Maybe it’s because, as ‘The Golden Years’ of life approach, you tend to reflect more and more back to your ‘Wonder Years’ and the innocence of youth - back when you wished you were done with school, grown up and had the time and money to do what you dreamed of. Maybe it’s the complex, high-stress, pace of today’s society that makes you wish for the simpler life (and music) of the past. Maybe it’s because you can’t find anything worth listening to while commuting to (or from) work, reading a magazine article or finding others who share the same interests while surfing the ‘Net. It could well be a combination of these but whatever the reason, musical memories of the past should be cherished just as much as any personal ones; it helped make us who we are today.

In my case, the 1967 Michigan State Fair is the most cherished - I saw and met my favorite group, Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66. As an introverted, anti-social teenager in high school and one of eight kids, music was a major diversion; I could enjoy myself without spending much. A classmate recommended Brasil ’66 so I bought their debut album, Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 (1966). It was a drastic change from The Who and Cream, but I was hooked. The two singers, Lani Hall and Janis Hansen weren’t too bad looking either! I eagerly awaited their second LP, Equinox (1967), and scooped it up. And when they were booked that summer for the State Fair, I begged for a ride and a cousin obliged. Armed with my trusty Instamatic 104 camera, we made it in time for the afternoon performance where I got a good stage shot (Fig. 1). The group consisted of Sergio on piano and vocals, Bob Matthews on bass and vocals, José Soares on percussion and vocals and Jôao Palma on drums along with Lani and Janis. Sergio wore a gray suit while the guys wore matching black suits with pink shirts. The girls wore colorful, sleeveless knit mini-skirts (remember those?) of matching style very much like ones worn on the cover of their third album. Songs were performed primarily from the debut album and included ‘Mais Que Nada’, ‘One Note Samba/Spanish Flea’, ‘Daytripper’, ‘O Pato’ and ‘Going Out of My Head’. José also dazzled the crowd with a medley performed with a variety of percussion instruments accompanied by the other members of the troupe. Afterwards, I walked to the rear of the outdoor bandshell for a chance of seeing them. The area was fenced in with an opening for vehicular traffic, with a guard seated there and looking very bored. I noticed a car within the compound occupied by people in the back seat and to my delight, it looked like Lani and Janis! There was no sign of Sergio or the rest of the group, though. Hesitating only for a second I approached the guard, asked if I could go to the car and surprisingly, he consented. They had changed into "street" clothes and Janis was playing a flute, and as I stuck my head through the window on that warm Michigan summer to make their acquaintance, one of them (can’t remember which) mistakenly thought I was looking for ‘? and the Mysterians’, the Rock & Roll group on stage at the time. I recall being somewhat flabbergasted by that remark; I suppose that they didn’t consider 17 year olds to be among their ‘target audience’! I also recall that based upon the LPs’ photos, I had more of a crush on Janis than Lani but when I noticed that Janis had freckles, I ‘switched allegiance’ to Lani! Anyway, after a short conversation and getting their autographs on my program, I asked if it would be possible to take a photo and they graciously consented (at right, above). Note the very accommodating guard in the background, who I thanked again as I left.

I wandered around the fair, elated at my accomplishment, until it was time for their night performance. It was the same as the earlier one but had much more meaning - I ‘knew’ the girls there on the stage! I had told my younger brother about what transpired earlier and my intention of going backstage again after this performance to possibly see them and the rest of the group. This time there was a crowd of people at the entrance, causing a car and limousine that were pulling out of the compound to stop. It was THEM, with Sergio in the limo! We got autographs of the rest of the group (except for José Soares for some unknown reason) and as we thanked him, Sergio asked, "Are you Japanese?". I said no and asked why, to which he pulled out a bottle and exclaimed, "Saki!". I don’t know if he drank it all himself or shared it with the others.

Thirty years later, the memories and music are still fresh and clean but that group, the "Original" Brasil ’66, only lasted for one more album, Look Around (1967) before changing all personnel except Sergio and Lani, much to my disappointment. Whether due to personal or professional differences, salaries, desire to generate a new sound or whatever, I wanted (and still would like) to know. Their sound evolved from slick Bossa Nova jazz with Pop influences into something virtually opposite (and later renamed Brasil ’77 and ’88), and doing some U-turns along the way; arrangements became increasingly complex with the addition of orchestration and electronic enhancements, but the underlying sound was still ‘Spiced with Brazil’. Trying to find the few CD’s still available at music shops is indicative of this; they can been found under ‘Easy Listening’, ‘International’ (Latin, South America or Brazil), ‘Jazz’, ‘Pop’, or even ‘Vocals’ classifications, and the three original Brasil ’66 albums are only available on CD as expensive imports! There is, however, a website (www. rudyscorner.com) dedicated to A&M Records fans (including Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66) which is encouraging individuals to campaign for domestic reissues of these as well as other early A&M albums, so there may be some hope yet.

Although he is not considered a founding father of Bossa Nova as was Antonio Carlos Jobim, Sergio Mendes was instrumental in the popularity of the genre here in the United States - music that could quintessentially be defined as "Easy Listening".