Search - Astrud Gilberto :: Girl From Ipanema

Just so you know....

03/03/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is not the original Stan Getz version of "Girl from Ipanema" that you are looking for. For that, and for many other fine Astrud Gilberto performances, you must track down a copy of "Astrud Gilberto's Finest Hour" which is a greatest hits collection of her sixties work, with good liner notes."

But five stars for the Puppy Song

Charles Koeppen | New York | 05/14/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Yikes! What a poor CD. Mostly disco, and bad disco at that. As others have pointed out, if you want the famous bossa nova version of "Girl from Ipanema" with Astrud's singing and the Stan Getz sax solo, try Astrud Gilberto's Finest Hour CD. Amazon has it, but don't get confused, apparently in the samples Amazon sampled the 30 seconds of the song with Astrud's husband singing. But trust me, that is the version you're probably looking for. The version of "Girl From Ipanema" on this CD is complete schlock and I have no idea why anyone would want to listen to it. As far as disco goes, I guess this CD is OK if all you want is a steady beat, but it's not very moving.



Now that I got the bad part of this review over with, now for the good part. "The Puppy Song" is Astrud Gilberto at her best, and is a very nice arrangement, not mindlessly fabricated disco. Astrud Gilberto's voice adds an innocent quality to the song that Harry Nilsson's original doesn't convey. I believe this is the only CD with Astrud Gilberto's version of "The Puppy Song". I think this one song is worth the price of the CD, particularly if you can find it at a used, discounted price. Fortunately for those wanting this CD for this fine gem of a song there should be a lot of used CD's available because of disappointed buyers who really wanted the famous version of the title track."

Horrible version!

Charles Koeppen | 12/21/2000

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I love Astrud Gilberto & was really looking forward to this CD arriving, but it's some awful butchering. Her voice is the only redeeming aspect, but who can concentrate on that over the disco easy listening? This sounds more like the soundtrack to Fantasy Island."