Carlos Mendes
The mysterious Carlos Mendes was gifted with a previously unreleased Paul McCartney composition, "Penina," for an obscure 1969 single. Indeed, this is probably the most obscure composition written by a member of the Beatles, and recorded and released by someone else but not by the Beatles, while the Beatles were an active band. The song itself was a simple, even trite keyboard-based ballad that sounded more suited for the easy listening market than the rock one.
Little is known about Mendes and how he got the song, other than that he was a Portuguese vocalist and that McCartney gave it to him while the Beatle was on holiday in Portugal in late 1968. In 1994 in his Club Sandwich fan magazine, McCartney recalled, "I went to Portugal on holiday and returned to the hotel one night slightly the worse for a few drinks. There was a band playing and I ended up on the drums. The hotel was called Penina, I made up a song with that name, someone made inquiries about it and I gave it to them." The Beatles, understandably, did not record this trifle, although they did doodle around on it briefly during the January 1969 sessions for the ill-fated Get Back project. That bit has subsequently surfaced on bootlegs.
Carlos Mendes' "Penina" single was not a hit, and has been hard to acquire since then. Your best bet is looking for the EMI compilation LP The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away, which has 20 songs, all but one from the 1960s, that John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote, but that the Beatles did not record themselves for official release.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
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Os primeiros êxitos de Carlos Mendes & Fernando Tordo
Wereldmuziek - Released by Edições Valentim de Carvalho on 29 nov. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Triângulo do Mar
Wereldmuziek - Released by World Music Records on 5 feb. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Entre o Sol e a Lua
Pop - Released by Glam Music on 24 jan. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Viagem
Alternative en Indie - Released by The Mysterious Carlos Mendes on 22 sep. 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verão (Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa)
Pop - Released by Edições Valentim de Carvalho, S.A. on 11 mrt. 1968
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Black Little Fly
House - Released by Disko Massaka Recordings on 12 jun. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chinese Xiao (Original Mix)
House - Released by Disko Massaka Recordings on 23 jun. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hypnotic Kiss
House - Released by Disko Massaka Recordings on 21 jun. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Digger (Original Mix)
House - Released by Disko Massaka Recordings on 18 jan. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Am You (Original Mix)
Techno - Released by Disko Massaka Recordings on 30 jun. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Diálogos Ordinários, Significados Eternos
Humour/Spoken Word - Released by Carlos Mendes on 9 apr. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Funky as Hell
Carlos Mendes, Active Line Six
House - Released by Rip And Burn on 29 jul. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Let's Get Ready (Orginal Mix)
House - Released by Disko Massaka Recordings on 30 mrt. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Matosinhos
House - Released by Disko Massaka Recordings on 25 jul. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Next To Normal EP (Original Mix)
Divers - Released by Disko Massaka Recordings on 17 jun. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Matosinhos, Pt. 2
Techno - Released by Disko Massaka Recordings on 5 dec. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Year Review
Carlos Mendes, Cherry Adams, Papi Chulo
House - Released by Disko Massaka Recordings on 1 apr. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Charlie (Original Mix)
Divers - Released by Diskoton Recordings on 18 jun. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Work of Art
House - Released by Disko Massaka Recordings on 16 feb. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo