Herb Alpert / Tijuana Brass Buying Guide

Rudy

¡Que siga la fiesta!
Staff member
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Due to the increasing number of pirated or unofficial grey market releases, A&M Corner presents an Amazon list containing all of the official versions of Herb Alpert's recordings, from his earliest recording The Lonely Bull up to the most recent releases.

If you are unsure of a Herb Alpert product you are purchasing, keep in mind that only the following labels have ever been authorized to release his catalog of recordings: A&M, Almo Sounds, Concord Music Group, Shout!Factory, and Herb Alpert Presents. Any and all others are not legitimate releases! (This also includes any of the unlicensed vinyl releases from Europe and elsewhere.)


Read our warning about pirated and unofficial/unlicensed versions here:


Follow the link below to visit our Amazon page listing all of the official releases, including past out-of-print titles that might still be available:

Amazon.com - Official Herb Alpert/Tijuana Brass CD releases

We also have a buyer's guide to the recently remastered titles at our related site, tijuanabrass.com:

2015 Remasters Buying Guide »

Finally, remember that the latest remasters from 2015 and onward are available from all the major streaming and download suppliers.

We recommend the
Qobuz store (you do not need to be a subscriber) to download the remasters in high-resolution 24-bit/88.2 kHz format, or in standard 16-bit/44.1 kHz CD-resolution. Qobuz allows you to download as FLAC, WAV, ALAC and AIFF lossless formats, and also offers high-resolution lossless streaming of all Herb Alpert albums (plus tens of thousands of others) at a competitive rate for a monthly or yearly subscription.

7Digital and Tidal also offer lossless download options. Lossy downloads can be found via the usual suspects (Amazon, iTunes, etc.).
 
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Due to the increasing number of pirated or unofficial grey market releases, A&M Corner presents an Amazon list containing all of the official versions of Herb Alpert's recordings, from his earliest recording The Lonely Bull up to the most recent releases.
The definition of what a Gray area release may need a revised look.

Based on modern copyright law, some recordings go into the public domain worldwide. That means releases from those countries are perfectly legal.
A good example is the Hit Parade label from Canada has been issuing some new DES (Digitally Extracted Stereo) versions of songs previously only available in mono.
The release "Hard To Find Jukebox Classics- Stereo Explosion Volume 5: Pop (1955-1964) includes a very nice stereo DES version of The Lonely Bull. This maybe of interest to members of the group as it is a legal release and has the single in stereo for the first time.
Herb has refused to issue a singles comp of his own.

Various | Hard to Find Jukebox Classics: Stereo Explosion Volume 5 - Pop (1955-64) | Hit Parade Records
 
I'm pretty sure that Rudy was trying to direct folks to the officially sanctioned Herb Alpert Presents releases, since those are from the original master tapes. When you get into those public domain-style releases (which we all know are now legal in places around the world), one cannot know what sources were used. Some of them sound pretty good, some of them will sound pretty bad.

I recall personally endorsing the early Dore Alpert/Herbie Alpert release. It sounds pretty good and is an easy way to acquire some of those early records.
 
I'm pretty sure that Rudy was trying to direct folks to the officially sanctioned Herb Alpert Presents releases, since those are from the original master tapes.

Yes! 👍 Original tapes used, and all proceeds go to the artist. All the grey market releases bypass royalty payments, so neither Herb nor the songwriters are getting paid. (Such are EU copyright rules, unfortunately.)

There is a flood of knockoffs out there, and innocent consumers have no clue as to whether or not they are buying a genuine release. With the sources of all of those knockoffs being suspect, innocent consumers would get a bad impression of Herb and his label if the quality was poor. That is why I posted this guide--to clarify what the official releases are.

Also, many years ago and prior to the Herb Alpert Presents reissues (and possibly prior to some of the Shout Factory releases), there was a seller on eBay selling pirated Herb and TJB albums, claiming the label was an official licensee in Brazil. Which of course, we knew was false, since the only remaining "licensed" title in print was the Universal compilation Definitive Hits. (I think one of the titles was Fandango, which at the time was a rarity.)

I don't think any of us could keep track of the songs that Herb Alpert Presents licenses to others for use in compilations or films. But we can be almost certain that entire albums are not licensed.
 
Yes! 👍 Original tapes used, and all proceeds go to the artist. All the grey market releases bypass royalty payments, so neither Herb nor the songwriters are getting paid. (Such are EU copyright rules, unfortunately.)

There is a flood of knockoffs out there, and innocent consumers have no clue as to whether or not they are buying a genuine release. With the sources of all of those knockoffs being suspect, innocent consumers would get a bad impression of Herb and his label if the quality was poor. That is why I posted this guide--to clarify what the official releases are.

Also, many years ago and prior to the Herb Alpert Presents reissues (and possibly prior to some of the Shout Factory releases), there was a seller on eBay selling pirated Herb and TJB albums, claiming the label was an official licensee in Brazil. Which of course, we knew was false, since the only remaining "licensed" title in print was the Universal compilation Definitive Hits. (I think one of the titles was Fandango, which at the time was a rarity.)

I don't think any of us could keep track of the songs that Herb Alpert Presents licenses to others for use in compilations or films. But we can be almost certain that entire albums are not licensed.
I have to correct you on the issue that "songwriters are not getting paid" according to EU copyrights. All European releases from registered companies has to pay songwriter credits to PBS, GEMA, TONO and the other European copyright institutions unless the composer/lyric writer has been dead for more than 75 years.

- greetings from the north -
Martin
 
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