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Brasil '66 Does Beatles Better Than the Beatles


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Day Tripper...

Norwegian Wood...

And of course...

The Fool on the Hill.

Whenever Brasil '66 did a Beatles tune, it always BLEW AWAY the Beatles' own version.

There are plenty of examples on Youtube, but I'm too lazy to post them.

They are also readily available at a thrift store near you.

That's it, I'm going to bed.

Happy MLK weekend!

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Day Tripper...

Norwegian Wood...

And of course...

The Fool on the Hill.

Whenever Brasil '66 did a Beatles tune, it always BLEW AWAY the Beatles' own version.

There are plenty of examples on Youtube, but I'm too lazy to post them.

They are also readily available at a thrift store near you.

That's it, I'm going to bed.

Happy MLK weekend!

My parents played these records in the house when I was a kid. I never had the thoughts you're having about them! You're obsessed, dude.

That's it, I'm waking up!

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The Brasil '66 versions bring an air of international elegance to these songs, suggesting images of Burt and Angie drinking Martini and Rossi on their yacht on a warm summer night, or huddled close by the fire at a ski lodge drinking sherry.

Whereas the originals conjour up images of John, Paul, George and Ringo in a terraced house drinking Ovaltine whilst they watch Coronation Street in black and white on the tele.

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I don't lnow about the premise of this thread, there's a fundamental difference between somebody building a house for themself and somebody else decorating it after they buy it, but those prime Brazil 66 albums have some real gems on them, especially once Dave Grusin gets involved. "Lightness" and "pop" and all that stuff does not preclude creativity, ya' know?

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I don't lnow about the premise of this thread, there's a fundamental difference between somebody building a house for themself and somebody else decorating it after they buy it, but those prime Brazil 66 albums have some real gems on them, especially once Dave Grusin gets involved. "Lightness" and "pop" and all that stuff does not preclude creativity, ya' know?

Absolutely.

Their third and fourth albums, "Look Around" and "Fool on the Hill" are both perfection, top to bottom. Love the tracks that sometimes get overlooked on the collections, such as "Like a Lover" or "So Many Stars."

Edited by Teasing the Korean
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Crystal Illusions is the one that really knocks me out.

And yeah, the really good stuff is not the hits, although when you really listen to the hits, it's pretty nifty how much stuff is in there that by any normal standard should have never made it to the Top 40, 29, and especially 10.

It all seemed like "cocktail party" music to me once upon a time, and I guess maybe that image will never be lost, but at some point I think you gotta ask yourself whether it was designed to be that or whether it just ended up being that. I've pretty much reached the conclusion that it's the latter.

No matter. The records play anywhere, not just at cocktail parties.

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I always find those records very evocative of the 60s - I heard the 60s from that strange angle of being a kid and not really understanding the adult world. These records, like the Martini adverts and jet-set spy films of the time, created an image of what being grown up might be like. I was probably even more disorientated because I recall hearing the singles whilst living in Singapore! THough we were much more exposed to American culture there than in Britain.

Anyway, real adult life didn't turn out anything like that!

Edited by A Lark Ascending
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And the neat thing about it is that if you can listen to that music today with fresh ears, just jettison all the childhood images of what you thought the music was "about" (or at least send them off to another room for a few minutes), it turns out that there's some really nifty stuff going on - a fusion of two countries "pop sensibilities" that leaves a lot of room for musical elements that are not at all typical of "pop music". It's all done so intellegently & subtly that it's not really obvious, it's just there along with everything else. Quite organic, in it's own commercially conscious way. Not just anybody can do that, ya' know?

That's been my experience anyway, and only relatively recently, like within the last few years. A very pleasant surprise!

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I hear ya'.

Think about it though - much of the music you mention was stuff that frequently worked outside the norms of "pop" conventions musically (Bacharach was just plain weird sometimes!) yet ended up became a part of it. A determined and focused defying of the rules ended up being rewarded rather than stifled.

I love it when that happens.

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I think that happened quite a lot then.

I've always felt it was partly down to the industry being in the hands of people who didn't understand youth culture but who didn't want to be the ones who missed the next Beatles. So all manner of experimental madness got out and onto major labels.

By the mid-70s the Geffens were appearing. They knew exactly how to manage and channel it all. No room for curve balls.

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I don't lnow about the premise of this thread, there's a fundamental difference between somebody building a house for themself and somebody else decorating it after they buy it, but those prime Brazil 66 albums have some real gems on them, especially once Dave Grusin gets involved. "Lightness" and "pop" and all that stuff does not preclude creativity, ya' know?

YES, it does.

Those records were so much "of their time" that's it's not even funny. That, to me, does not speak "classic" or "gem". It speaks "I NEVER need to hear THAT again".

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Crystal Illusions is the one that really knocks me out.

YES, I forgot about that one. It came directly after Fool on the Hill IIRC. That album has almost a psychedelic quality to it.

Both Dave Grusin and Don Sebeskey developed this style of psychedelic string and woodwind arranging that all but disappeared. You hear it on later Brasil 66 records and early 70s CTI records.

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I don't lnow about the premise of this thread, there's a fundamental difference between somebody building a house for themself and somebody else decorating it after they buy it, but those prime Brazil 66 albums have some real gems on them, especially once Dave Grusin gets involved. "Lightness" and "pop" and all that stuff does not preclude creativity, ya' know?

Absolutely.

Their third and fourth albums, "Look Around" and "Fool on the Hill" are both perfection, top to bottom. Love the tracks that sometimes get overlooked on the collections, such as "Like a Lover" or "So Many Stars."

Norma Winstone does "Like a Lover" on her latest ECM CD.

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No, Brasil '66 does not do the Beatles better than the Beatles, Brasil '66 does do Brasil '66 doing the Beatles better, which is fine in itself and great if that's what you want but it's pretty much definitional that the Beatles do themselves best, they are the Beatles, Rutles & knickerbockers notwithstanding. For my $, there's about 2-3 hours worth of anyone else doing their tunage that I ever need to hear again and Sergio et al aren't on my short list, IMHO, YMMV, etc.

But I love that you love it, on whatever planet you've living on.

Edited by danasgoodstuff
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