Best song on LOST TREASURES

[Harry]

After you've listened to the new LOST TREASURES album a few times, you're likely to start developing favorites. But which track on the new album is, in your estimation, the best? Think 'single' - potential hit (assuming radio would ever pick up on it!).

Harry
...wondering which song will come out on top, online...

 

[Rudy]

Which one so far is my favorite, that I've played the most, which sounds the most like classic TJB? "Happy Hour." But that's a favorite. Hit potential, or "best"? Maybe I'd pick "Whistlestar." Gonna take another week or two before the "best" clicks with me, I can tell.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

Herb asked and I told him that I liked Tradewinds and Killing Me Softly as potential singles for the Smooth Jazz radio format.

 

[Harry]

I like a lot of these, "Happy Hour", "Flowers On The Wall", "Popcorn", and "Tennessee Waltz", but I think "Whistlestar" woould actually make a good single. Heck, at one time it WAS a single!

Harry

 

[manifan]

I have to agree with Harry on his choices as best songs. "Happy Hour" is my favorite, followed by "Julius and Me," "Tennessee Waltz," "Flowers," and "Popcorn." Funny, "Happy Hour" seems to be most everyone's favorite but no one picks it as a potential single!

 

[louielouie]

I have not felt so happy in such a loooonnnnggg time!!

I couldn't even wait to get home to listen to "Lost Treasure".

I barely could contain myself as I slipped the CD into my cd changer.

I sat in the car in the parking lot for half an hour with the AC going just listening to the music and reading the liner notes.

I live in Hawaii, and the traffic here today was terrible. 6 car pile up practically brought the H-1 freeway to a halt. But I was happy with a stupid grin on my face not bothered by anything while I listened to the TJB!!

Thank you Herb!!

Can't wait for Beat of the Brass and ...Sounds Like...

P.S. I also liked TradeWinds...must be a Hawaii thing!

 

[Greg Shannon]

I just got my 3 CDs this afternoon, so I've only had the opportunity to listen to Lost Treasures once, but I put in my vote based on the fact that as I was driving down the street listening to Up Cherry Street, my life flashed before my eyes. Seriously. Even though it's a different arrangement than I'm familiar with, it quite unexpectedly brought back images from my youth. I wasn't just listening to music; old friends had come to visit. It was pretty wonderful.

I also am quite pleased with the booklets for all 3 CDs, which I haven't read through yet, and the photos, many of which I haven't seen before. Herb and Shout! Factory have put a lot of effort into these.

Steve, next time you talk to Herb, tell him "hi" for me!

Greg Shannon

 

[Phil Fox]

Up Cherry Street gets my vote. It gets better every time I listen to it. Runners up would be Happy Hour, Flowers on the Wall, Popcorn, and I Might Frighten Her Away.

Phil

 

[bruckner1]

For me it was either Happy Hour or Julius and Me, so since I had to pick only one, I picked Julius and Me. The only thing wrong with it is that it's so short. Of course that's my complaint about "Green Peppers" (my all-time favorite TJB track) too!

 

[Dave]

"And I Love Her", I think is done the best and it really sounds like the "era", in which it was customary to record... And without sounding dated or having to be "re-recorded"--very authentic and capable of taking you back to that time...

With all the talk about "Lazy Day", I thought it would have been voted for... The arrangement is not as trippy as the Spanky & Our Gang version, but a more simple, and "lazy-like" arrangement, and of course, with those TjB flourishes intact, making it sound '...the way Herb always wanted to do it...!'


Dave

 

[DAN BOLTON]

I could see TRADEWINDS charting on contemporary jazz charts...but if there's ever an OCEAN'S 13, HAPPY HOUR needs to be the theme song.


Dan

 

[thetijuanataxi]

This is a tough one. I like all of the songs, even FIRE AND RAIN. I just thought the muted trumpet would have been more appropriate for a solo LT. The single version was classic TJB sound and Herb should have gone with it here. Okay, my favorites are FLOWERS ON THE WALL, POPCORN, KILLING ME SOFTLY, I CAN'T GO ON LIVING BABY WITHOUT YOU, UP CHERRY STREET, LAZY DAY, AND I LOVE HER, WHISTLESTAR. I've already listed half of the album and there are more I'd like to list. Geez, this is a great album! This must be why Herb was primarily an album artist. You can't narrow his work down to one song, you have to have the whole package. But I'll say for the sake of this thread that POPCORN should be released first. Then they should follow up with FLOWERS ON THE WALL. Then WHISTLESTAR. Then UP CHERRY STREET. Heck, maybe they should make a DJ sampler with all four and let the best song win.......

David,
thinking it would have been much quicker to list what I didn't like........

 

[thetijuanataxi]

Of course they could release TENNESSEE WALTZ and FLOWERS ON THE WALL to the country radio stations and introduce Herb to a whole new group of listeners!

David,
thinking how neat it would be to hear Herb and Faith Hill on the same station.......

 

[stosh]

Julius and Me is my absolute favorite!!! Listening to it as I type this... As I've said before, this is the most '60s sounding song to me on the whole album(followed by Flowers on the Wall). Chris is my runner up. I like the sassy sounding bowwy owwy owwy trumpet licks. Wailing of the Willow is my third favorite..That's it for favorites but every song on this album is worth what we've been waiting for...


Hoping for a Lost Treasures II down the road..

 

[johnntina]

I have listened to this CD, as much as time has permitted me, (even on the walkman CD player while reading or retiring) and the song that repeats over & over for me is "Happy Hour". I agree, it seems to relate to the SRO album, or even Beat of the Brass. It kind of reminds me of "Mexican Road Race" from SRO, one of my favorite TJB tunes besides "Memories of Madrid", which is my actual favorite.
The sound of the album, overall, I guess because the tunes are so new, seems (to me) to sound like a jam session, in a way, when you hear the vocal sounds on some songs & the "counting", like on "Flowers on the Wall", which is another great tune. Herb & TJB sure must have had a good time with their music, & it shows.
I also want to say that I was a member of the Tijuana Brass Fan Club (internet) which Wendell Johnson ran. Some may know that Wendell passed away a few yrs ago, and I have no idea if his site is still maintained or not. When I first heard Lost Treasures & the other CD's, I immediately thought of him, and how happy he would be to hear all these tunes, for there was no one more dedicated to the TJB IMO than him. I'm thinking of you, Wendell! Thanks again for letting me post my thoughts,
John Christman

 

[Captain Bacardi]

For me "Whistlestar" is the strongest cut, with "Fire And Rain" and "Happy Hour" close behind.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[BrassFan]

My favorite track is probably And I Love Her.

In terms of a single, I understand the folks voting for Up Cherry Street. It's a very strong cut and a great opening track for LT. However, I think the strong Dixieland feel may be too happy and upbeat for jaded younger ears already suspicious of their parents' 'oldies' music.

For a single, I might go with Promises, Promises, or Popcorn.

 

[Mike]

“Up Cherry Street” had a lock on my vote for best song… and then I heard “Killing Me Softly”. I liked every single song on the CD, but “Killing Me Softly” made me want to get my wife and dance (yes, I’m a romantic fool). I loved the rhythm, and the marimbas are just great.

 

[DAN BOLTON]

The songs that really grab me are the ones I really thought I wouldn't like at all...TENNESSEE WALTZ and FLOWERS ON THE WALL...why FLOWERS wasn't released as a single is something I'll never know; unless it was recorded a year or so after the Statler Brothers version, in which case, a lot of momentum would have been lost. It's really bouncy, and a humorous take on a song that most artists take a little too seriously.


I wonder if that's Hal Blaine doing the "...Five, six, seven, eight..." The mandolin sounds like Ervan Coleman, but it might be Tommy Tedesco...and I'm wondering if the song was recorded in '65 or later...the trombone riffs sound a lot like SRO to me, which would make it '66...

Anyway, it's a cute song, definitely a "LOST TREASURE"...



Dan

 

[TonyCurrie]

"Happy Hour" does it for me.

 

[Harry]

FLOWERS ON THE WALL...why FLOWERS wasn't released as a single is something I'll never know; unless it was recorded a year or so after the Statler Brothers version, in which case, a lot of momentum would have been lost. It's really bouncy, and a humorous take on a song that most artists take a little too seriously.

Well Mr. Alpert did it again. Many of us have stated that our first encounters with many fairly well-known songs have been Herb's own take on them. I guess it happened again for me with "Flowers On The Wall". I've never heard of this song before LOST TREASURES - and apparently I'm the only one. As we were driving around this weekend, I had LOST TREASURES playing, and my wife started singing lyrics to "Flowers On The Wall". "You know this song?" I asked. "Sure", she replied. And everyone here seems to be discussing the song as a cover - and yet I've never heard it before in all my years of listening. So Herb's version becomes the definitive one for me!

I wonder if that's Hal Blaine doing the "...Five, six, seven, eight..."

I don't know who it is, but the vocal inflections sound a little bit like they could be John Pisano, Bob Edmondsen, Nick Ceroli, or even Julius Wechter. And it's a great 'hook' to start each verse off with!

Harry
...admittedly pleading ignorance, online...

 

[Rudy]

Well Mr. Alpert did it again. Many of us have stated that our first encounters with many fairly well-known songs have been Herb's own take on them. I guess it happened again for me with "Flowers On The Wall". I've never heard of this song before LOST TREASURES - and apparently I'm the only one.

I discovered a new artist thanks to this song. I'd heard the Statler Bros. original when a friend played it for me back in the mid 70s. A few years back, a country/rockabilly artist, Eric Heatherly, recorded a version of it on his debut CD Swimming In Champagne. The whole CD turned out to be good (best $3 I ever spent on a used CD--pick one up if you see it, there's over 100 used listed on Amazon ), and his version of "Flowers" is pretty true to the Statler Bros. version, including some backing vocal harmonies that recall the original.

"Counting flowers on the wall,
That don't bother me at all.
Playing solitaire too long,
With a deck of 51.
Smokin' cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo
Now don't tell me, I've nothing to do."



Statler Brothers also have it on a 1975 "Best Of" that is available on CD...this is the album I probably heard it from.

 

[bruckner1]

Flowers on the wall was originally recorded on March 12, 1965 for Columbia Records. The Statler Brothers were helping Johnny Cash to record his album "Ballads of the True West" when Cash left the session, supposedly to work on a song. Needing to fill the time, the Statler Brothers offered this song, written by their tenor, Lew DeWitt. The song was slow to take off, but eventually it reached number 4 on the pop chart, and number 2 on the country, entering the country chart on September 25, 1965. The accompanying musicians were Cash's band, the Tennessee Three, along with banjoist Bob Johnson and guitarist Norman Blake.

Another variant of this story is that Cash left the session on purpose to give the Statlers a chance to be recorded. They were signed by Columbia because of Cash, and although a couple of previous singles were released, the label was not excited about them at all. Despite this big hit, their recording career didn't really take off until they signed with Mercury in 1970, after months of exposure on the televised "Johnny Cash Show."

 

[thetijuanataxi]

Harry, are you one of the few people who hasn't seen "Pulp Fiction? FLOWERS ON THE WALL was featured in that movie and is on the soundtrack. I have a friend who listened to it quite frequently when the soundtrack came out. I know she would have flipped the station if the first time she heard it was on the radio. Amazing what movie exposure can do for a song.

David,
to whom FLOWERS ON THE WALL is quickly becoming a favorite TJB song...................

 

[Ed Bishop]

The version heard in PULP FICTION is the Mercury remake, not the Columbia original, which I prefer.

Hard, really, to pick a fave, there are many fine entries here...but, I will go with "Up Cherry Street" for now....but that could change as I listen to this one more and more....

Nopw, if only we could get a singles collection....