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Questions re: Mexican Drummer Man

Discussion in 'The Beat of The Brass: Herb Alpert/Tijuana Brass' started by Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar, Sep 1, 2011.

  1. Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar Member

    The song 'Mexican Drummer Man' fascinates me at some weird level. The melody, the tempo, the key changes, etc. I found this youtube clip of a group (From London?) called "The Mexicans". WOW! That is sooo not ***PC*** in today's world. I'm surprised they didn't say "A Bunch of Mexicans", or a "Truckload..." etc.

    My questions are:

    *Did this song ever have tracktion?
    *Why did a couple of groups still record it using TJB in the lyrics?
    *Could the song be done again with slightly changed feel and lyrics? & *Is there someone crazy enough that would try to do it again?:wave:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgFo72eJd1A&feature=related
    Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar, Sep 1, 2011
    #1 Share

  2. Harry Administrator

    I have zero recognition of the song as far as it being popular or played on radio. I just wasn't paying attention to such things at that time. But the Hot 100 charts tell us that Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass' single went to number 77, and hung around the chart for 5 weeks.

    For reference, that's as high as "Last Tango In Paris", which stayed on the charts a few weeks longer at 8 weeks; it's one position better than "Zazueira" which got to number 78; and a little worse than "Jerusalem" which managed number 74.

    Harry
    Harry, Sep 2, 2011
    #2 Share

  3. Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar Member

    Hey all. I've searched and can not find. Does any one have the lyrics to MDM? Thx....J
    Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar, Sep 5, 2011
    #3 Share

  4. Harry Administrator

    Hi Jay,

    As a matter of fact, my very first post here on the Forum, nearly 14 years ago to the day, dealt with "Mexican Drummer Man" and its lyrics. I was so thrilled to find a "new" Tijuana Brass track in 1997 that I just HAD to post something about it, so I transcribed the lyrics and posted them on the old Corner board.

    That's long gone, but my old .doc file is still floating around here (had to rescue it from a 3 1/2" floppy disk), so here they are, the lyrics to "Mexican Drummer Man."

    Mexican Drummer Man

    Music & lyrics by Scott Turner

    Don’t you hear that music?
    A sound you’ve never heard before.
    If the man on the drums keeps a’playin’ like that,
    we’re gonna dance till we go through the floor.
    Don’tcha don’tcha don’tcha
    hear Herbie blowin’ on his trumpet?
    The sounds are comin’ loud and strong.
    If the Tijuana Brass keeps a’playin’ like that,
    we’re gonna stay here all night long.
    Yeah yeah yeah yeah

    (instrumental)

    Everybody’s dancin’ to the music (oh yeah)
    ‘cause the sounds are comin’ loud and strong.
    We’re gonna dance to the Tijuana Brass.
    Gonna stay here all night long.
    Everybody come on, come on…

    (instrumental)

    Come on, come on, come on,
    come on, come on, come on…

    Harry
    Harry, Sep 5, 2011
    #4 Share

  5. Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar Member

    Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar, Sep 5, 2011
    #5 Share

  6. Harry Administrator

    Yeah, when you posted the other link, the Poni Tails version was listed as another link from YouTube. I'm somewhat intrigued by the picture of the Poni Tails - you'd think that at least ONE of them would have had their hair in a ponytail!

    Harry
    Harry, Sep 5, 2011
    #6 Share

  7. TonyCurrie Member

    The copy of The Mexicans' version on YouTube is really beaten up, isn't it? Yes, it's a British cover version - the album was produced in London by Decca Records and later reissued as "The World of Tijuana" on Decca's budget label.
    TonyCurrie, Sep 7, 2011
    #7 Share

  8. Shane New Member

    I saw this thread on here a couple of weeks ago, and having no idea what "Mexican Drummer Man" was, never bothered to look. Today I was at an estate sale looking through a box of 45s... look what I found for a dollar!

    [IMG]
    Wow, this really is an oddball song in the TJB catalog...
    Shane, Oct 22, 2011
    #8 Share

  9. Rudy Spinning The Wheels Of Steel

    Is "The Great Manolette" on the flip side? If so, that is also a unique mix. If you compare it to the version on Volume 2 (either the stereo or mono LP version), it is easy to hear the differences.
    Rudy, Oct 23, 2011
    #9 Share

  10. Shane New Member

    Yes, the Great Manolette is on the other side... I'll have to give that side another listen. Also, in regards to this single getting airplay... check out the sticker on the label. Tom Maule was a DJ in the 1960s on Fresno's radio station KMAK (I live in Fresno, and found this copy here). He later ended up at KHJ in Los Angeles. Not to say that it got airplay for very long... but evidently it did at some point.
    Shane, Oct 23, 2011
    #10 Share

  11. Rudy Spinning The Wheels Of Steel

    It did make a Hot 100 chart appearance, so it probably did get some airtime. :agree:
    Rudy, Oct 23, 2011
    #11 Share

  12. Harry Administrator

    That sticker was likely placed on the record by a record promoter, and the record sent out to another station, perhaps a competitor of Tom Maule's. The sticker's purpose was to let another program director or DJ know what records the competition was playing, so as to get the record even more airtime on more stations. But the bottom line is that the sticker tells us at least that it did air on Tom Maule's show and was "hitbound!"

    Some of these record promoters themselves were almost legendary. I have a number of records with stickers from Matty "Humdinger" Singer, a larger-than-life character who frequented all of the radio stations in Philly and beyond.

    Harry
    Harry, Oct 24, 2011
    #12 Share

  13. Steve Sidoruk Administrator

    In an interview from long ago, Herb spoke of producing this tune, but didn't mention the title. It was his attempt at a Phil Spector "wall of sound" effect, where he threw in "two of everything" for instrumentation.
    Steve Sidoruk, Oct 24, 2011
    #13 Share

  14. Rudy Spinning The Wheels Of Steel

    For those who weren't in radio: if you want an idea of how these promoters conducted business :D , I recommend picking up Stan Cornyn's book Exploding!, which is a history of Warner Bros. Records but includes every angle to their success. You would not believe some of the tactics they used. Then again... :winkgrin:
    Rudy, Oct 24, 2011
    #14 Share

  15. Charles H. Member

    The one way that Herb could have made the "Lost Treasures" compilation even better would have been to include "Mexican Drummer Man," "El Bimbo," the single version of "Tijuana Taxi" (with the extra taxi horn beeps) and the "live" recording of "Zorba the Greek" (with the cheering crowd), singles never included on any original TJB album, instead of the ones that had already been on the "You Smile...The Song Begins" album.

    I recall reading that the Tijuana Brass version of "Flamingo" was Herb's second attempt (after "MDM") at the "wall of sound" style. Were there any more?

    Charles
    Charles H., Nov 27, 2011
    #15 Share

  16. Mr Bill Administrator

    I fear that may be true, especially since it's been over four years since the last "Signature Series" CD from Shout!Factory. That's sad since it means we'll likely never hear great songs like "Save The Sunlight," "Dida," Song For Herb," "Coney Island," "Promenade" or Musique" on CD...:sad:
    Mr Bill, Nov 28, 2011
    #16 Share

  17. Rudy Spinning The Wheels Of Steel

    CDs are on the way out anyway. Seems like the used record shops don't even like buying them back, as I've tried numerous places myself.

    If these came as downloads, I would buy them, but only if they are NOT itunes or lossy MP3 files. I would like to see these at HDTracks personally...
    Rudy, Nov 28, 2011
    #17 Share

  18. Harry Administrator

    CBS SUNDAY MORNING did a feature this morning on Darlene Love and mentioned her work with "The Blossoms". But there was no mention of the Tijuana Brass...

    Harry
    Harry, Dec 25, 2011
    #18 Share

  19. Rudy Spinning The Wheels Of Steel

    IIRC, I have The Blossoms on a Duane Eddy album...
    Rudy, Dec 30, 2011
    #19 Share

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