Description

The cover of Clube da Esquina shows two boys sitting by a dirt road near Nova Friburgo, in the mountains of Rio de Janeiro state, close to where Milton Nascimento's adoptive parents lived. It was not posed. The photographer Cafi, Carlos da Silva Assunção Filho from Recife, was travelling by car in 1971 with lyricist Ronaldo Bastos, who recalled stopping and saying "Photograph this." Cafi took the picture through the window. He later said the image represented "the rurality of Clube da Esquina." Juvena Pereira is also credited for the album's photography.

The double album came out on EMI-Odeon in March 1972 with no names or title on the front, only the two boys. For decades many people assumed they were Nascimento and a childhood friend, Wagner Tiso or Lô Borges. The real story only emerged in March 2012, when the Minas Gerais newspaper Estado de Minas tracked them down, known in the press as Cacau and Tonho, and asked them to recreate the photograph for the album's 40th anniversary. Until then they had not known they were on the cover.

The discovery led to a lawsuit. In December 2012 the two sued Nascimento, Borges and EMI for use of their image, asking for R$500,000. In September 2023 the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice ruled in favour of the musicians, finding that the claim fell outside the statute of limitations.

Credit

Photography by Cafi (Carlos da Silva Assunção Filho) and Juvena Pereira