I always thought the "tired" sound of some of the later TJB records was done on purpose to give it more of a jaunty, laid-back, just sittin' around playin' kind of sound. Listen to a tune like "Ob La Di, Ob La Da," if that was played the same way "Tijuana Taxi" was, it just wouldn't sound right.
The later records sound much more spontaneous to me, where the earlier ones up thru WHAT NOW MY LOVE seem to be more thought-out-in-advance sounding.
Now I am not a trumpet player (the only instrument I play is the stereo system) so I could be way off base here, but I think the "brightness" of Herb's sound comes thru when it needs to. I always thought he maybe just wasn't using as much wind on those later records as the early ones. Which I guess could be caused by tired-ness...but you'd think, with him being the perfectionist he's known to be, if he wasn't happy with the sound he wouldn't have released the music!
Who knows? Maybe HE hates those records because of that sound, and that's why we haven't seen some of them reissued?! Hope that's not the case, because a couple of my favorite albums fall into that "later TJB" period!
The later records sound much more spontaneous to me, where the earlier ones up thru WHAT NOW MY LOVE seem to be more thought-out-in-advance sounding.
Now I am not a trumpet player (the only instrument I play is the stereo system) so I could be way off base here, but I think the "brightness" of Herb's sound comes thru when it needs to. I always thought he maybe just wasn't using as much wind on those later records as the early ones. Which I guess could be caused by tired-ness...but you'd think, with him being the perfectionist he's known to be, if he wasn't happy with the sound he wouldn't have released the music!
Who knows? Maybe HE hates those records because of that sound, and that's why we haven't seen some of them reissued?! Hope that's not the case, because a couple of my favorite albums fall into that "later TJB" period!