Volume 2 cd----any photos?

[spanky1]

After several years of searching, I just received my Volume 2 cd that I won on Ebay.

Does anyone have any photos/scans of their cd, rear cover, or spine for the A&M release of Volume 2?

I suspect that it's the real deal, but wondered if they all looked similar in packaging?

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

 

[LPJim]

This matches mine, which I found in a used disc bin. Regretfully, I earlier passed up a copy sealed in a longbox. Sure wish I had that.
JB

 

[spanky1]

Yep, that's what I got. Found it on ebay for less than $10 still looks new. From some of the prices I had seen, I was afraid it wasn't the real deal.

Now I feel much better. Overall, I didn't enjoy the cd as much as I thought. I'd never heard the LP, but love all of the other cd's from the Brass.

 

[DAN BOLTON]

Overall, I didn't enjoy the cd as much as I thought. I'd never heard the LP, but love all of the other cd's from the Brass.

This album is a bit of an acquired taste for a lot of TJB fans; it helps to listen to RISE, JUMP STREET and RED HOT, along with a few others from the late '70's and early '80's to really appreciate what Herb was trying to accomplish with VOLUME 2. This album always reminded me of a block party or a neighborhood festival. The concept is very "street" or at least as "street" as a mariachi-flavored album could have been in 1963. It has a bit of an "outdoor" sound; the crowd noises that some find distracting actually help set the mood for a party. This album has some very boisterous moments...as close to a "live" album as Herb would record until CONEY ISLAND.

Listen to RISE, MAGIC MAN(the original cut, not the one from COLORS) or RED HOT and listen to the street sounds, the sirenlike guitar of Wah-Wah Watson and the "whoops" from Randy and the gang, and see if it doesn't hearken back to the crowd noises just before SWINGER FROM SEVILLE starts, or the boisterous sing-along during the chorus of MILORD. For me, at least, they're there...the roots of RISE are present in VOLUME 2. The world wasn't ready for it in 1963, but it was in 1979. Herb was just a little ahead of his time. That's what makes VOLUME 2 so important for me.

Just my two cents...


Dan

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I agree, this album grows on you. The first song I heard from it was "A-Me-Ri-Ca" via GREATEST HITS, so I grabbed it on 8-track at first opportunity. I gave it a couple of listens and set it aside and never heard it again until the iTunes version came out.

I suppose it was partly my more mature tastes and partly the better sounding mastering on the iTunes version, but I enjoy it much more these days. My advice is to give it a few more listens, especially if you enjoy THE LONELY BULL and SOUTH OF THE BORDER.

 

[spanky1]

Thanks for posting those, Steve.

 

[Harry]

The iTunes remaster sounds a whole lot better than the old A&M CD, IMHO. There's an EQ on the old CD that boosts the highs making them somewhat ear-splittling. That's been tamed a great deal on the iTunes remaster.

But still it's fun, as a collector, to own the original disc, hailing from a time when CDs were relatively new, Herb still owned A&M, and all was right with the world...

Harry

 

[Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar]

This album was before there was an actual TJB band, and before Alpert was wearing the mariachi outfits. Does anyone notice how different his facial features were two or three years later? Just wondrin' later..........J

 

[DAN BOLTON]

This album was before there was an actual TJB band, and before Alpert was wearing the mariachi outfits. Does anyone notice how different his facial features were two or three years later? Just wondrin' later..........J

He does look a little "chubbier" in that photo than in later ones, but I think it's just the camera angle, the lighting or maybe the quality of the print. I always thought that was a painting of a collie dog in the background until I realized it was a vase of flowers. At least, I think it is...

That isn't the original rear cover shot...Herb was in full Mariachi garb for the original photo, along with a small shot of him in a sweater; but I always figured it was shot at about the same time the original photos were. I'm basing this on the shirt collar...the button-down "ivy league" style wasn't really in vogue in 1963, but it was relatively common...and the more familiar button-down look with the more pointed collar( I had some from the late '60's that actually had stays just above the buttonholes) really didn't come into vogue until 1966 or so. The shirt also looks like it's been ironed, and permanent press was all the rage in the mid-to-late '60's. The album was re-released in 1966, wasn't it? Herb has always been a fashion plate, so I'm guessing that a 1966 shot would have him in more trendy duds...


Dan, who has too much time on his hands...

 

[JOv2]

...I'm basing this on the shirt collar...the button-down "ivy league" style wasn't really in vogue in 1963, but it was relatively common...and the more familiar button-down look with the more pointed collar( I had some from the late '60's that actually had stays just above the buttonholes) really didn't come into vogue until 1966 or so. The shirt also looks like it's been ironed, and permanent press was all the rage in the mid-to-late '60's. The album was re-released in 1966, wasn't it? Herb has always been a fashion plate, so I'm guessing that a 1966 shot would have him in more trendy duds...

Dan, who has too much time on his hands...

Nice style assessment of Herb's dandy side. An alternative approach to date a '60s TjB/Herb photo is to simply note sideburn length, width, and denseness -- all of which exhibit signs of steady augmentation from year to year.

 

[Rudy]

I agree, this album grows on you. The first song I heard from it was "A-Me-Ri-Ca" via GREATEST HITS, so I grabbed it on 8-track at first opportunity. I gave it a couple of listens and set it aside and never heard it again until the iTunes version came out.

While growing up listening to the TJB, I went through different phases where each album would be my favorite, and others wouldn't be. So I really knew all of these songs well.

I think what I wrote on the TJB site about the album still holds true: the second album was essentially a follow-up of the first, playing more on the "Ameriachi" angle almost like a novelty, extending the idea of the "Lonely Bull" single. One difference between this and the first album is that this one stays pretty much in the same style and sound, where the first album explored a few different styles, like someone trying to find a niche beyond that first successful single.

With South Of The Border and its breakthrough single, I feel that's when the whole TJB thing really began to gel. If you think about it, that one could arguably called the first "real" TJB album since all the ones following built off of the style of rhythm and arrangements Herb did for SOTB, and also had more of a "band" feel to it. Not putting down the first two albums at all, but while there are similarities, they really seem out on their own compared to what would follow.

 

[Captaindave]

I agree, this album grows on you. The first song I heard from it was "A-Me-Ri-Ca" via GREATEST HITS, so I grabbed it on 8-track at first opportunity. I gave it a couple of listens and set it aside and never heard it again until the iTunes version came out.

While growing up listening to the TJB, I went through different phases where each album would be my favorite, and others wouldn't be. So I really knew all of these songs well.

I think what I wrote on the TJB site about the album still holds true: the second album was essentially a follow-up of the first, playing more on the "Ameriachi" angle almost like a novelty, extending the idea of the "Lonely Bull" single. One difference between this and the first album is that this one stays pretty much in the same style and sound, where the first album explored a few different styles, like someone trying to find a niche beyond that first successful single.

With South Of The Border and its breakthrough single, I feel that's when the whole TJB thing really began to gel. If you think about it, that one could arguably called the first "real" TJB album since all the ones following built off of the style of rhythm and arrangements Herb did for SOTB, and also had more of a "band" feel to it. Not putting down the first two albums at all, but while there are similarities, they really seem out on their own compared to what would follow.

I agree.

Volume 2 represents an album by an artist who had achieved some chart success with the initial recording - The Lonely Bull - and was following up on that, looking for something to follow up the initial effort. Volume 2 was indeed a follow-up, but the TJB concept and sound wasn't quite yet ready.

The sound, song selection, and arrangements that came to be the definitive and famous Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass sound began with SOTB and grew from there.

Volume 2 is an interesting album in the history of Herb Alpert's career and development of the TJB sound, but it isn't the sound that the world was waiting for, and waiting to be born with SOTB.

IMHO...

 

[Mike Blakesley]

it isn't the sound that the world was waiting for, and waiting to be born with SOTB

True, not only in the arrangements but also in the "sound of the sound," for lack of a better term. I think that was mostly due to the move to Gold Star Studios.

 

[JOv2]

it isn't the sound that the world was waiting for, and waiting to be born with SOTB

True, not only in the arrangements but also in the "sound of the sound," for lack of a better term. I think that was mostly due to the move to Gold Star Studios.

For my 2-cents, with the first two "TjB" LPs, Herb just doesn't sound strong enough to be recording full LPs worth of material at this point in his career. (Personally, his playing and arrangements are simply not interesting enough to hold my interest for 12 songs/30 minutes.)

That said, something happened following Vol 2 -- beginning with South Of The Border he's a totally different trumpeter...(He starts to sing though his horn, you know?). SOTB is a very strong LP -- and although Whipped Cream was the commercial breakthrough (thanks, to a notable degree, to the cover), SOTB was the artistic breakthrough. (Unlike Whipped Cream, SOTB doesn't contain as much overt filler / throwaway material.)

In any event, the arrangements, the command of his horn, and the sonics (dig that full electric bass guitar) make SOTB a cornerstone TjB LP. (the LP also features Herb's highest notes ever played on a '60s TjB LP...with sweet ease and grace!)

 

[Rudy]

I do want to follow up Mike's assessment of Gold Star Studios, which also included the veteran Larry Levine as engineer. The SOTB album has a lot more polish than the previous two...although one has to marvel at the fact that the "Lonely Bull" single was recorded in a garage!

 

[lonely bull]

Personally I don't care about the politics of this album - I don't care whether it was or was not the " true " TJB line-up - I take this album for what it is - a complete and finished product - we can't change history and You either like this album or You don't. Personally I love it to bits - it's my favourite TJB album and I am so glad I managed to buy the original CD all those Years ago - as well as a still sealed L.P and 2 European L.P.s with the different album cover. It's just a travesty that this album has been omitted from the Shout!factory re-issues.


Dave.......

 

[TonyCurrie]

"Winds of Barcelona", "America" and "Mexican Corn" are all still TJB favourites of mine. I don't disagreee with most of what's been said so far - yes, this album is different in many ways to SOTB and its successors, but that doesn't change the fact that there are some excellent arrangements and great musicianship, some of it 'smoother' than later TJB cuts.

Wish Herb would allow a CD re-release!