Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – What Now My Love (1966)

Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the Billboard 200 chart, five of which became No. 1 albums; he has had 14 platinum albums and 15 gold albums. Alpert is the only musician to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 as both a vocalist (“This Guy’s in Love with You”, 1968) and an instrumentalist (“Rise”, 1979).

Alpert has reportedly sold 72 million records worldwide. He has received many accolades, including a Tony Award, and eight Grammy Awards, as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Alpert was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Barack Obama in 2013.

With this album, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass settle into their hitmaking groove, the once strikingly eclectic elements of Dixieland, pop, rock, and mariachi becoming more smoothly integrated within Alpert’s infectious “Ameriachi” blend. They sound more like a band; along with Alpert’s now-indelibly stamped trumpet sound, you can recognize jazzman John Pisano’s distinctive rhythm guitar, Lou Pagani’s piano, the droll Bob Edmondson’s dulcet trombone, etc. Pisano, who debuted as a composer on Going Places, comes up with a memorably whistleable song, “So What’s New,” and the rest of Alpert’s songwriting brigade (Ervan Coleman, Julius Wechter, and Sol Lake) chime in with some lively, catchy tunes. There is also an assortment of pop, film, and Broadway standards of the day, all impeccably arranged by Alpert, whose production instincts grew sharper and surer with every release. The result is another highly entertaining hit LP, one that stayed at number one longer than any other Tijuana Brass album (nine weeks). (by Richard S. Ginell)

Personnel:
Herb Alpert (trumpet, vocals)
Nick Ceroli (drums)
Bob Edmondson (trombone)
Tonni Kalash (trumpet)
Lou Pagani (piano)
John Pisano (guitar)
Pat Senatore (bass)

Tracklist:
01. What Now My Love (Bécaud/Sigman) 2.20
02. Freckles (Coleman) 2.15
03. Memories Of Madrid (Lake) 2.42
04. It Was A Very Good Year (Drake) 3.42
05. So What’s New? (Pisano) 2.13
06. Plucky (Alpert/Pisano) 2.44
07. Magic Trumpet (Kaempfert) 2.22
08. Cantina Blue (Lake) 2.38
09. Brasilia (Wechter) 2.32
10. If I Were A Rich Man (Harnick/Bock) 2.38
11. Five Minutes More (Styne/Cahn) 1.56
12. The Shadow Of Your Smile (Mandel/Webster) 3.31

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More from Herb Alpert:

The official website:

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – Sounds Like… (1967)

Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935, in Los Angeles, California) is an American trumpeter who led the Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the Billboard 200 chart, five of which became No. 1 albums; he has had 14 platinum albums and 15 gold albums. Alpert is the only musician to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 as both a vocalist (“This Guy’s in Love with You”, 1968) and an instrumentalist (“Rise”, 1979).

Alpert has reportedly sold 72 million records worldwide. He has received many accolades, including a Tony Award, and eight Grammy Awards, as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, he was inducted as into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Alpert was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Barack Obama in 2013. (wikipedia)

Sounds Like… is a 1967 album by the instrumental group Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, the group’s eighth.

According to liner notes in the 2006 Shout!Factory CD release, the title theme for the 1967 James Bond spoof Casino Royale was originally recorded with vocals, but Bacharach was dissatisfied with the recording. He sent the tapes to Herb Alpert, who overdubbed some trumpets and some Tijuana Brass instruments (most prominently marimba and percussion) and sent the song back to Bacharach. This version, with the Bacharach orchestra, rather than the Brass members, providing most of the backing, is the one included on the Sounds Like… album.

The song “Wade in the Water” was also a popular concert number, according to Alpert, and was featured in the group’s first television special in 1967 (wikipedia)

For one week in June 1967, Sounds Like was able to break the Monkees’ 31-week hammerlock on the number one slot on the charts — just two weeks before the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper took over and changed the world. This shows, lest you forget — and many have — just how popular Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass were, still spanning the generations during the Summer of Love, still putting out records as fresh and musical and downright joyous as this one. Though not as jazz-flavored as S.R.O., Sounds Like does preserve the feeling, particularly in the extended vamps on an updated slave song, “Wade in the Water” (a hit single). “Gotta Lotta Livin’ to Do” settles you into the record with nothing but a long vamp — a daring production decision. Yet Alpert was on a roll; everything he tried in the TJB’s heyday seemed to work. The lesser-known tunes back-loaded on side two are a string of pearls — John Pisano’s appropriately titled bossa nova “The Charmer,” Roger Nichols’ tense “Treasure of San Miguel,” Ervan Coleman’s catchy “Miss Frenchy Brown.” Finally, Alpert takes a flyer and concludes the LP with an extravagant Burt Bacharach orchestration of his theme from the film Casino Royale — an artifact of ’60s pop culture, to be sure, but still a perfectly structured record. (by Richard S. Ginell)

Personnel:
Herb Alpert (trumpet, vocals)
Nick Ceroli (drums, percussion)
Bob Edmondson (trombone)
Tonni Kalash (trumpet)
Lou Pagani (keyboards)
John Pisano (guitar, mandolin)
Pat Senatore (bass)

Single front + backcover:
Tracklist:
01. Gotta Lotta Livin’ To Do (Strouse/Adams) 2.48
02. Lady Godiva (Leander/Mills) 2.07
03. Bo-Bo (Lake) 3.04
04. Shades Of Blue (Wechter) 2.44
05. In A Little Spanish Town (Wayne/Lewis/Young) 1.54
06. Wade In The Water (Alpert/Edmondson/Pisano) 3.04
07. Town Without Pity (Tiomkin/Washington) 2.15
08. The Charmer (Pisano) 2.13
09. Treasure Of San Miguel (Nichols) 2.14
10. Miss Frenchy Brown (Coleman) 2.27
11. Casino Royale (David/Bacharach) 2.35

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The inlets:

More from Herb Alpert:

The official website:

Herb Alpert & Hugh Masekela – Same (1978)

Herb Alpert / Hugh Masekela is collaborative studio album by Herb Alpert and Hugh Masekela. It was recorded in Hollywood, California and released in 1978 via A&M Records and Horizon Records labels.

A mustachioed Herb Alpert breaks out of his ’70s blue funk to fuse himself with fellow horn player Hugh Masekela and producer/pianist Caiphus Semenya in a magnificent LP of South African/American pop/jazz. From the joyous opening strains of the South African oldie “Skokiaan,” to the haunting groove of “Moonza,” Alpert wholeheartedly melts into Masekela’s distinctive idiom, his trumpet a relaxed foil for the South African exile’s blazing flügelhorn. But Masekela can also lean the other way, joining Alpert in TJB-like dual harmony on “Ring Bell.” The band is mostly a coterie of L.A. sessionmen, but they can swing along to the township jive pretty well, and they have some excellent musical material (mostly by Semenya) to work with. Alpert sounds like he’s having more fun making music than he has in a long time. (by Richard S. Ginell)

I got this album on vinyl when it first came out in the late 1970s, but lost my copy (along with the equipment needed to play it) in the flooding from Hurricane Katrina. I was reminded of how much I missed it when I heard on the radio a few minutes ago a version of one of the songs from it (“Skokiaan”) by local (New Orleans) trumpeter Kermit Ruffins. Ruffins is a great guy and a capable player, but his “Skokiaan” can’t hold a candle to the version done all those years ago by Alpert and Masekela.

At the time I first heard this album, I was the music editor of an Atlanta publication called “Creative Loafing.” In that capacity, I received dozens of free review copies of records and the opportunity to go out practically every night for club and concert performances, at no cost to me. Naturally, after a while I became as jaded about music as a prostitute probably does about sex. It took a lot to get me enthused about a record or a performance.

In that context, “Herb Alpert/Hugh Masekela” managed to get my attention and win my affection with its irresistibly infectious combination of sunny melodies and African rhythms. Not quite jazz, but not fitting neatly into any other musical pigeonhole, either, this music has the power to transport the listener to an African savannah on a cloudless day, there to watch water buffalo leisurely enjoying a watering hole while gazelles cavort nearby. There’s a purity and simplicity about tunes like “Ring Bell,” “Happy Hanna,” and “African Summer” that makes them timeless, and they’re played with an apparently effortless ease. American Alpert and South African partner Masekela (along with their stellar bandmates) simply sound as if they were born to make music together. They sound as if they were born to make THIS music together.

Dutch labels:

In a nutshell, the music on this record is a perfect respite from a world rife with economic distress and cynical political wrangling. The world truly NEEDS this kind of music right now, but no one’s playing stuff quite like this these days. That’s why it’s criminal that this record is out of print, and used CD copies start at $78.00. (Walter Bonam)

Personnel:
Herb Alpert (flugelhorn, trumpet, background vocals)
Hotep Cecil Barnard (piano)
Paulinho da Costa (percussion)
Chuck Domanico (bass)
James Gadson (drums)
Hugh Masekela (flugelhorn)
Caiphus Semenya (piano, background vocals)
Ian Underwood (synthesizer)
+
guitar:
Arthur Adams – Freddie Harris – Lee Ritenour
+
Michael Boddicker (synthesizer on 06.)
Craig Hindley (synthesizer on 04.)
Louis Johnson (bass on 01.)
Tommy Tedesco (guitar on 05.) (tracks: 5)
Carlos Vega (drums on 05.)
Spider Webb (drums on 06.)
+
french horn:
Marylin L. Robinson – Sidney Isaac Muldrow
+
trombone:
Donald Cooke – George Bohanon – Maurice Spears
+
background vocals:
Hugh Masekela – Lani Hall – Letta Mbulu

Tracklist:
01. Skokiaan (Glazer/Msarurgwa) 3.46
02. Moonza (Semenya/Alpert) 4.43
03. Ring Bell (Weiss/Ragovoy) 3.29
04. Happy Hanna (Semenya/Barnard) 5.04
05. El Lobo (The Wolf) (Lobo) 7.24
06. African Summer (Semenya) 3.23
07. I’ll Be There For You (Semenya) 7.08

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Herb Alpert – Tijuana Christmas Album (1968)

Christmas Album is a late-1968 album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. It was the group’s eleventh release. The LP edition of the album was issued twice. The original edition had the cover photography filling the front and back sides of the album jacket. For the reissue, the photos were reduced to half size and placed in the center of a white background. Although the Brass’ albums were out of print for a good many years, the Christmas Album was released on CD in the 1980s (with the CD release sporting the altered cover artwork), with annual reappearances in record stores at Christmastime. The album was re-released again on CD by the Shout!Factory label in 2006 as were many of the other Tijuana Brass albums. The Shout!Factory release restored the original artwork to the front cover and featured the original back cover on the included CD booklet. Another CD re-release occurred on October 23, 2015 (Herb Alpert Presents label, remastered), this time restoring the original artwork to the front and back.

The album contains a mixture of popular Christmas-season music, mostly American secular standards. Exceptions include the Bach piece “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” and a traditional Hispanic number, “Las Mañanitas.” The latter song’s arrangement, provided by marimbist Julius Wechter, is near identical to one used by Wechter’s Baja Marimba Band several years earlier, on their 1965 album For Animals Only. The songs’s title literally means “The Little Mornings;” the song is traditionally sung on the morning of one’s birthday celebration, or the day of a religious figure such as a saint (or, in this case, Jesus).

The cover features the image of Alpert, who is Jewish, dressed as Santa Claus while playing his trumpet. (by wikipedia)

I trace my eclectic Christmas music tastes to my childhood. My parents had some Christmas albums they’d pull out every year. As a result, these albums, by artists I haven’t heard of anywhere else, are so ingrained in me that the first few notes immediately make me think of Christmas past. This is one of those albums.

Originally released in 1968, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’s holiday offering was a hit, reaching the #1 spot three Christmases in a row. It’s been out of print for many years except for a brief issue on CD until this year, when it was released as part of the Herb Alpert Signature Series. It’s been fully restored and includes a booklet talking about the release.

So what about the music? This is a mostly instrumental recording featuring Herb on the trumpet and the drums, guitars, and maracas of the band as well. This makes for unique arrangements of the classic songs. I guarantee you have nothing like this in your collection.

I say mostly instrumental because a choir is involved. Mostly, they hum the melody for a few measures and then let the band take over, sometimes coming in later to highlight the melody again. In addition, Herb sings on two songs. His version of “The Christmas Song” isn’t going to top anyone lists of favorite versions, but is good. I’ve only heard “The Bell that Couldn’t Jingle” here, but this time Herb’s vocals are better suited to the song. It’s a fun little number about Santa and Jack Frost helping a Bell find his jingle again.

And fun best describes the arrangements on this disc. The choir opens with a few a cappella measures of “Winter Wonderland,” then the band takes over with a samba arrangement that will be sure to have you dancing. The samba rhythm applies to “Jingle Bells” as well. “My Favorite Things” is probably the most original song here (and also a huge hit at the time of original release). It features several breaks and changes in tempo. You have to listen closely sometimes to follow the melody of all of these songs, but the music is so much fun to listen to, you’ll be tapping your toes or dancing along before you know it.

The samba rhythm is still going strong for “Sleigh Ride,” but they slow things down and switch to more jazz inspired arrangements for the final three songs. “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” is especially unique because the choir hums the melody throughout to the accompaniment of the band.

This album is not for everyone, but if you like something different to break up the monotony that can set in come December 20th, this is a CD to check out. I am so glad it is back in print so I can once again enjoy it for many Christmases to come. (by Mark Baker)

Personnel:
Herb Alpert (trumpet, vocals)
Nick Ceroli (drums, percussion)
Bob Edmondson (trombone)
Tonni Kalash (trumpet)
Lou Pagani (keyboards)
John Pisano (guitars/mandolin)
Pat Senatore (bass)
+
Julius Wechter (percussion)
+
unknown choir

Tracklist:
01. Winter Wonderland (Smith/Bernard) 3.07
02. Jingle Bells (Pierpont) 3.13
03. My Favorite Things (Rodgers/Hammerstein) 3.08
04. The Christmas Song (Tormé/Wells) 3.43
05. Las Mañanitas (Traditional) 3.01
06. Sleigh Ride (Anderson) 4.04
07. The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle (Bacharach/Kusik) 2.59
08. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (Cahn/Styne) 3.49
09. Jingle Bell Rock (Beale/Boothe) 1.54
10. Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring (Bach) 3.26

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Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – Warm (1969)

Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American jazz musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, or TJB. Alpert is also a recording industry executive, the “A” of A&M Records, a recording label he and business partner Jerry Moss founded and eventually sold to PolyGram. Alpert also has created abstract expressionist paintings and sculpture over two decades, which are publicly displayed on occasion. Alpert and his wife, Lani Hall, are substantial philanthropists through the operation of the Herb Alpert Foundation.

Alpert’s musical accomplishments include five No. 1 albums and 28 albums total on the Billboard Album chart, nine Grammy Awards, fourteen platinum albums, and fifteen gold albums. Alpert has sold 72 million records worldwide. Alpert is the only recording artist to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop chart as both a vocalist (“This Guy’s in Love with You”, 1968) and an instrumentalist (“Rise”, 1979)

Warm is a 1969 album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. It was the group’s twelfth release and their final album to reach the top 40 on the Billboard albums chart. Warm was a vast departure from all previous Tijuana Brass albums and featured much slower-paced songs leaning more toward a “Brazilian” sound. At this point in his career, Alpert had grown tired of the music the band was playing feeling that it was repetitive and wanted to try a different direction. The opening track “The Sea Is My Soil” was one of the longest songs ever released by the Tijuana Brass running four and a half minutes, while three songs on the album featured lead vocals by Alpert (“Without Her,” “Zazuiera,” and “To Wait For Love”). All three vocal tracks were released as singles. The album received mixed reviews during its initial release but has since become a favorite of many Tijuana Brass fans. (by wikipedia)

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass shed almost all of the dust of Tijuana on this mellow, richly textured album; one reviewer at the time wrote that Alpert seemed to have exchanged bullrings for wedding rings. Lest one think that the TJB came down with a terminal case of the warm fuzzies, though, there are some selections here that sizzle — particularly the old standard “The Continental” — and in terms of arrangements and song selection, the accent falls on Brazil more than on any other TJB album.

Shorty Rogers again was called in to provide voices and orchestrations, but he is more tasteful here than on the Christmas Album, the extreme dynamic range on Harry Nilsson’s “Without Her” notwithstanding. A different take of “To Wait for Love” — the lovely, Bacharach-penned, Alpert-sung follow-up to “This Guy’s in Love with You” from 1968 — is included here, as is the fine single “Zazueira.” Yet Warm was the first non-seasonal TJB album in some time that couldn’t crack the Top 20, for the Brass’ cross-generational appeal was fading fast. (by Richard S. Ginell)

Perssonnel:
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

Tracklist:
01. The Sea Is My Soul (Caymmi/Mota) 4.31
02. Without Her (Nilsson) 3.24
03. Marjorine (Lake) 3.07
04. Girl Talk (Hefti/Troup) 2.54
05. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (Lennon/McCartney) 1.59
06. Zazueira (Ben) 3.15
07. The Continental (Magidson/Conrad) 2.07
08. Pretty World (Adolfo/Gaspar/A.Bergman/M.Bergman) 3.47
09. Warm (Wechter) 2.34
10. To Wait For Love (Bacharach/David) 2.59
11. Sandbox (Pisano) 3.24

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More from Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass:

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass – The Brass Are Comin'(1969)

The Brass Are Comin’ is a 1969 album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. It was the group’s thirteenth release and marked the first time in the group’s history that one of their albums did not certify gold. However, the album did peak at number 30 in the top 40 on the Billboard albums chart. The Brass Are Comin’ was the last album recorded by the Tijuana Brass before the group disbanded in December 1969. The album also spawned a television special with the same name that aired on NBC on October 29, 1969.  Clips from the television special can be seen on the album’s double-fold cover. Unlike the previous Warm album which featured much slower-paced songs leaning more toward a “Brazilian” sound, The Brass Are Comin’ featured a western-theme with faster-paced songs. “Good Morning, Mr. Sunshine” became one of the most recognized Tijuana Brass songs from this album and was among the last Mexican-flavored songs recorded by the group [3]. After completing this album and the subsequent television special, the group embarked on a European tour which marked the last public performances of the original TJB. (by wikipedia)

Coinciding with another television special, this is the unofficial “last ride” of the original TJB. Some trademark arrangements are featured on this album, including Henry Mancini’s “Moon River”, “Sunny”, and the Lennon/McCartney tune “I’ll Be Back”). “Good Morning, Mr. Sunshine” has to be one of the best TJB tracks on record, and the last truly Mexican-flavored song they would ever record. Most of the originals have a bouncy country & western flavor to them, perfect for punctuating barroom brawls and Brass riding into town. (by larrylevinerecordingengineer.com)

Another fine album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass with a real great cover …

Personnel:
Herb Alpert (trumpet, vocals)
Nick Ceroli (drums)
Bob Edmondson (trombone)
Tonni Kalash (trumpet)
John Pisano (guitar)
Lou Pagani (piano)
Pat Senatore (bass)
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“Sunny” and “Good Morning, Mr. Sunshine” orchestrated by Shorty Rogers
“You Are My Life” and “Moon River” orchestrated by Dave Grusin

Tracklist:
01. The Brass Are Comin’ (The Little Train Of Caipira) (Villa-Lobos) 2.06
02. Good Morning, Mr. Sunshine (Mills/Roth) 2.39
03. Country Lake (Lake) 2.58
04. I’ll Be Back (Lennon/McCartney) 3.19
05. Moon River (Mancini)Mercer) 2.58
06. The Maltese Melody (Kaempfert/Rehbein) 2.20
07. Sunny (Hebb) 3.09
08. I’m An Old Cowhand (From The Rio Grande) (Mercer) 2.42
09. Anna (Engvick/Vatro/Giordano) 2.39
10. Robbers And Cops (Wechter) 2.20
11. Moments (Pisano) 2.47
12. You Are My Life (Sarstedt) 3.21

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More Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – Por El Camino De Mexico (South Of The Border) (1964)

South of the Border is the third album by American easy listening brass band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, originally released in 1964. The name of the group, for this album, is “Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass”.South of the Border is the third album by American easy listening brass band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, originally released in 1964. The name of the group, for this album, is “Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass”.
Alpert’s first top ten hit, and fifth gold record, the album continued the progression of the Tijuana Brass from its mostly-Mexican sound to a more easy-listening style, with a collection of cover versions of popular songs. Included were “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face”, originally featured in the Broadway musical My Fair Lady and The Beatles’ 1963 hit “All My Loving”. It also featured an instrumental cover of its title song, “South of the Border”, which was most famously done as a vocal by Frank Sinatra.
“Hello, Dolly!” had the band singing a couple of lines of the mostly-instrumental rendition, in what might now be considered stereotyping, using mock-Mexican accents. Alpert’s distinctive singing voice was not discernible in that portion. Also, in some versions, he can be heard whispering “Número Cinco”, effecting a Mexican accent, at the start of that song’s track.

One number, a Sol Lake tune called “The Mexican Shuffle”, was reworked for a TV ad for a brand of chewing gum, and styled “The Teaberry Shuffle”. Bert Kaempfert, author of several songs covered by the Brass, returned the favor by issuing a cover of “The Mexican Shuffle”. The number called “El Presidente”, was a reorchestration of Sol Lake’s “Winds of Barcelona”, which had appeared on Volume 2.
The cover features Alpert and perennial HATB model Sandra Moss at the Patio del Moro apartment complex in West Hollywood.

Herb Alpert was still using an array of SoCal studio all-stars as his Tijuana Brass when South of the Border (1964) began to restore the combo’s good name after the modest Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, Vol. 2 (1963) failed to ignite a fire in listener’s ears. Alpert later commented that the Sol Lake composition “Mexican Shuffle” “opened a new door for me.” That passageway meant the loss of the Tijuana Brass’ practically forced mariachi style and the rise of Alpert’s approach in arranging familiar melodies in fresh, creative settings. Nowhere would this stylistic progression be as pronounced as in the horn-driven updates of several then-concurrent chart hits. For instance, the mod sonic wrinkle in “Girl from Ipanema” emits a darkness veiled in mystery, directly contrasting the light buoyancy of “Hello! Dolly” or the footloose feel of the Beatles’ “All My Loving.” They seamlessly fit in with Sol Lake’s “Salud, Amor y Dinero” and a cover of Julius Wechter’s playful, midtempo “Up Cherry Street” — which Wechter’s own Baja Marimba Band had just recorded for their 1964 self-titled debut.

The ballads “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face,” “Angelito,” and “Adios, Mi Corazon” provide contrasts with Alpert’s sensitive scores never seeming maudlin or unnecessarily over the top. If the regal “El Presidente” sounds particularly familiar, it may well be due to Alpert’s slight renovation of the “Winds of Barcelona” from the Tijuana Brass’ previous effort, the less than impressive Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, Vol. 2. It was renamed “El Presidente,” presumably to honor the then-recent memory of the slain U.S. leader John Fitzgerald Kennedy. (by Lindsay Planer)

In other word: Another pretty good album by Herb Alpert ! My copy was especially produced for the Spanisch record market …

The EP:

Personnel:
Herb Alpert (trumpet, vovals)
Nick Ceroli (drums)
Bob Edmondson (trombone)
Tonni Kalash (trumpet)
Lou Pagani (piano)
John Pisano (guitar)
Pat Senatore (bass)

Tracklist:
01. Al Sur De La Frontera (South Of The Border) (Kennedy/Carr) 2.07
02. La Chica De Ipanema (The Girl from Ipanema) (Gimbel/Jobim)de Moraes) 2.39
03. Hello, Dolly! (Herman) 1.57
04. Me Acostumbre A Ti (‘ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face (Lerner/Loewe) 2.27
05. En La Calle Del Cerezo (Up Cherry Street) (Wechter) 2.19
06. Mexican Shuffle (Lake) 2.10
07. El Presidente (Lake) 2.40
08. Todo Mi Amor (All My Loving) (Lennon/McCartney) 1.57
09. Angelito (Herrera/Ornelas) 2.23
10. Salud, Amor y Dinero (Health, Love and Money) (Lake) 2.06
11. Número Cinco (Number Five) (Coleman) 2.18
12. Adiós, Mi Corazón (Goodbye, My Heart) (Lake) 2.40

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The original US front cover:

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – The Beat Of The Brass (1968)

The Beat of the Brass is the tenth album release by the popular 1960s instrumental group Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. The album was released on the heels of a television special by the same title (telecast April 22, 1968 over CBS). Tom Mankiewicz, who wrote the special, also provided two paragraphs of liner notes for the album. Explaining the concept behind the album, Mankiewicz writes, “The beat of America is more than a musical experience. It finds its pulse and rhythms in the very life of the country: the crack of a bat against a baseball, the spinning wheels and pounding machinery of a modern factory, a swinging crowd in New Orleans at Mardi Gras, a saddle twisting desperately against his rider…”[2]

It includes Alpert’s only major vocal hit, “This Guy’s In Love With You”, which became an overnight success due to its inclusion during the special, in a sequence featuring Herb and his (first) wife, Sharon. (by wikipedia)

Meant as the companion album to a Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass television special of the same name and packaged in a fancy double-fold LP jacket, The Beat of the Brass came out amid signs that Alpert’s hot streak was finally beginning to run out. Not quite. Viewer requests for a new Burt Bacharach song, “This Guy’s in Love with You” — featuring an Alpert vocal — were so strong that A&M released it as a single, which shot up to number one and took The Beat of the Brass with it to the top.

Herb’s vocal is touching in its strained naïveté; he sounds sincere, and that overrides the lush, overbearing Bacharach orchestral arrangement. The rest of the album generated an often nostalgic quality then and now; the tunes by John Pisano and Sol Lake are exquisite, and Alpert’s arrangements of songs like “Thanks for the Memory” seem autumnal in quality, as if an era were about to close. The band still has the ability to groove; the vamp on Julius Wechter’s bossa nova “Panama,” with Wechter’s jazzy vibes and Pisano’s strong rhythm guitar, could have been stretched to half an hour. Yet Alpert’s trumpet sounds a bit withered at times, and the band vocals and cloying children’s chorus on “Talk to the Animals” could be done without. (by Richard S. Ginell)

Personnel:
Herb Alpert (trumpet, vocals)
Nick Ceroli (drums)
Bob Edmondson (trombone)
Tonni Kalash (trumpet)
Lou Pagani (piano)
John Pisano (guitar)
Pat Senatore (bass)

Tracklist:
01. Monday, Monday (J.Phillips/M.Phillips) 3.08
02. A Beautiful Friend (Lake) 3.17
03. Cabaret (Ebb/Kander) 2.38
04. Panama (Wechter) 3.36
05. Belz Mein Shtetele Belz (My Home Town) (Jacobs/Olshanetsky) 2.14
06. Talk To The Animals (Bricusse) 2.14
07. Slick (Alpert/Pisano) 3.29
08. She Touched Me (Lake) 2.58
09. Thanks For The Memory (Robin/Rainger) 2.05
10. The Robin (Pisano) 2.22
11. This Guy’s In Love With You (Bacharach/David) 3.55

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Much more albums from this time by A & M Records

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – Viva Acapulco (1968)

Herbert “Herb” Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, or TJB. Alpert is also a recording industry executive, the “A” of A&M Records, a recording label he and business partner Jerry Moss founded and eventually sold to PolyGram. Alpert also has created abstract expressionist paintings and sculpture over two decades, which are publicly displayed on occasion. Alpert and wife, Lani Hall, are substantial philanthropists through the operation of the Herb Alpert Foundation.

Alpert’s musical accomplishments include five No. 1 albums and 28 albums total on the Billboard Album chart, nine Grammy Awards, fourteen platinum albums, and fifteen gold albums.[1] As of 1996, Alpert had sold 72 million albums worldwide. Alpert is the only recording artist to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop chart as both a vocalist (“This Guy’s in Love with You”, 1968), and an instrumentalist (“Rise”, 1979). (by wikipedia)

This is just a sampler for the German record market but it´s a real good one, because Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass were a high-class easy listening orchestra … listen to tracks like “Wade In The Water”, “Jerusalem” or “Slick” and you will know what I mean.

Personnel:
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

Tracklist:
01. I’m Getting Sentimental Over You (Bassman) 2.12
02. To Wait For Love (Bacharach/David) 2.42
03. Swinger From Seville (Alpert) 2.33
04. Lady Godiva (Mills/Leander) 2.09
05. Acapulco 1922 (Allan) 2.39
06. Wade In The Water (Edmondson/Alpert/Pisano) 3.07
07. What Now My Love (Sigman/Becaud) 2.14
08. Jerusalem (Alpert) 2.30
09. Slick (Alpert/Pisano) 3.21
10. Shades Of Blue (Wechter) 2.46
11. Mexican Shuffle (Lake) 2.09
12. Hello, Dolly! (Hermann) 1.57
13. More (Oliviero/Ortalana) 2.26
14. Mexican Road Race (Lake) 2.29

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Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – Herb Alpert’s Ninth (1967)

The cover art of Herb Alpert’s Ninth is hilarious — a bust of grim old Beethoven wearing a Herb Alpert sweatshirt, a parody of the pop icon fad going around at the time and maybe a comment on the rock world’s newfound pretensions in the wake of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper. In any case, Herb Alpert’s Ninth does introduce some highbrow pretensions of sorts to Alpert’s Ameriachi sound — some very subtly applied strands of strings on several numbers and a madcap, multi-sectioned fantasy of tunes from Bizet’s Carmen that is full of in-jokes from the opera and the TJB’s hits. Alpert is also quite aware of the brave new world around him; he does a spare, lazy, yet entirely novel-sounding cover version of Sgt. Pepper’s “With a Little Help from My Friends” and gives the Supremes’ “The Happening” a bouncy workout. There is also a touching memorial to the late Ervan Coleman (“Bud”) and another underrated contribution from the Alpert songwriting team, Sol Lake’s swinging “Cowboys and Indians.” the TJB still churns out the Latin American rhythms, but sometimes with a shade less exuberance. (by Richard S. Ginell)

Personnel:
Herb Alpert (trumpet, vocals)
Nick Ceroli (drums)
Bob Edmondson (trombone)
Tonni Kalash (trumpet)
Lou Pagani (piano)
John Pisano (guitar)
Pat Senatore (bass)

Tracklist:
01. A Banda (De Hollanda) 2.10
02. My Heart Belongs To Daddy (Porter) 2.00
03. The Trolley Song (Martin/Blaine) 2.39
04. The Happening (B. Holland/E. Holland/DeVol/Dozier) 2.26
05. Bud (E.Coleman/B.Coleman) 3.38
06. Love So Fine (Nichols/Asher) 2.14
07. The Love Nest (Hirsch/Harbach) 1.59
08. With A Little Help From My Friends (Lennon/McCartney) 2.38
09. Flea Bag (Wechter) 2.04
10. Cowboys And Indians (Lake) 2.52
11. Carmen (Bizet) 3.39

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