🎶 Pick a Dozen 12 A&M albums that best represented the label

Highlighting the Pick a Dozen series
Working at a Classic Rock station, I heard Peter Frampton frequently, but really only two tracks: "Baby, I Love Your Way" and "Show Me The Way". In my own collection, I own both of those tracks, one on the A&M 50th collection, and one on that LOVE THAT MUSIC album, that also has "I'm In You." But I was never drawn to Peter Frampton and his music at all. Like Rudy said, it's OK, just not my kind of music.
Another idea for a list? What about those low-key, under-the-radar albums that could only have been released by A&M? Records like Sundown Lady, Primal Roots, Road (Paul Winter Consort), and several others that come to mind also represent the variety A&M offered.
I liked that idea.
 
It was definitely the oddity & curiosity of the talk box he used on the lead single, Show Me The Way that hooked the music buying public. It worked good enough to sell millions of live albums, and a pretty successful follow up lp. I still would never have bought them. Not a fan at all. Great for A&M though. They had a mega hit record to sell to the middle of the road rock fans until something else came along.
 
I'm making the conscious decision not to do Ode, IRS or any label that doesn't expressly have the A&M brand attached...which gives me the wiggle room to do A&M/CTi:

1. THE LONELY BULL-Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (have to start at the beginning)
2. WHIPPED CREAM & OTHER DELIGHTS-Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (the album that made everything that came after possible)
3. A DAY IN THE LIFE-Wes Montgomery (the first major jazz album on the label)
4. LOOK AROUND-Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (it was this or FOOL ON THE HILL, I just think this is a better-balanced album and no HAECO/CSG)
5. JOE COCKER! (the first big hit of the move to rock)
6. CLOSE TO YOU-The Carpenters (the softer side of the "new" A&M)
7. TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN-Cat Stevens (first singer-songwriter breakthrough for the label)
8. FRAMPTON COMES ALIVE-Peter Frampton (First monster live double)
9. BREAKFAST IN AMERICA-Supertramp
10.NIGHT AND DAY-Joe Jackson
11. SYNCHRONICITY-Police
12. CONTROL-Janet Jackson

One note for the final four—-it's just A&M being as solid and strong at delivering gold and platinum records of their moment as any other label.
 
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It was definitely the oddity & curiosity of the talk box he used on the lead single, Show Me The Way that hooked the music buying public.
I know it worked for Roger Troutman and Zapp--all of his hits used the talk box, as opposed to using it as a curiosity. Not A&M (Warner Bros., actually), but the vocoder played huge in that sound.
 
1. Herb Alpert. This guys in love with you
2. Herb alpert presentsSergio Menedes y Brasil 66
3.Chris Montes,The more I see you
4.Claudine Longet. Love is blue
5.Baja Marimba Band.As time go by.
6.Phil ochs.Pleasures of the harbour
7.Sandpipers.The spanish album
8.Astrud Gilberto.Cti Album
9.George Benson.The other side of Abbey Road
10,Carole King.Pearls
11.Rita Coolidge.Satisfied
12.Joe Cocker. Mad dogs
It is nice to see Satisfied by Rita Coolidge on your list as well as mine. I think it was her best and why it was not more successful is a surprise.
 
In no particular order, but you'll be able to tell I love Top 40 stuffr:

Tapestry- Carole King
Frampton Comes Alive- Peter Frampton
Close to You- Carpenters
Synchronicity- Police
Whipped Cream and Other Delights- Herb Alpert and TJB
Heart in Motion- Amy Grant
Control- Janet Jackson
Ten Summoner's Tales- Sting
Teaser and the Firecat- Cat Stevens
Love Will Keep Us Together- Captain & Tennille
Breakfast in America- Supertramp
Paradise Theater- Styx
 
This is for the earlier years only. I felt it was important to include 3 of the CTI/A&M jazz lps in this list as that series was an important part of the labels sound. I was going to include TAPESTRY (Carole King), but ommited it as I consider it to be an lp on Ode. In no particular order....

CLAUDINE - Claudine Longet
WE AND THE SEA - Tamba 4
HEADS UP - Baja Marimba Band
GLORY OF LOVE - Herbie Mann
THE MORE I SEE YOU - Chris Montez
EQUINOX - Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66
TEASER & THE FIRECAT - Cat Stevens
GUANTANAMERA - The Sandpipers
SRO - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
PLEASURES OF THE HARBOR - Phil Ochs
DOWN HERE ON THE GROUND - Wes Montgomery
ROGER NICHOLS & SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS
 
This is a year afterwards, however this was a fun exercise. Since thread is still open, here is my twelve in no particular order. And yes, this was a bit challenging to narrow it down, with A&M having such a rich history.

Deodato 2 Deodato This is a personal favorite of the CTI years. The prior album, Prelude, was arranged by CTI house arrangers Don Sebesky and Bob James. On Deodato 2, Creed Taylor gives Eumir Deodato the wheel. The album captivates from the first track with the jazz-rock “Super Strut” and continues with “Skyscrapers” on cut 5. The timeless ‘Rhapsody’ doesn’t disappoint on a luscious 8:50 minute track.

Baja Marimba Band Baja Marimba Band. This is my fan favorite. BMB’s debut features the always fun “Acapulco 1922”. Other great Latin jazz tracks are the mellow “Charade”, the wonderfully breezy “Samba De Orfeu” and the maybe their best, the delightfully jazzy “Comin’ in the Back Door”. Take a listen to the legendary founding member Bernie Fleisher. Nothing is as smooth as a Latin flute.

Close To You Carpenters. Karen Carpenter’s voice is dulcet always. To me, one of the reasons this sophomore album best represents A&M is because of Richard Carpenter and Herb Alpert. The arrangements on this LP is where Carpenter’s sound manifests itself. Richard’s vision and Herb’s instincts that the duo be given a pass after Offering/Ticket To Ride are fully realized. The next two albums would be hit machines for the label. This LP also produces two of their three #1 Singles in the US.

What Now My Love Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass This is my first A&M Album. This is my fervent needle drop of choice. I know, I know…where to start “Lonely Bull”, “Rise”, “Going Places” and on and on. Agreed. But IMO this collection of songs including “So What’s New” (the Whistle Track), “Memories of Madrid” by Sol Lake, “What Now my Love”, “Brasilia”, “Freckles” are especially moving. This album was #1 on the album charts for 9 weeks, the longest run of all the TJB albums.

Synchronicity Police This album is considered to be one of the 500 greatest albums ever made. The band’s roots are in jazz and reggae. Have a listen to the enthralling “Wrapped Around Your Finger” and “Little Black Spider”. The biggest hit song of that year is “Every Breath You Take”. The LP produced 5 hit singles.

Herb Alpert Presents: Sergio Mendes y Brasil ‘66. This is the band’s debut album with A&M. Right off the bat is one of their best “Mas Que Nada”. This is a definitive sound for me. The next track is the fun “One Note Samba/Spanish Flea” (two of the four writers are Bossa Nova founder Tom Jobim and marimba great Julius Wechter). For me the entire album is a personal favorite and is repeatedly enjoyable.

Greatest Hits by Chuck Mangione. This is such a great album. It just screams 70’s Jazz. Chuck’s 1977 “Feels So Good” made him an international star. And in case it sounds familiar to you, 3 years later “Give It All You Got” was the theme for the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics. The reason I chose a GH album is for the magical “Land of Make Believe” live version can only be found here.

Tapestry Carole King 1970/1971 was the best year for music IMO. This epic album is one of the reasons. I memorized every word and every note of every song. Carole King is one of the most gifted songwriters of the sixties and seventies. On Tapestry, King was finally coerced to do her own album and it has stood the test of time.

Joan Armatrading This self-titled LP is just a terrific album. Blues, folk, rock, pop, soul, jazz, acoustic, whatever. Joan had it all going on. What stands out with this refreshing LP is that it was in between rock and the emerging puck that was going on in ‘76. I recommend the “Down to Zero”, “Love and Affection” and “Help Yourself” tracks, although you may find that the whole LP is a great listen.

Tuesday Night Music Club. Sheryl Crow has evolved into an internationally recognized songwriter, singer and collaborator. TNMC is her debut blues-pop-rock album. Mastering is by A&M great Bernie Grundman. The LP produces two hit singles “All I Want to Do” and “Strong Enough”. The follow up is the self-titled album 3 years later, a bit more polished, and was produced entirely by Sheryl Crow.

Reach Out Burt Bacharach The songs on this LP “Alfie” (Bacharach’s favorite), “The Look of Love”, “I Say a Little Prayer”, and one that famously frames its’ era “What the World Needs Now is Love”, are timeless and one cannot overemphasize that they are still relevant today. Whenever I check out the contagious “I Say A Little Prayer” clip from the rom-com “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, it sticks with me the all of the day if not longer. “The Look of Love” was popularized by Dusty Springfield and was an inspiration for the creation of the ‘Austin Powers’ movie.

With A Little Help From My Friends Joe Cocker Cocker’s 1969 Lennon/McCartney WALHFMF is among the best covers of any song, any genre, of all time. This is a fantastic album with fantastic song interpretations including “Feelin Alright”, “Just Like a Woman”, Dylan’s “I shall Be Released”, and “Bye Bye Blackbird”. It doesn’t hurt getting some help from your friends either (including Steve Winwood, Jimmy Page and Albert Lee).
 
Take a listen to the legendary founding member Bernie Fleisher. Nothing is as smooth as a Latin flute.
Actually The first BMB album and the 2 after that didn't feature Bernie Fleischer not until the Watch Out Lp in 66 the others before primary featured Studio musicians same as Herb Alpert's early TJB LPS But that being said Bernie really did perfect that smoothness of the Latin flute.
 
:shock: Thanks for the correction @Bobberman. I was mistaken that I double checked the dates on when Fleisher recorded with them. Whomever the session flutist was on the debt album had some smooth also:tiphat:
 
Herb alpert presents Sergio Mendes
Herb Alpert & TJB.This guys in love with you
phil ochs.Pleasures of the harbour
Sandpipers.Guantanamera
Carpenters. A song for you
Rita Coolidge. Satisfied
Herb Alpert.Latin Album
Joe Jackson. Night & day
Chris Montes. The more I see you
Baja Marimba band.As time goes by
Joe cocker.Mad dogs
Police.Sincronicity
 
This is a year afterwards, however this was a fun exercise. Since thread is still open, here is my twelve in no particular order. And yes, this was a bit challenging to narrow it down, with A&M having such a rich history.

Deodato 2 Deodato This is a personal favorite of the CTI years. The prior album, Prelude, was arranged by CTI house arrangers Don Sebesky and Bob James. On Deodato 2, Creed Taylor gives Eumir Deodato the wheel. The album captivates from the first track with the jazz-rock “Super Strut” and continues with “Skyscrapers” on cut 5. The timeless ‘Rhapsody’ doesn’t disappoint on a luscious 8:50 minute track.

Baja Marimba Band Baja Marimba Band. This is my fan favorite. BMB’s debut features the always fun “Acapulco 1922”. Other great Latin jazz tracks are the mellow “Charade”, the wonderfully breezy “Samba De Orfeu” and the maybe their best, the delightfully jazzy “Comin’ in the Back Door”. Take a listen to the legendary founding member Bernie Fleisher. Nothing is as smooth as a Latin flute.

Close To You Carpenters. Karen Carpenter’s voice is dulcet always. To me, one of the reasons this sophomore album best represents A&M is because of Richard Carpenter and Herb Alpert. The arrangements on this LP is where Carpenter’s sound manifests itself. Richard’s vision and Herb’s instincts that the duo be given a pass after Offering/Ticket To Ride are fully realized. The next two albums would be hit machines for the label. This LP also produces two of their three #1 Singles in the US.

What Now My Love Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass This is my first A&M Album. This is my fervent needle drop of choice. I know, I know…where to start “Lonely Bull”, “Rise”, “Going Places” and on and on. Agreed. But IMO this collection of songs including “So What’s New” (the Whistle Track), “Memories of Madrid” by Sol Lake, “What Now my Love”, “Brasilia”, “Freckles” are especially moving. This album was #1 on the album charts for 9 weeks, the longest run of all the TJB albums.

Synchronicity Police This album is considered to be one of the 500 greatest albums ever made. The band’s roots are in jazz and reggae. Have a listen to the enthralling “Wrapped Around Your Finger” and “Little Black Spider”. The biggest hit song of that year is “Every Breath You Take”. The LP produced 5 hit singles.

Herb Alpert Presents: Sergio Mendes y Brasil ‘66. This is the band’s debut album with A&M. Right off the bat is one of their best “Mas Que Nada”. This is a definitive sound for me. The next track is the fun “One Note Samba/Spanish Flea” (two of the four writers are Bossa Nova founder Tom Jobim and marimba great Julius Wechter). For me the entire album is a personal favorite and is repeatedly enjoyable.

Greatest Hits by Chuck Mangione. This is such a great album. It just screams 70’s Jazz. Chuck’s 1977 “Feels So Good” made him an international star. And in case it sounds familiar to you, 3 years later “Give It All You Got” was the theme for the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics. The reason I chose a GH album is for the magical “Land of Make Believe” live version can only be found here.

Tapestry Carole King 1970/1971 was the best year for music IMO. This epic album is one of the reasons. I memorized every word and every note of every song. Carole King is one of the most gifted songwriters of the sixties and seventies. On Tapestry, King was finally coerced to do her own album and it has stood the test of time.

Joan Armatrading This self-titled LP is just a terrific album. Blues, folk, rock, pop, soul, jazz, acoustic, whatever. Joan had it all going on. What stands out with this refreshing LP is that it was in between rock and the emerging puck that was going on in ‘76. I recommend the “Down to Zero”, “Love and Affection” and “Help Yourself” tracks, although you may find that the whole LP is a great listen.

Tuesday Night Music Club. Sheryl Crow has evolved into an internationally recognized songwriter, singer and collaborator. TNMC is her debut blues-pop-rock album. Mastering is by A&M great Bernie Grundman. The LP produces two hit singles “All I Want to Do” and “Strong Enough”. The follow up is the self-titled album 3 years later, a bit more polished, and was produced entirely by Sheryl Crow.

Reach Out Burt Bacharach The songs on this LP “Alfie” (Bacharach’s favorite), “The Look of Love”, “I Say a Little Prayer”, and one that famously frames its’ era “What the World Needs Now is Love”, are timeless and one cannot overemphasize that they are still relevant today. Whenever I check out the contagious “I Say A Little Prayer” clip from the rom-com “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, it sticks with me the all of the day if not longer. “The Look of Love” was popularized by Dusty Springfield and was an inspiration for the creation of the ‘Austin Powers’ movie.

With A Little Help From My Friends Joe Cocker Cocker’s 1969 Lennon/McCartney WALHFMF is among the best covers of any song, any genre, of all time. This is a fantastic album with fantastic song interpretations including “Feelin Alright”, “Just Like a Woman”, Dylan’s “I shall Be Released”, and “Bye Bye Blackbird”. It doesn’t hurt getting some help from your friends either (including Steve Winwood, Jimmy Page and Albert Lee).
Great list, Nemily!

I will point out that "Deodato 2" was three years after the A&M/CTi deal ended and was on the new, independent CTI, which was distributed by Motown. The final A&M album bearing the CTi imprint was George Benson's "The Other Side of Abbey Road", released in June of 1970. Two other Creed Taylor-produced albums were released on A&M without the CTi imprint that summer, Quincy Jones' "Gula Matari" and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Tide".

Carole King is a bit of a coin flip. Ode was a label founded by Lou Adler after he sold Dunhill Records to ABC. Ode was distributed by Epic Records (a Columbia subsidiary) from 1967-1969, by A&M from 1970-1976, and again by Epic from 1976-1978, when Adler closed shop.

The difference between CTi and Ode is that CTi was a production deal, and those were considered A&M artists and albums. Ode was a separate company that contracted with A&M for distribution to stores and promotion to radio. But their offices were on the A&M lot and Adler had been friends with Herb Alpert for years, beginning their music careers together in the mid-1950s.
 
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Thank you so much for all of this clarification @Michael Hagerty. I was not aware that CTI Series 6000 denoted its’ independence from A&M (Deodato 2 catalog CTI 6029). I was under the thought that the catalog numbers followed by S1 were indicating that they were distributed by Motown and were no longer associated with A&M. I have that straight now. I really appreciate your insight on the differences between Ode and CTI associations and A&M.

I had an aha moment however when you pointed out that the Ode offices were on the A&M lot. I did a little research (PBS.org) and in January 1971, Carole King was recording “Tapestry” at the A&M lot Studio B at the same time Carpenters were recording “Rainy Days and Mondays” for the tan album in Studio A and at the same time, Joni Mitchell was recording “Blue” in Studio C. They must have been tripping over each other. The level of creativity that was going on is almost incomprehensible.
 
Thank you so much for all of this clarification @Michael Hagerty. I was not aware that CTI Series 6000 denoted its’ independence from A&M (Deodato 2 catalog CTI 6029). I was under the thought that the catalog numbers followed by S1 were indicating that they were distributed by Motown and were no longer associated with A&M. I have that straight now. I really appreciate your insight on the differences between Ode and CTI associations and A&M.

The first LPs released on new CTI, independent of A&M were the 1000 series, five albums shown here:

CTI RECORDS: 1000 SERIES

Then came the 6000 series:

CTI RECORDS: 6000 SERIES
I had an aha moment however when you pointed out that the Ode offices were on the A&M lot. I did a little research (PBS.org) and in January 1971, Carole King was recording “Tapestry” at the A&M lot Studio B at the same time Carpenters were recording “Rainy Days and Mondays” for the tan album in Studio A and at the same time, Joni Mitchell was recording “Blue” in Studio C. They must have been tripping over each other. The level of creativity that was going on is almost incomprehensible.
A&M was a very in-demand recording studio for all of the 1970s.
 
There's no discussion. Herb and the TJB created the label. So just mentioning one of their albums doesn't work for me...
1. Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: Whipped Cream And Other Delights
2. Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: Going Places
3. Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66: Herb Alpert Presents...
4. Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: The Beat Of The Brass
5. The Carpenters: Close To You
6. Peter Frampton: Frampton Comes Alive
7. Supertramp: Breakfast In America
8. Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge: Full Moon
9. Wes Montgomery: A Day In The Life
10. Herb Alpert: Rise
11. Janet Jackson: Control
12. Herb Alpert: Keep Your Eye On Me

- greetings from the north -
Martin
 
One reason why Frampton was so popular was that he was just so darn cute, at least to all us high school and college girls. :D
 
Looking at my list, I would replace the one CTI title with an actual A&M choice. The more I've been reading various interviews in recent weeks, I've realized Creed Taylor pretty much ran the show, and left partially due to suggestions from "upper management" to make the music more saleable. A&M was just a distribution deal, in other words, with nothing more than co-branding on the label. If the deal had been any different (as I feel it should have been), the CTI logo would have been used for the labeling, with A&M listed in fine print as manufacturer/distributor. The way they are labeled, it makes it seem as though A&M were releasing jazz records with a "name" producer, which just wasn't the case.
 
One reason why Frampton was so popular was that he was just so darn cute, at least to all us high school and college girls. :D
In my case, the album came several years too early to be on my "popular music" radar. I'd say I became more aware of popular music starting in 1978, and really picked up steam beyond 1980. So, bands like The Police, the Joe Jackson Band, Talking Heads, Asia, etc. were more what classmates listened to, although some still hung onto 70s arena rock like Kansas, Aerosmith, etc. J. Geils was always very popular, though, right up until Freeze Frame which was the last album with Peter Wolf as lead singer. That one was huge in high school. Although one girl named Angel wasn't fond of "Centerfold." 😁
 
I don't think there were 12 different artists on A&M that I bought but here's what I came up with.

1. Carpenters - A Song For You
2. Lesley Gore - Love Me By Name
3. Liza Minnelli - Come Saturday Morning
4. Captain & Tennille Come In From The Rain
5. Carole King - Tapestry
6. Rita Coolidge - Anytime Anywhere
7. Renee Armand - The Rain Book
8. Richard Carpenter - Time (especially for Dusty Springfield's guest vocal)

Maybe there are others, but I can't think of any more.
 
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