Sérgio Mendes (album)

Sérgio Mendes is the self-titled studio album by Sérgio Mendes. It featured the Billboard Hot 100 smash hit in the song "Never Gonna Let You Go", a tune written by Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil.

Track listing

1. VooDoo (Douglas Brayfield, Ronaldo Monteiro De Souza, Ivan Lins, Vitor Martins) 3:55
2. Never Gonna Let You Go (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) 3:55
3. My Summer Love (Adrienne Anderson, Serge Gainsbourg, Alain Chamfort) 4:00
4. Carnaval Festa Do Interior (Mary Ekler, Moraes Moreira, Abel Silva) 3:50
5. Rainbow's End (Don Freeman, David Batteau) 4:03
6. Love Is Waiting (David & Jenny Batteau, Don Freeman) 3:47
7. Dream Hunter (Danny Sembello, Michael Sembello) 3:02
8. Life In The Movies (Michael Sembello, Dennis Matosky) 3:52
9. Si Senor (Juan Carlos Calderón) 3:46

Personnel

• Carlos Vega, Ed Greene, John Robinson, Raymond Pounds, Teo Lima, Vinnie Colaiuta: Drums
• Edson Aparecido da Silva (AKA Cafe), Ron Powell, Sebastiao Neto, Steve Forman: Percussion
• Louis Johnson, Nathan East, Nathan Watts: Bass
• Ben Bridges, John Pisano, Michael Sembello, Paul Jackson Jr., Michael Landau: Guitars
• Sérgio Mendes: Keyboards, Acoustic Piano, Synthesizers, Percussion
• Don Freeman: Piano & Clavinet, Backing Vocals
• Robbie Buchanan: Acoustic Piano & Fender Rhodes
• Michael Boddicker: Synthesizers
• Bill Reichenbach, Ernie Watts, Gary Grant, Jerry Hey: Horns
• Bill Martin, Carol Rogers, Dan Sembello, Geoff Lieb, Gracinha Leporace, Joe Pizzulo, Leza Miller, Michael Sembello, Robert Martin, Suzanne Wallach, Carol Rogers: Backing Vocals

Reception

In his review of the disc, allmusic's Richard S. Ginell gave it two stars (of a possible 5). He took aim at the hit "Never...", calling it "a saccharine ballad, where Joe Pizzulo and Leza Miller sing their banalities while Sergio strums and comps on synthesizers." He was critical of the album as a whole too, saying "To say that anyone could have made this record may be overstating the case, but the fact is that there is no way of knowing that this is a Sergio Mendes record without looking at the jacket."

References