As an overview of
Sergio Mendes in both of his A&M periods, the 1987-vintage CD
Classics, Vol. 18 is a far more useful collection than the older Greatest Hits.
Classics includes ten out of the twelve selections on Greatest Hits, replacing "Day Tripper" and "Night and Day" with "One Note Samba/Spanish Flea," "Bim Bom" and "Song of No Regrets" (a more than fair trade), adding two more from the Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77 albums and jumping to the '80s with two chart-making hits. Of course, this collection leaves a large gap between 1972 and 1983, during which
Mendes recorded for other labels -- and frankly the two totally Americanized 1983-1984 tracks, "Never Gonna Let You Go" and "Alibis," are so vastly inferior to his earlier stuff that they seem terribly out of place. Nevertheless, as a result, you get a better representation of the great Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 records and some tastes of things that have happened since. ~ Richard S. Ginell