LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

180g LP
It would probably not be an overstatement to call this the most influential Brazilian album of all time. Originally released in 1959, Chega de Saudade is the album cited as creating bossa nova so to say that it lit a fire in the music world would be putting it mildly. It would be perhaps more accurate to say that it influenced so many musicians both at home (Caetano Veloso, Jorge Ben, etc.) and abroad (Stan Getz, Herbie Mann, Charlie Byrd) that it effectively single-handedly changed the way people both made and listened to music, and put Brazilian artists on the map. Almost every song on this album has gone on to become a standard, and Gilberto, called "O Mito", is today, at age 79, truly a living legend. Here Gilberto collaborates with both Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, both legends in their own right. Moraes and Jobim would soon go on to write the song that won them a Grammy in 1965, "The Girl From Ipanema".
Tracks - Side A: 1. Chega De Saudade (No More Blues) 2. Lôbo Bôbo (Foolish Wolf) 3. Brigas, Nunca Mais (Fights, Never More) 4. Hó-Bá-Lá-Lá 5. Saudade Fêz Um Samba (Saudade Made a Samba) 6. Maria Ninguem (Maria Nobody) Side B: 1. Desafinado (Off-Key) 2. Rosa Morena (Brunette Rose) 3. Morena Boca De Ouro (Brunette with a Mouth of Gold) 4. Bim Bom 5. Aos Pes da Cruz (At the Foot of the Cross) 6. É Luxo Só (It's Just a Luxury) 7. A Felicidade (Happiness) (Cantando As Músicas do Film Orfeo do Carnaval) 8. Manhã de Carnaval (Morning of the Carnaval) (Cantando As Músicas do Film Orfeo do Carnaval) 9. O Nosso Amor (Our Love) (Cantando As Músicas do Film Orfeo do Carnaval)