For the last ten years, the best place to find a Sergio Mendes record was in the grungy bins at Goodwill. In fact, second-hand stores were so overloaded with his albums that the situation became a joke on Seinfeld; when Kramer and Newman have problems unloading their Mendes vinyl at a used record store, they argue that the singer is so famous “he can’t even walk down the street in South America.”
But long before the time of Seinfeld, that was the case in North America, too. In the late 1960s, Mendes was the biggest Brazilian artist in the United States. Along with his band, Brasil ‘66, he had a platinum-selling LP, numerous top 10 hits, and even performed at the White House for Presidents Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.
While he continued to find success throughout the world, Mendes’ popularity in America dropped off through the 1970s. He did have one more U.S. hit, 1983’s “Never Gonna Let You Go,” but that was it. Outside of the adult contemporary and world music scenes, Mendes became a remnant of the past.
And then, a few years ago, everything suddenly started to change.
“I got a phone call from the president of A&M Records who told me he had a band called the Black Eyed Peas,” recalls Mendes from Los Angeles. “And that the leader of the band, will.i.am, was a big fan of mine. I didn’t know the Black Eyed Peas, nor will.i.am. And the question was could he come to meet me at my house. He wanted to talk to me, and I said, ‘Okay.’”
Two days later, will.i.am (real name: Will Adams) showed up at Mendes’ door with a stack of the samba legend’s old albums. According to Adams, Mendes’ “Slow Hot Wind” was the first song he ever sampled.
“The story was when he was 15 or 16 years old in L.A. he went to a record store and discovered my music, and my music was a big influence in his life,” says the 65-year-old Mendes. “I was really touched by that.”
Soon after the visit, Adams, 31, invited Mendes to guest on the Black Eyed Peas’ 2003 album, “Elephunk.” The two struck up a friendship immediately in the studio, where Mendes contributed a piano solo to the track “Sexy.”
“I really liked the way he was doing things and the way the whole thing sounded,” says Mendes of the session. “So I had an idea a couple days later. I called him and said, ‘Why don’t we do something together? I’ll bring the Brazilian classics, the music that you love, and you bring the hip-hop world and we’ll make this great encounter of those two cultures and rhythms.’ And he said that’d be a dream come true for him.”
The musical lovechild that spawned from the collaboration is called “Timeless.” Released in February on Concord Records, the album includes both new songs and reworked versions of Mendes standards like “Mas Que Nada” and “The Frog.” The structure of the record sees Mendes’ classic Brazilian sound used as a foundation, while Adams builds on that base with his urban production values and hip-hop artistry.
“I felt it was like working with a great musician, a young musician full of fresh ideas,” Mendes says of Adams. “We had a great time in the studio ? everything was like no pressure, no deadline. We just experimented with things and tried things out. The whole process was very natural, very organic. I brought some of my musicians in. My wife sings on the album. And he brought his world to it also.”
Another thing that Adams brought to “Timeless” was an impressive lineup of guests. Erykah Badu, Q-tip, India Arie and Justin Timberlake all contributed to different tracks at Adams’ request. But the album’s most impressive guest appearance came out of a lucky coincidence.
“We’re in the studio one day here in L.A.,” remembers Mendes, “and Stevie Wonder was next door. He knew who I was, he’s an old friend, and he came to the studio and listened to the song (”Berimbau”) and he loved it. He asked for a copy of the tape. The next day he brought a harmonica and did an incredible solo.”
The recording of “Timeless” was also a big learning experience for Mendes. It’s his first new album since 1996’s “Oceano,” and a lot had changed since he was last in the studio.
“Last time when I did a record, there was no ProTools,” says Mendes, referring to the popular recording software. “It was still the old heavy tapes and you had to make slaves and to punch in took a long time and the editing? Now, the speed is so fast, but also the quality so good and transparent. And Will’s a genius at that ? he operates the ProTools like it’s just amazing. The new way to make records is really good and really efficient.”
And Mendes couldn’t be happier with the finished product. More than 20 years after his last major hit, “Timeless” marks a new opportunity for the musician to bring Brazilian music to a wider audience.
“I think it’s a wonderful new marriage of Brazil and hip-hop ? bossa nova hip-hop,” he says. “It’s two cultures meeting each other out of mutual attraction and interest in trying to discover new things, new rhythms, new melodies. And the idea of introducing those classic Brazilian melodies to the young generation ? that’s why I’m very interested in doing it.”
As far as the future of his career is concerned, Mendes is already musing about a follow-up to “Timeless.”
“I really enjoyed working with Will,” he says. “I think I’d love very much, and I think he would too, to do a volume two and continue the adventure.”
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