I am a fan of Herb Alpert and the Tiujana Brass. While I repect Herb for his accomplishments after the Brass period, I don't have much interest in the music he produced after 1968.
At one time, I was an avid fan, buying every record and catching every TV appearance from the start of 1966 to the second Special in 1968, but my interest gradually waned so that by the time I started college in the fall of 1968, I don't think I ever gave him another thought.
Several times since then, I either dusted off my old albums or made a tape to play in my car, but last Christmas, I took another listen to his music and rediscovered my fondness for it.
I have been a watcher on this forum and others and have learned a lot about Herb Alpert and his music. I have collected the rest of his albums through to Coney Island.
First of all, my taste in music changed. Like so many things in life, it was driven by sex. In 1965, when Whipped Cream and A Taste Of Honey came out, I was a shy,skinny, acne prone 15 year old, on foot (I was too old to ride a bike!), just starting high school. I had a disposable income of $1.50 per week. (An allowance). Comic books and music were my main interests. By the time SRO came out, I was a shy, skinny, acne prone 16 year old high school junior, capable of driving a car, with a job and a disposable income of between $10 and $15 per week. I was ripe to start dating and girls soon replaced comics as my main interest. It did not take me long to discover that the Herb's music was not played at our school dances. So gradually, I became more interested in rock and roll.
The second factor is that the sound of the Brass changed. Througout Herb's long career, his music has evolved. I have tried to pinpoint when that change was made, and I think I have found it.
I recently made my own box set, buring tracts on cds. I have made my own version of Greatest Hits, but I have also burned complete albums. I made one that included all the songs from What Now My Love and SRO, and when played that CD, I found when the change started - it started with SRO.
IMHO, you can take South of the Border, Whipped Cream, Going Places and What Now My Love and group them together as the classical Tijuana Brass. All of the songs are somewhat interchangable in the sense that you could move any one of them from one album to another and they would not sound out of place. The style from this period is characterized by a mixture of Spanish sounds and rhythms, mixed with a health dose of American Jazz - Ameriachi it was called. The sound was unique due to several elements - a rich flowing, dominating trumpet; the Spanish swirl, the twin harmony of two trumpets; and backround provided by maracas, marimbas and mandolins, along with guitars. Many of the songs were played with mucho gusto!
Play the second side of What Now My Love, with Cantina Blue, Brasilia, Five Minutes More and the Shadow of Your Smile and you will hear all of these characteristics. Play the first few tracks of SRO and you will immediately notice the difference. The horn has retreated somewhat and the backgound sounds have come more to the front. There is less of the Spanish influence and more diversified jazz sounds including the banjo. Several of the tracks, like Mame, feature the former style but as a group the sound of the songs on this album are different from the albums that came before. SRO, Sounds Like, Herb Alpert's 9th and a Beat of the Brass can be grouped together in what I call the neo-classical period. A lot of good songs and several great arrangements, but the sound continues to deteriorate. The trumpet becomes choppy and increasingly muted compared to the other instruments. The tempo becomes more MRO - in those last 4 albums, find one song played with the exuberance of Walk Dont Run, Tijuana Taxi, Brasilia or Five Minutes More. They just are not there. As the sound changed, I lost interest, and I have to say, so did a lot of other fans.
I think by 1968, Herb wanted to distance himself from the Tijuana image, and was interested in a dual career, both as a band leader and a single performer. His record business was growing and he had to have less time to focus on the TJB part of his career. Couple that with some personal issues, and it is no wonder that the band did not sound the same, as Herb was the key to everything they did.
For a brief period of time, 1965 thru the end of 1966 at least, Herb was in a groove that dominated American music like few others have. He started to slip, and with the exception of a couple of hits and near misses since then, he has never been able to find that groove again.
It is quite a pity, as I think about all the great songs that would have benifited from the TJB treatment of the bold brass horn, Spanish rhythms and sounds and some real exhuberance and class.
At one time, I was an avid fan, buying every record and catching every TV appearance from the start of 1966 to the second Special in 1968, but my interest gradually waned so that by the time I started college in the fall of 1968, I don't think I ever gave him another thought.
Several times since then, I either dusted off my old albums or made a tape to play in my car, but last Christmas, I took another listen to his music and rediscovered my fondness for it.
I have been a watcher on this forum and others and have learned a lot about Herb Alpert and his music. I have collected the rest of his albums through to Coney Island.
First of all, my taste in music changed. Like so many things in life, it was driven by sex. In 1965, when Whipped Cream and A Taste Of Honey came out, I was a shy,skinny, acne prone 15 year old, on foot (I was too old to ride a bike!), just starting high school. I had a disposable income of $1.50 per week. (An allowance). Comic books and music were my main interests. By the time SRO came out, I was a shy, skinny, acne prone 16 year old high school junior, capable of driving a car, with a job and a disposable income of between $10 and $15 per week. I was ripe to start dating and girls soon replaced comics as my main interest. It did not take me long to discover that the Herb's music was not played at our school dances. So gradually, I became more interested in rock and roll.
The second factor is that the sound of the Brass changed. Througout Herb's long career, his music has evolved. I have tried to pinpoint when that change was made, and I think I have found it.
I recently made my own box set, buring tracts on cds. I have made my own version of Greatest Hits, but I have also burned complete albums. I made one that included all the songs from What Now My Love and SRO, and when played that CD, I found when the change started - it started with SRO.
IMHO, you can take South of the Border, Whipped Cream, Going Places and What Now My Love and group them together as the classical Tijuana Brass. All of the songs are somewhat interchangable in the sense that you could move any one of them from one album to another and they would not sound out of place. The style from this period is characterized by a mixture of Spanish sounds and rhythms, mixed with a health dose of American Jazz - Ameriachi it was called. The sound was unique due to several elements - a rich flowing, dominating trumpet; the Spanish swirl, the twin harmony of two trumpets; and backround provided by maracas, marimbas and mandolins, along with guitars. Many of the songs were played with mucho gusto!
Play the second side of What Now My Love, with Cantina Blue, Brasilia, Five Minutes More and the Shadow of Your Smile and you will hear all of these characteristics. Play the first few tracks of SRO and you will immediately notice the difference. The horn has retreated somewhat and the backgound sounds have come more to the front. There is less of the Spanish influence and more diversified jazz sounds including the banjo. Several of the tracks, like Mame, feature the former style but as a group the sound of the songs on this album are different from the albums that came before. SRO, Sounds Like, Herb Alpert's 9th and a Beat of the Brass can be grouped together in what I call the neo-classical period. A lot of good songs and several great arrangements, but the sound continues to deteriorate. The trumpet becomes choppy and increasingly muted compared to the other instruments. The tempo becomes more MRO - in those last 4 albums, find one song played with the exuberance of Walk Dont Run, Tijuana Taxi, Brasilia or Five Minutes More. They just are not there. As the sound changed, I lost interest, and I have to say, so did a lot of other fans.
I think by 1968, Herb wanted to distance himself from the Tijuana image, and was interested in a dual career, both as a band leader and a single performer. His record business was growing and he had to have less time to focus on the TJB part of his career. Couple that with some personal issues, and it is no wonder that the band did not sound the same, as Herb was the key to everything they did.
For a brief period of time, 1965 thru the end of 1966 at least, Herb was in a groove that dominated American music like few others have. He started to slip, and with the exception of a couple of hits and near misses since then, he has never been able to find that groove again.
It is quite a pity, as I think about all the great songs that would have benifited from the TJB treatment of the bold brass horn, Spanish rhythms and sounds and some real exhuberance and class.
)
)
But seriously I wish Herb would keep recording because whatever he does is going to sound fresh and original. He is "Forever Young" Peace amigos...Jay
