DUSTY GROOVE
1969
Jorge Ben (1969)
About This Album
1969 was a big year for Jorge Ben. While he was already an established veteran in Brazilian musical circles, he refused to align himself with either the Jovem Guarda or MPB movements because he found both camps willing to abandon samba in favor of popular styles from North America and England. That ambivalence hurt him professionally but not creatively -- until the release of this self-titled classic. When the new tropicalia crew heard the set, they were floored and they attempted to draft the brilliant singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist into their fold. If emulation is the best form of flattery, it happened immediately. Two tracks from this set, "Que Pena" and "País Tropical," were recorded immediately by Gal Costa and showed up on both her 1969 releases. Caetano Veloso recorded this set's final track "Charles, Anjo 45" for his own self-titled recording that same year!

While the cover of this album -- finally issued on CD in the United States by the venerable Dusty Groove organization in 2008 -- is psychedelic enough to be folded into the emergent tropicalista brand, the music tells a different story. True to his feelings, Ben kept the samba as the central tenet of this recording.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.