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MORRIS ALBERT

“FEELINGS”

(MORRIS ALBERT)

RCA 10279

No. 6   October 25, 1975

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Legend has it that one sunny day, when Morris was a mere lad of five in Brazil, he snuck up on the family

keyboard and plucked out “I Wish You Love” entirely by ear.  Well, Mom and all the other kinfolk

encouraged him to be a musician.  At 14, Morris Albert Kaisermann had his own band, the Thunders.  Two

years later, Albert became a solo act and began making a reputation for himself at the local night spots.

After graduating high school, he came to the United States to attend Colum­bia University as a phonology

major, but soon returned to his native Brazil to pursue a career in music.  In 1975, Morris Albert had his

international moment in the sun with one of his own creations, “Feelings.”

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For nearly eight months, this lounge-lizard classic remained on the Hot 100.  At first, it sounded harmless

enough–a touch of Bread, a pinch of Fleetwoods-like harmonizing, and that ethereal melody.  Soon,

millions of people were singing “whoa, whoa, whoa” along with Morris.  The Feelings album flew off the

shelves, and Albert became a pop sensation–until, thanks to air­ play ad nauseam, radio listeners grew

weary of his sen­timents.  Morris’s follow-up, “Sweet Loving Mary” (#93, 1976), was no chart-buster.

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In 1985, a Federal District Court in Manhattan found that more than 80 percent of “Feelings” had been

plagiarized from “Pour Toi,” a 1956 composition by French composer Louis Gaste.  A settlement of

$500,000 was awarded to Gaste.  Morris continued to live and per­form in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Word is that

he is under­standably reticent to record anything of his for the American market.