''Transa'' () is the sixth album by the Brazilian musician

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...

, released in 1972 by

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in ...

. Like its predecessor, it was recorded while the artist was exiled in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, though he returned to Brazil shortly after completing it.

Background and Recording

Exiled in

since 1969, Caetano Veloso gained permissions to stay one month in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in January 1971 to see the commemorative mass of his parents 40th anniversary. In

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, the singer was interrogated by the military who asked him to compose a song complimenting the Transamazônica highway - during its construction. Caetano didn't accept the "proposal", but, back in London, recorded the LP with the title ''"Transa"'', released in Brazilian territory in January 1972, when the singer returned to the country for good.

Reception

Caetano calls it "one of my favorite records", feeling that it reaches a level of musicianship he was unable to achieve on previous albums. It also proved popular with the Brazilian public, due partly to its inclusion of a new version of the old samba "Mora na Filosofia", originally by

Monsueto Menezes Monsueto Campos de Menezes (November 4, 1924 – March 17, 1973), better known as Monsueto, was a Brazilian sambista, singer, composer, drummer, painter, and actor. He was a part of the ''samba de morro'' (Portuguese for "hill samba") school, an ...

. It was listed by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' Brazil as one of the 10 best Brazilian albums in history. Its success would set up the failure of the much more unconventional follow-up, ''

Araçá Azul ''Araçá Azul'' (Portuguese for "blue Cattley guava") is the fifth studio album by Caetano Veloso, released in November 1972 by Philips Records. The album was recorded shortly after Veloso returned from his exile in London. ''Araçá Azul'' is ...

''. In August 2016, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' elected "You Don't Know Me" as the 73rd best song from the seventies. Journalist Kevin Lozano writes:

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from sources. *Caetano Veloso - guitar, vocals *

Jards Macalé Jards Anet da Silva (Rio de Janeiro, March 3, 1943), known as Macalé, is a Brazilian composer, singer and actor, known for his influential role in Brazil's tropicália movement in the 1960s. Background Jards Macalé was born in Rio de Janeiro ...

- guitar, musical direction *Moacir Albuquerque - bass *Tuti Moreno - percussion *Áureo de Sousa - percussion * Angela Ro Ro - harmonica

References

{{Authority control 1972 albums Caetano Veloso albums PolyGram albums