The Official TJB Press Reviews Thread + COMMENTS

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RE: The Brent Milano "Stardust Memories" article.

What's up with this dude? While he does give the TJB music some due respect, he sure gets a lot wrong:
The uninformed Brent Milano said:
It seems strange that one of most popular acts of the ’60s would only now be releasing most of his catalogue on CD for the first time.
WRONG. Only two of the ten albums hadn't been on CD previously.

The uninitiated Brent Milano said:
It never sound much like authentic mariachi — indeed, the credits reveal the group never had a single Hispanic member.
True-- but where was it written that the TJB was a mariachi group? Nowhere.

The possibly-stoned Brent Milano said:
And they were absolutely untouched by ’60s counterculture. Among Shout Factory’s current reissue series are the group’s eighth and ninth albums, Sounds Like . . . and Ninth, released in March and November 1967, before and after the Summer of Love. The two sound identical.
VERY WRONG. Did this guy even listen to the two albums? They couldn't sound more different! I will admit that NINTH doesn't really have a hint of "counterculture" in it, but that's a good thing....shows Herb wasn't just jumping on any old bandwagon. (Although he did cover the Beatles, but who didn't?)

The tin-eared Brent Milano said:
So, for that matter, do most of the 11 albums in Shout Factory’s reissue series, [sound alike, he means]
How dopey is this? Anyone who thinks the albums sound alike, (other than having the same "lead" instrument) must have peanut butter in his ears. The only albums that sound "alike" are SRO and SOUNDS LIKE, and even they have quite a few differences in style.

Still not getting it said:
by album #10, The Beat of the Brass (which included the one vocal hit, "This Guy’s in Love with You"), Alpert had stopped even trying to sound Mexican.
DUH, he stopped "trying to sound Mexican" after album #3, SOUTH OF THE BORDER. That was the last time there was even a hint of Mexico, except the occasional Spanish song title (and of course the twin trumpet sound and mandolin...but that's not really Mexican.)

The slightly-uppity Brent Milano said:
The early albums are the silliest, most dated, and, well, most fun to hear again.
I guess this is a matter of opinion, but I find the ones from WHIPPED CREAM forward more fun to listen to than the first three because it's fun hearing Herb "run" with his style after he finally found it.

Apparently never having heard a big band said:
"The Happening" is arranged as a big-band standard rather than as the Supremes hit it was.
A "Big band standard?" "Marjorine" from WARM is more "big band"-ish than "The Happening" any day. (Of course this guy probably didn't hear WARM.)

Brent Milano said:
The Tijuana’s one great, unified album is 1965’s Whipped Cream & Other Delights.
BS, I say! Didn't he listen to GOING PLACES? How can an album be more unified than that one?

The completely-clueless Brent Milano said:
Even at their kitschiest, though, the Tijuana Brass were simply selling an idealized vision of a sunny vacation spot.
I hate the word "kitsch." It's tossed around too much today, and it always implies "music that isn't really very good but is fun to listen to for novelty or nostalgic value." Well the TJB is not kitsch, never was and never will be. It's good instrumental pop music. I better go have a beer.
 
The "Having Drunk One-Too Many" Brettt Milano said:
...Throw in a parrot and a few margaritas and you’ll still find that formula on the Pop Charts today...

...:?:

Ummmm...is this comparing Herb to Jimmy Buffett?! :confused: The current musical landscape has changed over the years enough that you'll NOT find ANYTHING like this there TODAY! That's where if you use a word like "kitsch" it'd be a fitting description, but "schlock" even seems to be too "elevated" a description for what's been on the Pop Charts for the past ten-years! "I'll join you for that beer--and make mine a Double!" :freak:


Dave
 
Brett Milano also got the history of 1960's radio wrong. Milano writes:"He(Alpert) got more airplay on "beautiful music" stations than on Top 40."
This must purely be from faulty memory and compares apples to oranges,without mentioning the importance of bananas. What I mean to say is that I doubt that Herb had that much exposure on true "beautiful music" stations. WJBR,a Wilmington,Delaware pioneer of the beautiful music format,banged into virtually every doctor and dentist office in the Delaware Valley(a geographical term for an area that includes Philadelphia and suburbs). I can tell you from personal experience( sitting in an orthodontist's chair for hours on end plus my best friend's father had his dental practice in their house and WJBR was always on) that it was rare to hear a true TJB record. Now,string-laden arrangements of "A Taste Of Honey" and the like,sure. And if the songs were already standards(ATOH,though less than 10 years old at the time, had been recorded many times before Herb took a crack at it)the stations were already playing them. Also,most of these stations were on FM,an area yet to be consumed by the masses.
And Top 40 stations were not what the TJB relied on for airplay. Instrumentals were often the bastard child of Top 40, used as bumper music to go up against a set-timed feature(e.g.-news live,sports events,remote broadcasts).
Herb got his airplay primarily from MOR(middle of the road) AM stations that played Sinatra,Peggy Lee,the Lettermen,Ted Heath,etc. not as nostalgic music but as an alternative to Elvis,the Beatles and the Four Seasons. The Philly area was covered by WIP;New York had WNEW(both were owned by Metromedia);virtually every market had at least one MOR station.
Also,Milano and others forget the power of the song "Mexican Shuffle" from SOUTH OF THE BORDER,aka the "Teaberry Shuffle" music used by Clark's Gum as background music for a chewing gum TV commercial. That was the bridge between "Lonely Bull" and ATOH. That commercial jingle was heard by the masses-there were only three networks back then,many areas didn't even have three TV stations but that commercial played on virtually every type of show imaginable;morning, noon and night. Think of a style of music from the 1960s that truly everyone heard and you'll come to the conclusion that TV was the true mass medium. Radio was too fragmented-too many choices-and had become a "personal" medium that spoke to the lisenter one-on-one through the existence of small transistor radios and car radios. That is what put the TJB on the map and in the listener's ear. Mac
 
From The Washington Post article to which Steve linked us:

"People have told me that it's the innocence of the look," says Erickson, now 65, retired and living in Washington state. "It's what you can't see" that adds to its allure. "I understand it was very suggestive to men, but I never thought of it like that."

"I understand it was very suggestive to men, but I never thought of it like that."

I can see the lady's point. Sitting half-naked in shaving cream is surely what made The History Channel what it is today.
 
I don't believe this one has yet been posted. It's from the Jazz Police website.

Whipped Cream & Other Delights Rewhipped – Reviewed by Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck

The first thoughts I had about hearing this album excited me. The possibilities seemed intriguing. Hearing this classic album remixed with some new vibes and young talented blood infused into Herb Alpert’s magnificent trumpet would be an entirely different trip than the original, I just did not know what to expect.

Whipped Cream & Other Delights Rewhipped features remixes by late '90s and 2000 era DJs and has the old master himself playing new trumpet solos on seven tracks. All the cuts here appeared on the original 1965 release, Whipped Cream & Other Delights. The cover emulates the original with a scantly glad model in a two-piece made of…you got it, whipped cream. The picture inside the CD is even more revealing. This is an indication of how risqué we have become since 1965, actually, it is mild in comparison to what you find these days, inside and out of a CD.

You may recognize some of the names involved in the project-Medeski, Martin & Wood, DJ Foosh, Ozmatli, and Anthony Marinelli, to name a few. After listening to this the first time it was making me crazy, I wanted to hear the original versions. Because of that initial response, I was not too sure if l liked this or not. Then only after a second, third, and fourth listen, did I find an appreciation for what this music was trying to accomplish. This was a brilliant marketing move to make after all the reissues last year. To unleash an updated version of the most successful and popular recording from the Alpert canon only made sense at this point.

Tracks like “Love Potion # 9” sound very today with Astru Sierra laying down some funky vocals backed by a worldly infusion of red-hot studio musicians. I am not accustomed to hearing Alpert tracks with vocals so this was different but very good. The title track, thank god, maintains most of its original integrity, and the mixologist Anthony Martnelli gives it the respect that it is due while performer Ozomatii gives it a good shot in the arm with his own unique style and interpretation. From that point forward, it remains an enjoyable and interesting road to travel with all of these changes, moods, textures, and colors added to the recording. It really is a cool thing listening to this and obviously Alpert approved or he would not have had so much involvement in the project.

This classic release goes through some growing pains but it all ends up with some great results. This is full of funky, electronic, jazz ambient grooves, and Alpert comes along for the ride contributing some new studio work to complete the circle and rebirth of the recording. At 71, he still is one of the best and hippest players in the world.

© Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck- www.muzikreviews.com

March 15, 2006

Artist: Heb Alpert’s Tijuna Brass
Title: Whipped Cream& Other Delights Rewhipped
Genre: Jazz-Electronica
Label: Shout Factory- www.shoutfactory.com
Website: www.herbalpert.com
 
My wife mentioned that she got an email from Wireless yesterday as we were eating dinner, and that it had something to do with 40th Anniversary Herb Alpert CD's. I asked her to forward it to me, but she hasn't been logged in since then. I guess this is pretty much the gist of what she got in the mail.

Harry
 
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