Piero sings in a soothing, breath-y tenor... More italian in tone than latin, although,the best comparison i've found is Luiz Henrique.His phrasing reminds me of Luiz as well,but there is no real relation.The backing has a nice spaghetti -western kind of vibe ala' Moriccone,which gives the whole thing a kind of high planes drifter setting,with plucked electric bass, strummed acoustic guitar,and occasional female chorus with a light string arrangement,Very cool.The whole record is really good,and a lot of the songs have a distinctly latin ballad feel.
26 Jan 03 ·modette: choose the italian compositers but choose them better:
isn't "luiz henrique" , is LUIS ENRIQUEZ. other marvellous song of his: lo scatenato.
sorry for my english!!!
29 Jan 03 ·klatu: Pretty sure "Luiz Henrique" is the correct spelling, and that he is Brazilian. Must be a different guy than the similarly named Italian. 15 Sep 06 ·Betto_Colombia: Piero is from Argentina.
Yes, FRANKIE VALLI and the four seasons. You may be incredulous after listening to the album, as it's the concept excursion that derailed their singles chart streak. It has a nice lurching pop quality. I would put this album on a par with "Odessey and Oracle" and "S.F. Sorrow", but wouldn't that be silly? I think it was on a Rhino CD that's probably long deleted, but if you can find the vinyl with the newsprint insert intact, it makes for some funny reading...
from Genuine Imitation Life Gazette
18 Jan 05 ·mabcms: Thought I was the only person in the world who knew this album (and this cut). It's an incredible musical and creative adventure. Nothing at all like the other 4 Seasons material.
Another Brazil '66 knockoff band, maybe not as solid as the Mendes-endorsed Bossa Rio, but they did do a nice version of the Roger Nichols track "love so fine". More importantly, they did this, a cover of one of the Drifter's less memorable hits, done over with a very punchy, immediate arrangement. More aggressive than most of Sergio's stuff. Nice Peanuts, Guaraldi/Schroeder style piano intro! Recorded in L.A. with a few studio guns on board. (added later) Maybe I have velveeta pumping through my heart, but I do enjoy this whole album, even the pretty bad version of turn, turn, turn.
Barbara Lewis was famous earlier in the sixties for 'Hello Stranger.' This is simple, soulful pop music with a very cool production: crisp drums and nicely orchestrated woodwind on top of rhythmic guitars. Somehow the charm of the recording overrides any feeling that the chord sequence is slightly obvious. Barbara's voice is beautiful here: emotional, yet understated. A small female choir comes in to accompany her at various points. The song is remarkably tight and catchy, with a prominent bass part driving it on. The producer at Stax for this record was Ollie McLaughlin, and I'm now looking out for more stuff that he worked on.
from Many Grooves of Barbara Lewis, available on CD (Fantasy/Stax)
25 Feb 03 ·Arthur: Ollie McLaughlin was a prolific producer. Look out for 45's on the Carla and Karen labels. They where both his labels