The Official !!GOING PLACES!! comments thread and poll

[Harry]

The release date Shout! Factory's re-issue of !!GOING PLACES!! is Tuesday, June 7th. Some have already found the new disc, so this thread is going up a few days early. When you acquire the new disc, place all of your comments about it here and vote for your favorite track from it.

 

[Dave]

The familiar horns honking in "Tijuana Taxi" put this in First and at least relates to the title, but "Walk Don't Run" is given an incredible twist and so is "Third Man Theme", as well as "Spanish Flea"... And the 'sentimental, even though INSTRUMENTAL' "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You", is also a very under-rated piece... :goofygrin:

"Zorba The Greek" is a bit of an acquired taste, but despite the few "breaks" in the piece, it is still constantly fluid enough that it would be a hit at your next Wedding Reception--or Bar/Bas Mitzvah! "...Or, whatever Fits-Ya!"


Dave

 

[Captaindave]

The top three for me on Going Places are:

1. More and More Amor - I really enjoy this probably more than any other of the slower tempo songs that the TJB ever recorded. I really like how all the instrumental parts flow and fit together...

2. Mae - This is a wonderful melody, and the sound and styling of the trumpet are classic Herb Alpert. A great study in trumpet tone.

3. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You - Classic TJB from the period. And, the arrangement of this originally slow tempo ballad is great creativity and originality in itself.

This is a landmark album, and IMO, the one that most people will think of when they think TJB. It has the songs that, IMO, defined the sound and really established the mass popularity of the group for the decade of the sixties.

It was my first TJB album.

 

[walterphil]

his best lp in my opinion. "and the angels sing" takes me out of this world.
herbie's 9th is my second fave. can't wait for that one.
(altho "what now my love" is my favorite herb track ever)

and how bout that out take photo of the girl on the wing?
hubba hubba. love the pilot looking down at her. and herb looks so....cranky?

 

[TallPaulInKy]

Always received the most play around my house, but Tijuana Taxi and Zorba sound thin on the album after being used to the singles versions all these years.
Still my favorite of all the TJB albums, Herb and the Brass were definately "Going Places" at this time in their career.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

There are no bad tracks on this album -- it just rocks from beginning to end. I guess if I HAD to pick least favorites on it, I'd pick "Mae" and "And the Angels Sing" but even they are good. This is the album that proves without a doubt that Herb had one of the tightest bands in the business.

If I was to do the "desert island" thing, this is probably the TJB album I would take along. (or WARM, possibly...two different moods, two different LPs.)

 

[walterphil]

"and the angels sing" was already a great tune by benny goodman and pete fountain. i also have it by eydie gorme who really nails it. but herb's is still my favorite. plus it's nice to finally have it without the distortion that was always on the vinyl version (when the orchestra kicks in)

i think his final horn part is more free form (in a satchmo kind of way) than usual.

 

[elswinger]

I am disappointed by the cover. It's blurry and has a few small black flecks. I hope it sounds better than it looks.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I was very impressed by the sound on this one.

I thought the cover looked fine. Very cool to see the reproduced back-covers on the booklets.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

This has a pretty nice sound to it overall. The highs are a bit crisper than before, and I don't hear the dreaded dropout on "Tijuana Taxi" that was so obvious on Def Hits. I do notice that at the beginning of "Walk, Don't Run" there is that half-second sound that was on the mono version of this album. Nice photos inside as well. I still need to do the headphone thing with these albums.

As far as favorite tunes, I chose "Walk, Don't Run" because I think it's the best version of this song, even better than the Ventures. There really isn't a clunker in this album at all, although "Mae" is probably my least favorite.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Timeframe]

Hey Captain - I've been listening to 'em since I got 'em, and
and it sounds like the ½ sec noise is a fingers-on-guitar-strings squeek. The remastering guy prolly thought "wow, noise from the studio before the song starts", and left it in.

Of the six releases so far, I'm creating my own "remaster", using concert venue impulses to add a little air around the multi-mono music. I'm in heaven, or just about 40 years younger. BTW, my fav HAS to be Walk, Don't Run.

Steve

PS - I must be delusional, I'd swear that my original Going Places album had Anthony Quinn saying: Dance? Did you say Dance? in the Zorba somewhere.

 

[AudiophilePhil]

There are too many favourites in this excellent album.
For me it's a 6-way tie among the follwing songs:

Tijuana Taxi
I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
More and More Amor
Spanish Flea
A Walk in the Black Forest
Zorba the Greek

I finally gave "A Walk in the Black Forest" a vote.

 

[Harry]

This has a pretty nice sound to it overall. The highs are a bit crisper than before, and I don't hear the dreaded dropout on "Tijuana Taxi" that was so obvious on Def Hits. I do notice that at the beginning of "Walk, Don't Run" there is that half-second sound that was on the mono version of this album. Nice photos inside as well. I still need to do the headphone thing with these albums.

I did a quick listen with headphones just now and concur that the distortion/dropouts present on DEF HITS is now gone. And yep, I noticed the "fingers on the strings" sound at the beginning of "Walk, Don't Run". As I recall, it was present on one of my mono pressings as well as on a stereo pressing I have.

One unfortunate new oddity in the sound that I noticed is a slight dropout on the trumpet part at the opening of "Mae" that wasn't there in the A&M CD pressing.

Other than that though, this is a great-sounding CD, complete with original tape hiss, so there wasn't any noise rediction applied - a great thing, so we can hear ALL of the music.

Harry

 

[Rudy]

This has a pretty nice sound to it overall. The highs are a bit crisper than before, and I don't hear the dreaded dropout on "Tijuana Taxi" that was so obvious on Def Hits.

Cool! That means the other version probably came from a production master that was damaged.

I would be curious to see if Beat Of The Brass has the dropouts fixed in the opening of "Monday, Monday": those were there on the original LP. Strange that it took me until the CD era to notice the dropouts on an album I'd listened to since it first came out!

 

[Mr Bill]

Of this batch it's hard to say which I like better -- Going Places or What Now My Love. I've never been a big "Zorba" fan and "Mae" has grown on me over the years (as have other slow tunes on other LPs -- "Lemon Tree," Tangerine," "I Might Frighten Her Away" and others). For "Mae" I think it's the orchestrations as much as it is lilting trumpet and flute break about mid-song tat really reach out and touch me (plus I used it in a family history photo montage video for my wife's mother's side of the family -- it worked beautifully -- and at the family reunion there were tears).

It's also nice to get confirmation in the liner notes that The Ventures' Mel Taylor did indeed play drums on "The Lonely Bull." My only complaint is in the packaging. Red is not the color I would've gone with for the complementary match color for the spine, bar, disc and inner cover. In fact, the text on the disc itself is so similar a shade of red I can barely read it -- it almost looks like a solid red disc.

But overall I'm jazzed about this batch and am sitting in eager anticiaption for the next batch...

--Mr Bill

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Yeah, the next batch is really the one I'm looking forward to the most, except for maybe LOST TREASURES and the [crossing fingers] upcoming WARM.

The other thing that's confirmed in the liners (which I guess we knew, but now it's official) that Herb used a revolving cast of musicians througout the TJB's recording career. Pisano and Wechter are mentioned, but no mention of Bob Edmondson -- so I wonder if that's really him on the trombone.

 

[AM Matt]

I also bought the CD yesterday afternoon. The song "More And More Amor" is one of my favorites followed by "Spanish Flea" a close second. Matt Clark Sanford, MI

 

[thetijuanataxi]

As you might have guessed, I voted for "Tijuana Taxi" as it is always been my favorite tune. Close contenders are "Cinco De Mayo" and "Spanish Flea"(can't believe no one has picked that yet)?? Though the entire album is a masterpiece.

As for my evaluation of the SF reissue: (out of 10)
Sound quality: 9.5
Packaging quality: 6.5
Liner notes and pics 8.5


The Good:
Superb mastering throughout with no end tag dropouts on TIJUANA TAXI. I think I hear a slight amount of left channel distortion during the first 6-10 seconds, not sure, have to listen more intently, but nothing major. I didn't notice the slight trumpet dropout on "Mae", but again, I must listen again when it's quiet. I like the guitar grace note at the beginning of "Walk, Don't Run". I have a stereo ochre label pressing that also has this grace note and it sounds the best sonically of all my GP pressings. Overall a great sounding reissue.I like the out take photo in the plane but wish it was in color.

THE BAD
I wish they could have used glossier paper stock so the vibrance of the colors would have been closer to my vinyl LP jacket. I also agree that the CD label was poorly done. I have no problem with red label and Signature tag, but how about BLACK letters on red background. Red on red is very difficult to see and it doesn't look near as good as the others in the series. If it were up to me, they'd all have an ochre label with fonts similar to the ones used on the LPs.

All in all though, I'm pretty happy with this reissue. They used a much better master this time than the 1988 domestic CD and the Japanese CD and the sound quality is quite good.

David,
who is realizing that this year there's something else in Texas to look forward to in August besides 110 degree heat............

 

[Captain Bacardi]

One other little item I like is the photo of Basin Street East, which I guess is in NYC? That would've been a very cool place to hear an early TJB concert!


Capt. Bacardi

 

[DAN BOLTON]

Every bit as much a "theme" album as WCAOD, another disc that, until today, my only real experience with was an old mono LP. This one sounds much better than I could have imagined. I'm hearing things that I never did before, and I almost wore this one out as a kid!

I especially like the bells and the block arrangement in my favorite song , AND THE ANGELS SING...never heard them before. This album should have been a "must-listen" in every geography class...there's a real 'round the world celebration going on here, isn't there? I hope they played it at the UN...and maybe now would be a good time, if it hasn't been done yet. No wonder that this album and WCAOD were the party albums of their day...

!!Sounds great!!

Thanks to Herb, Larry, and to Bernie Grundman...

Dan

 

[Harry]

While reading through the booklet a little more thoroughly, I noticed a return to something. perhaps a bit erroneous, from the old ochre label days.

On the track listing for "A Walk In The Black Forest", the German title and the composer are hyphonated, making it appear as if Mr. Jankowski composed it with a Mr. Schwarzwaldfahrt. The word "Schwarzwaldfahrt" is literally three German words strung together (the way they do). "Schwarz" means "black", "Wald" means "wood or forest", and "Fahrt" means "drive, momentum, travel, journey, trip".

The designation of "Schwarzwaldfahrt" disappeared when !!GOING PLACES!! made it to the silver and tan label in the '70s, and remained missing on the US issue CD.

But here it's returned, indicating that someone likely gathered the album details from an old ochre label pressing, probably obtained from the credited www.MusicManMurray.com .

Harry

 

[Ed Bishop]

Tough, tough call...."Zorba"...I love the 45 edit/mix, but this one is a gem, too.....sigh......

 

[Numero Cinco]

Having been away all last week, I was delighted upon returning home yesterday to open my amazon.com box, containing the latest three (yes, ordered right here on this very site!). Talk about Christmas in June!

It's going to take me some time to vote favorites on all these. So many to choose from!

Right now I am listening to !!Going Places!! As an album, taken comprehensively, I don't think Herb Alpert ever cut a better one. No filler here; every track is different, and every one is a pure gem. The man was at the height of his powers when he gave us this one. The arrangements are brilliant; the orchestration, generous but never overdone; the melodies, unforgettable; Herb's trumpet, sweet and pure. What a wonderful record! Thank you, thank you!

Except for Jon What's-his-name's repetitive liner notes, and the lack of decent historical data for the recordings—a constant problem—I continue to be impressed by the loving care with which Shout! has resissued these. For !!GP!! I am especially grateful for the alternative shot of the model in the French maid's costume, on the plane with Herb. What legs! No wonder Herb was grinning, his scarf nicely extended! Look at those legs! And I never would have believed that the pilot was real; to me he always looked like a dummy. Well, he's no dummy: he too is getting an eyeful of that honey's legs.

Votes comes later; still more CD to enjoy. Wonderful, wonderful music. Oh—did I mention those legs?

 

[Ed Bishop]

Yeah, legs.....

 

[Mr Bill]

That pilot has always reminded me of Jerry Moss, though I now doubt it is he...

--Mr Bill