🎵 AotW AOTW: Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - SUMMERTIME

[JOv2]

Captain B -- Regarding Tonni's participation, I was only referring to Strike Up The Band -- as it appears to be live; additionally, the song is definitely out of sync with the other selections.

As for the recording timeliness, I agree with Captain B. In addition to the performance and arrangements, the LP engineering is much different relative to the two previous LPs from '69. (Just a few seconds into Hurt So Bad and it's quite apparent the sonics are genuinely different. For instance, the four tightly-miked tom-toms and the ultra-clean trumpet tones -- no prior TjB LPs exhibited such sound quality.) As Captain B says, the LP IS acoustic driven -- consistent with much of the SoCal singer-songwriter pop of the early '70s.

The evidence strongly supports the notion that all these selections (save Strike Up The Band) were newly recorded relative to the '71 release date.

~ James

 

[manifan]

I think the only songs I've heard from this album are "Hurt So Bad" (which I LOVE!!) and Jerusalem. Otherwise it would all be new material to me. I do hope it is released in some form someday.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Captain B -- Regarding Tonni's participation, I was only referring to Strike Up The Band -- as it appears to be live; additionally, the song is definitely out of sync with the other selections.

~ James

Well, not necessarily. Both Strike Up The Band and the title track Summertime are George Gershwin compositions...the first time Herb had recorded his material. I'd argue that the two are connected, and if you're correct about the other tracks (I still have my doubts), then all of Summertime was freshly recorded for a new LP and not a combination of new and leftover tracks.

---Michael Hagerty

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I tend to think the album was pieced together from random thoughts. There's such a difference between, say, Jerusalem (huge production, choir, orchestra, etc.) and "Catch a Falling Star" (the most spare TJB production Herb ever did) whereas on previous albums, the songs always had a similar feel from track to track, even if they varied greatly in arrangements. I agree the whole album was probably recorded after the '69 albums...not leftovers from previous sessions.

I too wish the album would come out with an informative booklet to explain some of the circumstances around its making.

 

[mikeargo]

The Nicest Things
Happen also has lyircs. Both the instumental version and the version with
lyrics (sung by co-writter Cissy Wechter) can be found on the promo "The
Music of Julius Wechter" and both versions are in mono!

I asked Cissy a few years ago if she was the singer on that cut on the JW promo album. Though flattered that I thought so, she said it was Jeannie King of The Blossoms. The vocal on "Warm," on side 1, is by Karen Philipp.

I posted the complete lyrics here back four or five years ago, which you should be able to search.

-Mike A. :bandit:

 

[CherryStreet]

Very insteresting! Thanks Mike!

[Edited by moderator to remove quotation of entire preceding post]

 

[audiofile]

Captain B -- Regarding Tonni's participation, I was only referring to Strike Up The Band -- as it appears to be live; additionally, the song is definitely out of sync with the other selections.

~ James

I really doubt Strike Up The Band was recorded live. I think it's just crowd noises dubbed onto the studio recording. Herb did this a lot in the early days of the Tijuana Brass and a couple of other A&M albums have this, example, Chris Montez's Watch What Happens.

 

[martin]

Jerusalem was released on single in the fall of 1970 with Strike Up The Band on the B-side so these songs were probably among the earliest recordings for the Summertime album. Jerusalem was said to have been inspired by a trip Herb had made to Israel and it became a minor hit peaking at 74 on the Hot 100 and it was on the charts in England and Germany also.

- greetings from the north -

Martin

 

[jazzdre]

This album is what I call the quieter side of the TJB. It's not as blaring as previous efforts, and can definitely be put in the category of 'easy listening'. It's an album that you can put on after a hard day's work(which I'll bet a lot of us are having nowadays).

From the slight uptempo beat of 'Hurts So Bad' to 'If You Could Read My Mind' to 'Catch A Falling Star', this has got to be the smoothest album in the TJB repertoire. 'Montezuma's Revenge' brings back the TJB of old, while 'Darlin' and 'Strike Up The Band' sound like outtakes from The Beat Of The Brass.One poster said it feels like Warm 2,and I agree, but without Shorty Rogers and all the orchestration (with the exception of 'Jerusalem' of course)

The most surprising cuts on the album are the aforementioned 'Jerusa-
lem' and 'Summertime'. 'Jerusalem' has to be the most spiritual song Herb ever recorded , and I'm surprised that it wasn't used on a commercial to promote the Holy Land( or maybe it was; I don't know) or on an Easter or Passover TV special or documentary.As you all know, it starts out soft, then segues into a loud orchestra, complete with choir. It's one of Herb's best arrangements, and it's incredible.

The other surprise is Herb's version of 'Summertime'. Man, did that take me by surprise! He re-arranged the tune in an Afro-Cuban setting, with sparse instrumentation, and his and Lani's vocals, and it works! Is that John Pisano playing in the beginning of the song? 'Cause if it is, I've got news for him!(and you all as well!) I might have mentioned this before, that I listen to a Friday night radio show on the smooth jazz station we have here in NY, called 'Chill With Mindi Abair'.

The show is hosted by smooth jazz saxophonist Mindi Abair, and she plays the latest sounds on the chill music scene. On the regular, she plays a tune by, I believe a European chill music group that has sampled John's guitar intro to 'Summertime'. Has anybody else heard this tune, and do you know the name of this group? If I hear it again tomorrow night, I'll run right to the computer and post it right away.

Anyway,like I said, a lovely quiet album, and definetly something to(no pun intended) to chill to.

 

[audiofile]

I don't know exactly what you're referring to, but the instrument playing the intro to Summertime is an upright bass, not a guitar. But you could be talking about something else.

This album is very melodic. Nice choice of tunes and tremendous arrangements.

 

[Rudy]

I don't know exactly what you're referring to, but the instrument playing the intro to Summertime is an upright bass, not a guitar. But you could be talking about something else.

The two instruments playing at the beginning are acoustic guitar and double bass--they're joined by the drums four measures later, until the voices come in.

 

[audiofile]

Oh, I guess I have to listen to it again.

 

[Rudy]

Oh, I guess I have to listen to it again.

If you get *really* technical, then yes, the first two notes are by the acoustic bass only.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

That's one of my favorite song-intros of all time, not just the TJB but anybody. So cool. I've always wondered what kind of out-takes and experiments were tried before they finally settled on the finished product.

To me the oddest thing about "Summertime" the song is, it's the only song I've ever heard where pretty much the entire melody and lyric were changed, and only the lyrical "feeling" of the song was retained. So it's almost an original work, rather than a cover version.

 

[Rudy]

Mike--if you hear the Lambert, Hendricks & Ross version, you'll understand where Herb got his idea from. (He even credits LH&R on the album jacket for inspiration.) That style is very much what LH&R, and similar jazz vocal groups, were doing with songs--pretty much rearranging and stylizing them into something new, often unrecognizable. It is definitely an acquired taste--I admire what they did for vocal jazz, and their stuff is certainly inventive, but they're not really my cup of tea either.

Herb and Lani doing "Summertime" in LH&R style was a huge leap from anything he'd done, stylistically, in the past. But unfortunately, most typical TJB fans probably had no clue as to what the song was about when it was released. Heck, it took me up until the mid 90s before I even recognized it myself--I hadn't listened to the album much since I was in grade school (my mother owned it). My first thought was that this *wasn't* the same song as Gershwin's, even though the label said it...but then shortly after, I picked up on the LH&R connection, and it made sense.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I used to not really care for the song "Summertime" all that much until I got the Solid Brass CD which the song appeared on. It's a great little groove, and I can understand why it got sampled. (BTW, if you go to the Dusty Groove site and do a search for Herb Alpert you'll find the compilation where the song is sampled.) I also love the bass trombone in the background during Herb's trumpet solo.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[A&Mguyfromwayback]

Herb has definitely not retired.......

 

[Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar]

I believe Hal Blaine was the drummer on many of the tracks. Also, Mr. & Mrs. A performed the Summertime on some summer TV show if my memory is correct. The show had Al Hirt and the Carpenters. I remember hoping Al & Herb would do something together. One more thing...The shirt and slacks he's wearing on the cover were worn on the beach scenes in "The Brass are Coming". So technically, the picture was from and old shoot. HO HO amigos.............J :bigsanta:

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I believe that show was called "Make Your Own Kind Of Music", or something like that.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[JOv2]

Thanks to Mr. Dave for resurrecting this thread from nearly four years ago! Many interesting comments have occurred since even last MON!

Never allowing a good opportunity to feed the kitty once again...

Frankly, I see no connection between Summertime and Strike Up The Band -- the arrangements are so dissimilar that the only sensible inclusion of the latter would be at the expense of severely altering the LP mood. It's inclusion is obviously a light-hearted throwaway; the fact that it was also a 45 B-side speaks well for its out-of-sync quality. The feel is most certainly live -- particularly given the pent-up piano improv at the end (the pianist was no doubt energized by the festive atmosphere). Clearly, in Herb's day, all musicians knew this song and given its simplicity, I'd bet my hat it was an on-the-spot "5-minute" arrangement: Clearly little thought went into it...while Summertime received a very detailed arrangement.

As for Summertime, I hear no afro-cuban influence. It's a syncopated 8/4 with hard turnaround. Rudy nailed that one: the harmonies Herb and Lani sing are directly lifted from LH&R's first Columbia LP ['59] -- who include the credit, "Based on the recording by Miles Davis & Gil Evans". Listening to all three versions it's clear the unique harmonies and the 8/4 are the exclusive work of Gil Evans, who together with Miles' harmon-muted trumpet create a truly singular recording. LH&R's version, on the other hand, is nearly embarrassing given the trio's obvious tonality and phrasing difficulties. Herb's version, like Gil's, is cutting edge...and he updates the cool 8/4 feel as well.

Jerusalem is a nice little "melody-starved" mantra. The conga part is sweet but I can do without the iron-handed Mormon Tabernacle effect...kinda kills off its personal charm for me. Otherwise, said song + Hurt So Bad, Summertime, and The Nicest Things Happen are indicative Herb at his timeless best.

I agree with Mike B. that it appears pieced together from random thoughts, still to my ears it was largely recorded during one period. Taken together, Volume II and Summertime are the most unusual LPs from Herb's first era...and a fitting close to one heck of a decade.

~James

 

[Rudy]

As for Summertime, I hear no afro-cuban influence. It's a syncopated 8/4 with hard turnaround. Rudy nailed that one: the harmonies Herb and Lani sing are directly lifted from LH&R's first Columbia LP ['59] -- who include the credit, "Based on the recording by Miles Davis & Gil Evans".

A-HA! I can't believe I didn't make that connection--then again, I don't have that LH&R album either to see the credit. How many years have I heard both the Alpert and Davis/Evans versions, and never realized this?? The melody line for LH&R and Alpert's "Summertime" comes right from the countermelody (the horn section) behind Miles' playing of the melody. Clever of LH&R to pick that up and run with it.

Wish I had a sample of the LH&R version. I'd stitch all three together and put a sample file up here.

 

[JOv2]

Rudy --

Gil Evans has away of doing that to music lovers!

I went through a recent A-HA experience with Astrud Gilberto's Look To The Rainbow ['65] -- which was largely arranged by Gil Evans (his name even appears on the LP front cover!); yet, somehow, his association had been lost on me for years even though much of his singular and idiosyncratic style was quite evident...for instance his scoring dense, low-brass textures -- leaving a very noticeable mid-range void, and topping off the high end with a chorale of flutes.

[Geeze...a one-sentence paragraph -- Hmmm, must be a FRI nite...and time for another ice-cold Schlitz.]

I always like to think of Gil Evans as "music for musicians and devout music connoisseurs"...something like that. The idea here is that, while he enjoyed wide-spread acclaim within the music industry, he had essentially no "popular" following. Sorta like arranger Van Dyke Parks, or that now widely-hip Love (Arthur Lee) record Forever Changes ['67]. For about 20 years it was an acclaimed masterpiece among musicians and producers, but was virtually unknown to the public at large until the late '80s.

Hope you got a kick out of the LH&R!

-James

 

[dragon53]

The $64,000 question:
Any rumors as to when SUMMERTIME will be released on cd?

 

[Rudy]

Hope you got a kick out of the LH&R!

I did indeed--thanks! I haven't had five minutes to myself lately, but I'm hoping to string together a little comparison to post here.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

The $64,000 question:
Any rumors as to when SUMMERTIME will be released on cd?

Dragon: If WARM (which sold more) is a digital download-only release, then bet on SUMMERTIME meeting the same fate.

---Michael Hagerty

PS: The year-end issue of Rolling Stone has an excellent piece on the degradation of sound quality from vinyl to CD to mp3 and AAC. Well worth reading. It's stuff most of us here know by heart, but now it's being told to the masses. Whether they'll care or not remains to be seen.