Clube da Esquina (album)

This article is about the album. For the music artists collective, see Clube da Esquina.

Clube da Esquina
Studio album by Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges
Released	March 1972
Recorded	1971–1972
Genre	MPB, baroque pop, folk, psychedelic pop
Length	64:22
Label	Odeon
Producer	Milton Miranda
Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges chronology
Milton (1970) Clube da Esquina (1972) Milagre dos Peixes (1973)
Lô Borges chronology
Clube da Esquina (1972) Lô Borges (1973)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Pitchfork Media	9.5/10

Clube da Esquina is a 1972 double album by the Brazilian music artists collective Clube da Esquina, credited to Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges. Considered one of the greatest Brazilian albums and an important record in the history of Brazilian music, it features arrangements by Eumir Deodato and Wagner Tiso, and conductions by Paulo Moura. The album garnered attention for its engaged compositions and miscellany of sounds.

Despite popular belief, the photo on the album cover does not depict Borges and Nascimento as children. It was taken by a member of the collective, Brazilian photographer Cafi (Carlos da Silva Assunção Filho), on the side of a road in the rural northern Rio de Janeiro state. Due to increased public interest in the album's 40th anniversary, a search for the two boys was conducted, successfully identifying them as Antonio Rimes and Antônio Carlos Rosa de Oliveira.

Legacy and critical reception

The LP was considered in the list of the Brazilian version of Rolling Stone as the 7th best Brazilian album of all time. In 2022, the album was ranked number 1 on the Discoteca Básica podcast's 500 Greatest Brazilian Music Records list. Spin ranked the album at number 19 in its list for the 50 Best Albums of 1972. In professional reviews, Clube da Esquina follows as one of the most significant albums in Milton Nascimento's and Lo Borges' career, as well to Brazilian Popular Music (known there as MPB). In 2024, the album was ranked number 9 by Paste Magazine on its list of the greatest albums of all-time.

At the time of the album's release the critical response was not uniformly positive. Márcio Borges stated "Naturally, the critics were terrible. They wanted to compare Bituca (Milton) with Caetano Veloso and Chico Buarque, they didn't understand a bit of the inter-racial, international, interplanetary ecumenism proposed by the atemporal dissonances from Bituca. They despised the findings of Chopin and the beatlemaniac love from little Lo."

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Tudo Que Você Podia Ser"	Lô Borges, Márcio Borges	Milton Nascimento	2:57
2.	"Cais"	Nascimento, Ronaldo Bastos	Nascimento	2:45
3.	"O Trem Azul"	L. Borges, Bastos	L. Borges	4:05
4.	"Saídas e Bandeiras Nº 1"	Fernando Brant, Nascimento	Beto Guedes, Nascimento	0:45
5.	"Nuvem Cigana"	L. Borges, Bastos	Nascimento	2:59
6.	"Cravo e Canela"	Nascimento, Bastos	Nascimento, L. Borges	2:31

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
7.	"Dos Cruces"	Carmelo Larrea	Nascimento	5:22
8.	"Um Girassol Da Cor De Seu Cabelo"	L. Borges, M. Borges	L. Borges	4:12
9.	"San Vicente"	Brant, Nascimento	Nascimento	2:46
10.	"Estrelas"	L. Borges, M. Borges	L. Borges	0:28
11.	"Clube da Esquina"	L. Borges, M. Borges, Nascimento	Nascimento	3:38

Side three

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
12.	"Paisagem Da Janela"	Brant, L. Borges	Lô Borges	2:58
13.	"Me Deixa Em Paz"	Ayrton Amorim, Monsueto Menezes	Nascimento, Alaíde Costa	3:05
14.	"Os Povos"	M. Borges, Nascimento	Nascimento	4:30
15.	"Saídas e Bandeiras Nº 2"	Brant, Nascimento	Guedes, Nascimento	1:30
16.	"Um Gosto De Sol"	Bastos, Nascimento	Nascimento	4:20

Side four

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
17.	"Pelo Amor De Deus"	Brant, Nascimento	Nascimento	2:06
18.	"Lilia"	Nascimento	Nascimento	2:33
19.	"Trem De Doido"	M. Borges, L. Borges	L. Borges	3:58
20.	"Nada Será Como Antes"	Nascimento, Bastos	Guedes, Nascimento	3:23
21.	"Ao Que Vai Nascer"	Brant, Nascimento	Nascimento	3:20

Personnel

• Milton Nascimento - lead vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4–7, 9, 11, 13–18, 20, 21), acoustic guitar (tracks 2, 4, 7, 11, 13–15, 17, 21), piano (tracks 2, 5, 16), backing vocals (tracks 10, 12, 19),
• Lô Borges - acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 10), rhythm guitar (tracks 3, 19), electric guitar (tracks 9, 11), lead vocals (tracks 3, 6, 8, 10, 12, 19), backing vocals (tracks 3, 8, 19), additional vocals (tracks 17, 20), percussion (tracks 4, 13, 15, ), surdo (track 6), piano (tracks 8, 12)
• Wagner Tiso - orchestral arrangements, organ (tracks 1–3, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 17–19, 21), piano (tracks 6, 7, 9, 13, 14, 20, 21), electric piano (track 17), backing vocals (track 10)
• Eumir Deodato - orchestral arrangements
• Beto Guedes - bass (tracks 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 12, 15, 21), lead vocals (track 15), backing vocals (tracks 3, 8, 10, 12, 19), twelve-string guitar (track 5), percussion (tracks 6, 7, 13, 18), electric guitar (tracks 7, 17, 19, 20), carillon bells (track 9)
• Rubinho - congas (track 1), drums (tracks 4, 5, 7–9, 12, 15, 17–19, 21), percussion (track 13)
• Robertinho Silva - drums (track 1, 3, 6, 11, 13, 14, 20), percussion (track 2, 6, 7, 9, 17, 18, 21), backing vocals (track 10)
• Tavito - twelve-string guitar (track 1), electric guitar (tracks 6, 8, 12, 18, 20), acoustic guitar (tracks 7, 9), backing vocals (track 9), percussion (track 14),
• Toninho Horta - electric guitar (tracks 1, 3, 21), percussion (tracks 2, 4, 15, 17, 18), bass (tracks 5, 7, 19, 20), acoustic guitar (track 6), backing vocals (tracks 3, 8, 10)
• Luiz Alves - caxixi (track 1), acoustic bass (tracks 2, 5, 7), bass (tracks 6, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 21), percussion (tracks 6, 7, 9, 21)
• Nelson Angelo - electric guitar (tracks 4, 8, 11, 12, 15), percussion (tracks 7, 9, 18), surdo (track 13), piano (track 15)
• Paulinho Braga - percussion (track 9)
• Luiz Gonzaga Jr. - backing vocals (track 10)
• Alaide Costa - lead vocals (track 13)