Herb Alpert Biography

rbisherw

Well-Known Member
Will there ever be a Herb Alpert biography or autobiography?

Would love to read more about this incredibly talented musician. There seems to be so little in print about Herb.
 
Cool idea, but usually a "career ending" or if it's OK to say, a "life ending" or "life ended" sort of entity, which given Herb's credible comeback in the industry, not likely to occur in the first category, and as for the latter two, I think we're hopefully for a long time, spared...!

However, in the best of things, a Bio or Auto-Bio is something I also hope someday to see...


-- Dave
 
Heh. I wanted a biography of Herb Alpert so badly, I wrote one. Really. I went through all the sources on the web I could find (mostly audio interviews) and every time I heard something that made me say "Now THAT'S something I would have wanted to read in a biography!" I would jot it down. The result was about 11 or 12 thousand words.

Of course, that should tell you that I know nothing about Alpert that any real fan wouldn't know. I don't know big a fan you are. And I can't post my work on this site, as it would violate the forum rules. Besides, you're probably looking for something more professional. But if you are interested, I could e-mail you a copy.
 
You could publish it on the web somewhere and post a link to it. Or you could "serialize" it here on the forum, maybe a chapter at a time, under its own thread heading. Neither of those would break any rules I'm aware of, provided your work is based on reliable sources and not speculation.
 
Yeah, I would like to post it, just in the hopes of getting feedback (along the lines of "you got this fact wrong.") But when I mentioned breaking rules, I meant that some of the content of my book wouldn't be acceptable on this forum. It directly references (and even quotes) a certain website which is taboo to name on this site. My book also mentions a certain risqué element of certain TJB songs. I'm guessing that even if I post my work on another site, and linked to it from this forum, you might have to delete that link.
 
But getting back to the OP, you could also try The Herb Alpert File by Steve O'Rourke. I personally wasn't satisfied with that one (hence the need to write my own) but it's better than nothing. You can get it in print or, for a measly $3.99, in digital form, through Barnes and Noble, through iTunes, or through Lulu (but not through Amazon, for some reason.)
 
I would certainly like to encourage your efforts on a biography of Herb, or even a book on A&M. I agree about that "Herb Alpert File" mess. People seem to be being polite about it but other than a few interesting statistical tidbits, that book just underlines the need for something at least approaching professional.

I love musician biographies, because it sends you back to the music (often songs or albums you'd overlooked), with a new perspective, knowing the background. Peter Brown's All You Need Is Love is a great insider's view of the Beatles, but if we can't have that, just a nice chronological development with all the information in one place.

It must be easier now to arrange interviews with key people using Skype... If you'd like you can send me what you've done (ostross @ videotron.ca)
 
There is a book on A&M. It's a 25th anniversary compilation of original articles about the company from it's earliest days trough 1987.
 
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