⭐ Official Review Coney Island [Herb Alpert & The T.J.B.]

[Rudy]

A few years back, I found one of those old Schwann catalogs. It amazed me, how many things I could have bought back then which are largely unavailable now.

 

[Bobberman]

A few years back, I found one of those old Schwann catalogs. It amazed me, how many things I could have bought back then which are largely unavailable now.

It's been well said Hindsight is always 20/20 I know the feeling from my own similar experiences

 

[Mike Blakesley]

One other Coney Island-related memory of mine (which is totally unrelated to the music, sorry) is that our store was going thru a huge remodel when it came out. I was still in high school at the time, and worked part time at the store. I had set up a stereo system along one wall to play music on while the work was progressing. One day I had played Coney Island, and forgot to close the "dust cover" on the turntable...the next day I arrived after school to find the turntable and my LP covered with a fine layer of drywall dust. I still have that same LP (along with a couple of other copies), but was sure glad when the CD came out!

 

[Bobberman]

One other Coney Island-related memory of mine (which is totally unrelated to the music, sorry) is that our store was going thru a huge remodel when it came out. I was still in high school at the time, and worked part time at the store. I had set up a stereo system along one wall to play music on while the work was progressing. One day I had played Coney Island, and forgot to close the "dust cover" on the turntable...the next day I arrived after school to find the turntable and my LP covered with a fine layer of drywall dust. I still have that same LP (along with a couple of other copies), but was sure glad when the CD came out!

I always got extra copies of Some Of my favorite vinyl back in the day myself your situation you described reminded me that it is always wise to get an extra backup just in case " Because You just never Know what will happen."

 

[Harry]

I've owned CONEY ISLAND since the day it first appeared in stores, and I remember being intrigued by the titles in the track list, particularly #'s 3 and 4. First there was a "Señor Mouse" followed by a song called "Mickey". As it turned out, one had nothing to do with the other, but it was still an interesting positioning. I've always wondered if the Colombier song was given the title of "Mickey" instead of the French phrase in parenthesis.

I never quite warmed to that song. It always felt slow and depressing to me, unlike some of the more dramatic Colombier compositions elsewhere.

The rest of the album is an interesting departure for Herb in the direction of more freeform jazz. I too enjoy "I Belong" as a vocal and love both the title track and "Vento Bravo".

 

[Rudy]

That one is originally called "Captain Señor Mouse" on Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy:



Chick Corea (keys), Stanley Clarke (bass), Lenny White (drums), Bill Connors (guitar).

 

[JOv2]

Unlike YSTSB, this LP appears largely cut "live"; that is, Herb, Bob F. and Bob E. are all playing together with the band -- I don't think there is much if any horn overdubbing or sweetening occurring on these dates. This is also the first HA LP where he genuinely co-shared trumpet chores with his bandmate. I like it even better than its predecessor. It's a shame that HA seems to write off these two LPs as "unsuccessful" as both easily top the majority of the '60s TjB LPs based on artistic merit.

 

[Rudy]

Even the AllMusic review agrees with you (and us)--it was an inventive album, but it never took hold with the public and didn't sell well at all, despite being toured. Hence the "unsuccessful" tag. On both this album and You Smile, the concerts from both tours that we saw ended with "Zorba," which got the entire amphitheater out of their seats. Many were there to hear the TJB hits and I would suspect a subset of those attendees didn't know a single note from either of the new T.J.B. albums.

As I'm now more familiar with the tunes covered on this album now, it spanned quite a stretch. Edu Lobo, Moacir Santos, Return to Forever, a few originals, etc. And despite "Carmine" being dedicated to Herb's trumpet coach, he let Bob Findley bring it home with a lengthy solo towards the end. In hindsight, too, picking Findley as his foil was a wise choice--they could still blend in harmony when needed, but they were far apart in their tones, and it made for an interesting contrast.

 

[TjbBmb]

I think most TJB fans couldn’t get with the jazz and people who liked jazz couldn’t get with the TJB.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

Leonard Feather never gave him a great review. Who really cared - fans worldwide loved him then, as well as now.

 

[TjbBmb]

Yeah, but how many of them loved Coney Island....

You’re right. Who cares. To each his own.

 

[JOv2]

...On both this album and You Smile, the concerts from both tours that we saw ended with "Zorba," which got the entire amphitheater out of their seats.

I remember seeing part of a 60min concert on TV round about 1975 I'm guessing (5th/6th grade). It was on our Santa Barbara ABC affiliate (KEYT) during the 7-8PM hour. A neighbor up the street called me and asked me to turn on the TV and switch to Channel 3...where for the first time, I actually saw Herb Alpert playing trumpet!! I grabbed my horn from my bedroom and watched the whole show! (After the show, I called the neighbor back and we compared notes: I'll always remember him telling me that Herb's other trumpet player was "very strong"...of course, I was so spellbound at seeing Herb play that I didn't notice anything about other horn player.) Somewhere during this period was also when we saw Herb "in person" in the Santa Claus Lane Parade where he was on a small float (I believe A&M Records had their own float...but my memory is hazy on this...) and he had a moustache!

 

[Harry]

That has to be the Sentry Insurance show where Miss Piggy made her debut.

 

[Harry]