hi people! i didn't mean to set off a wave of controversy with the topic of herb's productions of other artists,but that's what i thought this certain critic was saying,and i somewhat agreed with it.to confirm what i read,i went to see the book,and the original passage i got it from.it's the MUSICHOUND:WORLD-the essential album guide;and it's published by visible ink press,and the passage on herb is written by-get this folks-gary pig gold,and what he wrote is worse than i remember it being!while i can't write everything he wrote,here's some of it:widely derided for stuffing the pop charts of the 60s with a slew of mexican lite instrumental hits,alpert and his band the tijuana brass,in their own insidious way,actually did more than any other recording group to expose the latin sound to legions of unsuspecting listeners the world over."(and that's just the beginning!)the part i got mistaken on was this part-"breaking visionary latin acts-like ozomatli-with the critical credibility that's eluded alpert himself". you see,i thought i remembered the guy saying "artistic"credibility.on that part,what with i thought he said,i somewhat agreed.
herb's productions part 2
- Thread starter jazzdre
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hi again!i wanted to finish up what i said in one fell swoop,but i'm on a public library computer,and i ran out of time,so now i'm back-on a public library computer! anywaaay-here goes! i didn't mean to imply anything bad about herb,we all know what a genius he is.he has a knack for picking the best and the brightest artists and then helping to turn them into stars(carpenters,sting,joe jackson,quincy jones,janet,sergio and brasil66,gino vannelli,wes montgomery,et al)it's just that when i thought that gold said "artistic"credibility,that's when i concurred a bit,and i said,"holding himself back"(my words)critical credibility is much different than artistic credibility. critical credibility is when more than a few critics decide who is great.the critics love miles,ornette,the beatles,elvis,etc.artistic credibility is when we as a community can see what the critics can't:that a certain artist(such as herb)has artistic merit,and deserves to be as acclaimed as those artists i just mentioned.however,as i said before,sometimes when herb records his own material,he doesn't give himself the push the push that i think he should.for example,when he produced his wife's first solo album SUNDOWN LADY,it is a beautiful sounding album,drenched with jazzy keyboard sounds,great engineering,great musicianship,and an overall lovely piece of work.and herb arranged and produced the album himself!and co engineered it too!however,as some of you said,herb lets the other artists take over;he's just the musical guide.i hope i cleared that up somewhat!
jazzdre-
You didn't set off a controversy, though re-reading my post a few days ago, one would probably think so. The way I worded some it, I guess. But it was what I was trying to say. Alpert, in fact, I think, didn't want to turn into another Phil Spector.
It was an interesting topic. Be nice to get some perspectives from the actual artists themselves.
You didn't set off a controversy, though re-reading my post a few days ago, one would probably think so. The way I worded some it, I guess. But it was what I was trying to say. Alpert, in fact, I think, didn't want to turn into another Phil Spector.
It was an interesting topic. Be nice to get some perspectives from the actual artists themselves.
DAN BOLTON
Well-Known Member
I don't really think that that reviewer was being all THAT negative about Herb and the Brass. It might be a little backhanded, but the author is correct in that the TJB albums DID expose a lot of people to the mariachi sound and to latin-flavored music that wouldn't have known it existed otherwise. Calling him "insidious" is a little much...
And, the music Herb created in the '60's WAS "light"...that's what was so GOOD about it! How quickly we forget just how uptight everyone was in the '60's...and just how much we needed the refreshing sounds of the TJB. And, if you listen to the music carefully, you'll see just how intricately it was crafted. Yes, it was light, but definitely NOT lightweight.
I think that a lot of people are just a little reluctant to admit that they really enjoyed the TJB nowadays, because they're afraid to admit that they were uptight in the '60's and needed it to calm down...so, it's a "kill-the-messenger" type thing...Herb was telling us we needed to escape from a lousy reality that we created. A guilty pleasure, so to speak. And, to someone who doesn't remember the '60's and just how scary they were...the music just isn't the same...
Does this make sense?
Dan
And, the music Herb created in the '60's WAS "light"...that's what was so GOOD about it! How quickly we forget just how uptight everyone was in the '60's...and just how much we needed the refreshing sounds of the TJB. And, if you listen to the music carefully, you'll see just how intricately it was crafted. Yes, it was light, but definitely NOT lightweight.
I think that a lot of people are just a little reluctant to admit that they really enjoyed the TJB nowadays, because they're afraid to admit that they were uptight in the '60's and needed it to calm down...so, it's a "kill-the-messenger" type thing...Herb was telling us we needed to escape from a lousy reality that we created. A guilty pleasure, so to speak. And, to someone who doesn't remember the '60's and just how scary they were...the music just isn't the same...
Does this make sense?
Dan
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