The story behind puzzle No. 13
Stan Getz & João Gilberto · Getz/Gilberto · Verve · 1963 (released 1964)
A tall and tan and young and lovely girl walks by a bar in Rio. The song about her became one of the most recorded pop songs in history.
Antônio Carlos Jobim wrote the music in 1962, with Portuguese lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes. The inspiration was Helô Pinheiro, a teenager who walked past the Veloso bar in Ipanema every day. Norman Gimbel later wrote the English lyrics.
Stan Getz and João Gilberto recorded it in New York on March 18 and 19, 1963, with Jobim on piano. Astrud Gilberto, João's wife at the time, had never sung professionally. She sang the English verse, and the single made her famous.
It reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. Getz/Gilberto sold over a million copies, making it one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time.
Producer Creed Taylor wanted English vocals alongside João's Portuguese ones, so the record has both, plus Getz's tenor. João and Getz reportedly clashed in the studio: João wanted a delicate feel and did not like Getz's harder approach.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Play Corcovado next, the other track Astrud sings on the album.
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