Post by rayshae3 on Jun 18, 2023 15:42:09 GMT -5
Astrud Gilberto, the female voice on “The Girl from Ipanema '' died on June 5 in her home in Philadelphia. She was 83 years old. For years different versions of her breakthrough story as she appeared on the 1964 Getz/Gilberto (a collaboration between jazz saxophonist Stan Getz and her then-husband bossa-nova pioneer Joao Gilberto) were circulating. They were mostly pitched by Stan Getz who in the aftermath of the success of the song (#5 on Hot 100) boosted:"She was just a housewife… I put her on that record because I wanted ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ sung in English – which João couldn’t do. ‘Ipanema’ was a hit and … a lucky break for her." (never explaining why her name was not on the credit of the original record, or why for a reportedly 2nd most covered song in history after Beatles’s “Yesterday” she was just paid $120 when Getz made million off the song.)
Worse yet, Astrud’s Marriage fell apart and she was shunned by the Brazilian press. She immigrated to the US in the late 60s as she was increasing her professional activity on the music scene.
During her lifetime, she recorded 15 albums, and on the side she appeared in 2 movies, campaigned against cruelty to animals, and made art.
So, since her real cause of death is yet to be determined (or publicized) as of now, instead of the customary obituary link, I’m going to offer another link from February 2022 when she was still alive. It is by and large her own account about her story to fame and what really happened on that crucial first recording of “The Girl from Ipanema '' in New York City with Stan Gertz and Joao Gilberto. From Independent of the UK, it’s rather a long read titled:
“He made sure that she got nothing’: The sad story of Astrud Gilberto, the face of bossa nova”
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/astrud-gilberto-girl-from-ipanema-b2006879.html
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As for her music, what can I say… Even if you’re in a dentist's office, when her voice comes in, you get instantly transformed to a beachfront in Rio sipping ice cold mojito, as your heartbeat slows and her murmur might even wipe out your grimace.
(BTW: There is literally a bar/lounge in Rio called: The Girl from Ipanema)
wikimapia.org/154697/Bar-Garota-de-Ipanema-The-Girl-from-Ipanema-Bar#/photo/6563265
A few nights ago, my insomnia led me to channel surf and I came across the film “City of God” (great 2002 movie; I think it was on one of Showtime’s sub-channels maybe Showtime Extreme) and I got hooked thanks to the roller-coaster of the opening chase scene. And yes, it happened to be a Brazilian film with furious energy so that by the end of the movie I was fully awake. Anyway only listening to her “dreamy distraction” (as she herself put it) afterwards and hush voice slowed my reflexes to finally get a much needed rest. Unfortunately most of the 60s and early 70s stuff are only a couple of minutes long, so to hear her uninterrupted voice I cling to looping.
****************************
And now my all time top 20 from Astrud in different languages (with years recorded and/or released); their common spot in whatever language she sings: her voice you can ‘feel’ even though as in my case I do not understand a lot of her non-English recordings. Nevertheless, elegance, charm, class and melancholy persists.
1.Una Donna Che Ti Ama (in Italian, 1971)
2.Far Away (with Chet Baker) (in English, 1977)
3.En Tu Piel (in Spanish, 1972)
4.Argomenti (in Italian, 1971)
5.Historia De Amor/Love Story) (in Spanish, 1971)
6.Solo El Fin (interpretation of ‘For All We Know’ in Spanish, 1971)
7.Acercandome A Ti (in Spanish, 1972)
8.Where There’s a Heartache (interpretation of ‘Come Touch the Sun’ from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ soundtrack, in English, 1971)
9.Berimbau (in Portuguese, 1966)
10.Desafinado (with George Michael in Portuguese, 1998)
11.Aqua De Beber (in Portuguese, 1965)
12.Corcovado (in English, 1963)
13.The Girl from Ipanema (original long version with Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto, in English and Portuguese, 1963)
14.Fly Me to the Moon (in English, 1965)
15.Crickets Sing For Anamaria (in English, 1968)
16.Girl from Ipanema (short version in English, 1964)
17.Once I Loved (in English, 1965)
18.The Shadow of Your Smile (in English, 1965)
19.Meditation (in English, 1965)
20.Wanting Things (in English, 1971)
Thanks for existing Astrud. As a tribute song let’s go to my above list at #2:
youtu.be/r43WGFuhzbA
Worse yet, Astrud’s Marriage fell apart and she was shunned by the Brazilian press. She immigrated to the US in the late 60s as she was increasing her professional activity on the music scene.
During her lifetime, she recorded 15 albums, and on the side she appeared in 2 movies, campaigned against cruelty to animals, and made art.
So, since her real cause of death is yet to be determined (or publicized) as of now, instead of the customary obituary link, I’m going to offer another link from February 2022 when she was still alive. It is by and large her own account about her story to fame and what really happened on that crucial first recording of “The Girl from Ipanema '' in New York City with Stan Gertz and Joao Gilberto. From Independent of the UK, it’s rather a long read titled:
“He made sure that she got nothing’: The sad story of Astrud Gilberto, the face of bossa nova”
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/astrud-gilberto-girl-from-ipanema-b2006879.html
***************************************
As for her music, what can I say… Even if you’re in a dentist's office, when her voice comes in, you get instantly transformed to a beachfront in Rio sipping ice cold mojito, as your heartbeat slows and her murmur might even wipe out your grimace.
(BTW: There is literally a bar/lounge in Rio called: The Girl from Ipanema)
wikimapia.org/154697/Bar-Garota-de-Ipanema-The-Girl-from-Ipanema-Bar#/photo/6563265
A few nights ago, my insomnia led me to channel surf and I came across the film “City of God” (great 2002 movie; I think it was on one of Showtime’s sub-channels maybe Showtime Extreme) and I got hooked thanks to the roller-coaster of the opening chase scene. And yes, it happened to be a Brazilian film with furious energy so that by the end of the movie I was fully awake. Anyway only listening to her “dreamy distraction” (as she herself put it) afterwards and hush voice slowed my reflexes to finally get a much needed rest. Unfortunately most of the 60s and early 70s stuff are only a couple of minutes long, so to hear her uninterrupted voice I cling to looping.
****************************
And now my all time top 20 from Astrud in different languages (with years recorded and/or released); their common spot in whatever language she sings: her voice you can ‘feel’ even though as in my case I do not understand a lot of her non-English recordings. Nevertheless, elegance, charm, class and melancholy persists.
1.Una Donna Che Ti Ama (in Italian, 1971)
2.Far Away (with Chet Baker) (in English, 1977)
3.En Tu Piel (in Spanish, 1972)
4.Argomenti (in Italian, 1971)
5.Historia De Amor/Love Story) (in Spanish, 1971)
6.Solo El Fin (interpretation of ‘For All We Know’ in Spanish, 1971)
7.Acercandome A Ti (in Spanish, 1972)
8.Where There’s a Heartache (interpretation of ‘Come Touch the Sun’ from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ soundtrack, in English, 1971)
9.Berimbau (in Portuguese, 1966)
10.Desafinado (with George Michael in Portuguese, 1998)
11.Aqua De Beber (in Portuguese, 1965)
12.Corcovado (in English, 1963)
13.The Girl from Ipanema (original long version with Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto, in English and Portuguese, 1963)
14.Fly Me to the Moon (in English, 1965)
15.Crickets Sing For Anamaria (in English, 1968)
16.Girl from Ipanema (short version in English, 1964)
17.Once I Loved (in English, 1965)
18.The Shadow of Your Smile (in English, 1965)
19.Meditation (in English, 1965)
20.Wanting Things (in English, 1971)
Thanks for existing Astrud. As a tribute song let’s go to my above list at #2:
youtu.be/r43WGFuhzbA
