VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings is pleased to announce a vinyl reissue of Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66’s long-out-of-print album Greatest Hits, due out this July 27th.
Featuring 12 of the internationally beloved star’s best songs from the ’60s, this collection offers listeners a prime overview of Mendes’ signature blend of bossa nova and samba paired with distinctive pop instrumentation. Originally released in 1970 at the height of Mendes’ fame, Greatest Hits includes the group’s ’67 breakthrough “Look of Love,” bossa nova standard “Mais Que Nada,” plus chart-topping covers of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair” and The Beatles’ “Fool on the Hill.”
Greatest Hits highlights the finest cuts from Herb Alpert Presents (1966) through Crystal Illusions (1969), giving listeners a taste of Mendes’ revolutionary Latin-pop rhythms, featuring evocative female vocals and lavish orchestration by the Academy and GRAMMY®-Award-winning composer and arranger Dave Grusin.
Producer, composer, keyboardist, and vocalist Sergio Mendes began his career in Niterói, Brazil, in the early ’60s, playing with the likes of Antônio Carlos Jobim and Cannonball Adderly. It was the formation of the Brazil ’66, however, which truly sparked his global stardom-a success in part attributable to the group’s novel blending of English and Portuguese lyrics in their recordings.
Though the early singles with Brasil ’66 were met with some success (most notably “Mas Que Nada”—which was the first single sung entirely in Portuguese to hit the Billboard Pop Chart in the U.S.), the group’s first mainstream breakthrough came with their telecast performance of “Look of Love” at the 1968 Academy Awards. Their rendition of the song went on to peak at #4 on the Billboard Pop Chart, eclipsing Dusty Springfield’s version from the official soundtrack to the movie Casino Royale.
From then on, Mendes & Brasil ’66 would enjoy consecutive singles in the Top Ten throughout the decade, including their covers of “Scarborough Fair” and “Fool on the Hill.” Mendes would go on to become arguably the most prominent Brazilian star in the world, performing everywhere from stadium arenas to the White House, where he gave concerts for both presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.
In 2012, Mendes received his first Oscar® nomination (in the music category) for “Real in Rio” from the animated 3-D feature film Rio. In addition to being executive music producer for the film, Mendes contributed five songs to its soundtrack, including a re-recorded version of “Mas Que Nada”—the original version of which is featured on this Greatest Hits collection. Mendes has also won three GRAMMY® Awards in his career thus far, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
Mendes, who has released over 35 albums to date, continues to actively record and tour today, and has recorded with several contemporary artists, including Justin Timberlake, John Legend, and the Black Eyed Peas. His instantly recognizable mélange of bossa nova, samba, and pop has come to define Brazilian music for many music enthusiasts around the world.
Track Listing:
A1. Mais Que Nada
A2. Scarborough Fair
A3. With a Little Help from my Friends
A4. Like a Lover
A5. Look of Love
A6. Night and Day
B1. Fool on the Hill
B2. Going out of My Head
B3. Look Around
B4. So Many Stars
B5. Daytripper
B6. Pretty World
