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I still think "I Might Frighten Her Away" is a gorgeous ballad.
They had obviously realised that Herb's face could sell a lot of records, if he hadn't already convinced everybody with his trumpet playing. His portrait is on almost every album cover.I have always thought this album deserved a better cover. I mean, Herb looks great in the picture, but it's just not an exciting cover. I was expecting it to at least have a cool innersleeve and it didn't even have that (nor did Coney Island). Even Summertime had more going for it than this one due to the cool back-cover photography, and also the front picture with its infamous pants DID at least look ... summer-y.
I can never pick a favorite TJB song, but it's easy for me to pick a favorite album cover: SRO. It shows the whole band and is just a classy looking cover. Some people might say "what about Whipped Cream?" Well, I leave the first 4 albums out of competition because the band hadn't been formed yet. (My contest, my rules!)
I think 'Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor' is my favourite track on the album, too.I regard one track as exceptionally impressive: "Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor."
HI Mike -- Thank you for recommending this recording many years ago. You said I would like it -- and, well, as it turns out, I did and I do! I also select "Fox Hunt", "Promises" and the Mangione composition as my favourites. Herb's tone and technique, to my ears, surpass all his '60s efforts. Wonderful record. Thanks again. -JamesWhen this came out, I was in the music business. I knew the album was coming and had ordered it, but our rival music dealer in town (a variety store) got it in before we did! But I couldn't stand to wait a few more days and went ahead and paid their slightly-higher price. (This was before the days when "street date" was so widely publicized and people would line up for new releases.)
I've always liked the album a lot -- it didn't sound like the "old" TJB but really, every album since Beat of the Brass had had a markedly different sound, so it was getting to be normal to be surprised by Herb's latest style.
My go-to tunes are "Save the Sunlight," "Fox Hunt" and "Legend of the One Eyed Sailor." But my favorite on the album is "Promises, Promises," which boasts a killer arrangement and some very cool scat vocals by Herb. It's one of those many TJB tunes that I really enjoy cranking the volume on.
I'm looking forward to revisiting this one.
Hi Harry! Yes, that's me -- hence the "v2" addendum. How goes it in A&M Corner land?Are you the member that used to be just "JO"?
Point to Mike! Back after a 10-or-so year hiatus. How are you? As for the LP, when I first heard "Fox Hunt" I was on cloud 9: Herb summed up all the beauty and imagination of his unique '60s creations and gave it a slight '70s -- if not slightly Bacharachian -- tilt.Well his name (back then) was also James so I'm betting he's one and the same guy.
Welcome Back JOv2 I seen many of your past posts I've only been here since 2012 but I admired your boldness of opinions even though I may disagree with some of them its ok we are all friends here. As far as Herb's " You Smile" Album I thought it was quite excellent and I agree with the term a" Bacharachian" tilt and I also Like Burt Bacharach too and the CD version is a huge step up from the vinyl version to my earsHi Harry! Yes, that's me -- hence the "v2" addendum. How goes it in A&M Corner land?
Mike, somehow I missed Fox Hunt as a kid in the '70s. It opens with the same simple 2/4 (notably with the piano: bass-chord-bass-chord) pattern that was used on Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends LP opener, Don't Take Your Time -- so my ears perked up from the start as it had that '67 "A&M sound" that for me, sealed my sonic fate!I remember when I first heard it. There was a radio station in Billings which we used to have on at work all the time, since we had no local station. They were an MOR station so I heard a lot of classic A&M on it. I had heard that there was a new Herb Alpert album coming out and as soon as I heard that trumpet (even on the scratchy static-y radio) I knew it was the "new Herb" album.
That first unexpected modulation in the A section and its release (...the Bacharach part) gets me every time...and when Bob blows that pretty legato line, we're assured the TJB has returned! Fox Hunt is timeless as well as a stellar LP opener.Welcome Back JOv2 I seen many of your past posts I've only been here since 2012 but I admired your boldness of opinions even though I may disagree with some of them its ok we are all friends here. As far as Herb's " You Smile" Album I thought it was quite excellent and I agree with the term a" Bacharachian" tilt and I also Like Burt Bacharach too and the CD version is a huge step up from the vinyl version to my ears
I don't think I ever heard "Fox Hunt" on the radio. By the time that single was out, the station I listened to had gotten "mushier", playing a lot of really soft vocals. By the time they straightened out, "Fox Hunt" was well off the charts.
Sometime in the last year or so, I learned of a little extra vocalization at the tail end of "Fox Hunt" that only appears on the stock single. It's not on the album, nor the promotional single. I found one and put it on YouTube. At the end, really crank the volume and you can hear someone saying something.
Thanks, Harry! Though I'm not fully intimate with the LP version, the 45 mix seems slightly different -- with the marimba and accordion a bit hotter on the single (of course there's the computer (45) vs. stereo (LP) fidelity issue at hand as well).I first had this single in 84 and I noticed that at the end to my ears it sounded like Herb faintly in the background saying " I got it" . Or something to that effect nevertheless its a goody