Verve's
Great Songs/Great Performances series is yet another attempt in a seemingly never-ending stream of them to repackage -- and hopefully resell -- their vast catalog of jazz, pop, Brazilian, Latin, and blues. They're super cheap in both cost and presentation, but the music is almost always stellar. The Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
Play the Hits volume is no exception. It should be noted that there are no
Mendes originals on the eight-track compilation -- "Mas Que Nada" and "Tim Tom Dom" aren't included. Instead, there are the smash versions that Mendes & Brasil '66 put onto the pop charts as they moved out of America's easy listening ghetto: "The Look of Love," "Night and Day," "The Fool on the Hill," "With a Little Help from My Friends," "Scarborough Fair," etc. If all one is looking for are the hit covers, for the price, this one will do. ~ Thom Jurek