» This is one of many documentaries about the man. It has a English (UK) voice-over but he uses the term “soccer” and I get the impression after watching that it was made for the North American market.
It is from a series of profiles on various players: “Soccer Superstars” and this one is Pele – The King.

Click on the image to view via Google Video:

» Link to video
(This is hosted on Joost. Not sure if you’ll need to download some software to watch. Video expires in 1 month)

Via the Beeb – a Storyville documentary about O Rei and Garrincha:

“Pele and Garrincha are both footballing legends in Brazil. Using archive footage, Gods of Brazil tells the story of these two men and explains how one became the World’s Greatest Footballer and the other died a broken alcoholic at the age of 49.”

Video:

Lastly a rare video of Pele scoring his 1000th goal:

Found via Sagger Makers Social Club, which has become a regular distraction to me of late.
More about and from there another time.

Firstly a couple of curios from him. They are only snippets but still worth a listen.

– This is a very rough recording from what could be from one of his documentaries. It is Edson singing along with some kids: “I like to be the best”

[See post to listen to audio] » Pele with the Young Giants – I Like To Be The Best

- Since the season seems to be upon us (earlier and earlier every year), here is what sounds like a home recording of Pelé playing his acoustic guitar and in the midst of composing a Chrimbo tune:

[See post to listen to audio] » Pele – My Christmas Song (Cancao De Natal)

If anyone has any further knowledge about the above tracks I would appreciate it.

The man went one better than Keegan and many of those other singing footballers by releasing an album. Sadly because of geographical restrictions I am unable to purchase & download that 2006 release. You can if you want.

- He hasn’t stopped there though. The ex-Sporting Minister is doing his part in promoting the city of Sao Paolo (where played for Santos) by recording and releasing this video :

Found via Inside Sao Paulo:

“The former ex football player Pele has composed lyrics and music honoring the city of São Paulo. The King’s Cup recorded a video and besides compose the song, Pele gave all his image rights to the footage. Currently, Pele is one of the Brazilians most well-known in the world. And according to him, Sao Paulo is the city where he lived most of his great moments.”

“Olha lá São Paulo”, (Portuguese) produced by Zero Movies and Banda Sonora. Arrangement and Music Production: Maestro Ruriá Duprat. Director: Sergio Amon.

“The video will be part of the campaign “Visit Sao Paulo. Sung by many, built for everyone”, to be released on November 20.”

Lastly to finish off this mini-series a return to the musical king of this genre: Jorge Ben and his song about Pele, which I didn’t have at the time of posting. Taken from a compilation album: Football & Samba Groove Association featuring songs that were inspired by futebol.

[See post to listen to audio] » Jorge Ben – O Nome Do Rei É Pelé

Like every other footballer (it seems) even the best of them can’t resist and Pelé does indeed sing.

He likes his smooth jazz, but what he likes even more is doing duets. In 1969 he teamed up with Elis Regina, one of Brazil’s most popular singers and released this single:

[See post to listen to audio] » Pelé & Elis Regina -Perdão Não Tem [See post to listen to audio] » Pelé & Elis Regina – Vexamao

- In 1977 there was a documentary made (one of many) and an accompanying soundtrack album with the score being composed by that Sergio Mendes chap…

The title track was composed (as was the two tracks above) and sung – once again a duet – by Pele:

[See post to listen to audio] » Pelé & Gracinha Leporace – Meu Mundo E Uma Bola (My World Is A Ball)

But it doesn’t end there !   Coming up next: Pelé solo.

Although I should stop calling it that because this current theme has stretched into the third week now.

And to finish it off some music from and about: Edison Arantes do Nascimento KBE

The young prospect pictured above celebrating after being called up by Brazil for the 1958 World Cup.

The Brazil striker began playing for Santos aged 15 and scored on his international debut at 16. In 1958, Pele was selected for Brazil’s squad for the World Cup in Sweden where he set numerous records, becoming the youngest goalscorer in the tournament’s history, at 17 years 239 days, when he bagged the only goal of the game against Wales in the quarter-finals. Ten days later he became the youngest World Cup finalist and then winner as he took his goal tally to six with a brace in a 5-2 victory over Sweden.

» Source

To begin this look at the man himself here is the man himself talking about the man himself.
He covers various subjects starting how he got the name “Pele”, the first call-up in 1958 and talks about other players he admires and his last World Cup in 1970.   (The audio cuts off at suddenly at the end)

[See post to listen to audio] » Pele’s Philosophy

(While his birth certificate shows his first name as Edison, he prefers to call himself Edson)

Fast forward to February 1972 and Pele with his team Santos visited Villa Park to play a friendly.

Later on (I don’t know when) somebody created the following, which sounds like audio from an old Pathe News report which is stitched with a snippet of a song.

As you will hear it appears that Aston Villa didn’t have any floodlights for the match (?!) Strange because this was ’72 and you’d think they would have been standard by then.

[See post to listen to audio] » Unknown – Pele at Aston Villa

Staying in that same vein is this one (from somebody who is obvious a Slough fan) which samples the above, plus bits from the Hugh McIlvanney audio:

[See post to listen to audio] » Wembley ’73 Vs Slough Town ’66

These next three are on the singular subject of …

With this first track the singer is unknown. The song has the same title and the one below it, but they are very different tunes. (“O Rei” means: “The Great One” or “The King”.)

[See post to listen to audio] » Unknown – O Rei – Pelé

[See post to listen to audio] » Jackson Do Pandeiro – O Rei Pelé

Now let me tell you a quick story about Little Peggy March...

Peggy is an American born actress and singer who in the 60′s was famous in the USA, but then got even bigger when she moved to Germany in the 70′s. Similar to what The Hoff did 20 years later, but March wasn’t as annoying.

Whilst in Germany she tried to represent the country two times in the Eurovision song contest, but was twice denied. This didn’t stop her though having a continuing successful pop career and in 1972 she released a double A sided single, with one track being about The Beatles (“John, Paul, George und Ringo”) and the other track:

[See post to listen to audio] » Peggy March – Pele

Finally for this entry – an instrumental outing:

[See post to listen to audio] » Arakatuba – Pele

Lots of interest in the Jorge Ben collection, so here is some extra material from various artists who have covered the man himself.

First up is the one you know from that Nike advert – which is a cover by Tamba Trio:

[See post to listen to audio] » Tamba Trio – Mas Que Nada

- Tamba Trio on MySpace

Next one is Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66:

[See post to listen to audio]» Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 – Mais Que Nada

…plus the 2006 re-recording with the Black Eyed Peas:

[See post to listen to audio]» Sergio Mendes/Black Eyed Peas – Mas Que Nada

- Wikipedia entry

There are lots of other cover versions but these are enough, let’s not talk about the rest.

I haven’t posted the Jorge Ben original, but here is a cover version which made it onto the France ’98 soundtrack CD:

[See post to listen to audio]» Daniela Mercury – Pais Tropical

Finally for now here are two examples…

…on how to take a great song and completely ruin it:

[See post to listen to audio] » Soulfly – Umbabaruma

…and how to pay a huge compliment to the original:

[See post to listen to audio] » Marijohn & The Jacks – Fio Maravilha

The Brazil feature began when I got an email pointing me towards some South American footballandmusic – in which all the songs actually originated from just person. The same time that I receive this mail I had just been looking through my collection of footie and music and saw this same name a few times too. This coincidence was no coincidence… or something… We need to tell the people about this.

» I was going to write and expand more about today’s subject, but werk elsewhere has meant that I don’t have the time, so I’m being lazyarse by copy&pasting the original message and calling it a guest post by Fredorrarci from Sport Is A TV Show.

Take it away sir:

I saw a couple of weeks ago that you posted the song from that Nike ad. That’s ‘Mas Que Nada’ by Sérgio Mendes (though the one in the ad is actually by Tamba Trio). It was written (and originally performed) by Jorge Ben:

(I’ll interject here to post an abridged bio):

“Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1940, Ben took up bossa nova guitar playing after hearing João Gilberto but found the style too complex to execute. This led to his developing his own approach to the bossa nova that focused on playing the guitar as one would a bass — his early recordings are in fact bass-less. His first big hit as a singer/songwriter came at the age of 23 with “Mas, Que Nada.” The song’s subtle bossa nova groove proved so seductive that it was quickly covered by a number of Brazilian artists, most successfully by Sergio Mendes…

…It was from the late ’60s to mid-’70s that Ben established himself as a songwriting force within Brazil. Over the next ten to 15 years he expanded his reach, with varying success, to Europe and America (he’s more popular in Europe than America). In 1989 he released the album Benjor, simultaneously announcing that he was changing his last name to Benjor*

- Extract from allmusic. Further reading for you at Wikipedia.

*The reason for that slight name change reportedly came about because of the music rights as a composer and he was concerned that royalties for his songs were being sent to George Benson and not him. I can’t remember where I read that now. Do your own googling to find the full story.

Anyways please continue Fred:

His original version (of Mas Que Nada) was written and recorded in 1963:

[See post to listen to audio] » Jorge Ben – Mas Que Nada

Better than that, though, is another Jorge Ben song called ‘Ponta de Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)’, which is about a fictional footballer. (“Ponta de lança” literally means “point of the spear” and is a term used for an attacking midfielder.) I don’t want to oversell this or anything, but it’s one of the best things I’ve ever ever ever heard.

(He’s right you know):

[See post to listen to audio] » Jorge Ben – Ponta de Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)

Ben is mad about football, basically, especially Flamengo.
(From Wikipedia):

He is also a big fan of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, a Brazilian football club, located in Rio de Janeiro, where Zico, Junior and Leandro are among former stars…. Flamengo’s crest also features in the cover of the 1969 album “Jorge Ben.

This is him singing the Flamengo club song:

[See post to listen to audio] » Jorge Ben – Hino do Flamengo

Here’s ‘Camisa 10 Da Gávea’, all about Zico:

[See post to listen to audio] » Jorge Ben – Camisa 10 Da Davea

There’s also ‘Fio Maravilha’ which is named after a footballer. The story behind it:

João Batista de Sales – better known as Fio Maravilha, is a former Brazilian football player. In Brazil he played for Flamengo, Paysandu Sport Club, CEUB, Desportiva and São Cristóvão. Later he moved to the United States, where he played for the New York Eagles, the Monte Belo Panthers and San Francisco Mercury.

He is perhaps most famous for the hit single “Fio Maravilha” that was written about him in 1972 by Jorge Ben. The musician attended a friendly game between Flamengo and Benfica in the Maracanã stadium. Fio Maravilha was left out of Flamengo’s starting lineup by coach Mário Zagallo, but after a chorus of fans demanded that he play, he was brought in as a substitute. After 33 minutes in the second half he scored the goal (“the goal of an angel”) that was immortalized in the song

- Read the Full entry

[See post to listen to audio] » Jorge Ben – Fio Maravilha [video] Live version

I want to close this one out for now… there is still lots of material from him, as Fredorrarci says, Jorge is mad about football… but for the moment here’s a closer:

[See post to listen to audio]
» Jorge Ben – Cade O Penalty

  A postscript though with a shout out to Any Major Dude With Half A Heart who coincidently …ah that coincidence… posted a Football and Music-related song (featuring Jorge Ben once more) – a song which Rod Stewart ripped off and called his own. Seriously he did.

Oh there’s where I saw the George Benson thing.

» A few months back I did something about the Producer/record label boss J.Saul Kane and his music output as Depth Charge. In that previous post the song (Goal) was influenced by and sampled the sounds of Brazilian soccer.

That single was released in 1990 in time to catch the World Cup fever and eight years later Mr Saul Kane tried again with this tribute to another (of the many) legendary Brazilian strikers:   Romário.

Only problem though was that just before the (1998) WC finals he had a muscle injury and never recovered in time to be selected. Thus pretty much killing the sales of this single:

[See post to listen to audio] » Depth Charge – Romario (Single Version) [See post to listen to audio] » Son of Rio Mix (Single Version) [See post to listen to audio] » Percussion Unit Mix

Extra Time: Found a YouTube video of some of his (reportedly 1000) goals set to music.
It is entitled “O Rei do Gol” (King of Goal).

Incidentally at 43 years old – He’s still playing.