Parabéns pelo site e encontrar o box do Marcos Valle é a minha esperança. Não deixe de disponibilizar no site quando conseguir.
Abraços de um brasileiro apaixonado por música!
Hi, just wanted to say this Marcos Valle box is great!
But in the links to this album, and "Samba Demais" the files don't exist anymore.
Could you re-upload them, please?
Thanks
thanks Bruno. I just noticed that today about Samba Demais… Kind of scary, i may have to make these 'limited time only' if someone is taking those links down so quickly.. but check back later and maybe it will be fixed 😉
Ok, thanks 🙂
Man, I slagged this album way too much – it is so, so much better than I gave it credit for after my first relistening. Maybe it was just having all these albums together at once, after having sub-par copies for so long, that fostered my impatience with this album in favor of listening to all the other ones. This record deserves a reappraisal and a repost..
Yes, please! A repost would be great!
Hello. I will make a package of my request in this message : can you reactivate all of your links about Marcos Valle please ? It would be very generous of your. Thanks a lot, your blog is marvellous…
*of your part
Down. Please reup in flac
When the only comments someone ever makes is to demand that I fix broken links, it's a good way to ensure that I ignore your request. This is your entire comment history at this blog across three years:
Kratzersprung has left a new comment on your post "Eugene McDaniels – Outlaw (1970)":
down 🙁
Kratzersprung has left a new comment on your post "Juju – Chapter Two: Nia (1974) Strata- East – Blac…":
down 🙂
Kratzersprung has left a new comment on your post "Sam Rivers – Dimensions & Extensions (1967)":
Reup please
I should mention that all of these links were fixed, and I never received so much as a 'hey thanks man!"
Go lurk somewhere else, you're not welcome here.
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