A Tábua de Esmeralda

The alchemy album: songs about Hermes Trismegistus, Paracelsus and Nicolas Flamel, the last of his records built on acoustic guitar, and his own favorite.
Jorge Ben Jor, 1974

Released
May 1974
Label
Philips
Producer
Paulinho Tapajós
Length
40:06

Play on hypersongs

Around Christmas 1973, Ben and Gilberto Gil visited the old Paris house of Nicolas Flamel, the medieval scrivener whom legend made an alchemist, and Ben has said the two of them saw something there. The record that followed takes its title from the Emerald Tablet, the founding text of Western alchemy, and its songs are about alchemists (Os Alquimistas Estão Chegando os Alquimistas), Paracelsus (O Homem da Gravata Florida) and Flamel himself, alongside love songs and Zumbi, about the leader of the runaway-slave republic of Palmares. Ben promoted it on TV Globo's Fantástico surrounded by costumed alchemists.

It was the last of his albums built mainly on acoustic guitar. Rolling Stone Brasil ranked it the sixth greatest Brazilian album in 2007, and Paulo da Costa e Silva wrote a book about it for Cobogó's O Livro do Disco series. BBC News Brasil described it in 2024 as perhaps the most cult of his records.

Track listing

  1. Os Alquimistas Estão Chegando os Alquimistas3:15
  2. O Homem da Gravata Florida3:05
  3. Errare Humanum Est4:50
  4. Menina Mulher da Pele Preta2:57
  5. Eu Vou Torcer3:15
  6. Magnólia3:14
  7. Minha Teimosia, Uma Arma pra Te Conquistar2:41
  8. Zumbi3:31
  9. Brother2:54
  10. O Namorado da Viúva2:03
  11. Hermes Trismegisto e Sua Celeste Tábua de Esmeralda5:30
  12. Cinco Minutos2:57

More from Jorge Ben Jor

Jorge Ben (1969), Ben (1972), África Brasil (1976), Ao Vivo no Rio (1991)

Where to go next

Writing and criticism

Sources

  1. A Tábua de Esmeralda, Wikipedia
  2. Os códigos 'secretos' da alquimia escondidos em disco de Jorge Ben Jor, BBC News Brasil (2024-04-23)