# Clube da Esquina (album)

Clube da Esquina (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation:, in English "Corner Club") is a collaborative double album by Brazilian musicians Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges, associated with the eponymous musical movement. It became Nascimento's fifth studio album and Lô's first, after which Lô pursued a solo career.
The album is a mixture of MPB, baroque pop, and folk with elements of rock, psychedelia, jazz fusion, and classical music. Clube da Esquina explores themes of friendship, liberty and youth. Conceived at a time of political tension in dictatorial Brazil, the album faced resistance from EMI-Odeon over its double-album format. The cover, photographed by Carlos da Silva Assunção Filho, better known as Cafi, shows two boys, Cacau and Tonho, on a dirt road near Nova Friburgo, in the mountains of Rio de Janeiro, close to where Nascimento's adoptive parents lived.
Initially, Clube da Esquina was reviewed negatively due to critics not understanding the album's mixture of genres and influences, being described as "poor and disposable", though it was commercially successful both in Brazil and abroad. With the help of word of mouth and changing critical perceptions, the album started to acclaim positive reviews.
The album has received several awards and nominations from publications. It won in the Discoteca Básica  [pt] podcast, being voted as the greatest albums of Brazilian music, was nominated as the second best Brazilian album by the Eldorado FM radio audience and was nominated in the Brazilian Rolling Stone magazine, making it seventh in the list of 100 greatest albums of Brazilian music. Following its release, a sequel, Clube da Esquina 2, was released in 1978, expanding the original's collective discography, incorporating a broader range of collaborations. While sung mostly by Milton Nascimento, the album saw reduced involvement from Lô Borges and included contributions from various artists such as Elis Regina, Chico Buarque, and Francis Hime.

## Background

When Lô Borges was just ten years old, his mother asked him to go and buy eggs and milk. Instead of using the elevator, since he lived in a building on the 17th floor, he went downstairs as he liked to slide down the banisters. When he got to the street, Lô saw a young man in his twenties playing the guitar, Milton Nascimento and approached him, leading to a connection. Nascimento visited Lô's house and taught him guitar and composition. Three months later, while walking through the streets, Lô noticed a boy riding a scooter. Captivated by the scooter, he learned that the boy was Beto Guedes.
The Clube da Esquina musical movement emerged from the strong friendship between Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges and their brothers with the same surname; Márcio Borges [pt] and Marilton Borges [pt], on the corner of Divinópolis and Paraisópolis streets, in the Belo Horizonte neighborhood of Santa Tereza, during the 1960s. The meeting between Milton Nascimento and the Borges brothers took place in 1963 at the Levy Building, when Nascimento moved to the capital city Belo Horizonte to study and work. He had left Três Pontas, his hometown, where he played in the band W's Boys with pianist Wagner Tiso; with Marilton, he performed at night in the group Evolusamba. While composing and playing with his friends, Nascimento gained wider recognition after participating in the Brazilian Popular Music Festivals and having his song "Canção do sal" recorded by Elis Regina.

## Recording and production

Clube da Esquina was mostly recorded in the beach house of Piratininga, in the district of Mar Azul, Niterói, where long creative sessions and rehearsals took place, during which recordings were made in November 1971. The group stayed there for six months, while the final recordings took place both in Santa Tereza and in the bars of the city center or at the Borges brothers' house, as well as at Odeon Records' studio in Rio de Janeiro. Odeon Studios gave the Clube da Esquina collective several weeks to record, with long sessions spanning entire days and evenings, marked by an intense collaboration between the musicians, with lots of improvisation and experimentation.
The musicians alternated between roles, with Beto Guedes being the most active in the production of the album, playing 17 out of the 21 tracks, switching between bass and drums. Nascimento had selected the choosing on who would write the lyrics of each song according to his personal criterion. Márcio Borges and Fernando Brant worked on the lyrics, while musicians like Toninho Horta developed musical ideas. Orchestrations were handled primarily by Eumir Deodato and Wagner Tiso. During the recording at Odeon Studios, the album was recorded using analog techniques, with one channel dedicated to vocals and the other to instruments. This required a high level of precision, as any mistake meant restarting the recording from the beginning.
The idea of a double album initially faced resistance from the label, but despite initial resistance from the label, the album was released with the backing of EMI-Odeon. Before the release of Clube da Esquina, three album auditions were held in different places: at Márcio's house, Brant's house and filmmaker Schubert Magalhães' house. The military dictatorship in Brazil imposed various restrictions on cultural production, which led artists to exile or direct confrontation with censorship. Lô Borges says that "the dictatorship was one of the worst moments we lived, but we were able to keep focus on art, songs [and] the making of the album". Márcio says that, after the production of Clube da Esquina, Nascimento and Lô began to compose more and more, to the point where they seemed, in the his words, "a kind of hybrid, homogeneous, autochthonous entity, made up of two heads, four hands and two guitars". Toninho Horta described the album as "nectar, an oasis", with each song having something different, highlighting the importance of each participant's musical background. After the recording and production of Clube da Esquina, Lô Borges pursued a solo career.

## Composition

Clube da Esquina consists of 21 tracks that address themes such as friendship, liberty and youth, with strong presence of poetic elements. The track "Dos Cruces" is performed in Spanish, while the other tracks in the album are performed in Portuguese. Music critics have noticed it's unique fusion of musical styles, being characterized as a MPB, baroque pop and folk recording. It has also been described for having rock, psychedelia, bossa nova, jazz fusion, classical music and African-American music influences. Barbara Alge has interpreted the album as reflecting a spirit of artistic freedom in contrast to the authoritarianism during the military dictatorship in Brazil.
The group drew influences from various musical styles and genres, the Beatles and Chopin being two of the most influential sources. Clube da Esquina incorporated Brazilian rhythms, jazz, and MPB into their music, drawing inspiration from the Beatles' use of diverse influences. Nascimento grew up listening to many music genres such as traditional Brazilian music, rock, jazz, samba and bossa nova played on the radio, which incorporated guitars and keyboards into its music, reflecting the influence of rock and psychedelic music. Robert Dimery likened the recording as the Brazilian equivalent to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Andy Beta of Pitchfork likened it to Western classics such as Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde and the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St.

### Songs
#### Tracks 1–11

The opening track, "Tudo Que Você Podia Ser", presents a narrative of resignation in the face of military oppression, performed by Nascimento, which opens with a nylon-string guitar performed by Lô. The lyrics depict a young individual who, instead of resisting authoritarian rule, chooses to conform and abandon their aspirations. The song's themes reflect the broader sociopolitical climate of Brazil under dictatorship, where censorship and repression stifled dissent. "Cais", performed by Nascimento, explores themes of solitude, the lyrics suggesting a metaphorical harbor as a place of emotional refuge, contrasting the desire for freedom with an inherent sense of isolation. The song also features influences from composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos and jazz musicians such as John Coltrane and Bill Evans. "O Trem Azul", performed by Lô, is a love song that uses the image of a train to evoke the idea of departure. The song begins with a simple guitar accompanying letters that evoke reflection and inner search, dealing with questions of identity and the relationship of the individual with the world and nature. The track conveys a liberating sensation with almost psychedelic images, described as a "jazzy, pop rock hit with a feel-good air". Novabrasil's Lívia Nolla noticed that the mention of a "blue train" ("trem azul" in Portuguese) can be interpreted in various ways, serving as a symbol that invites multiple readings. It may represent a personal and introspective journey or, alternatively, a reference to everyday life, with the word "trem" ('train') used as slang in Minas Gerais for any object. Leandro Aguiar says that the term could also allude to when Lô smoked LSD and cannabis. The song has been likened with the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by writer Paulo Thiago de Mello.
"Saídas e Bandeiras Nº 1", performed by Nascimento and Beto Guedes, deals with the idea of displacement and search, both physical and symbolic. The letter suggests a desire to leave, explore new territories and find something valuable, evident in lines like: "Subir novas montanhas, diamantes procurar" ('Climb new mountains, search for diamonds'). "Nuvem Cigana", performed by Nascimento, explores the theme of a road as a space of possibilities. The lyrics use images of the sun and the wind to evoke movement, unpredictability, and freedom. The song follows a recurring motif in Clube da Esquina, where the road serves as a metaphor for life in motion and the transformations it brings. The opening of the song presents Beto Guedes playing a twelve-string electric guitar. The verse "pó, poeira, ventania" refers to the wind, described as "dust, powder [and] gusts of wind", reinforcing the idea of uncertainty, echoing Riobaldo's statement in the 1956 novel The Devil to Pay in the Backlands that "living is very dangerous". "Cravo e Canela", performed by both singers, is a song honored to Brazilian actress Dina Sfat, who had connections with Nascimento. Its samba-influenced arrangement differs from its earlier instrumental version on Paulo Moura's 1971 track "Fibra". The song was originally written for the 1970 film Of Gods and the Undead, though it was ultimately not included in the soundtrack. It has been described as a "samba in three", shifting the sphere of congada from Minas Gerais to the rhythmic universe of samba from Rio de Janeiro.
The longest track "Dos Cruces" is a 1952 Spanish bolero written by Basque composer Carmelo Larrea, recorded by Nascimento in his own interpretation. The song explores the theme of lost and forgotten love, with a melody that expresses pain and nostalgia. Milton Nascimento discovered the song while visiting Venezuela for the Buena Onda festival in 1971. There, he befriended three locals who introduced him to different parts of Caracas, including its poorer neighborhoods, and one of them played him "Dos Cruces". "Um Girassol Da Cor De Seu Cabelo", performed by Lô, addresses themes such as love, movement and permanence. The music presents a dilemma between leaving or staying, contrasting the feeling of love, which tends to root, with the road, that symbolizes movement and change. The lyrics were inspired by Márcio Borges' first wife, Duca Leal. According to Márcio, the song was written at the beginning of their relationship during a trip to the countryside of Minas Gerais. Despite its romantic nature, the lyrics have an existential and melancholic tone, blending themes of death and hallucination, evident in lines like: "Se eu morrer, não chore, não / É só a Lua" ('If I die don't you cry, no / It's just the Moon').
"San Vicente", performed by Nascimento, evokes Latin America of the time, with references to the Andes Mountains in flames, haunted by possibilities and fears. The lyrics bring images of the sweetness of chocolate and a taste of glass and cut, as well as mentioning revolution and oppression. The song was made for the play Os Convalescentes by playwright José Vicente de Paula, which metaphorically spoke about Brazil. "San Vicente" served as a metaphor for Brazil's sociopolitical state at the time, using poetic abstraction to express the anxieties of a generation caught between resistance and exile. Gerard Béhague describes the song as a "somewhat reminiscent of Chilean tonada style". "Estrelas", performed by Lô, is the shortest track, serving as an introduction to the next track "Clube da Esquina Nº 2". Followed by "Clube da Esquina Nº 2", performed by Nascimento, is a song that described as an expression of love and friendship between Nascimento and Lô, and both with music. The song began as an instrumental partnership between Nascimento and Lô, initially without lyrics and included in the album. The composition remained without lyrics for many years until, later on, the lyricist Márcio Borges wrote the words that completed the song.

#### Tracks 12–21

The track "Paisagem Da Janela", performed by Lô, is a composition by Fernando Brant that emerged from a particular experience during a trip by the Clube da Esquina members to Diamantina in July 1971, where they met former Brazilian president Juscelino Kubitschek. The lyrics are a reflection of this experience, evoking the idea of travel and movement, with a look on the road, the movement and the feeling of belonging. During their stay in a colonial hotel, Brant, inspired by the view from his window overlooking a church and the town's cemetery, wrote the lyrics overnight to a melody that Lô had composed. The song is described as the most "rock and roll" song Lô composed for the album. "Me Deixa em Paz", performed by Nascimento and Alaíde Costa, the song captures the sorrow of unreciprocated love, with verses like "Se você não me queria / Não devia me procurar" ('If you didn't want me / You shouldn't have looked for me'). The phrase "evitar a dor" ('avoiding the pain') signals a shift in texture, introducing a jazzier rhythm and a guitar solo by Nelson Angelo.
"Os Povos", performed by Nascimento, evokes the image of the cemetery and a dead city. Nascimento says that, in the same 1971 Venezuelan flight, he composed the songs "Os Povos" and "Um Gosto De Sol". Both songs are a tribute to his Venezuelan friends. The song is described as "a profound song that works perfectly in a storytelling rhythm". "Saídas e Bandeiras Nº 2" is the same song as "Saídas e Bandeiras Nº 1" from a musical perspective. The difference lies in the lyrics, with the second part complementing the first. Despite their similarity in interpretation, "Saídas e Bandeiras Nº 2" ends with an instrumental section that carries the song's rhythmic and harmonic flow. "Um Gosto De Sol", performed by Nascimento, explores the theme of the passage of time and the distance between the present and the past, expressing the feeling that life is fleeing and that memories are gone. The song presents an unusual structure that intersperses moments of intimacy with orchestral expansions. Alongside "Os Povos", the song is also a tribute to his Venezuelan Friends.
"Pelo Amor De Deus", performed by Nascimento, is described by Jonathon Grasse as "an experimental Brazilian ode to psychedelia", with a samba beat immersed in "a contentious sci-fi landscape of electric effects, crisp military snare drum rolls, and a polyrhythmic cowbell". The lyrics describe a character who visualizes various scenes, as in photos, in an almanac, during a supper or through a window. These scenes lead the character to exclaim the phrase "pelo amor de Deus" ('for the love of God'). The repetition of this exclamation at the end of the third stanza gains greater semantic and emotional emphasis with each repetition, with changes in melody and accompaniment. The song contains a layering of musical instruments mixed with the effect of Nascimento's voice and is the only song that uses an electric Rhodes piano. The instrumental track "Lilia", performed by Nascimento, is an art rock composition written by Milton Nascimento and dedicated to his mother. The arrangement blends diverse elements, from the percussion immersed in reverb to the asymmetrical groove shaped by Rubinho's hi-hat accents. Nascimento's wordless vocals emerge as a raw, melancholic cry, while Wagner Tiso's organ introduces a transition where Tavito's electric guitar joins in a looping pattern. Influenced by British art rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Yes, and Genesis, the song reflects the band's shared admiration for complex textures and unconventional structures.
"Trem De Doido", performed by Lô, is a rock track with electric qualities. The lyrics describe the subject's search for their place on the train, where they are no longer afraid of the roaming rats. The "train" is interpreted as a symbol of progress, change, and unstoppable force. It also represents a way to escape oppression and find one's own path. Conversely, the "rats" symbolize cowardice, filth, and oppression. They are seen as a threat to the subject's space in the song, invading their valuable object, the "house". The refrain, with backing vocals from Nascimento, Lô, and Guedes, contrasts with the arpeggio-driven accompaniment and Tiso's organ, while the hard rock texture includes a guitar solo inspired by former Led Zeppelin member Jimmy Page. The song has been likened by Grasse with the qualities of most tracks in the Beatles' White Album. "Nada Será Como Antes" features an accelerated martial march rhythm, emphasizing an optimistic tone. The lyrics portray a poet-traveler embarking on a journey, looking toward the future with hope and a belief that tomorrow will bring change, despite current struggles. The song was originally released in the context of the military dictatorship in Brazil, and journalist Artur Xexéo observes its political character, reflecting on the difficult moment of repression and farewells, as referred to in the verse "Qualquer dia a gente se vê" ('Someday we'll see each other'). The album closes with "Ao Que Vai Nascer", blending modal and tonal systems, with the first half featuring arpeggios on the guitar that create a "mysterious atmosphere". The lyrics, with a strong political charge, reflect on Brazil's future and were altered due to censorship. Originally mentioning the government Emílio Garrastazu Médici's slogan, the altered version criticizes the idealized "country of the future".

## Title, release and cover

Clube da Esquina was released in March 1972 as a double album on two LP records through EMI-Odeon, In the United States, it was released through Blue Note and Capitol, released as a cassette and CD. The double LP was quickly reprinted twice in 1972 and later reissued by EMI-Odeon in 1976, 1985, 1988 and 1989. The album's debut show took place in a place considered "weird" by Márcio Borges and Ronaldo Bastos. On stage, the musicians were not comfortable, some nervous, tense and unable to play well, while others, with the capacity limited by alcohol, stumbled in themselves, despite the restrictions on alcoholic beverages. The show was suspended due to participants' emotional problems, but was later relaunched with better promotion.
The title Clube da Esquina (lit. 'corner club') alludes to the meeting place for a friendship between musicians located on the corner of Divinópolis and Paraisópolis streets, in the Santa Tereza neighborhood of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. The origin of the name comes from a dialogue by Lô Borges: whenever he returned to Belo Horizonte, their friends would ask "where's Lô?" and his mother would say: "Ah, Lô is on the corner, he never leaves, at the place they call Clube da Esquina. Lô spends all his time playing the guitar there." Subsequently, the musical movement and album would be baptized Clube da Esquina. This club was where Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges, the Borges brothers and other artists from Minas Gerais met to share ideas, play music, for conversations and celebrations, particularly on weekend nights, with Lô Borges frequently playing the guitar there.
The album cover represents Antônio Carlos Rosa de Oliveira (a.k.a. Cacau) and José Antônio Rimes (a.k.a. Tonho) as children on a dirt road near Nova Friburgo, close to where Milton Nascimento's adoptive parents lived. Taken from inside a car, for the photographer who conceived it, Carlos da Silva Assunção Filho, better known as Cafi, from Recife, the album cover represented "the rurality of Clube da Esquina". Ronaldo Bastos says that "[the] photo was the following: We were in a little car, on a road like that, and there were two boys standing there. I stopped the car and said, I don't know if it was me or Cafi who said: 'Photograph this'. And he did, from the window, from inside the beetle; we took the picture and drove off. It was another photo of those photos we made—which then turned [into] a cover".
It was believed that the boys on the album cover were Nascimento and Wagner Tiso or Nascimento and Lô as children. In 2012, the two found out about the photo through the Minas Gerais newspaper Estado de Minas. The article was about the 40th anniversary of the album and found them to recreate the cover with Cacau and Tonho, now adults. Since then, they have been asking for R$500,000 in court for hedonic damages and misuse of the image. At first instance, in September 2023, the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice ruled in favor of Nascimento and Lô, the singers who had become defendants in the lawsuit filed by Cacau and Tonho over the album cover.

### Initial reception

   Just read a little of the trends obeyed by American and English popular music [and] you can see that there is a big mistake in all this. And the worst that begins to appear here are the imitations of the imitation of these "movements", which are nothing more than fads to increase sales.
Initial reviews for Clube da Esquina were evaluated negatively by Brazilian musical presses, with local and specialized music critics considering it "poor and disposable", but was commercially successful outside Brazil. Critics struggled to understand the mix of genres and influences, and the album was often compared unfavorably to the works of more established artists. According to Márcio Borges, he explains: "Naturally, the reviews were horrible. They wanted to compare Milton with Caetano and Chico Buarque, they didn't understand any of the inter-racial, international, interplanetary ecumenism proposed by Milton's timeless dissonances. They despised Chopin's findings and the Beatlemaniac zeal of Lô".
Fernando Spencer from Diário de Pernambuco described it as an "excelent album who come to confirm the composer's strength", saying that it is "one of the biggest releases in 1972". In Julio Hungria's Jornal do Brasil review, he expressed less enthusiasm, describing the album as "sensational [...] from beginning to end", but noting that "the sound[s] could get better". Paul Raebum from New Mexican newspaper Independent described the album as one of Nascimento's "finest records". American songwriter Walter Hyatt also named it one of his favorite albums by Nascimento, saying that "it may be the pinnacle of his artistic aspirations because it's just full of energy and ideas". Commercially, the album sold well and was available in American record shops with international sections. The album was also successful among students and drop-outs in general, and members of the group became commercially viable as a recording artist. Clube da Esquina debuted at number nine on 15 April 1972, peaking at number eight on 22 April 1972 and spent a total of five weeks at the IBOPE charts of Rio de Janeiro, reported by the Brazilian magazine Jornal do Brasil.

## Legacy and reappraisal

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Pitchfork | 9.5/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Times | |
Despite its initial minor success, Clube da Esquina, with the help of word of mouth and changing critical perceptions, underwent a national reassessment over time. Its unconventional style was initially met with skepticism, as critics found its approach difficult to categorize. However, as audiences and reviewers became more familiar with its sound, the album was met with mostly positive acclaim.
Alvaro Neder gave the album a score of five stars on AllMusic, hailing the album as "a must-have", praising its rich orchestrations by Eumir Deodato and Wagner Tiso under the direction of Paulo Moura. He noticed the album's deep connection to the Minas Gerais musical collective, featuring artists like Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges, and Toninho Horta, and noted that it "covers a great number of Clube da Esquina hits", including "Tudo Que Você Podia Ser", "Cais", and "O Trem Azul", all supported by "some of the best musicians in Brazil". Andy Beta, in his review for Pitchfork, gave the album an 9.5 out of 10, describing Clube da Esquina as "one of the most ambitious albums in Brazilian music history", highlighting its "uplifting and mystifying" qualities.
Will Hodgkinson, reviewing for The Times, gave the album a score of four out of five stars and noted that while the singer's "heavenly voice" had been affected by age, his presence alone justified revisiting the classic album. He described the album as "a message of hope" during Brazil's military dictatorship, blending "deep, haunting melodies" with elements of classical music, folk, bossa nova, and Western rock. Highlights included "Tudo Que Você Podia Ser" and "Nada Será Como Antes", with Hodgkinson comparing the melodies to "Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys, but with greater rhythmic complexity". Antônio do Amaral Rocha from the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone praised the album for its "creations outside the traditional molds" and for addressing "themes that were not very common", particularly its connection to South American reality.
The album was voted the seventh best Brazilian album of all time in a list published in October 2007 by the Brazilian Rolling Stone magazine. Clube da Esquina was included in the reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, published in 2010, as one of the few non-English-language albums. In September 2012, it was voted the second best Brazilian album by the audience of Eldorado FM radio, the Estadão.com portal and Caderno C2+Música (the latter two belonging to the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper). In April 2022, Spin ranked the album 19th in its list of the 50 best albums of 1972. In May 2022, the album was voted the Greatest Brazilian Album of All Time by the Discoteca Básica  [pt] podcast, which was listened to 162 experts. In 2024, the album was ranked ninth by the Paste magazine on its list of the 300 greatest albums of all time.
In 1978, EMI-Odeon released Clube da Esquina 2, serving as a continuation for the album and the musical movement. The album maintained the collective approach, stylistic variety, and experimental aspects of its predecessor, spanning two LPs with 23 tracks. It included a wider range of national artists collaborating to the album, such as Elis Regina, Chico Buarque, and Francis Hime. The album also connects to its predecessor through song continuations or the recurrence of similar musical elements. Nascimento mentioned in an interview in 2013 that his 1994 album Angelus could be considered a "Clube da Esquina 3". In 2017, rapper Djonga used the album cover as a reference for the cover of his debut album, Heresia, but instead of the children, we see the rapper himself on the cover.

## Track listing

All songs performed by Milton Nascimento or Lô Borges.

## Personnel

The process of creating Clube da Esquina attributes the following credits:
* 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 – lead vocals (tracks 3, 6, 8, 10, 12, 19), acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 10), rhythm guitar (tracks 3, 19), electric guitar (tracks 9, 11), 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 – lead vocals (track 4, 15), bass (tracks 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 12, 15, 21), 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)

### Studio production

* Paulo Moura – conducting
* Jorge Teixeira, Nivaldo Duarte and Zilmar de Araújo – recording engineering
* Cafi – photography and layout
* Lindolfo Gaya – musical direction
* Juvena Pereira – photography
* Milton Miranda – production direction
* Milton Nascimento – music supervision

## Charts

Weekly charts for Clube da Esquina :
| Country — Chart (1972) | Peak position |
| Brazil (IBOPE) | 8 |

## Accolades

| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
| Rolling Stone Brasil | Brazil | 100 Greatest Brazilian Music Records | 2007 | 7 |
| Eldorado FM radio | Brazil | The 30 Best Brazilian Albums | 2012 | 2 |
| Spin | United States | The 50 Best Albums of 1972 | 2022 | 12 |
| Discoteca Básica | Brazil | 500 Greatest Brazilian Music Records | 2022 | 1 |
| Paste | United States | The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time | 2024 | 9 |