Pedro & Capricious -- Yoru no Carnival（夜のカーニバル）

 

On "Kayo Kyoku Plus" in 2013, I put up an article on the Latin/jazz band Pedro & Capricious（ペドロ＆カプリシャス）for their debut single, the dramatic "Wakare no Asa" (別れの朝）from October 1971 with the first vocalist for the group, Yoko Maeno（前野曜子）, at the helm. It certainly made a mark for the band right off the bat by hitting No. 1 and ending up as the 8th-ranked single for 1972.

The B-side to "Wakare no Asa" is no slouch, either, as it turns out. Never thought that the combination of an electric guitar and a flute could create such a boss sound but that's what starts "Yoru no Carnival" (Night Carnival). When I first heard this, I had assumed as with "Wakare no Asa", it was a Japanese cover of a tune by a non-Japanese singer and in this case, I thought the original act here was Sergio Mendes and his buddies.

Not at all. "Yoru no Carnival" does have that Brazil '66 feeling but it's actually a homegrown song with former Spiders' guitarist Hiroshi Kamayatsu（かまやつひろし）creating that rumbling rockin' samba melody and Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）, the lyricist for "Wakare no Asa", providing the words here as well. It's got quite enough oomph in there that I would have thought it an ideal theme song for some 1970s urban thriller, and man, does that flute have quite the solo. I also do love the harmony between Maeno and the rest of the group and at times, the song can get folks up on the stands to do their go-go.