Jorge Ben was my first introduction to Brazilian music – someone put on his “best of” album The Definitive Collection so they could point out how much “Taj Mahal” sounded like Rod Stewart’s hit “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” I’d never heard the Stewart song before, so when I did hear it for the first time later in my life I was astounded, much as Jorge Ben must have been in 1978, at the similarities. A judge eventually ruled that the song did, in fact, constitute plagiarism, as it had, in the judge’s words, “been derived” from Jorge Ben’s hit. (A side note: to me this seems to be a slippery slope, legally – what’s the difference between plagiarism and an “homage?” Or a sample? Did Biggie plagiarize Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out,” when he released “Mo Money Mo Problems?”)

In any case the “original” is the best. I was shocked when I did eventually listen to “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy” at how much lamer Stewart’s version was. “Taj Mahal” is an electric, pulsating track. The off beat, upstroke guitar springs into life with one of the most memorable cuica lines I’ve heard to this day (it’s the honk-honk sound that starts at the very beginning), and when the horns come in, it’s over. Jorge has the audacity to add in another, dueling cuica, and it doesn’t let up from that point onward. He has the good sense to include a narrative – the lyrics concern a forbidden love story between an Indian man and the princess, named “Taj Mahal,” but that’s really secondary to the sweeping vocal lines at the beginning “Taj Maha-a-a-a-al” and the chorus. It’s the chorus that Stewart stole, and it’s easy to see why: one can only imagine the dancing frenzies those “de de de de des” must have stirred up in 1972 Rio. By the end of the 70′s, it was considered an MPB standard.

Stylistically “Taj Mahal” is a mixture of samba, funk, and Afro-Brazilian rhythms most commonly found in Bahia, though Jorge Ben himself is from Rio de Janeiro. It’s a great example of the best of the Tropicalia genre Jorge himself helped create. And if you aren’t convinced that you should prefer this man’s music to his lamer alternative across the pond, I offer you the two tracks, side by side, to compare. My bet is you’ll stay with Brazil.

Jorge Ben – “Taj Mahal”

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Rod Stewart – “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”

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