Jorge Ben: Jorge Ben (1969) [OPINIÃO]

Why you'll love it

This is the album that put Jorge Ben back on top in 1969, with Trio Mocotó on vocals and percussion. "País Tropical" and "Que Pena" are still among the best-known songs he ever recorded, and it reached No. 3 on Billboard's Brazil chart for Rio de Janeiro.

This edition

• Opinião reissue (cat# O91006)
• The original 11-song running order
• Rogério Duprat arrangements on "Barbarella" and "Descobri que Eu Sou um Anjo"

About the album

By 1969 Jorge Ben had been away from a major label for four years, and he came back to Philips with something to prove. He cut the album in Rio and São Paulo with producer Manoel Barenbein, and brought in Trio Mocotó, a vocal and percussion group whose handclaps and chants turn half these songs into a party. José Briamonte did most of the arrangements, with Rogério Duprat, the man behind the strings on tropicália's big records, handling two.

What you get is samba rock at its most joyful. "País Tropical" is a love letter to Brazil that the whole country learned by heart; "Que Pena" was strong enough that Gal Costa recorded it the same year; "Charles, Anjo 45" became a fixture of his live shows. AllMusic's Thom Jurek called it a self-titled classic, and the record has been the starting point for anyone discovering Ben ever since.

There is also a song called "Quem Foi que Roubou a Sopeira de Porcelana Chinesa que a Vovó Ganhou da Baronesa?", which translates, roughly, as who stole grandma's porcelain soup tureen. Nobody has owned up yet.

Tracklist

Listen

On Opinião (cat# O91006), a reissue of the 1969 album.