Re: Brazil COVERED

[chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (chris williams)]

>I recently purchased a CD titled _Smile_ by Julia Migenes. She is an opera
>singer but this is one of her "pop" recordings. It is a concept album in
>that all of the songs are from movies. And guess what, she does "Brazil".
>It's not too surprising because the album was produced and arranged by
>Michael Kamen who did the music for the film. The liner notes even mention
>that he worked with Kate on her album _Hounds Of Love_.

   Actually, "Brazil" is a very old song. The original name is
"Aquarella Dos Brazil" by Harry Barrosso. The wistful lyrics appealed
to Terry Gilliam and expressed Sam Lowrey's yearning for a better world.
It has been recorded dozens, possibly hundreds of times. 

   Micheal Kamen's soundtrack features many variations on this tune.
The version that Kate sang on appears in the film, without Kate's vocal.
The original idea was to have two albums, one with the orchestral
score, another featuring a number of different singers/musicians
covering the song. It didn't happen. Kate's version and Geoff Muldaur's
cover were only ones to make it onto the final CD.


                          Chris Williams of
                             Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago
                               chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (his)
                                 vickie@njin.rutgers.edu      (hers)