Del McCoury – Luegra

Sergio Mendes RIP / Del McCoury Live!

This past week, one of the coolest pianists/band leaders passed away. Sergio Mendes led a jazz-pop group in the 1960s that had a number of hits on the charts with his band Brasil ‘66 (often changing the name to reflect each year of performing/touring). He was born in Brazil in 1941, and studied classical piano. He soon took interest in jazz and the rise in bossa nova music, and became a member of Carmen Miranda’s touring band.

He first formed a jazz trio, then added female singers to form Brasil ‘65, which began performing in in the US. After recording a number of low-selling albums, he hired English-speaking female singers so that they could record songs in English as well as Portuguese. Herb Alpert signed the band to A&M Records as Brasil ‘66, and they had a big international hit with “Mas que Nada.” The album Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ‘66 went platinum.

Mendes would have even greater success with the Oscar-nominated song “The Look of Love,” as well as a cover of the Beatles’ song “Fool on the Hill.” The band performed for Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon. While his fame lowered in the US during the 1970s, he was still immensely popular in South America. During the cocktail music craze of the 1990s, he saw a renewed interest in his music, winning a Grammy in 1992 for Brasiliero.

During the 21st century, he did a number of collaborations, including with the Black Eyed Peas, Stevie Wonder and Justin Timberlake. He passed away on September 5th from complications of COVID.

I remember as a little kid watching his band perform on variety shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show and Hollywood Palace. His was the kind of music that everyone, from teens to older adults, could get into. Jazz influences, it also had the ingredients of rock, pop, and his native music samba and bossa nova. There was not a lot of flash in the instrumentation, but the band was skilled, and he knew that his female singers were eye candy as well as the perfect voices for the songs. While the music never received heavy rotation on the radio, when one of his songs did come on, you didn’t change the channel. If you were driving, it was the perfect cruising music. His work will always stand out as a great art form of pop music from Latin America.

Last night I went with my buddy Ken to see the bluegrass legend Del McCoury and his band. Now I’ve seen him already about a dozen times, and I probably would have passed on this show due to it being in Pontiac (a 40-minute drive, and I’m getting too old to stay out late and then drive home), but Ken had not seen him yet, and with Del at the age of 85, I knew that the chances of seeing him again were not as great as before.

Del still puts on a helluva show! It was funny, as 10 minutes before the start, there he is walking around the stage, making sure he has water available. His band could easily have roadies, but they still do everything for themselves. He has always loved and respected his audiences, talking to them personally between songs and taking requests. Two 45-minute sets would have probably tired out anyone else at his age, but he handled it like someone half his age. His band, consisting of his sons Ronnie and Rob, along with Jason Carter and Alan Bartram, are professional to a tee! They still do minimal miking, and choreograph their solos and harmony singing like the old days.

Yeah, he forgot the lyrics to songs a few times, but it was understandable, considering that he has a repertoire of a few hundred songs. The audience didn’t care – they loved it when he would just la-dee-dah through a verse to keep it going. He performed his trademark “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” (which I reviewed as a Perfect Song in the blog https://luegra.design.blog/2021/04/17/a-perfect-song-1-del-mccoury-band-1952-vincent-black-lightning/) to a standing ovation, and had no problem taking in about a half dozen requests as is normal for his shows.

I implore you to go see the Del McCoury Band while there is still time. It is worth hours to drive to see this amazing example of a bluegrass band, as well as appreciate the legend that Del McCoury truly is.

Chew on it and comment.

Bluegrass Covers of Pop Music

I received an email press release a few days ago that I deleted after a quick read-through. A bluegrass artist (the name escapes me) was releasing a new single that was a cover of a mainstream pop-rock song (again, the name escapes me). I do remember that the song, in my mind, did not seem like something that would sound good as a bluegrass tune.

Now I am all for pushing to boundaries a bit when it comes to songs in bluegrass. I really do not like hearing bands covering the same 20-30 established bluegrass standards. Some bands are able to write their own songs to varying degrees of palpability. Other artists like to secure the talents of established songwriters to provide a hit. Then there are some artists that listen to songs outside of the bluegrass realm, especially in the country, pop, and rock categories, and try to interpret hits from those formats into a bluegrass sound.

(Note that this will not discuss the “Pickin’ On” series of bluegrass albums performing songs from various rock bands, released by CMH Records. See my previous post on this at https://luegra.design.blog/2020/11/26/bluegrass-is-in-the-ear-of-the-beholder/)

This of course is not a new thing. Bill Monroe had done this throughout his entire career with the Blue Grass Boys (then again, Bill Monroe could do whatever he wanted when it came to bluegrass). In the 1960s, King Records out of Cincinnati had both bluegrass and R&B acts on its roster, so the execs would try to cash in on royalties by having bands record songs from the other format. The best example was the Stanley Brothers recording a version of Hank Ballard’s “Finger Poppin’ Time.” Ballard’s version was a hit, the Stanley’s version never made it to the charts.

Jim and Jesse McReynolds recorded a whole album of Chuck Berry classics. Flatt & Scruggs recorded a number of Bob Dylan songs. The Country Gentlemen and Seldom Scene were known for finding great pop songs and converting them to a more progressive bluegrass sound. The New Grass Revival also made use of covering pop songs (I still say that NGR’s version of Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar” is one of the best covers EVER!). I wouldn’t even begin to count the number of times a Beatles song was covered by a bluegrass band. Then there is Tony Rice, who was a big fan of Gordon Lightfoot and recorded a number of the folksinger’s tunes.

In more recent times, there has been a resurgence in this action. Dale Ann Bradley has recorded a number of songs originally performed by Tom Petty, U2, and others. Of course, one fantastic bluegrass cover is Del McCoury’s version of “1952 Vincent Black Lightning,” written and performed originally by English folksinger Richard Thompson.

There are a number of younger bands in the bluegrass fold that are also going to the pop music folder to pull out a gem. The one thing that I have noticed, though, is that there is not much thought into making the song “feel” like a bluegrass tune. Instead, it sound more like an attempt at playing the pop song as a pop song, only with acoustic instruments.

Again, I am all for bluegrass bands trying to find new material to perform, whether it is self-penned or searching for unique covers. However, bands also need to truly listen to the song and decide if it can become a good bluegrass tune. There are a lot of non-bluegrass songs that I love, be it pop, rock, metal, R&B, country, polka, or folk. And there are a lot of times that I listen to those songs and think if they would make good bluegrass tunes. Well, 99% of the time, they do not.

I am not saying that bands should not try, but they also need to be discerning. I have a lot of friends in bluegrass band with national prominence. Some of these band have recorded covers of pop songs and attempted to put a bluegrass slant to them. I have to be honest, I haven’t heard one lately that has been a treat to which to listen. I can understand that many of these bands are trying to get a wider audience, but at what cost? I like to think about the Beatles and their cover of “Mr. Moonlight.” The band was on top of the world, and was doing a lot of other covers along with some fantastic original material. However, that particular cover, with the tacky B3 organ and drum slap after each verse, just did not cut it, and has always been an inside guffaw to many fans.

Established bluegrass bands love to jam, and with that jamming comes creativity. With creativity also comes intelligence. Be smart enough when something creative sounds hokey or sounds like a hit.

Chew on it and comment.