rare tjb

[slick]

The Mexican Drummer Man never appeared on a LP recording
but was overlooked for the TJB rarities CD? perhaps Herb thought that
it was not worthy for a place on the disc.
I am very exited about this new CD it takes me back to when I was a
kid waiting for a new TJB album or single.

Regards Slick

 

[Hurrikane]

I have heard that Herb was not very proud of Mexican Drummer Man hence probably the exclusion on the rarities. I too am like a kid waiting for the new material. It is very esciting!!!

 

[Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar]

It's been years since I've heard the song, but the title does not sound PC in todays world. Maybe if the vocals could have been pulled and the title changed it could have worked.

Later amigos....................Jay

 

[Rudy]

That song would not be out of place on a Phil Spector compilation. I still like it, but I'm going to have to keep watching for copies of this single. I have a decent one, but having a couple of nice spares would certainly not hurt.

 

[DAN BOLTON]

Harry made me a CD of Herb's vocal work {thanks a bunch, BTW...}, and he included MDM with the set. I think that the song really belongs with those recordings. If Herb would ever decide to release a CD of his vocal work, and that is quite unlikely from what I hear...it would make sense to include it with those songs, because I always felt that that song was an attempt to capture the Top 40 market.

It would also make sense if it were included with the Herb and Hugh recordings, or maybe RISE, because it was an early attempt to meld the African-American and Hispanic sounds that made up the "street" feel that RISE and the H&H records brought to the forefront.

The song is more important from a precedent-setting and historical standpoint than just to be thought of as a pop song. It deserves to be preserved and shared, but not in the context of a rarity, because it really isn't...it charted as well as THE MEXICAN SHUFFLE, and most of us diehard fans already have a copy.

Just my thoughts...


Dan

 

[Rudy]

Since it charted, I'd almost hope it would eventually show up on a future hits compilation. Sure it's not pure "TJB" but IMHO it heralds the arrival of Larry Levine as the engineer of choice for future TJB recordings. Since "The Great Manolette" was on the flip side, and the single was the last one release in 1963, that appears to predate the South Of The Border album and singles.

 

[DAN BOLTON]

According to Chuck Champlin's liner notes from GREATEST HITS, Herb's take of SOTB was recorded in 1963. It seems that SOTB and MDM both have a similar feel. I wonder if MDM was a "trial run" for SOTB...the beat, the overall "feel" translated to a song that was a better fit to the TJB image, and one of the first iterations of what would become a TJB trademark, an old familiar song done up in a modern arrangement that brought a whole new audience to it...

Which came first, I wonder...MDM or SOTB?


Dan