Create Your Own Tijuana Brass Greatest Hits Album

[DAN BOLTON]

Some recent discussion about the "quintessential" TJB hits has led me to this brainstorm...what would each of you include in a Greatest Hits album, if you had a chance to produce one? Since there were 13 albums by the original Brass, if you exclude THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM and the compilations, SOLID BRASS, GREATEST HITS, FOURSIDER...what would you come up with? Take one song from each album, preferably a more obscure one, and give the reason why it's part of the package...my list will follow shortly...I'm anxious to see what somebody else will come up with.

Remember, album cuts over hits....LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, START YOUR DISCOGRAPHIES !!!



Dan

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Some recent discussion about the "quintessential" TJB hits has led me to this brainstorm...what would each of you include in a Greatest Hits album, if you had a chance to produce one?

Um, how about an album that had all of his charted hits on it?


Capt. Bacardi
...defining the obvious online...

 

[Rudy]

Um, how about an album that had all of his charted hits on it?

Now THAT just killed 15 minutes of conversation! Not to mention stealing Harry's long-time idea!

I think we should call our creations:

The Tijuana Brass: Greatest Misses

Here I go with mine. Not sure if they'd be considered hits or not since I'm not consulting a chart listing.

Lonely Bull: "Acapulco 1922"...but only the mono mix of it.

Volume 2: "America" (still my favorite on that album)

South Of The Border: "Girl from Ipanema" (since I can't pick "Mexican Shuffle")

Whipped Cream: "Bittersweet Samba"

Going Places: "Mae" (it's the first song I think of when I play the album)

S.R.O.: "Our Day Will Come" (great lead-off track for the album)

Sounds Like: "Treasure of San Miguel" (or alternately "Gotta Lotta Livin' To Do")

Ninth: "Love So Fine"

Beat Of The Brass: "Panama"

Warm: "The Sea Is My Soil" (is there anything else? )

The Brass Are Comin': "Good Morning, Mr. Sunshine"

Summertime: "Summertime" (alternately, "Darlin'" or "Nicest Things Happen")

You Smile: "Promises Promises" (since "Fox Hunt" was a single)

Coney: "Vento Bravo"

And I still say "My Favorite Things" isn't a Christmas song...so I'm including it!

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I think we should call our creations:

The Tijuana Brass: Greatest Misses

Ahh, now I get it! In that case I would go for:

Lonely Bull - "Limbo Rock"

Volume 2 - "Winds of Barcelona"

South Of the Border - "South of the Border"

Whipped Cream - "Lollipops and Roses"

Going Places - "Walk, Don't Run"

What Now My Love - "Brasilia"

SRO - "Our Day Will Come" or "Mexican Road Race" (tie)

Sounds Like - "Gotta Lotta Livin' To Do" or "Treasure of San Miguel" (tie)

Ninth - "My Heart Belongs To Daddy"

Beat of Brass - "Slick" ("Panama" a very close 2nd)

Warm - "Sea Is My Soil"

Brass Is A-Comin' - "Robbers And Cops"

Summertime - "The Nicest Things Happen"

You Smile - "Up Cherry Street"

Coney Island - "Catfish"


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Harry]

I think we should call our creations:

The Tijuana Brass: Greatest Misses

Gee, I think we actually DID this exercize on the old Forum. I remember because we DID include the Christmas Album and I called my album, My Favorite Things. I even threw it onto a cassette at the time and still have it. I don't recall a stipulation at the time that hits were not allowed, but by default, I tended to stay away from hits anyway. Here's that tracklisting:

My Favorite Things

A Quiet Tear (Lonely Bull)
Winds Of Barcelona (Volume 2)
Salud, Amor Y Dinero (South Of The Border)
A Taste Of Honey (Whipped Cream)
Mae (Going Places)
Memories Of Madrid (What Now My Love)
For Carlos (SRO)
Wade In The Water (Sounds Like)
Carmen (Ninth)
My Favorite Things (Christmas)
This Guy's In Love With You (Beat Of The Brass)
The Sea Is My Soil (Warm)
You Are My Life (Brass Are Comin')
Jerusalem (Summertime)
Save The Sunlight (You Smile The Song Begins)
I Belong (Coney Island)
Maniac (Bullish)

Given the new constraint of no hits, I'd have to change that list - and like any favorites list, time causes changes, so here's what I'd do today, swapping out the hits and refining the list a bit. Changes are underlined:

A Quiet Tear (Lonely Bull) - still a favorite - no change

Winds Of Barcelona (Volume 2) - one of the early greats, so good that they did it again on the next album

Salud, Amor Y Dinero (South Of The Border) - since "El Presidente" would be redundant after "Winds..", I'd go with this happy sounding track

Bittersweet Samba(Whipped Cream) - a change here to a non-hit. A great track that's one of the group's defining songs.

Mae (Going Places) - seems like a lot of people like this one too.

Memories Of Madrid (What Now My Love) - another of those unmistakably TjB songs

For Carlos (SRO) - a haunting melody that's still a favorite of mine

Treasure Of San Miguel (Sounds Like) - a great Roger Nichols song and non-hit that I always liked on this album

Love So Fine (Ninth) - another Roger Nichols tune that's become a favorite

Las Mananitas (Christmas Album) - from the Christmas Album, but still not really considered all that Christmas-y. We now know it to be essentially a BMB recording on a TjB album.

Slick (Beat Of The Brass) - since I can't have Herb's arguably greatest vocal, I'll take this powerhouse of a tune

The Sea Is My Soil (Warm) - no question, no other choice, enough said

You Are My Life (Brass Are Comin') - one of my other favorite Herb vocals, so I'll leave this one, but "Anna" is a good alternate

Darlin' (Summertime) - this one has a great feel to it, and rather TjB like with its stops and starts

Save The Sunlight (You Smile The Song Begins) - I'd still put this one on the list. It's a good Herb/Lani duet, though I'd also be tempted by "Promises, Promises"

Coney Island (Coney Island) - a change here, not because "I Belong" has fallen lower on my list, but because of the flow from the prior vocal duet choice. This makes a better compilation closer.

I eliminated "Maniac" since I truly don't consider that album a TjB album, despite what it says on the cover. It belongs more properly in a solo compilation.

I suppose I ought to throw this onto a CD, huh?

Harry
...updating, online...

 

[Clark]

One way I was able to pick these out was to look at my old LP's and see where they have the most scratches at the beginning of a song - evidence that I moved the needle over and over.

Here goes:

El Lobo (The Lonely Bull) I love the harmony of the horns on this one

Green Leaves of Summer ( Vol II) - a very soulful treatment of a beautiful song.

All My Lovin (South of the Border) - a snappy arrangment of a Lennon-McCartney tune

Bittersweek Samba (WC&OD) - my second favorite song after a Taste of Honey

I'm Getting Sentimental Over You - (Going Places) I really liked this song in the first Brass tv special.

Brasilia (What Now My Love) - an overlooked hit if there ever was one.

Mexican Road Race (SRO) - Another snappy tune, my favorite after the Work Song and Mame

Bo-Bo (Sounds Like) - a middle of the road peice to give some balance

Cowboys and Indians (9th) - same as above

Panama (Beat of the Brass) - Herb's trumpet is a littel weak on this, but the arrangement is a killer.

I dont have any favorites from the next three albums, so I cheated by backtracking to the previous albums:

Hello dolly(South of the Border) - a great treatment, and in my opinion the real start of the classic brass period.

Cantina Blue (WNML) - a very romantic tune.

If I can't count the last two, then I will cheat again and go over to the BMB and take Ghost Riders in the Sky and The More I See you from Watch Out.

I am glad we had this discussion, as I now feel the urge to complete the burning a few CD's.

 

[David Kirkpatrick]

Struttin' with Maria (Lonely Bull)
El Presidente (revision of song from Vol. 2)
Up Cherry Street (South of the Border)
Tangerine (Whipped Cream)
Third Man Theme (Going Places)
Five Minutes More (What Now My Love)
Wall Street Rag (SRO)
Town Without Pity (Sounds Like)
Carmen (Ninth)
Monday, Monday (Beat of the Brass)
Sandbox (Warm) (note: I wanted a Pisano tune included)
Anna (The Brass are Comin')
Fox Hunt (You Smile - The Song Begins)
Vento Bravo (Coney Island)
Panama (because Bullish isn't really TJB)
Strike Up The Band (Summertime)

Some but not all of these are my favorites that didn't make a greatest hits album (or Solid Brass, which included Slick), but I made a few substitutions for greater balance and flow.

Don't you think that an album comprised of the first song from each TJB album would be a particularly strong one?

 

[daveK]

I made my own personal "best of" TJB disc a couple of years back after "Definitive Hits" came out. I guess the oddest thing about it is that I couldn't find room to include "Taste Of Honey". I concentrated mainly on instrumental tunes, "Zazueira" being the lone exception.
Here's what I ended up with:
1. The Lonely Bull (mono)
2. Struttin' With Maria
3. Never On Sunday
4. Limbo Rock
5. America
6. South Of The Border
7. Whipped Cream
8. Love Potion #9
9. Tangerine
10. 3rd Man Theme (mono version from "Going Places" LP)
11. Zorba The Greek (mono single version from "Dee Jay Sampler")
12. Tijuana Taxi (mono single version from "Dee Jay Sampler")
13. Mae
14. Spanish Flea (mono single version from "Dee Jay Sampler")
15. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
16. The Shadow Of Your Smile
17. The Work Song (mono single version from "Dee Jay Sampler")
18. Casino Royale
19. Wade In The Water
20. A Banda
21. Slick
22. Monday, Monday
23. Zazueira
24. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
25. Warm
26. The Sea Is My Soil
27. Jerusalem
28. Last Tango In Paris
29. Catfish
30. Coney Island

I tried to include "Darlin'" but ended up taking it off because the CD recorder on my stereo kept recognized the silent part in the middle of the song as a place to change CD tracks. I found it annoying to have the song split up into two tracks, so I took it off. I think that's how "Never On Sunday" finally made the track list.
Since I got a CD recorder and burner, I've made more Herb Alpert CDs than anything else. I love coming up with new compilations. I also made another compilation of post-TJB stuff. For this one, I got a little creative, using a picture of Herb's sculpture, "The Musicians" on the cover and giving the disc the title of "An Exhibition Of Good Melodies".
For this disc I used:
1. Garden Party (single edit)
2. 3 O'Clock Jump
3. Bullish
4. Can't Stop Thinking About You
5. Rotation (single edit)
6. Beba
7. My Abstract Heart
8. Behind The Rain
9. North On South St.
10. It's All For You
11. Beyond
12. I Want You
13. 1980
14. Keep Your Eye On Me (single edit)
15. Rise (single edit)
16. African Summer
17. Red Hot ("Blow Your Own Horn" version)
18. Aranjuez (Mon Amour)

Who else has made their own "best of's" and what did you put on them?

 

[daveK]

Okay, I got excited when I saw people posting their personal TJB "best ofs" and fired off a reply. Now I realize that I didn't read the original post carefully enough and that I strayed from the format. So, picking one song from each album, and not including any tracks that made the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts or appeared on other comps:
LONELY BULL: "Limbo Rock"
VOLUME 2: "Surfin' Senorita"
SOUTH OF THE BORDER: "Up Cherry Street"
WHIPPED CREAM: "Peanuts"
GOING PLACES: "Mae"
WHAT NOW MY LOVE: "The Shadow Of Your Smile"
S.R.O.: "I Will Wait For You"
SOUNDS LIKE: "Bo-Bo"
NINTH: "Bud"
BEAT OF THE BRASS: "Monday, Monday"
WARM: "The Sea Is My Soil"
BRASS ARE COMIN': "Country Lake"
SUMMERTIME: "Darlin'"
YOU SMILE: "Save The Sunlight"
CONEY ISLAND: "Coney Island"
If CHRISTMAS ALBUM was included, I'd choose "Winter Wonderland" and if BULLISH was included, I'd choose "Struttin' On Five".
That was fun!

 

[daveK]

Actually, I think I'd like to include "Mexican Drummer Man" and "Fire And Rain" on mine, just to be difficult!

 

[manifan]

OK...testing my memory here...

Acapulco 1922
Green Leaves of Summer
Up Cherry Street, Numero Cinco & El Presidente (can't pick just one!)
Ladyfingers
And the Angels Sing
Magic Trumpet
Flamingo
Wade in the Water
Love So Fine
Slick
Sandbox
I'm an Old Cowhand

The songs may be out of chronological order, since my "date memory" is often out of whack, but I chose these because I believe they are some of Herb & the TJB's best performances. The last TJB LP I bought was "The Brass Are Comin'" so I don't have any songs to contribute after that.

 

[alpertfan]

It's tough for me to arrange a track order, but here's what I would have:

Jerusalem-I've listened to this song, and in my mind, I feel like I'm in the Holy City (as crazy as that may sound).

Casino Royale-Everything about this song is great, the trumpets, the violins, the the maracas, it's just one of those that if you took a certain element out, it just wouldn't be half as good. It's also very catchy and one of those songs that once it's in your head, you find yourself not wanting to get rid of it (at least that's how I feel).

The Brass Are Comin'-It conveys that cowboy image you see on the album cover, but then again, so does the entire album!

Love Potion #9- I like the way the group did it in like a '40s-era swing vane, far removed from its original rock tone. (I know, call me old-fashioned).

Las Mananitas- Some may find this song boring and kind of grueling, but I think it really exhibits the Mexican-flavored style that the TJB started with in their earlier albums.

Wade In The Water-Great take on an ol' spiritual.

My Favorite Things- A pretty good jazzy rendition of the song.

America- The crowd noises make the illusion that this is a live recording, done on a concert stage.

The Work Song- The only thing I can say about this one is that it's a good jazz number. The decision to record it in a factory where brass instruments were made was great and it adds some interesting background effects.

Desafinado- Very far removed from the Stan Getz version. More slower. Not that I have anything against those who like the original, but you can't expect a remake of a song to sound exactly the same. And Herb Alpert always threw in surprises to the remakes he recorded.

Brasilia- Gotta have a Wechter tune in there somewhere!

Monday, Monday- A song that blew me away the first time I heard it. No lie. It's one of those melodies that has superb arrangements, kind of like, "Casino Royale".

That's my list.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

5. Rotation (single edit)

Ugh! Why on earth would you use the 45 version of this song? All of the good stuff was left off. I prefer the 12" mix, with the added middle section and the longer fadeout at the end.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Jerusalem-I've listened to this song, and in my mind, I feel like I'm in the Holy City (as crazy as that may sound).

Not crazy at all, as Herb has said this song was inspired by a visit to the holy land.

 

[daveK]

I used the single edit of "Rotation" because I had to keep the total time of the compilation under 80 minutes. I like the edit, actually, especially the shortened intro. I prefer the full length album version of "Rise" but didn't want to sacrifice another complete song to have it.

 

[Clark]

Lets do a Greatest Hits made up of tunes composed by one of the following three composers - Pisano, Wechter or Lake. I will have mine shortly.

 

[Clark]

Please add Bud Coleman to the list in my previous post. How could I have forgotten him?

 

[Clark]

Very tough to pick the top dozen, but here goes. You have to admit, these guys packed a lot of song writting talent. Too bad three of them have passed to the great beyond.

Lonely Bull - Lake
Winds of Barcelona - Lake
Up Cherry Street - Wechter
Mexican Shuffle - Lake
So What's New - Pisano
Cantina Blue - Lake
Brasilia - Wechter
Green Peppers - Lake
Bittersweet Samba - Lake
Tijuana Taxi - Coleman
Spanish Flea - Wechter
Panama - Wechter
Freckles - Coleman
Felicia - Pisano

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Lots of great songs there, but I find just as many faves among the "covers" as the originals so I have to have a mixture. (That's one good thing about the shorter TJB songs -- I have one disk with 32 tunes on it!)

 

[Don]

here's my list of tijuana brass favorites (actually 2 lists).....first is a list of songs written by the late julius wechter.....

1) Up Cherry Street
2) Spanish Flea
3) Brasilia
4) Bean Bag (also written by Pisano and Alpert)
5) Blue Sunday
6) Shades Of Blue
7) Flea Bag
8) Panama
9) Warm
10) Robbers and Cops
11) The Nicest Things Happen (also written by Cissy Wechter)
12) Coney Island
13) Las Mananitas (arranged by Julius Wechter)

think this would be a nice cd....how could anyone not like this list!!!!!!

now for my personal favorites, one song from each album....very tough choices i must say!!!!!!!!

1) Limbo Rock (The Lonely Bull)
2) Surfin' Senorita (Volume 2)
3) Numero Cinco (South of the Border)
4) A Taste Of Honey (Whipped Cream & Other Delights)
5) Third Man Theme (Going Places)---the toughest choice!!!!!
6) Magic Trumpet (What Now My Love)
7) The Work Song (S.R.O.)
8) Wade In The Water (Sounds Like)
9) Carmen (Herb Alpert's Ninth)
10) Monday, Monday (The Beat Of The Brass)
11) My Favorite Things (Christmas Album)---sometimes this one isn't a xmas song
12) Sandbox (Warm)
13) The Maltese Melody (The Brass Are Comin')
14) Hurt So Bad (Summertime)
15) Legend Of The One-Eyed Sailor (You Smile-The Song Begins)
16) Vento Bravo (Coney Island)

well there you go........cheers everyone!!!!!!!