Inter-American Dialogue: The Leon Ware - Marcos Valle Connection

This is what blogs are for. I've been fascinated by the collaboration between Marcos Valle (left) and Leon Ware (below) for years now, ever since I read on Dustygroove that Marcos had written some songs on Leon's "Rockin' You Eternally" album. A deeper look reveals that their collaboration was a two-way street and the songs they wrote together are peppered across several albums of Leon's and Marocs'. Sure, I could try and write a proper article about this phenomenon, but the blog format seems ideally suited for this topic. I recognize that not everyone will be intrigued by this side alley of popular music, but for those who are, I'll dissect this collaboration in depth.
I've collected some (but not all) of the songs and recordings of the Ware-Valle partnership in this blog post, beginning with a song that was written by Marcos Valle and Robert Lamm (of Chicago) which Leon recorded for his 1979 album "Inside is Love."

Leon Ware - Love Is a Simple Thing
As far as I can tell, this is the first published intersection between Leon and Marcos, though Marcos is not playing on this record. It's strange to think that Marcos Valle and late-seventies Chicago were grooving to the same sounds, but it was a different time and when you really think of it they both come from similar backgrounds: jazz-influenced, blue-eyed pop soul.

Leon Ware - Rockin' You Eternally
For me, this is really the crowning achievement of the inter-American songwriter duo. The title track of Leon's first of two album on Elektra, "Rockin' You Eternally" is quintessential quiet-storm funk. Leon's clearly spearheading the lyrics on this one, but the music has got the unmistakable Marcos Valle touch, especially in the (and I'm not very expert in describing musical concepts) way the song changes keys in the chorus. You'll not that same chord progression in a Marcos song below that otherwise sounds nothing like this tune. I wonder if there is a recording somewhere of Marcos doing this tune in Portuguese or a Leon Ware - Marcos Valle demo . . .


Leon Ware - Baby Don't Stop Me
Here we have the first example of a song that both Leon and Marcos recorded in different, but very similar versions. Leon's is clearly rooted in an early-80s quiet-storm boogie mode with hardly a trace of Brazil in the mix.

Marcos Valle - A Paraíba Não É Chicago
I've been listening to this album non-stop for the past few days and it just doesn't get old. The whole thing is great, without a weak song among the bunch. This is the lead-off track and as you can hear, it's Marcos' version of "Baby, Don't Stop Me" with that exact chorus being sung by Chicago' Peter Cetera. This song and "Sei La" were the only two songs recorded in LA, I'm guessing, before Marcos returned to Brazil to stay and finish the album.

Marcos Valle - Velhos Surfistas Querendo Voar
This is the real sleeper on the album and took a dozen or so listens to really grow on me. This is also the tune that reappropriates the chord-progression from "Rocking You Eternally", but that's about where the similarity with the latter song ends. This song is where the album title comes from too.

Marcos Valle - Não Pode Ser Qualquer Mulher
This is a beautiful tune composed by the duo, with lyrical assistance from Marcos' go-to lyric writer, Paul Sergio Valle (his brother).

Marcos Valle - Bicho No Cio
Before I even knew about the Marcos Valle - Leon Ware connection I got this Brazilian promotional 7" single with four songs and this was one of them. I immediately dug the slow, funky groove and began my search for the album it came from. This is also the second song, like "Baby Don't Stop Me" that both artists did in similar versions.

Leon Ware - Got To Be Loved
Here we have Leon's version of "Bicho No Cio". I love Leon's work throughout his career, so I mean no disrespect when I say that aside from "Rocking You Eternally", I prefer Marcos' versions over Leon's and this song is no exception.

Leon Ware - Somewhere
This is an interesting tune that shows Leon getting into a Brazilian groove unlike any other recording of his I've heard. That would be Flora & Airto on vocals and percussion.

Marcos Valle - Dia D
Here's the last tune in the set, a one-off collaboration in a funky party mode. This album features one other tune with co-writing credits from Leon, but its a pretty mediocre slow-jam. This is a fun song from a seriously under-rated album. Actually, my next post will likely pull the song "Fogo de Sol", which I just discovered is the vocal version of one of my favorite Marcos Valle tunes, "Adam's Hotel" from the Deodato album "First Cuckoo".

A Trip Around Brasil - A New Brasil Mix

O Embaixador - Viagem Pelo Brasil
Just made this mix last night and it's far from perfect, but I think you might enjoy it. I started out with a few songs I was planning on including, but then it just kinda became a stream of consciousness style mix. Notable on this mix is the three-in-a-row Brasilian tunes by way of A&M records including some promo only Tamba Trio and Sergio Mendes. We also have some funky northeastern tunes, before delivering a dose of samba and then some Brasilian boogie before coming back home to samba. I might be convinced to create a track-list if enough people wanna know what's what. I hope you dig it.

Marcos Valle: Outras Vozes

I've been meaning to do a Marcos Valle post for quite some time as he is still my reigning favorite Brazilian artist (sorry Tim, close second.) Allen has already blogged about some of his excellent later work here. Marcos and his brother lyricist Paulo Sergio worked with a laundry list of influential musicians in Brazil: Azymuth, Som Imaginario, O Terco, Deodato, basically just about everyone in this fertile scene. They worked a lot! Its well known that the Valle brothers also did a number of film and television sound tracks as well including of course the Brazilian Sesame Street, Vila Sesamo. They also did a few soap operas including this one here:


Marcos Valle - Os Ossos do Barao
Betinho - Chega de Enganar a Nega
I got this album off of Ebay for a great price. It was one of those deals where I happened to do a "Marcos Valle" search about ten minutes after someone clueless in Minnesota posted it as a buy it now. Lucky. Of course I impulse bought it unheard and though it certainly could have been funkier, I've enjoyed it quite a bit. This first song is Marco's only vocal contribution to the album but he and Paulo Sergio wrote all of it. As for the second track, I really don't know much at all about Betihno except he seemed to confine himself mostly to soundtrack material. A good score in any case.


Emilio Santiago - La Mulata
A groover from one of Brazil's most skilled interpreters Emilio Santiago. This album has it all: the Jorge Ben jam, the Joao Donato jam, and here, the Marcos Valle jam. Truly a must have!


Deodato - Adam's Hotel
Mellowing out now here's a Valle contribution to a US Deodato album. I happen to know this LP is an Ambassador fav, as he recommended it to me several times over the years. I had picked it up in like 2001 for fifty cents and slept on it forever until Allen hooked me up with a nice cd rip of it - its full of jams! (Also the Donato/Deodato album which for some reason I had assumed was cheese - its not.) Beauty.

Marcos Valle . . . Beyond the 'Classic Years'

There are many favorite artists of mine that I have yet to discuss in this space, but Marcos Valle is by far one of the most important. When I was first exploring Brazilian music and starting to collect vinyl I took a chance on a record I saw reviewed at dustygroove called "The Essential Marcos Valle, Volume 2" (I had to wait a couple years for Volume 1 to get repressed before I could pick that one up). It took me a few listens to figure out what I was listening to and trying to fit it into my limited understanding of Brazilian music, but pretty soon Marcos became a cornerstone of my love of 1960s and 1970s Brazilian pop music alongside Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben.

Marcos Valle was an extremely prolific music writer and recording artist from 1963 until 1974 with 11 albums under his own name as well as regular Brazilian soap-opera soundtracks, movie soundtracks, the occasional one-off album without his name attached and even the soundtrack to the Brazilian Sesame Street, Vila Sesamo!

But when you look at his discography there is a major gap from 1974-1981 when he didn't release a single album in the U.S. or in Brazil. This always bewildered me especially as Marcos' releases were always such quality products and he is a very well known artist in Brazil. Upon further research we find that after his self-titled 1974 album Marcos came to the U.S. to try his hand for the second time in the American music business. Upon arrival in the U.S. he connected with a diverse group of musicians including Motown recording artist and producer, Leon Ware, the band Chicago and David (well-known songwriter and leader of the band Toto) and his father, Marty Paich, the veteran jazz arranger. It was through Marty that Marcos was introduced to Sarah Vaughan who was beginning a project covering Beatles' songs and wanted a Bossa Nova treatment for the George Harrison tune, "Something." This linked interview gets some of the details wrong (the song was "Something" not "Yesterday" for instance) but shows Marcos discussing this part of his career with an Australian radio journalist.

Sarah Vaughan - Something (with Marcos Valle)
I've always liked Sarah Vaughan, but I can't say this is one of my favorite albums of hers. I picked this one up recently purely on Marcos' participation. I do love his arrangement of this song and especially his Portuguese lyric at the end. Sarah's vocals are a bit strained and overpowering for the gentle arrangement, but it's an interesting listen nonetheless.

Marcos Valle - Paraiba Nao e Chicago (with Chicago)
Marcos returned to Brazil in the early 1980s and made this LP upon his return. It features a handful of songs that he co-wrote with Leon Ware while in L.A. and this song here is no exception. Peter Cetera, before his Karate-Kid soundtrack days, also chips in on back-up vocals and writing credits. It's cool to listen to this album and Marcos's next album from 1983 alongside Leon Ware's two Elektra albums to hear the American and Brazilian versions of the same songs. For instance, Ware's version of this song is called "Baby Don't Stop Me" and is off of his 1981 album "Rockin' You Eternally." Peter Cetera's vocals are pretty clear in the background on this one.

Marcos Valle - Agua de Coco
Here we have a much later Marcos cut from his 2003 album, "Contrasts" on Far Out. I completely dismissed his newer albums until a friend, Elan, suggested I give them a closer listen. This track is one of my favorites of his newer stuff. I hope to meet Marcos some point in the future. We spoke a couple times on the phone last time I was in Brazil, but we couldn't figure out a time to get together . . . If only he would play New York sometime soon.

I've posted some other Marcos Valle videos over on SS Videos . . .