JORGE BEN
(born March 22, 1942 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian popular musician. His characteristic style fuses samba, funk, and rock into samba-rock, with lyrics that blend humor and satire with often esoteric subject matter.
In 1969, Jorge Ben released his self-titled album amid the excitement of the cultural and musical Tropicália movement. The album featured Trio Mocotó as his backing band, who would go on to launch a successful career on the back of their association with Ben. The album was noted for "País Tropical," one of his most famous compositions, although it would be Wilson Simonal who would take his recording of the song to the top of the charts in Brazil that same year. Instead, the song "Charles, Anjo 45", also from the self-titled album, would become Ben's biggest self-performed chart hit of the year.
In the 1970s, Jorge Ben released his most esoteric and experimental albums, most notably "A Tábua de Esmeralda" in 1974, "Solta o Pavão" in 1975 and "África Brasil" in 1976; the latter album's track "Xica da Silva" receiving a single release in many territories in Europe but retitled as "Chica da Silva" for ease of pronunciation. These three albums were not greeted with much popular success at the time but are regarded as classics today.
In 1989, Jorge changed his recording label as well as his artistic name, becoming Jorge Benjor (or Jorge Ben Jor). At the time, it was said that there were numerological reasons for his change in name, although it did in fact have more to do with problems in relation to his rights as a composer of music. Nonetheless, from this point on, Jorge's music became more pop oriented even though it did manage to maintain its swing.
He is known internationally as the composer of the Sérgio Mendes hit "Mas Que Nada", his own hit single "Taj Mahal" is recognizable (and was legally recognized in a plagiarism lawsuit) as the source of the melody in Rod Stewart's hit "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?". "Taj Mahal" originally appeared on 1972's "Ben" album, becoming a big hit on the charts in Brazil that year. An alternative version of the track also appeared on the 1977 album "Tropical"; this was an attempt to add soul and disco to his sound, after which he reverted to more familiar ways. Additionally, versions appear on Ben's 1975 collaboration with Gilberto Gil and his 1976 África Brasil album.
