Down Here on the Ground marks the first CTI-credited appearance of Eumir Deodato (b. 1942), though he was likely already working behind the scenes on other Creed Taylor projects. The Brazilian pianist, composer and arranger had already enjoyed solo success, particularly with Inútil Paisagem (1964), a tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim, and the orchestral Los Danseros en Boleros (1964 – a.k.a. Lounge ‘64), offering a superior tribute to Henry Mancini, one of Deodato’s heroes.
Deodato proved to be a tremendous talent scout, “discovering” many great Brazilian musicians, singers and writers and getting them recorded on a variety of labels – something he would continue to do when he came to CTI. Still, Deodato was regarded for his particularly skillful arrangements of many other Brazilian artists’ music. By the mid-sixties, Deodato was working in the United States and immediately hit the right chords with Luiz Bonfá’s hit soundtrack The Gentle Rain (which is where Creed Taylor probably first encountered Deodato), Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Love, Strings & Jobim and Marcos Valle’s American debut Brazilliance!
Taylor first utilized Deodato’s talents for Astrud Gilberto’s Beach Samba in 1967, one of the producer’s last Verve recordings. By 1968, Deodato was reportedly an A&M recording artist,1 yet while he worked on many of Taylor’s productions, an album never surfaced under his name – until the monumental hit “Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)” from Deodato’s CTI debut, Prelude, made him an international star in 1973. The song went to number two on Billboard’s Hot 100, was covered (and copied) relentlessly, and featured in such films as William Freidkin’s The Exorcist (1973) and, most memorably, in Hal Ashby’s Being There (1980).
The Grammy Award-winning “2001” pretty much let Deodato write his own ticket thereafter. He continued arranging other people’s music, including pop stars such as Roberta Flack and some especially CTI-like albums for fellow Brazilians João Donato (Donato/Deodato – 1973) and Luiz Bonfá (Jacaranda – 1973).
After several more albums on CTI (1973-74), MCA (1974-76) and some particularly well-done disco albums on Warner Bros. (1978-84), Deodato scored a number of hits as producer and arranger for such R&B groups as The Dazz Band, Con Funk Shun, Brenda K. Starr, Juicy, One Way and, most famously, Kool and the Gang.
Deodato has since worked with Bjork, Lisa Ono, Elaine Elias, Titas and Mardi Gras BB (on a great reworking of “2001”). But Deodato is a cornerstone of CTI’s legacy, providing the label with much of its artistry and, undeniably, its single biggest hit. (Years later, Larry Coryell and Don Sebesky recast the song as “Thus Spoke Z” for the guitarist’s 1993 CTI album Fallen Angel.)
Endnotes:
- “Signings,” Billboard, December 14, 1968, p. 10. ↩︎