Moacyr Marques puts the Beatles standards (circa about 1964) through the Bossa mill. Better than Os Sam Beatles (which is really Manfredo Fest) Because Marques gets busy on the old Hammond B-3. The whole LP is a winner with all your favorites (I want to hold your hand, Hard Days Night, If I Fell, and of course, Jicket to Ride - the spelling error is theirs). It must be filled with Musidisc allstars becasue the quality of the music elevates the recording above the obvious novelty value to make it a real "corker" - to use a Beatles era term). Whether or not you can ever find a copy of this I don't know - but if you do - grab it.

Waltel Branco is the guitarist on a lot of classic early and mid-sixties Bossa LPs with outfits with Wilson Das Neves, Eumir Deodato and I think Ed Lincoln. There is also the classic and highly prized "Mancini Tamem e Samba" LP under his leadership that is available once again on the whatmusic label. Branco is like a Brazilian Les Paul but a little less quirky and a lot more hip. You can't help being more hip with that latin beat backing you up. Lots of deep lumbering compelling beats allow Branco to highlight his fretwork, thus the title - as far as I can translate becasue the cover is a picture of a flame - "Guitars on Fire." Similar to Heraldo Dos Monte "Batida Diferente".

This whole LP will make all you Ed Lincoln fans happy. It is a group led by Wilson Neves, the percussionist on a lot of major Bossa releases including all the Eumir Deodato LPs released on Equipe. This track is not the Elton John Kiki Dee version but the earlier Burt Bacharach version. The whole LP is loaded with great organ heavy instrumentals and dance-floor-burners performed by an extremely tight combo. Best of all its available on CD as part of the Odeon 100 Anos series. A lot of groups on the Parlophone label could crank out the cheesey sixties-organ sound and Bacharach covers but not many could match the rythms of Das Neves. How do they say it - ritmo calliente!

This Hillard and Garson song first recorded by the Romantics in 1963 gets a smoothe Bossa makeover on Eduardo Costa's LP "Eduardo Costa & Os Hitmakers." It has Hammond organ leads and 60's guitar and a mod sound similar to the many Parlophone/Odeon releases of the same period. Its a sweet melody and the LP has a fantastic cover with Eduardo standing at the Hammond in s shag-rugged recording studio wearing an outfit that would make Austin Powers jealous.