Manu has revealed himself to be a sensitive interpreter of the American songbook. Somebody Like Me is his first incursion into American pop, following a branch rooted in folk, rock and funk. Manu interprets the songs of Bobbie Gentry, a singer who enjoyed meteoric, enormous success edging out the Beatles in the charts, in 1967, and is still re-recorded and revered.
She was one of the first to produce her own Vegas show, composing and choreographing the repertoire and designing costumes amidst a competitive, male-oriented field. She had the then relatively unknown Elton John as a vocalist, stayed in the same hotels as Elvis Presley and was married to country star, Jim Stafford. She is still considered a point of reference in lyricism and narrative, compared to Johnny Mercer in music and William Faulkner in literature, both these latter from the South of the United States of America, a region that is so familiar and intriguing to Brazilians. She even had her own television show. Her work may not be as well-known as it should be, due to her reclusive tendencies and an early retirement from show business, in the 1970s.
Manu interpreted some of the singer’s biggest hits, accompanied by award-winning musicians Tito Oliveira (drums), Tó Brandileone (electric guitar, banjo, other instruments) and Mikael Muti (keyboards and programs), with the participation of percussionist Gabi Guedes and the musical production of Alê Siqueira.
The style of Gentry’s original versions was erroneously classified by the music industry as country, even though it clearly had characteristics of the soul, folk and pop genres. These rich and varied elements are incorporated into Manu’s album, where rock and pop come together with Brazilian rhythms, such as the ijexá, samba rock and bossa nova – which also appeared in Gentry’s arrangements.
In addition to re-recording the massive hit Ode To Billie Joe (which was so unexpected that the name Billy was printed wrongly due to the urgent need to press more copies) and copyrighted works, like Benjamin, other, rarer songs appear, like Another Place, Another Time as well as Bobbie Gentry’s covers of Rainmaker, by Harry Nilsson, Peaceful, by Kenny Rankin and for which Gentry discreetly changed the lyrics to lend them a touch of tragedy and feminism, and Apartment 21, with the vocals, piano and steel-string guitar of Brian Gari, the American composer, collaborator with Manu and grandson of Eddie Cantor, supported by the Brazilian band Banda de Boca.
Yoh, my good man!
Won’t you come here and see about me
I can hear the angels singing
I believe I’m about to be free
Billy called the doctor
He said I’m sorry but you don’t need me
You better touch them with love
Touch them with lo-love
Touch them with love, love, love
Yoh! Yoh, deacon!
Won’t you say a little prayer on me
My parade leaves soon, oh buddy
And I can’t be left behind
The deacon made a jump back
Made a high sign and then he cried
You gotta touch them with love
Touch them with lo-love
Touch them with love, love, love
Tell mom and daddy
That I certainly would be pleased
If they’d pack me up real loose
So I touch everybody I see
Touch them with love
Touch them with lo-love
Touch them with love, love, love
Touch them with love (true love)
Touch them with lot love (one love)
Touch them with love (real love)
Touch them with lot love (good love)
(bis)
Touch them with love
It was the third of June
Another sleepy, dusty, Delta day
I was out chopping cotton
And my brother was baling hay
And at dinner time we stopped
And walked back to the house to eat
And mamma hollered out the back door
You all remember to wipe your feet
And then she said
I got some news this morning
From chocktaw ridge
Today Billie Joe MCallister
Jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Papa said to mamma
As he passed around the black-eyed peas
Oh, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense,
Pass the biscuits, please
There’s five more acres
In the lower forty
I’ve got to plow
And mamma said
It was a shame about Billie Joe anyhow
Seems like nothing ever comes to no good
Up on Choctaw ridge
And now Billie Joe Mcallister’s
Jumped off the Tallahatchie bridge
Brother said he recollected
When he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back
At the Carroll County picture show
And wasn’t I talking to him
After church last Sunday night
I’ll have another piece of apple pie
You know, it don’t seem right
I saw him at the sawmill yesterday
On Choctaw ridge
And now you tell me
Billie Joe’s jumped off
The Tallahatchie Bridge
Mamma said to me
Child, what’s happened to your appetite?
Well, I been cooking all morning
And you haven’t touched a single bite
That nice young preacher brother Taylor
Dropped by today
Said he’d be pleased to have dinner on Sunday
Oh by the way, he said he saw a girl
That looked a lot like you up on Choctaw ridge
And she and Billie Joe was throwing something
Off the Tallahatchie Bridge
A year has come and gone
Since we heard the news ‘bout Billie Joe
Brother married Becky Thompson
They bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going round
Papa caught it and he died last spring
And now mamma doesn’t seem to want to do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time
Picking flowers up on Choctaw ridge
And drop them into
The muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Benjamin rode out of Montana
On a Palomino pony
Told me he was all alone
He lost his family in forty nine
Benjamin took me to San Diego
Guess we caused quite a commotion
Selling Pacific Ocean water
And calling it seaweed wine
I never had as good a friend as Benjamin
He loved to travel
He’d been every place I’d been and back again
That boy could unravel
Stories that would make your eyes
Big as blackberry pies, I’m telling you
Life could be fun for anyone
Who had a good friend like Benjamin
Had a good friend like Benjamin
Oh me and Ben thumbed a ride to Alabama
Spent the summer picking cotton
It was so doggone hot
We bought us a three-speed electric fan
Then at night we’d drink a Coca-Cola
Listen to the rain a’falling
Hearing the bob white calling
As though he’d known we’d understand
Ben and me spent some time in Oklahoma
Living on a reservation
Working at the service station
Pumping gas and passing time
We caught a train down to Harlan county
Thinking we were awful lucky
Just to walk along a Kentucky backroad
Without no reason nor rhyme
In the morning fun when no one
Will be drinking any more wine
I’ll wake the sun up
By giving him a fresh share full of the wind cup
And I won’t be found in the shadows hiding sorrow
I can wait for fate to bring around to me
Any part of my tomorrow, tomorrow
’Cause it’s so, so peaceful here
No one bending over my shoulder
Nobody breathing in my ear
Oh, so peaceful here
In the evening shadows are calling me
And the dew is settled in my mind
And I think of my friends in the yesterday
When my plans were giggled in rhyme
I had a son while on the run
His love brought a tear in my eye
But somehow I know if he would live to grow
He would have been a pretty nice guy
Oh my, oh my
‘Cause it’s so, so peaceful here
No one bending over my shoulder
Nobody breathing in my ear
Oh, so peaceful here
There ain’t much time to say goodbye
But let me try while we have a last cup of coffee
The love you need I couldn’t give
The life I lead you wouldn’t want to live, believe me
So ride me to the station and I’ll be on my way
There’s a Greyhound going somewhere
And I just want to say I’m leaving
There’s a Greyhound going somewhere
Think I just might go there too
Well I could stay another day
But I’m afraid you’ll want me to say I love you
It‘s not that I won’t,
It’s just that I don’t want to leave another heart behind me breaking
So ride me to the station and I’ll be on my way
There’s a Greyhound going somewhere
And I just want to say I’m leaving
Detroit, Cincinnati, Seattle
Chattanooga, Kansas City, Dallas
San Francisco, maybe LA, Nashville
She licks her finger and dampens her eye
To make people think she is crying
For all around her are tear-sorrowed faces
But she is too young to know dying
Outside the window tree branches sway down
Long glassy fingers sweep snow-covered ground
While inside a woman is moaning softly
For loss of a son
She sees black-ribboned white roses and hears
A man with bald head heavily sighing
Then bravely she turns her gaze back to the box
Where a broken young body is lying
Outside the crystal icicles shine bright
Casting a prism, reflecting the light
That sends rainbows dancing across the brow
Of a pastor in prayer
She touches her face to see if the mouth tears
She put on with her finger are drying
Then her young attention is drawn back outside
Where she watches a small brown bird flying
Coming to land on the icy fence rail
With such a momentum it skids on its tail
And she laughs so loud and then quickly
Claps her small hand to her mouth
M I double S I, double S I, double P I (bis)
Right in the middle of the cotton belt
Down in the Mississippi Delta
Wearing last year’s possum pelt
Smack dab in the Mississippi Delta
Have me a little of that Johnny cake
A little bit of that apple pan dowdy
Picking them scoopernons off that vine
Chigger bite, it’s going to beat howdy
Ate me a bucket of a muscadine
Sit on the riverbank after dark
Drop my line down a crawded hole
Do him in with a scaly bark
One-ree-o-ree-eerie-ann
Fidderliss-Farce-Nickory-John-Queery-Quan
M I double S I, double S I, double P I (bis)
Right in the middle of the cotton belt
Down in the Mississippi Delta
Wearing last year’s possum pelt
Smack dab in the Mississippi Delta
Sitting here scratching mosquito bites
Old fox, done give him the slip
Watching the morning glories grow
In Biloxi on an overnight trip
I bet five dollars to win two bits
Eat a peppermint stick on Sunday
Ain’t no use in a hurrying up
Can’t leave till a week from Monday
One-ree-o-ree-eerie-ann
Fidderliss-Farce-Nickory-John-Queery-Quan
Just outside of Delta country
Where the bitter weeds are growing wild
Born seven miles outside of Woodland
Was a Chicasaw county child
And papa done brung us some peppermint candy
Mamma fixed a custard pie
Bought her a store-bought doll from Jackson
She’s ‘an apple of everyone’s eye
Chickasaw county child is gonna be ok
Chickasaw county child
You gonna be somebody someday
Sporting her checkered feedback dress
A ruby ring from a cracker jack box
Shuffling on down that gravel road
Barefooted and chunking rocks
Mamma said look here dumplin’
You’ll go far, ‘cause you got style
Ain’t nothing in this world gonna hold her back
Her pretty Chickasaw county child
Chickasaw county child is gonna be ok
Chickasaw county child
You gonna be somebody someday
Leaving the county a week from Monday
Ain’t got much to pack
A tin can of black strap sorghum molasses
And her mamma’s almanac
Mamma done made her a brand new dress
Made of blue polka dotted silk
Two postcards from California
And a gallon of buttermilk
Chickasaw county child is gonna be ok
Chickasaw county child
You gonna be somebody someday (3x)
I want you to meet me at my houseboat
Be sure and wear your little black rubber rain coat
Write you a letter on thin lined note…
…Paper, hide it in the tree where the houseboat float
Pulled a pully bone and make a fat wish
Crawded in the skillet, gonna catch a catfish
Write you a letter on thin line note…
…Paper, hide it on the table in the catfish dish
‘Cause it’s sweet peony it’s my dream
It’s a sweet peony, it’s my dream
Houseboat floating down the bayou
Tried to catch a fish and now I think I’ll try you
Write you a letter on thin line note…
…Paper in a tree, a dish, and in the bayou too
And if our eyelids are getting heavy
We’ll dock our houseboat on the muddy levy
Read all the letters on the thin lined note…
…Paper, wad ‘em up and eat ‘em on the bayou
‘Cause it’s sweet peony it’s my dream
It’s a sweet peony, it’s my dream
I want you to meet me at my houseboat
Be sure and wear your little black rubber rain coat
Write you a letter on thin lined note…
…Paper, hide it in the tree where the houseboat float
‘Cause it’s sweet peony it’s my dream
It’s a sweet peony, it’s my dream
First day in August last rain was in May
When The Rainmaker came to Kansas
In the middle of a dusty day
Said The Rainmaker to the people
Give me what you’re all prepared to pay
Said The Rainmaker to the people
And I’ll conjure up a rain today
Ninety degrees ‘neath the trees where it’s shady
Hundred and ten in the hot sun
Heat from the street burned the feet of the ladies
See how they run
Called down the lightning by a mystical name
And The Rainmaker called on the thunder
And then suddenly it began to rain
Then The Rainmaker passed his hat to the people
But the people all turned away
And The Rainmaker’s eyes and the Kansas skies
Well they both became a darker grey
First day in August last rain was in May
When The Rainmaker came to Kansas
In the middle of a dusty day
And The Rainmaker smiled as he hitched up his wagon
And without a word he rode way
And the people of the town, heard the sound of his laughter
And they knew the rain had come to stay
Rain, rain, go away, come again another day (4x)
When I first met Belinda
It was down in Corpus Christi
Back in August, I believe, in fifty three
She was working as a dancer
And her life-size tinted photo
Beckoned tantalizingly from the marquee
The red neon was flashing
Music poured out on the street
And the club, I’m sure, had seen it’s better days
And a sea of bleary eyes
And upturned faces watched Belinda
As she danced within the noisy, smoky haze
You may know my body
But you cannot know my mind
She moved her lips but didn’t make a sound
You may know my body
But you cannot know my mind
Then she’d dip and twirl and smile and dance around
Belinda was a beauty
She revealed her body slowly
So that all the cowboys strained and craned to see
Her sequined skirts would swirl and twirl
And catch the light and sparkle
And Belinda’s eyes would wander restlessly
Now I didn’t know Belinda
When she was a little girl
But as a child, I’m sure she often dreamed
And I used to wonder, used to ponder
Just what did go wrong
But then Belinda was not always what she seemed
You may know my body
But you cannot know my mind
She moved her lips but didn’t make a sound
You may know my body
But you cannot know my mind
Then she’d dip and twirl and smile and dance around
Then one night I wrote a hasty note
And threw it on the stage
Asking her if she would have a drink with me
And we talked of many things
About the sunshine and the country
And a tear came to her eye quite suddenly
And I listened to her, thought about her
Finally I asked her
Tell me Belinda, what does your life mean?
She looked me in the eye
And told me forty bucks a week
And to be a damn good dancing burlesque queen
You may know my body
But you cannot know my mind
She said to me as she prepared to go
You may know my body
But you cannot know my mind
Then she laughed and left to do her second show
How could you fall this time
Fall for that same old line
A line I knew you’ve heard from me
At least a hundred times?
But here I am again
You’ll take me back and then
It won’t be long till I’ll be gone
Upon my way again
What’s somebody like you
Loving somebody like me for me, baby
What’s somebody like you
Loving somebody like me for, child
(bis)
Baby, sorry, it’s only me
Don’t want nobody staying up late at night
Waiting on me (3x)
Can’t seem to settle down
Maybe I’ll just hang around
But every time you pick me up
I guess I take you down
Though I wonder why you want me,
Somehow I
Just know if you stopped loving me
I’d crawl on off and die
What’s somebody like you
Loving somebody like me for me, baby
What’s somebody like you
Loving somebody like me for, child
(bis)
Better go find somebody to love you
Better go find somebody to love (3x)
Another place, another time
Another song, another rhyme
Is it so wrong to wish it so?
The seasons come, the seasons go
Another year, another day
So long ago, and far away
There was a time when we could do anything
With a brown paper bag and a piece of string
Go for a ride, we’d put the car-top down
Somehow we’d end up in another town
Funny how things can turn themselves around
There was a time when we could go anywhere
And not have to worry ‘bout things when we got there
We used to think the world was doin’ fine
Travelin’ below that Macon County line
Funny how people can be so unkind
There was a time when we could be anyone
A time when things were good and life was fun
When I met you, it was my lucky day
Didn’t have time to say what I wanted to say
Sure gonna miss you when you go away
Rain on my Sunday shoes
Pick up the daily news
Looks like tomorrows blues
But it’s better than none
Call on the telephone
Knowing’ that she’s not home
I’ll put on the rolling stones
And I can have me some fun
Start up a flight of stairs
Stand up and comb your hair
Try not to change things
More than you can withstand
Get into something new
Stay for a year or two
Pick up the pieces
Where you think they might land
Every day goes
Another day is gone
Hate to say so
But I’m getting older
Day by day
Take off all your clothes
Stand up and wipe your nose
Cry for your daddy
You lost so long ago
Jump on another plane
Today it’s all the same
Chase me to Boston, girl
‘Cause that’s how it goes
I’m here in apartment 21
Stop by and have some fun
Say how you doing
You old son of a gun
Look in the photograph
Lord, though it make you laugh
For all those changes
And what have you done?
So I sing
Lalala, lalala
Lalala, la
Lalala, la
Lala, (la)
Lalalala
(bis)
Sit down and write a song
Wait ‘til the days grow long
Wait for the autumn wind
To blow me away
