"The Brass Are Comin'"

[Harry S. Anchan]

Anybody elseremember this _fabulous_ album? I just grabbed it from my LP collection. "The Maltese Melody" still delights me, as if it was only yesterday! I was going to post some pictures, but unfortunately, images are not allowed.

 

[Bobberman]

Absolutley Great album from Start to Finish. Some tunes have a country western flavor to them. Along with the trademark TJB sound. I was 12 when i first heard it loaned to me by a friend for taping and the tape lasted until i was able to purchase the LP just a few years later

 

[Harry]

Oh, we surely do. You'll find probably more than a few past discussions here about it.

THE BRASS ARE COMIN' was of course a "soundtrack" of sorts to a TV special of the same name. The show had a western theme as can be witnessed with song titles like "Robbers And Cops", "I'm An Old Cowhand", and the title track. But it wasn't all western - and featured Herb and John Pisano imagining how "Moon River" might be done by the Brass.

The worst feature of THE BRASS ARE COMIN' on record is that it was subject to the dreaded HAECO-CSG processing - that's where one channel was sent slightly out of phase with the other, resulting in an uncomfortable stereo image. Modern software can mostly "undo" its effects, but the powers that be have not chosen to mess with it, so whenever the next round of CDs come out, I'm afraid THE BRASS ARE COMIN' will still have that stupid processing on it.

For years, I struggled with finding a good LP pressing of the album. It seemed to me that every copy I encountered was pretty beat up. I suppose that could indicate how popular it was - at least with those former owners who relinquished their copies to the marketplace and ultimately me. But thankfully, one day I found a really nice, clean pressing that made for a pretty good needledrop.

It was released on CD just once before; it was one of those titles that made a brief appearance in Japan and then disappeared. I've never found one of those, but have at least gotten a digital copy of one. The album was also released as MP3s to iTunes, Amazon, and Herb's prior website. The newly-remastered files are out there now in both standard CD resolution and hi-rez files.

Welcome to the Forum - another "Harry". I moved your post to the Alpert forum rather than our general music forum.

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Yes there are multiple discussions of the album here - just search the title and you can find several hours of good reading.

This isn't my favorite TJB album but I do like it. It's actually aged pretty well in my book.

When the album was reissued on iTunes a while back, the running order was rejiggered -- for what reason, we don't know. I had first heard it on 8-track, so I never really knew what the 'original' running order was until I heard it on LP a while later. For me, the iTunes running order is better -- I don't know why, it just seems to flow better for me. I think "The Maltese Melody" is a better TJB-sounding kickoff track than the title tune; and since "You Are My Life" isn't one of Herb's most stellar vocal efforts, moving it to the interior of the album (rather than the 'finale') is a good move, I think.

As with a lot of the TJB albums, the originals are among my favorites. "Robbers and Cops," specifically is a standout among those. I'm also a huge fan of "I'm an Old Cowhand" and "Anna," and Herb's haunting rendition of "I'll Be Back" is one of the best Beatles adaptations ever, I think. "Good Morning Mr. Sunshine" is unique in that it has no drums -- it strikes me as sort of a precursor to some of the minimal-percussion entries on the Summertime album.

The only tunes I'm not a big fan of are "Sunny" and "Moon River" -- I just don't like the arrangement or the vocal too much on "Sunny," and I don't really like the orchestra gimmick on "Moon River" -- it would have been better with a standard TJB opening.

"You Are My Life" is another stab at recreating the success of "This Guy's in Love With You," but Herb continued to find out that you can't make lightning strike twice, as he had with the vocal tunes on Warm. I think if they'd toned down the orchestration, moved the song's key (and with it, Herb's vocals) downrange a notch or two, and maybe made it a bit more uptempo or given it a more jazzy production they might have had more success with it.

The title tune, on the iTunes remaster, fades in from the beginning. The 2015 remaster doesn't fade in, but seems to be missing a half a bar. Maybe this will get resolved when the CD comes out (doubtful) but it may explain why they decided to fade in the iTunes version. I need to compare the LP version of that song and see what's the difference. (Maybe the original Harry can shed some light?)

 

[Harry]

The 2015 remaster doesn't fade in, but seems to be missing a half a bar.

I'm not hearing anything missing at the start of the 2015 remaster of the title track. The tracks in the remaster sound pretty good to me, sound/frequency-wise; I'm hearing nice, crisp highs, where most of the digital tracks I've heard are a bit dull-sounding.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I might be wrong but to me the melody seems to come in a half a bar early on the remaster, but if it's the same way on the original LP it must have just been the way it was arranged.

 

[Harry]

Just checked again and counted the bars before the melody. I get 8 full bars, with the melody beginning at the ninth bar - every time, even with the fade-in version if you assume the first bar is in near-silence.

The "original Harry"

 

[Michael Hagerty]

I'm going to be the odd man out in this discussion. While THE BRASS ARE COMIN' is not a bad album by any means, I considered it a step backward from WARM, which seemed to signal a move away from gimmicks and a focus on just making really good music. If WARM had been a commercial success, I think Herb might have stayed on that track (which he returned to with SUMMERTIME). But going back to a more traditional TJB approach for THE BRASS ARE COMIN' didn't help. WARM peaked at #28...the worst performance for a TJB album since the first release of VOLUME 2...but THE BRASS ARE COMIN' did even worse....peaking at #30.

 

[Harry]

I considered it a step backward from WARM

It was probably intended that way. After WARM being somewhat dismissed by the public, the attempt with BRASS ARE COMIN' was probably to get back to the "roots". It was a rather safe album, with lots of traditional TjB-style hooks, but just in case you really like the more modern stuff, we'll throw in another Herb vocal too.

It's akin to Carpenters a decade later with their adventurous PASSAGE being followed by the 'back-to-the-roots' MADE IN AMERICA.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

It was probably intended that way. After WARM being somewhat dismissed by the public, the attempt with BRASS ARE COMIN' was probably to get back to the "roots". It was a rather safe album, with lots of traditional TjB-style hooks, but just in case you really like the more modern stuff, we'll throw in another Herb vocal too.

But it didn't work...and that probably could have been predicted. After a string of #1 and #2 albums, HERB ALPERT's NINTH peaked at #4, and it's an open question as to whether THE BEAT OF THE BRASS would have made #1 without a #1 single in "This Guy's In Love With You". In other words, traditional TJB was on the way out as early as '67.

 

[Harry]

'69 was a tough year for A&M. I think they were willing to try anything at that point, and when BRASS ARE COMIN' came up short (along with Herb's other problems), it spelled the end of the original TjB.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

'69 was a tough year for A&M. .

Man, isn't that the truth. If I'm not mistaken, Sonny Charles and Checkmates, Ltd.'s "Black Pearl" was the biggest single the label had in 1969...and it only peaked at #13. And if it weren't for the "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" original soundtrack, which peaked at #16 on the album charts, the label's best-charting album of '69 would have been......WARM...at #28.

 

[Bobberman]

Even though 69 was a tough year for A&M and for Herb at least we can rejoice for the fact that both rebounded quite well and endured many circumstances since then. And all the while giving us fans some Stellar music and i view "The brass are comin" a turning point of sorts in my own life as well as my life was going through a lot of changes and transitions ( back in the early 80s when i first heard this Lp) for me This album still stands up very well to this very day. And i look forward to its long awaited and over due CD release.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I think what happened to the TJB's sales was a function of the usual mechanics of a popular artist's career arc; they all have a certain trajectory with a peak in the middle. Herb's peak ran from Whipped Cream through What Now My Love. I think, even if he'd done an album as great as Going Places in 1970, it still would have sold poorly because the TJB's era was just over.

It's the same thing that happened with the Carpenters after Now and Then. Their peak ended and the inevitable decline began. It happens with every artist in the world, except the ones who "quit while they're on top." ABBA and the Beatles come to mind in that category.

Of course Herb has had eight or nine career resurgences due to changing his musical style (and having a good bit of luck too) and probably will still be filling auditoriums in his 90s, so sometimes the "usual" doesn't apply!

 

[Bobberman]

I think another key to Herb's continuing success is simply his willingness to try new things i think he kept an open mind and open heart all along. And i agree the "usual doesn't always apply to everybody.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

This album was a huge disappointment to me, as I've mentioned in the past. It sounds like Herb was struggling to get a note out on several tunes. I know he was having his issues at this point, plus I'm sure he was tired after years of touring and keeping A&M afloat. There are a couple of tunes that were good - "Anna" is my favorite with "Robbers And Cops" and "Sunny" close behind. On the other hand, "I'm An Old Cowhand" is the worst thing he ever did, next to "Tijuana Sauerkraut" and "Talk To The Animals". "Moon River" starts out great with the big band feel, but fell flat after that. And then that dreadful vocal. I think this album was so predictable and tired sounding, which makes it my least favorite.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

While THE BRASS ARE COMIN' is not a bad album by any means, I considered it a step backward from WARM

I agree, it's not near the album WARM is. I wonder if having to do the TV special along with the album limited the musical creative process somewhat.

 

[Bobberman]

I agree, it's not near the album WARM is. I wonder if having to do the TV special along with the album limited the musical creative process somewhat.

I think that might be a possibility. Having to focus on more than one thing at that point ( doing the special. Along with dealing with his personal issues at the time.) As well doing the album. And possibly there might have been other factors involved that we may never know about. But i digress. But nevertheless considering the circumstances of that time TBAC is still overall a very enjoyable album IMO and a good closure to the 60s and the original TJB era.

 

[Aaron Bitman]

I have to agree with Captain Bacardi. To me, The Brass Are Comin' sounded like it was trying so hard to force enthusiasm, it led me to believe that Alpert was tired. His schedule of recording and touring was too busy for him, and caused him stress. His separation from his wife Sharon that year probably didn't help either. Quite simply, the guy needed a break.

 

[Acapulco 1922]

MALTESE MELODY has the same kind-of "circus ring" feel as: TOWN WITHOUT PITY.

 

[DeeInKY]

Liked that album cover. I always thought Herb and the guys were pretty hot looking cowboys.

 

[Harry]

A scruffy-looking gang, long before "scruffy" became cool.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Yeah, the cover was a nice step back into imagination territory after the bland Warm cover. (The front cover of Warm is the only thing I don't particularly like about that album -- I mean, it's a good picture of Herb but just lacks excitement.)

 

[Bobberman]

A scruffy-looking gang, long before "scruffy" became cool.

Indeed and best of all this gang wasn't coming to town with Guns They were armed with musical instruments (and with the exception of record sales and TV Ratings at that time) " Nobody Got Hurt "

 

[Acapulco 1922]

The atmospherically-haunting take on I'LL BE BACK, deserves more credit...not *just* as-part of this album, but; being: an example of a damn solid arrangement (from the original lineup's latter years) and, possibly, as an example of the birth of "smooth jazz" itself.
I guess, it may have had something to do with the Beatles' (own) style -then...by 1969- having gotten SO radically different, that -- they'd, either, become passé or the over-30s considered their post-1966 selves "enemies"(?).