After "This Guy's in Love with You"...

What is your preferred "non-This Guy" Herb Alpert vocal released during the classic TJB period?


  • Total voters
    22

JOv2

Well-Known Member
Of the other remaining Herb Alpert vocal numbers released during the classic TJB period, select your preferred recording and tell us why.
 
I select The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle as Herb’s vocal comes closest to his trumpet articulation and because it’s very light hearted — like when Julius sings on I Don’t Want to Walk Without You.
 
I like all of them, but I have a special fondness for "To Wait For Love", and I'm sure that goes against the grain. "This Guy's In Love With You" was such a huge record, and such a departure for Herb away from the "Brass" formula, that I looked on it as an extension of the sound.

One day my Dad came home and he said he heard a new Herb Alpert record, another vocal, and I spent a number of days trying to record it on my reel-to-reel recorder. As I listened, I caught the very end of the record, so I knew what kind of song to listen for, and I kept catching Dionne Warwick's "Who Is Gonna Love Me", a song with a similar Bacharach bounce.

Finally, I managed to record it, and of course that was just before I found the 45 RPM of the song. To this day, I prefer the 45 mix of the record. Herb re-recorded his vocals for the stereo album version, but I thought he got it right on the single.

 
I say for me its a Tie Between "To Wait for Love"( the single mix) and "You are My Life" nevertheless I voted for "You Are my life" ( which closes the LP "The Brass are Comin") its very hard to choose between the two because they were standouts for me when I was collecting TJB lps in the early 80s and given they were Later period songs and I was in a transitional time in my life it all seemed to come together in unexplainable ways however they are still a joy to listen to
 
I chose "Without Her" because it reflects what was going on in Herb's life at the moment: his divorce from his first wife Sharon, and the painful aftereffects of that situation. He sounds so vulnerable, so REAL;that it is in stark contrast to the happy go lucky Tijuana Brass sound he propagated to the public in those years.

Come to think of it, that's why we here at the Forum(and some other critics BTW) have come to see this album(Warm) as Herb's more mature album via the Tijuana Brass time period. There is not too much of the froth and playfulness of previous albums(with exception to my ears the TJB's version of "The Continental") and the orchestra adds to the somberness the mood of the album. All in all, "Without Her" is Herb's fine vocal moment after "This Guy's In Love With You". I've heard Blood, Sweat and Tears version of this song, and it's very good their rendition, but to my ears, Herb's version sounds better.

Take care people and a Happy and Blessed New Year!(Hopefully and Prayer fully this year will be better!)

jazzdre
 
I voted for "The Bell that Couldn't Jingle." I've always liked this song from the first time I heard it, and of the five listed, it's the one that I never skip when it comes up in the shuffle (well, unless it comes up in the middle of July!). It's also interesting to me because it's the only uptempo solo vocal that Herb ever did, unless you count "Love Is" from the Rise album but of course that doesn't meet the criteria of this poll. He really should have done more uptempo tunes -- after all, he'd tested the waters with "Mame" and got a minor hit single out of that.

My second favorite of the list would be "The Christmas Song." I didn't like this too much upon first hearing it but I've come to appreciate it.

If I leave Christmas tunes out of the mix, I guess my favorite of the others would probably be "To Wait For Love," although it would never appear on a list of my favorite TJB tunes. "Without Her" is okay, but I really don't like "You Are My Life" because of the arrangement. It's just too sappy. Herb's voice is not meant to be backed by a huge orchestra -- I think one big reason "This Guy" works so well is because that vast majority of the song is just Herb and the rhythm section - the bombast is saved for the choruses only. Sergio Mendes did some similar tunes on his albums beginning with Look Around, which, almost without fail, dragged the proceedings to a crawl.
 
I chose To Wait For Love. I felt Without Her was just too quiet and did not give the better range of Alpert's voice.
 
"Without Her" sounded measurably better when they sent out a compressed version for radio. It's mono, but not so ridiculously dynamic.

 
I voted for Bell.

But the tunes from Warm I have always liked.

My favourite non-This Guy vocal by Mr Alpert, however, is Save the Sunlight, and I really wish he and Ms Hall would record that again.
 
I prefer the 45 mix of the record. Herb re-recorded his vocals for the stereo album version, but I thought he got it right on the single.
Harry, though I've read about the 45 version I didn't hear it until your post -- and I have to say, it's quite good. Herb sings in a more definitive manner and the extended fade is a treat. I think he manages the bridge, which is clearly challenging against the A-section, slightly better on the LP version -- otherwise the 45 wins the shoot out. Thanks for sharing this.
I voted for "The Bell that Couldn't Jingle." I've always liked this song from the first time I heard it,
I agree with about 90% of what Mike wrote. To me the only clunkers are You Are My Life and Without Her (just cannot appreciate that melodramatic violin assault arrangement -- yet, as TjbBmb pointed out, the bass, piano (and guitar) groove -- particularly at the coda -- are par excellence...in fact, had this been an instrumental with just those core instruments throughout it would have been a gorgeous segue from The Sea Is My Soil on the LP).
 
The first time I heard To Wait For Love, I thought it was the most overwrought and depressing song Herb had ever recorded. I thought it was a perfect example of "jumping the shark" (even though the term hadn't been invented yet), and I couldn't imagine why he'd even bother to release such an over-the-top mess...it almost ruined the album for me. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't get past the lamentation that runs so prevalently throughout the song.

Then, one day...probably by coincidence, I listened to TWFL after listening to Marjorine. The song made a lot more sense after that. I always felt like Marjorine was supposed to depict a lonely, slightly over-the-hill chanteuse who was trying hard to prove she still "had it"; and TWFL became the perfect follow-up representing the loneliness and lament she would obviously feel over pursuing her career over any possible romantic relationship...especially as her career began to wind down.

If you're having trouble warming up to TWFL, try listening to Marjorine first.
 
Then, one day...probably by coincidence, I listened to TWFL after listening to Marjorine. The song made a lot more sense after that
Hi Dan! With the lone exception of SOTB, I think I've tinkered with every '60s TJB LP running order. On Warm, Herb wisely spaced the two vocal numbers far apart. I dropped Without Her (from my UDXL-II dub back in 1979 -- but a few years ago I did a nifty little Garage Band edit of the coda groove because it's so dang good!) but pretty much left TWFL near the end. I'll give your Marjorine--TWFL recommendation a whirl.

(You're tone-poem analysis of Marjorine is fascinating -- and surely consistent with the song's style and simple AAA structure.)
 
Well, Boys and Girls we have a 3-way tie!

To Wait For Love, Without Her and The Bell That Couldn't Jingle are in a dead heat heading into the stretch. Who will emerge the victor? Will Without Her hold on the its early lead or will the dark horse, The Bell That Couldn't Jingle, emerge victorious? Tell all your A&M Corner Friends and Neighbors to stop by and vote -- particularly the good folks over in the Carpenters forum. Stay tuned...
 
Me-thinks you're not listening very carefully to the "TWFL" lyrics, Dan. It's saying that days without love are sad and that you should fall in love as soon as possible. It's not a lament.

Every day without love is a day of sadness
Let me bring you gladness
To wait for love is just to waste another day
Hear what I say
Tomorrow true love may find a way
Fall in love today

Don't get me wrong, I agree it's an over-the-top mess, but it's meant to be uplifting, not sad. At least that's my take on it. I think it's the perfect counterpart to "Without Her," lyricswise. Now THAT is a sad song, but..... it still has kind of a happy vibe to it. When he sings "I'd rather die... than live without her" he starts humming afterward as if he's taking a pleasant walk in the sun.
 
Oh yeah, lyrics. I rarely listen to what they're saying. To me, they're just meaningless syllables sitting atop a melody, at least that's the way most songs are to me. When I actually pay attention to what they're saying, I'm sometimes surprised. To me, music is about the sound of the songs - the way the instruments and vocals sort-of coagulate to form one entity. It's always been that way for me, and is the reason I can listen to a record that's recorded in most languages, - it's all about the totality of the sound.
 
Me-thinks you're not listening very carefully to the "TWFL" lyrics, Dan. It's saying that days without love are sad and that you should fall in love as soon as possible. It's not a lament.

Every day without love is a day of sadness
Let me bring you gladness
To wait for love is just to waste another day
Hear what I say
Tomorrow true love may find a way
Fall in love today

Don't get me wrong, I agree it's an over-the-top mess, but it's meant to be uplifting, not sad. At least that's my take on it. I think it's the perfect counterpart to "Without Her," lyricswise. Now THAT is a sad song, but..... it still has kind of a happy vibe to it. When he sings "I'd rather die... than live without her" he starts humming afterward as if he's taking a pleasant walk in the sun.
Not buyin' it, Mike...to my ears, the singer is saying, "...Don't make the same mistake I made; if you have a chance at true love...go for it, and forget everything else. It may be too late for me, but it isn't for you."

YMMV
 
they're just meaningless syllables sitting atop a melody, at least that's the way most songs are to me
...well, when most songs are "love songs" it's easy to pass on any unique subtleties in the lyrics...one of the reasons I like what folks like Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman brought to the pop table by '68 -- they address topics far and away from romance.

To me, music is about the sound of the songs - the way the instruments and vocals sort-of coagulate to form one entity. It's always been that way for me, and is the reason I can listen to a record that's recorded in most languages, - it's all about the totality of the sound.
Agreed! My parents had very few vocal LPs in the house -- and to this day I prefer wordless music; however, when folks start singing I'd rather here Norman Luboff and all those arranged voices blending with the instruments.
 
I never dropped in here to comment, but did vote on "To Wait For Love." Something about its chord structure and instrumentation was what drew me in as a kid. It's not too far off from Tony Orlando's version (yes, that Tony Orlando) from 1964--same chord changes but the instrumentation is more forward in Orlando's take. Jackie DeShannon's version is sung more in a style like Dionne Warwick would have performed it (and surprisingly, despite several dozen Bacharach tunes, Dionne never covered this one).

It was a hard pick between that one, "Jingle" and "Xmas Song." The latter, in fact, was on the first 45 RPM record I ever owned. I still have it somewhere, and it's quite worn out. 😁 I'm also fond of Burt's version of "Jingle."

I'm so used to the orchestral swell on "Without Her" (again, having heard it a lifetime) that it never bothered me. What did bother me was how faint the vocals are in the mix. I can't say they're "mumbled" but at best, a little too subdued to hear all that well.

"You Are My Life" is a pleasant tune for sure, and I don't mind it at all as an album track. But it doesn't quite have the magic of the others.
 
Well, Boys and Girls we have a 3-way tie!

To Wait For Love, Without Her and The Bell That Couldn't Jingle are in a dead heat heading into the stretch. Who will emerge the victor?
Looks like Without Her pulled away from the pack...
 
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