Luiz Bonfa Sung by...Elvis?!?

[Teasing the Korean]

File under:  Things you never expected to hear.

 

[JSngry]

Oh, it's a movie song!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_a_Little,_Love_a_Little

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almost_in_Love_(song)

Do you hear The Jordanaires on there? I don't?

 

[Teasing the Korean]

27 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Do you hear The Jordanaires on there? I don't?

It appears to be Jordanaire-free, but there is that Mancini-esque chorus.  In fact, the entire arrangement sounds very 1960s Mancini.  It would be interesting to hear that arrangement with a more appropriate vocalist.  

The tune predates this version.  I have it on an early 60s Bonfa album under a Portuguese title.  Not sure if there were Portuguese lyrics, or if it started as an instrumental.

EDIT:  I just read the wiki entry.  The tune was "Moonlight in Rio."  

Interesting that it was paired on 45 with "A Little Less Conversation," one of the few Elvis tunes I really dig.

Edited January 29, 2022 by Teasing the Korean

[JSngry]

My bet, if any, would be the Anita Kerr Singers?

[Teasing the Korean]

45 minutes ago, JSngry said:

My bet, if any, would be the Anita Kerr Singers?

Could be.  They had been on RCA for a while, so they likely had some connections there.  Do you pick up on the Mancini vibe?  Especially the trombone section voicings.

[JSngry]

Not Mancini specifically, but definitely not handled by Elvis' go-to crew. Curious who the contractor (and the uncredited arranger) was for that session...Billy Strange by this point could easily had hired people to hire people, if you know what I mean.

Does the trombone sound like Gil Falco to you?

[Teasing the Korean]

55 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Does the trombone sound like Gil Falco to you?

I admit that I am not familiar with the name Gil Falco.  When the solo came in, I immediately thought of Dick Nash, again picking up on the Mancini vibe.  Compare the arrangement to this classic from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

 

[JSngry]

Dick Nash, yeah, ok. Gil Falco might have come along a few years later, but was in the LA Kenton/Studio orb by the time of this recording. You will know him from here:

Come to think of it, Billy Strange at the time of this movie was well ensconced in the Sinatra/Reprise world, right? So he would have likely used those people, even if it was to use them to call people, lol.

I can certainly see whoever put it together giving instructions to "make Elvis a Mancini record", for sure. Hell, it was RCA, maybe they went straight to Mancini to get a rec for a ghostwriter.

[Teasing the Korean]

Ah, yes.  I know that record well!  Billy Strange is a possibility.  Considering how huge those Mancini records were, I'm sure there were a lot of arrangers who could ape his sound.  

I had the Mancini arranging book, the one with the CD with examples.  What I found curious, as I studied the examples, is that Mancini did not address the kinds of things that I really wanted to know.