Ninth album by Brazilian star JORGE BEN. Released in 1972, BEN comes from one of Jorge Ben’s most artistically important phases, the early 70s. The album has some of Ben’s most famous songs, “Taj Mahal” (plagiarized by Rod Stewart on his song “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”, as the British singer admitted himself in 2012), and “Fio Maravilha”, paying homage to Flamengo’s iconic football player Fio Maravilha. This fantastic album catapulted the Brazilian singer to international fame at the time. However, Jorge Ben had already been making magic for almost a decade in Brazil and his compositions and grooves left an undeniable impact on the scene in the post-bossa years. Nevertheless, this album marks his consecration as the global soul star he was destined to be.
The sound here is a refinement of the samba soul mode that Ben had been brewing up from the late 60s onward, a skittish mix of older samba elements, American soul, and some slight fuller production that really comes into its own here, mixing all the acoustic elements at the core with just a slight electric flourish, but never losing its edge in the process, all to provide Jorge with a sublime backdrop for his really amazing vocals. In addition to the huge hits mentioned above, the album also includes loads of other gems such as “O Circo Chegou”, “Domingo 23”, “Moça”, “Paz E Arroz”, “Morre O Burro Fico O Homem”, and “Que Nega E Essa”.
 
Media: VG
Sleeve: VG