Abuse of the Phrase "Bossa Nova" by Gringos in the Early 1960s

[Teasing the Korean]

It seems that there was a lot of abuse of the phrase "Bossa Nova" in the US in the early years of the genre.

You can't specifically blame the artists, as marketing departments of record labels may have played a role.

Gene Ammons released an album called Bad Bossa Nova.  You could say that this title is technically accurate, if you assume that it is poorly executed Bossa, but in reality, it is more or less a Latin jazz album, with elements of different cultures tossed into the blender.  It was later and wisely retitled as Jungle Soul.  

There is also the Barney Kessel Bossa Nova album, which is essentially big band with an early-60s go-go beat.  There is nothing whatsoever Bossa about this record.

There is similar confusion about Brasilian culture.  For example, Oscar Peterson's Soul Espagnole is made up of primarily Bossas from Brasil, which of course is not a Spanish-speaking country.

And there must be countless albums that feature both a Brasilian and Afro-Cuban percussionist in the rhythm section, with varying results.  

Any other good examples of what I'm talking about?  

Edited May 23, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[JSngry]

https://youtu.be/MYQBd9ordbE

[Teasing the Korean]

17 minutes ago, JSngry said:

https://youtu.be/MYQBd9ordbE

Yes, neither Eydie's "Blame it on the Bossa Nova" nor Elvis's "Bossa Nova Baby" are Bossas.

[mikeweil]

6 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Yes, neither Eydie's "Blame it on the Bossa Nova" nor Elvis's "Bossa Nova Baby" are Bossas.

Which may be 'cause the Bossa Nova became a symbol for easy listening style Latin American music.

Which in turn may have to do with the lack of knowledge about Brazilian music in general and the watered down US versions.

[JSngry]

Cultural appropriation? Clueless faddist buckchasing? In the American Music Industry? Including musicians?

I'm shocked I tell you, SHOCKED.

[rostasi]

Just administer some bossa novocaine and everything will be all right.

[Chuck Nessa]

Pure commerce. Welcome.

[JSngry]

https://youtu.be/qMvb8xBX7Vc

Hey.

[Brad]

The burning issue of the day 

[rostasi]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

The burning issue of the day 

Hey, just blame it on the bossa nova.

[GA Russell]

My sister was a college student at the time, and she thought that the bossa nova was a dance.

Perhaps this was due to the Eydie Gorme hit.

[Teasing the Korean]

8 hours ago, Brad said:

The burning issue of the day 

If you've been paying attention to the news for the last several years, particularly with regard to cultural issues, you would know that the topic is very relevant today.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[Dub Modal]

13 hours ago, JSngry said:

Cultural appropriation? Clueless faddist buckchasing? In the American Music Industry? Including musicians?

I'm shocked I tell you, SHOCKED.

Last night I watched much of the Billboard music awards and even more shockingly this is still happening in our modern times. 

[Teasing the Korean]

17 minutes ago, Dub Modal said:

Last night I watched much of the Billboard music awards and even more shockingly this is still happening in our modern times. 

I think you mean "contemporary" times.

Bossa Nova occurred in "modern" times.

[Dub Modal]

2 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I think you mean "contemporary" times.

Bossa Nova occurred in "modern" times.

Linear chronology is overrated 

[Teasing the Korean]

13 minutes ago, Dub Modal said:

Linear chronology is overrated 

Well, there's that...

[Rabshakeh]

I recall that there was a bossa thread elsewhere on this forum, which included a good post that suggested that some of the most successful jazz bossa records from the 60s boom were precisely those that contained the smallest trace ingredients of "authentic" samba. 

I'll try to dig it out later, after work, but I thought that the argument in favour of ersatz North American bossa as a freestanding example of cultural hybridity was interesting.

Some people prefer chicory coffee to the real thing.

[Teasing the Korean]

3 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

I recall that there was a bossa thread elsewhere on this forum, which included a good post that suggested that some of the most successful jazz bossa records from the 60s boom were precisely those that contained the smallest trace ingredients of "authentic" samba. 

I'll try to dig it out later, after work, but I thought that the argument in favour of ersatz North American bossa as a freestanding example of cultural hybridity was interesting.

Some people prefer chicory coffee to the real thing.

Oh, I agree to an extent.  But knowing something and putting your own spin on it is one thing.  Doin' it wrong is quite another.

[Rabshakeh]

Just now, Teasing the Korean said:

Oh, I agree to an extent.  But knowing something and putting your own spin on it is one thing.  Doin' it wrong is quite another.

For sure. Although cack-handed grassroots teenaged imitation is also how I suspect a lot of musical innovation first occurs. 

The difference is that the US bossa explosion of the 60s was by no means a grass roots event driven by the kids.

[Teasing the Korean]

2 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

For sure. Although cack-handed grassroots teenaged imitation is also how I suspect a lot of musical innovation first occurs. 

The difference is that the US bossa explosion of the 60s was by no means a grass roots event driven by the kids.

Not among teenagers, but it was grassroots to a degree.  While there were a lot of US cash-in records, there were also US musicians right from the get-go who made a serious attempt at playing Bossa.  There was certainly an audience for Bossa in the US in the early- to mid-1960s.

[Rabshakeh]

3 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Not among teenagers, but it was grassroots to a degree.  While there were a lot of US cash-in records, there were also US musicians right from the get-go who made a serious attempt at playing Bossa.  There was certainly an audience for Bossa in the US in the early- to mid-1960s.

I had, possibly mistakenly, understood that much of the adoption of bossa was led by record companies pushing artists to release an album that might allow them to cash in on Getz and co's success.

With good, great or terrible results...

[Teasing the Korean]

5 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

I had, possibly mistakenly, understood that much of the adoption of bossa was led by record companies pushing artists to release an album that might allow them to cash in on Getz and co's success.

With good, great or terrible results...

True, but Charlie Byrd, Herbie Mann, Paul Winter, and others were pursuing Bossa independently of Getz and possibly before Getz. (I don't have all the dates in front of me.)

34 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

I recall that there was a bossa thread elsewhere on this forum, which included a good post that suggested that some of the most successful jazz bossa records from the 60s boom were precisely those that contained the smallest trace ingredients of "authentic" samba. 

I'll try to dig it out later, after work, but I thought that the argument in favour of ersatz North American bossa as a freestanding example of cultural hybridity was interesting.

Some people prefer chicory coffee to the real thing.

I do agree with you that in some cases, ignorance of a genre can lead to some happy accidents in music.

I love lots of film music, and I really love some of the early attempts at "jazz" scores by classically training composers.  The results are sometimes very compelling.  

[Brad]

10 hours ago, rostasi said:

Hey, just blame it on the bossa nova.

Now, that’s funny. 

[riddlemay]

23 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Yes, neither Eydie's "Blame it on the Bossa Nova" nor Elvis's "Bossa Nova Baby" are Bossas.

On top of which, there's something awful going on with pitch in Eydie's record. I've always heard it and never could fathom it (given her usually perfect intonation). She or the band-and-backup-singers are off by a quarter-tone from each other or something. The organ solo in the middle is especially painful. My only guess is that she and the band were recorded at two separate sessions, and the tape speed was slightly off in one of them.

Edited May 24, 2021 by riddlemay

[JSngry]

I think she was singing that way on purpose to give it that double-tracked pop edge of pitch-compromised popgland urgency that jumps out of the radio and makes go yeahyahyeah, which of course is anything but urgent, since it's a conscious choice and not a gut necessity, it's a product made to specification, but hey. Laws, sausage, and records.