Summer Jamz!

For those of you in Chicago, I'm crossing my fingers that today's weather marks a more permanent seasonal change towards summer warmth. And what better way to mark this momentous occasion than with Summer Jamz!

I've been picking up some Brazilian music recently, expanding my knowledge beyond Bossa Nova and Tropicalia. I've returned to two songs in particular so I thought I'd share them with you as they are currently screaming SUMMER to me for one reason or another. (And no, it's not because Brazil screams summer to me, although I must admit the beach scene pictured above makes me wish I was there).

First up, Roberto Carlos's "O Calhambeque." Carlos, not to be mistaken with the Brazilian soccer player who shares his name, is basically Brazilian Elvis. He came on the scene in the early 1960s with a slew of hits that marked the style known as Jovem Guarda (Young Guard). In fact, his best album from this era is entitled Jovem Guarda and sounds like a cross between the fuzz of English garage bands of the time and American rock-a-billy (including a cover of Dion's "The Wanderer") peppered with Brazilian beats recognizable to Bossa Nova fans. I've only heard his 1960s work, which got psychedelic by decade's end, but Carlos never stopped recording although his style changed in the 1970s and 80s to keep up with contemporary tastes.

The song I really dig, "O Calhambeque" is a tongue-in-cheek ode to a jalopy (Calhambeque). Based on my shitty Babelfish translation of the lyrics I gathered that the singer takes his Cadillac into the mechanic and is offered a jalopy in exchange while the repairs are being made. While initially despondent over such an inferior replacement, he soon finds that girls (or perhaps it's just one girl) want to ride in this outdated hoopty and grows to love the Calhambeque enough that he keeps it over the Cadillac!

Second, Sergio Mendes' "The Real Thing." Most people know Sergio Mendes from his late '60s covers of popular song in a Bossa Nova fashion, particularly the Look of Love (although you can't hate on his Mas Que Nada sans Black Eyed Peas, though I prefer that of the Tamba Trio). His career kind of stalled in the US in the early 1970s, but it picked up a bit with "The Real Thing," a funky number written for him by Stevie Wonder. Released in 1975 with his new group, Brasil '77 (incongruous I know), this isn't really Brazilian music, but whatever. I like to think Stevie traded "The Real Thing" for "Bird of Beauty," his own take on Brazilian musical themes sung partially in Portuguese translated for Stevie by Sergio Mendes himself. Anyway, enjoy!

Roberto Carlos - O Calhambeque (live on Portuguese television)

Sérgio Mendes - The Real Thing