Spotlight: RE-WHIPPED (DK 97641)

[Captain Bacardi]

Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass
WHIPPED CREAM & OTHER DELIGHTS RE-WHIPPED
Shout! Factory DK 97641

Released 2006

Format: CD

Remix Producer: Anthony Marinelli
Original Recordings Produced by Herb Alpert & Jerry Moss
Executive Producer: Shawn Amos

Album Charts: #2 Top Contemporary Jazz

Songs & Musicians:

• 1. Whipped Cream (Naomi Neville) - 4:04
  • Remixed by Anthony Marinelli featuring Ozomatli
    Produced by Anthony Marinelli
    Recorded, Mixed and Additionally Produced by Clint Bennett
    Herb Alpert - Trumpet
    Anthony Marinelli - Bass and Acoustic Piano
    David Alfonso - Acoustic Guitar
    Raul Pacheco - Tres and Vocals
    Ulises Bella - Requinto Jarocho
    Asdru Sierra - Vocals
    Justin Poree - Percussion
  • 2. A Taste Of Honey (Robert Scott/Ric Marlow) - 3:03
  • Remix and Additional Production by John King
    Remix co-produced by and engineered by Brad Breeck
    Brad Breeck - Drum Programming, B4, Moog Modular
    John Spiker - Shaker, Piano, Wurlitzer, Bells, Clavinet, Synth, Lap Steel, Ukelele, Additional Bass
  • 3. Green Peppers (Sol Lake) - 4:45
  • Remix Produced by Anthony Marinelli
    Recorded, Mixed and Additionally produced by Clint Bennett
    Herb Alpert - Trumpet
    Anthony Marinelli - Electric Piano and Bass
  • 4. Ladyfingers (Toots Thielemans) - 4:23
  • Remix Produced by Camara Kambon for Infix Entertainment
    Recorded by Rick Aoyama for Infix Entertainment @ Infix Studios (Hollywood, CA)
    Camara Kambon - All Instruments
    Kina Cosper - Vocals
    Drum Programming: Camara Kambon, Mischa Chillak and Kenny Neal, Jr.
    Mixed by Camara Kambon and Rick Aoyama @ Infix Studios, (Hollywood, CA)
  • 5. Love Potion #9 (Jerry Lieber/Mike Stoller) - 3:44
  • Produced by Anthony Marinelli featuring Ozomatli
    Recorded, Mixed and Additionally Produced by Clint Bennett
    Herb Alpert - Trumpet
    Asdru Sierra - Vocals
    Clint Bennett - Acoustic Guitar
    Raul Pacheco - Electric Guitar
    Wildog Abers - Bass
    Justin Poree - Percussion
    Jiro Yamaguchi - Percussion
    Ulises Bella - Saxophone and Bass Clarinet
    Anthony Marinelli - Keyboards
  • 6. Peanuts (Luis Guerro) - 3:52
  • Remix Produced by Anthony Marinelli
    Recorded, Mixed and Additionally Produced by Clint Bennett
    Herb Alpert - Trumpet
    Anthony Marinelli - Bass and Electric Piano
  • 7. Tangerine (John Mercer/Victor Shertzinger) - 4:02
  • Remix and Additional Production by DJ Foosh and Thomas Foyer
    Stefan Redtenbacher - Bass
    Foosh - Guitar
  • 8. El Garbanzo (Sol Lake) - 3:05
  • Remixed by Medeski Martin & Wood
    Herb Alpert - Trumpet
    John Medeski - Wurlitzer, Mellotron, Organ and Piano
    Billy Martin - Drums, Xylophone and Breakbeat (from the breakbeat LP illy B Eats Vol. 2)
    Chris Wood - Bass
    Recorded at the Martins', the Woods' and Officina Mechaniche Studios, Milan, Italy
    Sound Engineers: Tony "Cooper" Cupertino & Giuseppe Saladori
    Mixed by Mike Fossenkemper at Turtletone Studios in New York City
  • 9. Lemon Tree (Will Holt) - 3:41
  • Remixed by Thievery Corporation (Courtesy of ESL Music)
  • 10. Lollipops And Roses (Tony Velona) - 3:14
  • Remix Produced by Anthony Marinelli
    Recorded, Mixed and Additionally Produced by Clint Bennett
    Herb Alpert - Trumpet
    Curt Bisquera - Drums
    Anthony Marinelli - Bass, Clavinet and Synth
  • 11. Bittersweet Samba (Sol Lake) - 2:48
  • Remixed by Mocean Worker for Mowo!, Inc.
  • 12. Butterball (Mike Henderson) - 6:17
  • Remix Produced by Anthony Marinelli
    Recorded, Mixed and Additionally Produced by Clint Bennett
    Herb Alpert - Trumpet
    Anthony Marinelli - Piano, Bass and Synth

Remix Album Coordinator: David Streja
Additional Angineer: Chris Justice
Remastering: Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk

Art Direction & Design: Todd Gallopo @ Meat and Potatoes, Inc.
Photography: Allison Dyer/Blur Photo
Model: Bree Condon/CESD Models
Artwork Supervision: John Roberts
Package Supervision: Jeff Palo
Project Assistance: Derek Dressler and Jules Stover

I would like to thank everyone who worked on this project for bringing their unique creativity and inspiration, infusing a new perspective and freshness to my music. It was especially exciting for me to add an improvisational horn that blends the old and the new with such a different approach. A very special thanks to Shawn Amos who conceived the idea and to Anthony Marinelli whose musicality and passion brought it home.

HERB ALPERT

Capt. Bacardi

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Hmmm, no comments on this yet? Strange.

For me, this is one of those love/hate efforts. Some of these tracks benefitted from the remixes, while others were completely ruined by them. The good news was where Herb played some new solos on some songs, and he pretty much shined on those. My favorite track is "Lollipops & Roses" with "Whipped Cream" a close second. I was probably one of the few that actually liked "Butterball", despite the fact that there was very little used from the original recording. I just thought Herb's solo was great on this, as it was on "Green Peppers".

On the downside, some tracks were just flat out awful - "Taste Of Honey", "Love Potion #9", "Ladyfingers", "Lemon Tree" and "Tangerine". These did absolutely nothing for me and I skip over them on the rare occasion when I do play this CD - which isn't very often. It was an interesting concept, but I don't think it was all that much a success.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Mike]

Bittersweet Samba. I like the original and the re-whipped too!

Mike

 

[DAN BOLTON]

I have to go with BUTTERBALL, mainly because it's so much different from the original...almost a gang-banger from a New Orleans dixieland swing tune. The imagination of the artists involved in this project is rather amazing, as is the longevity and the depth of the material they had to work with from the ground up.

I think the fact that this project works as well as it does underscores just how adept Herb was at selecting and showcasing material in 1965 that lent itself to the TJB treatment, just how versatile and timeless that treatment was and still is, and how it can be updated and expounded on. And I think BUTTERBALL is the best example of this.

Dan

 

[Captaindave]

Hmmm, no comments on this yet? Strange.

For me, this is one of those love/hate efforts. Some of these tracks benefitted from the remixes, while others were completely ruined by them. The good news was where Herb played some new solos on some songs, and he pretty much shined on those. My favorite track is "Lollipops & Roses" with "Whipped Cream" a close second. I was probably one of the few that actually liked "Butterball", despite the fact that there was very little used from the original recording. I just thought Herb's solo was great on this, as it was on "Green Peppers".

On the downside, some tracks were just flat out awful - "Taste Of Honey", "Love Potion #9", "Ladyfingers", "Lemon Tree" and "Tangerine". These did absolutely nothing for me and I skip over them on the rare occasion when I do play this CD - which isn't very often. It was an interesting concept, but I don't think it was all that much a success.



Capt. Bacardi

Pretty much my view also, except I would place Taste of Honey second after Lollipops and Roses.

Like it says above, you pretty much either like it or you don't, and I pretty much don't. To each his own, and this one didn't make it with me. But that's OK - we can all have our opinions...

My preferences are the things that hold closest to the Herb Alpert of old. IMO, there isn't much of that here, and if you weren't familiar with the original, you sure wouldn't be able to discover any of it by listening to this CD. But again, it is what it is, and comparing it to the original is, I suppose, a "fool's errand."

 

[audiofile]

The overall sound of this album doesn't really do it for me, but there are interesting parts here and there. My favorite is El Garbanzo, because I'm a big Medeski Martin & Wood fan and it was cool hearing Herb play with them.

 

[stosh]

Instead of "Rewhipped" I would have liked to see "The Brass Are Comin" and "Warm" on CD.

There was no need for a funky rehash of an album already out, when plenty of people would have bought the other two.

I haven't bought it, and never will.

 

[Harry]

To each his own. Count me with the folks who really like this album and its concept. Having new Herb Alpert solo parts added to old songs mixed in a new way is refreshing and bold, something I've become used to as I've followed the career if the never-the-same Mr. Alpert.

If one is fortunate enough to attend one of Herb and Lani's little jazz club shows, you'll hear familiar songs done there too, but not in the way that you've heard them thousands of times on those old ochre-label records.

Herb and his co-conspirators have infused new life into this old material. It's not for everyone, I suppose, but as I said, to each his own.

The two albums that "stosh" mentioned, are of course, available in remastered form as iTunes downloads, and in general, once you've dubbed them off to CD on your own, sound pretty darned good. I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do it, but once I did, it made me happy.

Harry

 

[Dave]

I, too, have mixed feelings about this... I like the treatment of the old WHIPPED CREAM... tracks and I think this is a new and very youthful concept towards merging classing TjB with a new audience...

Was this supposed to be a "substitute" for the ongoing original album reissues? (or an imposition?) I think not...

Glad something else could be done with the old cover, in making it a "new" cover, too... Sort of matches-up with the way a cover back then would be done in accordance with things going on today... Just as far as the new "concept" goes in keeping with the old, yet offering "new" there, too...

However, for those not quite accustomed to this new sound and hearing all these electronic implements and hip-hop elements inserted, I can see why this album is certainly astray from the purity of the original work... The songs were meant to be basic and unspoiled and have a strength and force of their own, and somehow real musicians vs. high-tech machinery each have their way of boasting those strengths...

So, personal taste, then in preference to the way this was originally done and now presented, or rather "updated" in its "new environment" is what wins out in determining this work's worth...



Dave

 

[Mike]

Album Charts: #2 Top Contemporary Jazz

I think that says a lot!

Mike

 

[audiofile]

Like what?

 

[stosh]

To each his own. Count me with the folks who really like this album and its concept. Having new Herb Alpert solo parts added to old songs mixed in a new way is refreshing and bold, something I've become used to as I've followed the career if the never-the-same Mr. Alpert.

If one is fortunate enough to attend one of Herb and Lani's little jazz club shows, you'll hear familiar songs done there too, but not in the way that you've heard them thousands of times on those old ochre-label records.

Herb and his co-conspirators have infused new life into this old material. It's not for everyone, I suppose, but as I said, to each his own.

The two albums that "stosh" mentioned, are of course, available in remastered form as iTunes downloads, and in general, once you've dubbed them off to CD on your own, sound pretty darned good. I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do it, but once I did, it made me happy.

Harry

I know they're available via iTunes, however I would have preferred going to a big box store and buying the "real" thing.

 

[Harry]

^As would we all.

But we should take what we're given, I suppose.

Harry

 

[Captaindave]

Album Charts: #2 Top Contemporary Jazz

I think that says a lot!

Mike

I agree with the comment "Like what?"

Yes, like what?

 

[Mike]

Personally, I think that a remix of an album that came out in the '60s going to #2 on the Contemporary Jazz charts is impressive and pretty cool considering that it's a TJB album. It would seem that Re-Whipped had some mass appeal and did well in sales to achieve that status. I also think that the people who listen to and buy contemporary jazz (people like me) are easy going laid back people who can take the music for what it is and simply enjoy it. I enjoy Re-Whipped and often play it for younger people at work who are not familiar with HA & TJB, and so far they've all enjoyed it; it gets their toe tapping and head bobbing to the music every time.

I never thought I'd have to explain my comment "I think that says a lot! " but after being called out by audiofile and Captaindave to do so... well, there it is, take it or leave it. Either way makes no matter to me.

Best regards,
Mike

 

[martin]

There are very few examples of really successful re-recordings or "tribute albums" to legendary pop records and there have been numerous attempts. I think re-whipped is interesting because it is like a whole new record with lots of creative input inspired by the great classic original. It is not meant as a substitute, but rather a welcome addition to the original. Personal favorites are Whipped Cream and Love Potion No.9.

- greetings from the really cold and snowy north -
Martin

 

[gkozak]

This travesty is but another crappy remake by morons who had no idea what they were doing, with no appreciation for the music. It almost seems like they TRIED to make the songs sound worse. Absolutely no comparison to the original album.

 

[martin]

Of course it will always be controversial to approach a classical album like WCAOD with so radical ideas as on re-whipped.

- greetings from the cold north -
Martin

 

[gameenjoyer]

Okay, I voted for Lollipops and Roses. Now that that's out of the way, here's my two cents on the album as a whole.

Now, I recognize that many of the people in this forum have a significantly higher level of life experience than I do. As such, I can understand your dislike of the style which this album employs. However, there are a few things I would like to say.

1. Rewhipped was not meant to sound like a TJB album. It was meant to be nothing more than some of the best remixers of the present day applying their art to the songs that appeared on a former TJB album. As such, to compare it to a "regular" TJB album is to compare an apple to an orange, so to speak.

2. I was caught off guard the first time I heard Rise because it sounded so different than the TJB-era Alpert recordings. As such, it took time for that album to grow on me. The same can be said of this album, but grow on me it did, not because of any similarity between the remixed versions and the originals, but because the remixed versions were good and worth listening to in their own right, at least to me.

3. As long as we're on the subject of Rise, consider the progression that Alpert's music took from Rise on. If what I've read is correct (remember that Rise and Beyond are the only Alpert solo albums I've ever heard), a lot of the later Alpert solo albums had him experimenting with different styles. Would it not be natural in the age of hip-hop then for him to experiment with that style? If you then look at Rewhipped as Alpert's latest solo album that just happens to contain the same songs as Whipped Cream did, it would make a lot more sense in terms of continuity, at least in my opinion.

Okay, there, I've said my piece. Feel free to disagree at your leisure.

 

[toeknee4bz]

The new version of "Whipped Cream" was really good, and "A Taste Of Honey" was pretty interesting. After that, unfortunately, the album just goes downhill. The arrangement of "Lolipops And Roses" was ok, but it lacked part of the melody... and I prefer the entire melody to be played all the way through, at least once. "Tangerine" had an interesting start, with the echoey thing going on, and then just kinda fizzled. "Bittersweet Samba" sounded pretty good until the stupid-sounding 'one, two, one-two-three-four' sample.

As for the rest of the album, it was simply awful. I describe this project as 'an answer to a question never asked'. And this is also a prime example of why Herb, in 1979, decided to halt the disco-fied "Lonely Bull", opting instead to record some new material... Obviously, it paid off back then.

I only wish that Herb would have made the same decision this time around.

Tony

 

[Captaindave]

I think it is worthwhile to remember that there are few, if any, absolutes in music.

What can be seen here in this thread is various individuals expressing their opinions on something that has little absolute standard of good and bad or right and wrong.

I, for example, generally do not like ReWhipped. But, I am willing to realize that the reasons I do not like it are purely subjective, emanating from who I am personally and my personal values, the music I grew up listening to, the tastes and opinions I have developed over my lifetime, the tastes and opinions I developed in my formative years, the kinds of sounds and styles in music that I have come to consider pleasing and worthy of my interest and attention, my socialization, my age, the era I grew up and the musical influences and sounds that formed the basis of my musical sensibilities, what I personally define as "good music", and maybe a few thousand other things that would not be shared by someone else...

Although I do acknowledge subjectivity and allow for personal opinion in these matters, I also do not believe that sales figures and/or chart successes in any given genre has much to do with the overall enduring quality or value of any particular musical artist or that artist's output. That means that, IMO, there are quite a few examples of significant popularity and chart success of things I consider pretty much junk and crap; and conversely, comparatively little acclaim in that same regard for some things I would consider of significant musical worth and quality. I have a feeling that many participants here on this forum probably agree with that observation.

I own the ReWhipped disc. Not because I think it has much quality or value in itself; rather I was interested in hearing what had been done with the music of an artist that I do, in fact, highly respect and music that formed a huge influence in my formative years and on me as a musician myself. I also had been informed that Herb Alpert had contributed some new trumpet playing here and there, and I was definitely interested in hearing that.

The original Whipped Cream album was released in 1965. That was about 44 years ago. My opinion is that no one will have any idea about this ReWhipped recording in 44 years from now, nor be discussing it, nor playing it, nor seeking it as any kind of reissue of a classic recording, such as the reissues of the original TJB recordings. My opinion again is that the contributors to this album and their collective output will have long been forgotten in the mist of time.

So, my opinion is that if you like it, play it. If you don't like it and perhaps might share some of my concepts and tastes - which I also think are fairly common on this forum, there is the happy alternative of going back to the original recording now reissued on CD, which I find to be far preferable when seeking to hear these old TJB tunes.

FWIW...

 

[Mike]

I have a feeling that many participants here on this forum probably agree with that observation.

If you don't like it and perhaps might share some of my concepts and tastes - which I also think are fairly common on this forum,

Dude, I don't care how many people agree with you... I don't care who has what in common with you... frankly, I don't care about anything you think.

Captaindave, You should enjoy your opinion, and I'll enjoy mine, and the rest of the world can go to hell.

Again, best regards,
Mike

P.S. If you're ever in Japan, let me know. I'd be more than happy to buy you a drink of sake or a cup of coffee, your choice.

 

[Harry]

I fear tempers are starting to get roused. Let's not get personal here people. We all have our opinions, and each is valid.

Harry
...from somewhere in the middle of Virginia, and temporarily online...

 

[DAN BOLTON]

I fear tempers are starting to get roused. Let's not get personal here people. We all have our opinions, and each is valid.

Harry

Amen!



Dan

 

[JOv2]

I happen to find Cap’n D’s postings most satisfying.

His introspective essays tend to be well developed, detailed, and sincere. Additionally, Cap’n D is a professionally trained musician – which suggests unique perspectives relative to most musical connoisseurs. Cap’n D, like myself, appears un-wooed by fan/hero worship-based activity; rather I’m confident he values art for art’s sake – which, as we all know, will forever be regarded as a subjective (dare I say, “sordid”) affair.

I look forward to reading forthcoming Cap’n D contributions – as they tend to be genuine and heartfelt opinions. (I understand what it’s like to have an earnest essay unreasonably challenged – with one of mine once referred to as “crapola” by the more insular contributors in this world…)

Soldier on Cap’n D. I look forward to reading more of your personnel recollections and musician-based viewpoints.

And, yes, while I’m on the road to hell with the rest of the world, I will report that said record does zilcho for me. The fine trumpet playing notwithstanding, the remainder of what is supposed to pass for “music” can be tossed out with Sunday Morning’s fish papers...

I regard Herb as far and away the single most influential and significant US pop trumpet player of the last 45 years. That said I’ll be the first to write that most of the post-1974 work I've heard does little for me, and this recent effort approaches an embarrassing charade of the highest order clearly designed to appeal to the pocketbook of the under-25 “record” buyer.