Harmonica virtuoso Charlie McCoy says the idea for his new EP Charlie Goes Brazil came from bassist James “Hags” Haggerty. Haggerty made the suggestion when they were talking with drummer Martin Lynds backstage at 3rd and Lindsley in December 2019, after one of The Ornaments’ annual performances of A Charlie Brown Christmas. McCoy, a member of the Nashville A Team who’d played on records by Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, George Jones and hundreds more, sat in that night as a guest soloist.
“Hags said, ‘Man, we ought to do a bossa nova record,’ ” McCoy recalls with a laugh. “And I thought, ‘Yeah, that would be fun.’ ”
Inglehood Records chief Cowboy Keith Thompson, whose label will release the EP to record stores and streaming services on Oct. 29, was in the audience that night. He remembers Haggerty excitedly sharing the idea with him as well.
“I’m sitting with Charlie’s wife, and Hags came up after the performance and said, ‘Man, I think maybe Charlie and I hit on an idea that might work for the next record,’ ” Thompson says. “And I’m like, ‘What’s that?’ He says, ‘Bossa nova.’ I said, ‘Wow, that’s fucking great. Let’s do that.’ ”
Inspired by the idea, McCoy wrote “Rio by Night,” the song that opens the record, a few weeks later at his condo in Florida. He sent a demo of the song to Thompson, and they began to sketch out a bossa nova EP. However, what happened next is a story you know well by now: The pandemic hit, and their plans were put on hold. They kept the idea alive and finally brought it to fruition with a daylong recording session at Thompson’s home-based Inglehood Studios on July 13 of this year.
Charlie Goes Brazil is McCoy’s 46th release as a solo artist and his second for Inglehood Records. His 2017 EP of Henry Mancini compositions, A Shot in the Harp, remains one of the label’s most popular titles.
On the new record, McCoy plays both harmonica and vibes. As with A Shot in the Harp, he’s backed by the Inglehood Rhythm Section and the Inglehood Horns. In addition to Haggerty and Lynds, the rhythm section includes a variety of other Music City aces, with Joe V. McMahan on electric guitar, Joe Pisapia on acoustic guitar, Micah Hulscher on piano, Jen Gunderman on Hammond B-3 organ and Glen Caruba on percussion. The horn section features Randy Leago on woodwinds and Roy Agee on trombone. In addition, Laura Mayo and Alexis Saski contribute backing vocals. All the material was arranged by McCoy, and the record was produced, recorded and mixed by Thompson.
McCoy, who in his six-decade career has recorded with some of the world’s greatest musicians, enjoys working with the talented Inglehood crew. “That group that Cowboy has assembled — man, those dogs can hunt,” he says.
“It’s so cool to play that stuff all together,” he continues. “This ‘making records one person at a time’ — I appreciate it because I get a good amount of work from that, but there’s nothing like going in there with a whole band and playing it. Great ideas come out of that. I go in with a plan, but my mind is completely open to things that can happen at the last minute, because all these musicians are brilliant, they’ve got so much creativity. And if you close your mind to what they might come up with, you’re crazy.”
In addition to “Rio by Night,” the EP features two other McCoy originals — “Lovers Key” and “Amor Esta Noite” — both of which were written a number of years ago and given bossa nova arrangements for the record. McCoy had previously released “Lovers Key” as a duet with Laney Smallwood on his 2009 album Over the Rainbow.
“The first condo we bought in Fort Myers was on Fort Myers Beach,” McCoy says. “When we looked out the window of our lanai, across the channel was an island called Lovers Key, and I just thought that was a great song title. I decided to do it as an instrumental because it fits that kind of groove.”
McCoy wrote “Amor Esta Noite,” which means “love tonight,” while taking a night class at Hillsboro High School. “I was working in France all the time, and I wanted to learn some French,” he recalls. “It’s got French lyrics — bad French lyrics,” he adds with a smile. With the help of a language app, he translated the title into Portuguese, the official language of Brazil.
Charlie Goes Brazil also includes a cover of “Jimmy’s Buffet,” written by the late Nashville guitar great Jimmy Capps. “Jimmy did an album they sold on [the television series] Larry’s Country Diner,” McCoy explains. “I played on the record, and when we recorded that song, I told him, ‘Jimmy, man, I love this song. I’m gonna record it someday.’ ”
McCoy also includes a pair of songs on the record by the “father of bossa nova,” Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Jobim. A version of Jobim’s “Meditation” graces the record, as well as a take on his worldwide hit “The Girl From Ipanema.”
“I wanted to definitely have a couple of Jobim songs,” McCoy says, “because he’s the master of this, you know.”
