Jorge Ben – África Brasil (1976)
Super Awesome South America logo by Sarca @ caughtmegaming
Made in South America Artist #1: Astrud Gilberto
Made in South America Artist #2: Bebel Gilberto
Made in South America Artist #3: Elis Regina
Made in South America Artist #4: Sepultura
Made in South America Artist #5: Astor Piazzolla
Made in South America Artist #6: Caetano Veloso
Made in South America Artist #7: Suba
Made in South America Artist #8: Jorge Ben Jor
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[Album 479/1001]
How’s this for the global reach of music?
a. Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor records an album in 1976 named África Brasil
b. The album features a fantastically funky midpoint track, Taj Mahal, presumably referencing the UNESCO World Heritage Site in India
c. British musician Rod Stewart unintentionally plagarizes Taj Mahal a few years later when he records Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? The settlement? All royalties from Stewart’s song are donated to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
d. Robert Dimery (birthplace unknown after a few google searches, hopefully Australia for narrative enhancement!) edits the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The book features a preface by American artist Michael Lydon and includes this Jorge Ben album among the titular 1001.
e. Canadian Geoff Stephen writes this post, 40 years after the initial release of África Brasil.
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I’m unlikely to ever actually physically visit Africa or Brazil.
With a seemingly infinite number of places that would be nice to visit and an unequivocally finite amount of time & money available, an African &/or Brazilian expedition is probably not in the cards.
However, I’m quite pleased to have lived vicariously through Jorge Ben and his upbeat recording, África Brasil.
So even if I won’t ever physically visit either place, of all the albums I’ve discovered through this month’s South American musical adventure, África Brasil is the one I’m most likely to musically revisit.
1001albumsin10years 
Wait. .. all royalties from Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? went to UNICEF? Does that include the Revolting Cocks’ cover version? Have you ever seen that video? I have a hard time believing that was used to help children.
Based on the artist name – I may not feel comfortable searching for the video on my lunch break!
My favourite is point e.
I DID NOT KNOW THAT about Da Ya Think I’m Sexy. And I’m a big fan of that song! Thanks for learnin’ me, teach!
If you hear the tune Taj Mahal – it’s tough not singing the Stewart line along with it!
Now I’m going to try that.
What!!? Never mind Africa Brazil, Geoff! The royalties for Do Ya Think I’m Sexy go to the United Nations Children’s Fund!? What!!? This is a revelation!
It was news to me too J – good news!
I didn’t know that about Rod Stewart! That cheeky prat! I like that all the funds went to charity, though. That was a HUGE tune, so that’s a lot of coin.
Never say never to travel, Geoff. It may seem unlikely, but someday you may find yourself on African soil and then you’ll think “why did I say never?” 🙂
Africa Brasil if a confusing title. Which is it? A continent or a country? Hahaha! I’m glad the tunes were great, though. I can’t say I’d ever heard of this person. Now I have and I wanna hear it!
I like that sort of amicable settlement – where it doesn’t drag on in court for decades, just ‘oops, I accidentally copied’ – proceeds to charity, everybody wins!
Thank you for commemorating this important 40th anniversary.
My pleasure!
Brazil is a perfectly fun country to live in. I was born in England – just like my father – and we both live in Brazil. He lives in São Paulo, the biggest city in Brazil, where I have lived until last year. But it’s been a year since I’ve been living in the countryside of Minas Gerais, a very calm and friendly city quite close to the “roça”, the rural part of the city. The food is delicious, the people are nice and the view is brilliant. Of course some places are very dangerous, like Rio, Bahia and São Paulo as well. But Minas Gerais is one of the best states to live, alongside Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná and Santa Catarina. You should think of visiting these places one day.
By the way, great article about Jorge Ben, my English uncle likes him very much.
Thanks for reading & commenting – those places sound like they’d be nice to visit!