76. Astrud Gilberto - Beach Samba (? 1967)

1. Stay*

2. Misty Roses*

3. The Face I Love

4. A Banda (Parade)

5. Oba, Oba

6. Canoeiro

7. I Had the Craziest Dream

8. Bossa Na Praia (Beach Samba) *

9. My Foolish Heart

10. Dia das Rosas (I Think of You)

11. You Didn't Have to Be So Nice

12. Nao Bate O Coracao

B-

Well this is an album of pretty, inconsequential music. And really, there's a place for pretty and inconsequential music in the world. In fact, it's easy to forget that it was albums like Beach Samba that were selling in the 60s. Everyone likes to think of the Beatles and the Stones and so forth, but it's easy to forget that was youth music, and a lot of the recording buying public were old fogies who just wanted some light pop to have a few drinks to while they slow danced in the lounge room. You only have to paw through crates of old records at charity shops to know it's true.

That said, I'm not entirely sure why this album was included. It's a pleasant enough listen, but it's not even the best Astrud Gilberto album (I know, because I listened to a couple of other ones out of curiosity). There are a few memorable tunes ("Stay" is very pretty, and I liked "Misty Roses"), but mostly this album is just pleasant cocktail music. Though of course, there is a strange song which consists of a duet between Gilberto and her son, and "O Banda (Parade)" livens things up with big drums and a jaunty melody, though unfortunately it's not a very good song.

I think probably, this album was included for context rather than due to any intrinsic merit. Astrud Gilberto was a very influential artist in certain spheres - her deadpan style and bell-like tones show up all over the place in pop music, and Laetitia Sadier owes her career to Gilberto's existence. And I suppose it's important to also have a few albums of light pop just so you can get a sense of what was going at the time outside of the giant albums of the era. Beach Samba also features arrangements by the legendary Eumir Deodato, who's career has spanned everything from jazz funk reinterpretations of Strauss, to Kool and the Gang, to providing the gorgeous string arrangements for Bjork's albums Post and Homogenic. It's fair to say Beach Samba is not his best work - the songs are all impeccably produced and recorded, but there's an overall sense of deliberate inoffensiveness to the record, and it's almost enough to send one to sleep.

So in the end this is not a bad album, just a thoroughly unremarkable one. I like Astrud Gilberto, and I thought "Stay" was lovely, but you'd be better off listening to The Astrud Gilberto Album instead (which features the marvellous "Dindi" and "Agua de Beber"). Beach Samba is definitely better than a lot of this sort of stuff, and it's a pretty consistent album (which is very rare for older pop albums), but I can't help feeling Brazilian music is being done a disservice by the Book.