João Gilberto & Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz -- The Girl From Ipanema

 

This week's Reminiscings of Youth article is on another song that actually came before my time, but not by much, and it was with me all throughout my childhood and adolescence. 

I am talking about "The Girl From Ipanema" which was originally released in May 1964, so it's been 57 years this month that we've gotten to know about this bossa nova classic that has gone into many a music collection, an elevator, a supermarket and even a telephone on hold. I've actually written on "The Girl From Ipanema" before through Lisa Ono's（小野リサ）cover of the song, and I'll just repeat the last paragraph from that article here to give you my personal connection with it:

I guess I have a soft spot for that girl from Ipanema since the bossa ballad by Antonio Carlos Jobim was one of the first songs that I remember hearing as a toddler. As far as I know, I don't think my father had the record as part of his collection but it was a tune that I heard quite frequently on radio and TV. Years later, it was required playing during my lone year of band class back in high school although I didn't quite have the appreciation for it that I do now (playing off-tune renditions of it on an old clarinet can take the buzz off). Realizing that the song has become possibly so ubiquitous to the point of kitsch, I think if "The Girl From Ipanema" is given its due respect, it can still be that wonderfully cooling song from 1964.

One wrong assumption that I'd had about "The Girl From Ipanema" is that this was Astrud Gilberto's song alone. Of course, it wasn't. Antonio Carlos Jobim, was the composer with Vinicius de Moraes being responsible for the Portuguese lyrics while Normal Gimbel provided the English lyrics. And then, João Gilberto, the man who has been considered the father of bossa nova, sang the Portuguese part of the song with his then-wife Astrud singing the English portion and legendary saxophonist Stan Getz adding his mellow tones. 

Another wrong assumption was that The Girl was merely fictional but actually "The Girl From Ipanema" was inspired by a real teenager, then known as Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto, who had been living in the tony district of Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro. I can't help but make comparisons with Helen of Troy who launched a thousand ships. I guess in this case, Heloisa of Ipanema launched a million LPs.

The accolades are all there in the Wikipedia writeup on the song, but "The Girl From Ipanema" was a global hit, reaching No. 5 on both the American and Canadian charts, and it was Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards that year. According to an article in the "Wall Street Journal", it's also apparently "...the second most recorded pop song in history, after "Yesterday" by The Beatles."

But of course, as much as "The Girl From Ipanema" has become this beloved mainstay of bossa nova, it's also been the go-to example for the dreaded Muzak of elevators and shopping malls. Personally, I don't recall ever hearing the song in an elevator, store or even as a song to be played while I've been put on hold, but it's gotten plenty of exposure in such places in movies and TV shows such as "The Blues Brothers" above. Maybe the whole thing about this song and Muzak is just how soothing and harmless it is. That's cool with me, though, as the original will always remain a staple in my musical memories.

Now, as for what was happening in Japan in music during that year, Oricon didn't exist in 1964 and the site "Showa Pops" doesn't go back beyond 1965 so my usual sources won't be of any help here. However, I did find out that Hachiro Izawa's（井沢八郎）classic kayo "Ahh, Ueno Eki" （あゝ上野駅）was released in the same month as "The Girl From Ipanema".

Otherwise, there are some of the prize winners from the 6th annual Japan Record Awards from 1964.

Best Singing Performance: Yoko Kishi -- Yoake no Uta （夜明けのうた）

Special Prize: Haruo Minami -- Tokyo Gorin Ondo （東京五輪音頭）

Best New Artist: Harumi Miyako -- Anko Tsubaki wa Koi no Hana （アンコ椿は恋の花）

Lisa Ono -- One-Note Samba

Late on Saturday night, I decided for some reason to go a little later than usual for my YouTube forays, and when I went off on a slight tangent and checked out the news on CNN online, I found out in a short blurb that the legendary João Gilberto, one of the pioneers for the Brazilian genre of bossa nova had just passed away at the age of 88.

Not surprisingly, Brazilian TV devoted a lot of their news time to the life and music of Gilberto that night.

What I found out from Wikipedia was that the bossa nova standard popularly known as "One-Note Samba" was created by the other pioneers of the genre, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Newton Mendonça with Gilberto being the first musician to record the song all the way back in 1960 for his album "O Amor, o Sorriso e a Flor". The original title for the classic was "Samba de uma Nota Só".

Of course, probably dozens of musicians around the world have covered "One-Note Samba" over the decades. The one person that I automatically thought of in Japan who would give her contribution to the song's legacy was São Paulo-born Lisa Ono（小野リサ）. And so she did a number of times with one of those times being on her 2002 BEST album "Ono Lisa Best 1997-2001". There's nothing like Ono's soft and whispery vocals adorning the music of Jobim.

Finally, here is "One-Note Samba" by Gilberto himself. Another cover that I had already noted was one by Atsuko Nina（二名敦子）for her 1983 album "Play Room ~ Tawamure ~"（PLAY ROOM ～戯れ～...Fun）under the title of "Communication".  I will have to soon think of an Author's Pick to devote to bossa-influenced kayo.

The Milky Way -- Summertime Love Song (album)

Back in the summer of 2017, I ended up my first article on this collaborative duo The Milky Way's "Summertime Love Song" by stating that it would be nice to get the whole album if it were ever out on compact disc. Well, guess what? It is and it happily didn't cost me an arm and a leg either.

The album "Summertime Love Song" came out in 1979 as a one-off project between guitarist Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）and keyboardist Kazuo Nobuta（信田一男）, and it's made up of AOR versions of standards and a few of their own concoctions matching the soothing feelings of the covers. Along with the title track, I've already taken care of one other song from the album, their take on "Theme From A Summer Place".

Get those caipirinhas, mint juleps or whatever cocktails get you in that state of relaxation, and start with some "Wave", the cover of the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic. As I've already stated, this has more of the AOR feeling as opposed to the original bossa nova (although this one also has a nice taste of the bossa flavour) and the jazzy take by Miki Matsubara（松原みき）that I wrote about back in late September. To be honest, I still prefer the Matsubara one but The Milky Way can sure induce those alpha waves. In fact, I think that it's so relaxing that I completely forgot that Matsushita and Nobuta sang this totally in Japanese, thanks to lyricist and poet Konosuke Fuji（藤公之介）.

Recently, I've been in thrall to Boz Scaggs' ultra-cool "Lowdown" (the bass and those horns), but I also know about his easy nighttime "Harbor Lights". The Milky Way makes the Japanese version go down so smoothly here as well with Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）providing the words.

"Shiroi Nami"（白い波...White Wave）is another Milky Way cover but this one is of a Japanese bossa nova song created by legendary saxophonist Sadao Watanabe（渡辺貞夫）for the album "Bossa Nova Concert" in 1967 according to the discography on his website. The lyrics were provided by Hide Demon（出門英）who would later become one-half of the singing duo Hide & Rosanna（ヒデとロザンナ）.

"Hitoribocchi no Nagisa"（ひとりぼっちの渚...Memories in the Sand）is one of the three original compositions for the album which includes the title track. Written by Fuji and composed by Nobuta, I think it's the farthest away from the overall theme of Latin-infused AOR and has that feeling of a stroll on a spring day. I like the "veil-like" chorus that is described as such in the liner notes, and despite the use of synthesizers, "Hitoribocchi no Nagisa" still has that atmosphere of an old-timey tune.

The final track is the third original composition by Fuji and Nobuta, "Kagirinaki Natsu"（限りなきの夏...Endless Summer）which serves as the epilogue to the whole Milky Way experience of a summer day by the seaside. It's short and sweet, and the tinkling of the keyboards at the end seems to hint at the sight of a million stars up in the night sky, untroubled by light pollution from the city. There's also that melodic feeling of "Time to go to bed, folks!".

A commenter asked me this morning about my choice of favourite City Pop/AOR albums. "Summertime Love Song" is definitely not a City Pop release; Matsushita would make his own masterpiece in that genre with "First Light" in 1981. This album, though, is something that I would consider as a fine AOR creation.

Miki Matsubara -- Wave

The last time that I had written about a Miki Matsubara（松原みき）song was "Jazzy Night" back around last Xmas.

Well, one of the icons of City Pop actually tackled something jazzy in her October 1984 album of covers "Blue Eyes". For this article, it's "Wave", a bossa jazz number that I first caught on Van Paugam's City Pop radio recently and then heard again last night at the same place. This cover by Matsubara is really elegant and classy, and I think the night driving scene that was playing on YouTube as "Wave" was playing really set a fine mood. Wouldn't it be something to hear on the car radio as you're headed over Tokyo's Rainbow Bridge for some fine dining in a hotel-top restaurant?

The original version of "Wave" was recorded as an instrumental by the one and only Antonio Carlos Jobim as the title track for his 1967 album with the Portuguese title being "Vou Te Contar".

Jobim also provided the English lyrics for other singers such as Frank "Ol' Blue Eyes" Sinatra and Johnny Mathis to use in their versions. Sinatra's "Wave" was released on his 1971 album "Sinatra & Company". I don't think I had ever heard Ol' Blue Eyes hit the low notes like that before.

Lisa Ono -- Ipanema no Musume (イパネマの娘)

One of the other guests on the latest episode of "Uta Kon"(うたコン) a few nights ago was the wonderful bossa nova singer Lisa Ono（小野リサ）. She used to make a few appearances on the NHK program's predecessor "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）so it was nice of her to make a return trip.

In all honesty, I haven't been following her career like a die-hard fan although I like bossa nova and have bought a few albums by Ono. Still, listening to her vocals is like hearing those clear summer chimes in Japan called fuurin（風鈴）...she seems to bring a lovely coolness into the room. She may be just the thing to bring down air conditioning costs...almost.

Anyways, she performed one of the pillars of bossa nova that night, "Garota de Ipanema", otherwise known in English as "The Girl From Ipanema" and in Japanese as "Ipanema no Musume". And when Ono was performing that song, I knew I was in for a treat. Having an ice cream at the same time would have just perfected the moment. I tracked down her performance to an album that she released in November 2007, "The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim" (her cover of the song is Track 1).

I guess I have a soft spot for that girl from Ipanema since the bossa ballad by Antonio Carlos Jobim was one of the first songs that I remember hearing as a toddler. As far as I know, I don't think my father had the record as part of his collection but it was a tune that I heard quite frequently on radio and TV. Years later, it was required playing during my lone year of band class back in high school although I didn't quite have the appreciation for it that I do now (playing off-tune renditions of it on an old clarinet can take the buzz off). Realizing that the song has become possibly so ubiquitous to the point of kitsch, I think if "The Girl From Ipanema" is given its due respect, it can still be that wonderfully cooling song from 1964.

Miki Imai -- Lluvia

Miki Imai -- Lluvia

"Lluvia"(Spanish for rain) is Miki Imai's（今井美樹） 6th album, released in September 1991. I missed getting this album just by a couple of months since I had headed back to Canada from the JET Programme. Kicked myself in the keester for the bad timing, but I was able to get it through the old "Eye-Ai" mail order page the next year. And glad I did, too. Coming after her glorious 5th album, "Retour", "Lluvia" was a continuation of that wonderful early Miki Imai sound. I was thinking about using the word, "epilogue" to describe the album, but I thought that would be giving it short shrift since it doesn't feel like a disc of musically tying up loose ends here.

The reason that that early Imai feel comes through the album is because Imai's compadres from her late 80s and early 90s period come back again. Singer-songwriters Chika Ueda（上田千華） and Akemi Kakihara（柿原朱美） put in their contributions as does lyricist Yuuho Iwasato（岩里祐穂）, and a number of the musicians from past albums come in like drummer Jun Aoyama（青山純） and guitarist Tsuyoshi Kon（今剛）. 

My favourite song on the album is the title track itself. Written by Imai and composed by MAYUMI (Reimy's older sister), I love the intro and what has been called in the liner notes for the song, the "Rambu de Lluvia"instrument by Fernando Shimizu, which sounds like a pan flute. It reminds me of the sound from the very first Imai song I'd heard a few years earlier, "Natsu wo Kasanete"（夏をかさねて）. Thematically, it's classic Imai. The song is post-breakup with the singer wondering how her former beau is doing although she and presumably him have gone on with their lives. It's another calming tea-sipping tune.

Another Imai custom is to have a bossa nova-style song in her albums, and so here is "Tea For Two"...makes for a nice segue from my tea-sipping remark in the last paragraph. Imai was behind the lyrics here as well, but the composer (although the J-Wiki article has the Antonio Carlos Jobim responsible for music and lyrics with Kamayatsu adapting it and Imai translating the words) was Hiroshi 'Monsieur' Kamayatsu（かまやつひろし）, a frequent visitor on TV and former member of the Group Sounds band, The Spiders way back when. This time, the words are much less bittersweet with the couple involved much more in thrall with each other.

The very first song from this album that I heard was actually "Plus Alpha"（プラスα）, an atypically funky number for Imai written by Yuuho Iwasato and composed by the bassist on the song, Jun Sato（佐藤準）. I heard this being played in a CD shop just in the last couple of days before my departure from Narita; took me a bit of time to realize it was Imai singing this. Lyrically, this might be the more raunchy Saturday night in Roppongi compared to the sunny Sunday morning of "Tea For Two".

Whatever you do, do NOT play this song after a breakup involving you or anyone else. May cause excess dehydration via the lacrymal ducts. I couldn't ask for a more epic crying song from Miki Imai than "Egao"（笑顔...Smile）. Written by Iwasato and composed by Chika Ueda, Imai's delivery here, depending on my general mood, can get a lump to form in my throat the size of a a tangerine. This seems to be a field that Imai excels at singing about....having to break up a wonderful relationship and still missing each other greatly but offering that smile in the faint hope that the two will meet again. Tissues....double ply!

For the 2nd album in a row, none of the songs on the album were ever made into single releases, but it became the first Imai album since "Bewith" in 1988 to hit the top spot on Oricon and managed to become the 13th-ranked album for 1991 despite the relatively late release date, selling a little over 750,000 copies. As I mentioned at the top, I eschewed calling "Lluvia" an epilogue of "Retour". However, the album did signify an ending of things, namely the soft tea-friendly sound of her early years, something that hasn't been lost on Imai fans....in the Japanese social networking site, Mixi, there are Miki Imai communities but there is also one that emphasizes those early years from 1986 to 1991 for which I am a citizen. Her sound underwent changes from her next album, and although I have enjoyed a number of her tunes from that time onward, for me, it will always be those years mentioned that will be my favourite time when it comes to her.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/Lluvia-%E4%BB%8A%E4%BA%95%E7%BE%8E%E6%A8%B9/dp/B00005G5J7

(excerpts only)