Delighting by challenging the listener

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is the tradition of Herb Alpert. The young Jewish lad from L.A. had challenged the entetainment community with what was regarded as 'regional music by a group that billed itself as the Tijuana Brass, and of course critics must have had a field day with it, as hardly no-one but folks from the Southwest of America were familiar with Mariachi bands (usually featured at state fairs), so it must have confused the pundits of the record industry as to what would become of a band that clearly was appealing, but Tijuana? Well, thanx to a chewing gum commerial, and the Teabury Shuffle, t.v.viewers be- came familiar with a song that was also their latest single... ("where's they from again...oh, it's that tiawanna, or whatever", but the place of 'origin' hardly mattered, as the group's founder/leader even looked 'Latin', and the sound was infectuous enough, so what if one didn't memorize their name right off, the point was that this regional outfit played the grooviest Mexican stuff around. Thusly, the T.J.B. began life by challenging the public, and then delighting it with hit after delectable hit, and within a couple of years, the 'Brass' would become completely ubiquitous, as they were just about everywhere! In his tradition of challenging audiences, T.J.B. concerts consisted of performances of material lent to far different arrangments that their studio versions, and beginning with a solo venture entitled "Just You and Me", the leader of the group that personafied 'Americachi' issued an album that seemed quirky, dark, and just the very opposite of what the cheery T.J.B. was renouned for, but then, there was"Jerusalem", which also bore that solemn quality.Today, the Alpert tradition of perplexing and yet delighting fans continues, although many of which have become disappointed that he stopped performing his funk grooves ala "Rise", but this is Herb Alpert's way: taking something apart, only to create something cool in it's stead, so we'll have to stay tuned...lol the best may yet to come.
Warm Wishes,
Steve
 
Good bit of writing Steve. I think the folks at this site, in their love and admiration of Herb, tend to over analyze. I loved all of Herb's records cause they were catchy tunes with lots of melody. He also is a beautiful balladeer. Try whistling to anything that comes out today. That's why I always go back to those TJB and BMB records. They lift my spirits cause it's happy music.

As for Herb being Jewish with the look of a Latin, we all originally thought he was Mexican. I heard the TJB in concert in the sixties and he introduced the band as four lasagnas, two bagels and one American cheese sandwich (Bob Edmonson).
 
Ah, yes, the B.M.B., which was an appropriate name, as they used a bass, or Baja marimba. Ol' Julius Wechter was such a master, haven served a tenure in the exotic Martin Denny outfit, which provided considerable experience that neatly paved the way for his participation in the the counterpart for the T.J.B., and maybe, just maybe we'll have those delightful 'Baja' disks available on c.d. There's so much pure enjoyment to be had from those crazy guys. Most folks that have bought their records know that although their stage antics were humorous, the B.M.B. was a serious group, and the fact is that their records always had a sophisticated quality, too, along with those lovely and romantic tracks, but in the end, it was the neat humor of the band that lifted one's mood, and as for who attended to 'nature's call' on the album covers,we'll never know, but bottom line was that the B.M.B., along with the T.J.B. have provided such pleasure through the decades for me.
Warm Wishes,
Steve who's 'going out the side door' to water the plants :twisted:
 
As for Herb being Jewish with the look of a Latin, we all originally thought he was Mexican. I heard the TJB in concert in the sixties and he introduced the band as four lasagnas, two bagels and one American cheese sandwich (Bob Edmonson).[/quote]



Herb's mother had Mediterranean jewish ancestry...that's where the Latin good looks come from...not that his dad was a bag of bones, either....



Dan, thinking that all that lasagna, bagels and American cheese sure made for some good ratatouille....
 
venturaguy49 sez "yummy yum-yum@American cheese lasagna bagels!"...I wonder if the Galloping Gourmet has tried them? :laugh:
Warm Wishes,
Steve
 
[. Ol' Julius Wechter was such a master, haven served a tenure in the exotic Martin Denny outfit, which provided considerable experience that neatly paved the way for his participation in the the counterpart for the T.J.B
Steve who's 'going out the side door' to water the plants :twisted:[/quote]

Just yesterday I was trying to explain to my older sister who the BMB was, when I happened to spot an old Martin Denny LP of hers in a rack, don't recall now which one it was. On the back credits there was the name Julius Wechter on Vibes/Marimba, now at age 78 she wants to hear more of him and I am taking my BMB CDs over today for her to enjoy. See, your never too old to listen to good music! :)
 
cakeicer said:
Just yesterday I was trying to explain to my older sister who the BMB was, when I happened to spot an old Martin Denny LP of hers in a rack, don't recall now which one it was. On the back credits there was the name Julius Wechter on Vibes/Marimba, now at age 78 she wants to hear more of him and I am taking my BMB CDs over today for her to enjoy. See, your never too old to listen to good music! :)


Or too young...I was thrilled to hear that my 11-year-old son[now 13] considered "Tell It To The Birds" as his favorite song... :)


Dan
 
Well, first there was a Japanese import called Digitally Remastered Best. It cameo out a few years ago. Biggest complaint from most fans who posted here was that the track selection on that disc left a lot to be desired. They picked quite a few cover tunes that other artists had made popular and left off the home-grown Julius Wechter-type tunes that endeared the group to so many.

Next, Collectors Choice wanted to release essentially the same album here in the States, but our Steve Sidoruk managed to persuade them to substitute four of the "better" tracks for four of the less-than-stellar selections on the Japanese disc. It made for a much better disc and can be gotten through CDNow at:

http://www.cdnow.com/pagename=/RP/CDN/FIND/album.html/itemid=1416916/from=sr-107193-1

This past year, our good friend Shirley here discovered another set released by Timeless Music. It's a three-disc, 36 song set, and it fills in a lot of the gaps that the other single disc left off. That one can be obtained at:

http://www.timelessmusic.com/catalog/albumdetail.cfm?id=576

It's even on sale!

Harry
...back from Bacharach, online...
 
In one sentence, when asked about who the BMB were, Julius Wechter answered by saying, "They're like the Tijuana Brass' bad little brother!" :)
 
Thanks for the link, Harry, and as it is, I dropped by the Corner's B.M.B. section, and lo and behold, by clicking 'discography', I was led to the info, and somehow between the opening item, and the threefer, there's some 45 delectable gems. Between them, there's at least 4 or more selections per album, which isn't that paltry, but there's hope for the party yet, as (no, this isn't my other shoe dropping, but pretty darned close to it), but perhaps there's enough folks here that want these c.d.s to justify their production, which can be costly, what with not only digital remastering, royalties, and of course manufacture, but maybe we can volunteer to do it ourselves...lol all we need's some training and plenty of tortillas and salsa dip....oops, there went that shoe, but anyway, if we can come up with the 'popular demand' part, then maybe the supply side will materialize. Again, thanx for the link, and I'll get one my way 4 now.
Warm Wishes,
Steve, who is about to put his clodhoppers back on :D
 
Attention, Señors, Señoras, and of course, Señoritas that §ü®ƒ, as most all of us on the 'Web' do, here's a cool link that will provide you with genuine transcripts from the first T.J.B. special, so put on your "Million Dollar Sound Sampler", and click http://www.members.aol.com/jnetsites/tv2.html As this refers to AOL, I'll mention two cool items related to it, and firstly, that one can access 'AOL Anywhere', and enjoy the browser side of AOl, and nextly (and this is coolsville, folks :!: by downloading Netscape Communicator but not '6', you'll gain a Messenger that is compatable with AOL's, which means if you've pals on AOL, and you're on a different I.S.P., you can chat with them, so :blinkeye: into it, and me thinks that you'll be glad that ya did! L8ER.
Warm Wishes,
Steve the linkmaker and Peppersauce Commando who got his shoes back on, right as he said that he would! :jester:
 
venturaguy49 said:
Thanks for the link, Harry, and as it is, I dropped by the Corner's B.M.B. section, and lo and behold, by clicking 'discography', I was led to the info, and somehow between the opening item, and the threefer, there's some 45 delectable gems. Between them, there's at least 4 or more selections per album, which isn't that paltry, but there's hope for the party yet

The breakdown of info regarding BMB's A&M recordings on CD turns out as follows:

Of the 118 tracks officially released (albums, singles, b-sides), 49 have officially shown up on CD and 69 have not. The 49 include the three major CD releases discussed above and a few of A&M Japan and PolyGram compilations over the years that manged to squeak out a track or two.

The 49 songs officially released on CD (before you ask, "We've Only Just Begun" showed up on a Japanese compilation of Nichols/Williams tunes):

Acapulco 1922
Along Comes Mary
Baja Nights
Baja Nova
Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde
By The Time I Get To Phoenix
Cabeza Arriba
Cast Your Fate To The Wind
Ceilito Lindo
Charade
Comin' In The Back Door
Do You Know The Way To San Jose
Domingo
Dream A Little Dream Of Me
Eleanor Rigby
Fiddler On The Roof
Flyin' High
Fowl Play
Gay Ranchero
Georgy Girl
Ghost Riders In The Sky
Guacamole
Hecho En Mexico
I Don't Want To Walk Without You
I Say A Little Prayer
I'll Marimba You
Juarez
La Cucaracha
Maria Elena
Maria's First Rose
More
Pedro's Porch Part 2
Picasso Summer
Puff (The Magic Dragon)
She's Leaving Home
Somewhere My Love
Sounds Of Silence
Spanish Eyes
Sunrise, Sunset
The Cry Of The Wild Goose
The Look Of Love
The Portuguese Washerwoman
Those Were The Days
Walk On By
We've Only Just Begun
Winchester Cathedral
Windy
Yellow Bird
Yes Sir, That's My Baby
__________________________________________________________

And those that have yet to make it to an officially released CD that I'm aware of:

A Spanish Rose
Always Something There To Remind Me
As Time Goes By
Back To Cuernavaca
Baja Humbug
Baja Ska
Big Noise From Encino
Big Red
Born Free
Brasilia
Brasilia (single version)
Can You Dig It 1 & 2
Dansero
Dear Heart
December's Child
El Gazelle
Elenore
Elephant Soul
For Animals Only
For Bud
Fresh Air
Gnu Bossa Nova
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Goin' Out The Side Door
Happening To Me
Here
Here There & Everywhere
How Much Is That Doggie In The Window
In A Vera Cruz Vein
Jorjana
Knowing When To Leave
Las Mananitas
Last Of The Red Hot Llamas
Le Bicyclettes De Belsize
Left Field
Madagascar
Majorca
Midnight Sun
Moonglow (Picnic Theme)
Partridge In A Pear Tree
Peru '68
Red Roses For A Blue Lady
Rhode Island Red
Sabor A Mi
Samba De Orpheu
Samba For Vicky
Samba Nuevo
San Fernando
Spanish Flea
Spanish Moss
Summer Samba
Sunday' Mornin
Swan Waltz
Telephone Song
Temptation
The More I See You
The Odd One
The Wall Street Rag
The Woody Woodpecker Song
There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This
They Call The Wind Maria
Think Of Me
Tomorrow Will Be Better
Two For Tea
Up Cherry Street
Wave
Windmills Of Your Mind
Yellow Days
Yours
__________________________________________________________

Harry
...with the data, online...
 
Throw in the theme from "D.T.", of Ms.Lovelace fame, or was that Wategate, and I think we've got the whole shebang there. What's so cool, is having those fabulous recording in one's head at the mere mention of their titles...lol by this time, T.J.B. and B.M.B. have prob'ly gotten infused into my D.N.A. :laugh:
Warm Wishes,
Steve, who thanks ya for providing that neat info...now what's needed is for some company to put out the B.M.B.'s final HOT 70
 
venturaguy49 said:
Throw in the theme from "D.T."

I think Harry was only listing the A&M recordings. If we add the Bell and Applause releases we'd have a few more NOT available on CD. The third post-A&M release, New Deal was only available on CD, but not being on A&M, it's not in Harry's otherwise thorough list. Thanks for putting that together for us, Harry!

--Mr Bill
 
venturaguy49 said:
and enjoy the browser side of AOl, and nextly (and this is coolsville, folks :!: by downloading Netscape Communicator but not '6', you'll gain a Messenger that is compatable with AOL's, which means if you've pals on AOL, and you're on a different I.S.P., you can chat with them, so :blinkeye: into it, and me thinks that you'll be glad that ya did!

Slightly o/t, I really don't enjoy anything AOL. The Mrs. downloaded the AOL messenger, and all I can say is that I call it "clutterware". Not only does it pop open ad windows, it adds icons for all kinds of AOL crap ("join today"), etc. With all the problems with Netscape's products, the only one I've been recommending is 7.0, which is based on the new Gecko engine (which the nearly-identical Mozilla browser uses). Any 4.7x version of Netscape is severly flawed!! In fact, I still get occasional e-mails from users who still use that browser, and either can't view parts of the site, or see a very distorted version of the site with graphics and text that can't fit. (Support in 4.7x for style sheets is very poor--they did not adhere to the standards that the W3C set forth.)

In fact, there was a recent AOTW where one of the artists (Craig Nuttycombe) was trying to access the forum. He was looking to put a better Netscape on his computer, but with the 4.7x version he was using, he couldnt' even access the forum. It's pathetic that all of us who design and develop websites and applications still have to work around an outdated, bug-ridden browser! Most of us design for IE, and double-check in NS 6 or 7 to make sure it all works. (Then, usually, a session of 'damage control' using NS 4.7x just to fix anything that's inaccessible...we don't even try to make pages for NS 4.7x look nice anymore, since it's such a minority browser.)

Best all-around messenger I've found, which I use now, is Trillian. ( http://www.ceruleanstudios.com ) It connects to AOL, MSN, ICQ and Yahoo simultaneously (which is good for someone who has accounts on some or all of these), and will also hook to IRC Chat servers. No ads or popups, and you can download a free version (I think 0.74) or buy a "pro" version. I like the free version enough that I plan on getting the pay version soon. But it has a nice, modern interface (likely skinnable), and from what I've used, it seems to support all of the features of the different messengers. Don't have an AIM or MSN account? The wizard will walk you through setting it up. And on certain services (like AIM), you can import your buddy lists. And as mentioned above, you don't need to belong to AOL, or MSN, or any other provider to join these messenger servers.

-= N =-
 
Problemo here, Rudy...I'm on a Mac, and Trillion hasn't configured for us. To date, the finest communications tool that is cross-platform, or at least somewhat so, it available at http://www.ivisit.com
iVisit is basically a 'made-for-Mac' webcam item that unlike most messengers, actually does provide voice for Mac, but also has a Wintel version, which is pictured on their site. I've as yet to write them, and find out why they no longer connect, but they are in the process of introducing a new version, and I've heard from others at 'Visit' that claim that they have it, so perhaps yours truly will, too. Folks, iVisit is one cool medium (even better when one can connect :!:) The nifty thing with 'Visit', is that webcams can be presented in 'real-time', or close to it. The color is good, and with some work, voice can be realized....they have represenatives to help newbies with it, so it's a total, 100% :thumbsup: for iVisit. Also, there is a neat software for Mac from Connectix called Virtual P.C., which emulates one of those second-rate Pentiums that Maccies detest...leave the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, where they belong! One prob is that Yahoo! won't so much as make mention of coming into voice chat, or many of the neat programs that are configured for a P.C.When one discovers the history of corporate behavior
of Micro$oft, it's kinda disgusting that theirs is the de facto standard, but the good news is that Apple is gaining. I guess my bias for Macs is apparent...lol I have read the depositions in the M.$. Anti-trust suit, from Compaq, Netscape, TrueVision...about the way that M.$. had buggered their Internet Explorer to cause Apple's QuickTime to function poorly, which gave rise to the notion that Apple software is inferior. Netscape has been hobbled, along with just about everyone else. It seems that Micro$oft just can't achieve their advantages honorably. I'll ? out that recommended Netscape browser. Also, in the browser dept., there's a neat one called iCab, which a really flexible one, but they are basically a payware, but worth the money, and maybe I'll buy it someday, and for Maccies, they're the best, as iCab is reputed to defeat popups, and thusfar, all other anti-popup software is strictly for Windows, so iCab's a 'shoo-in' iCab also allows the user to tailor the charateristics of the browser, so it can be made into an Internet Explorer, and for Maccies, that and the aforementioned Virtual P.C. can give us a fully compatable O.S./browser combo that is Windows-compatable (with a non-Intel Pentium, without any actual affiliation with Micro$oft. By the way, the difference between Pentium and the Motorola, that I'm using, is in how the digital is read. Pentium is read from lowest numbers (tenths), and Motorola from the highest (thousanths or more), so fooling the Motorola microprocessor into reading as a Pentium results in a NON-INTEL PENTIUM, and socking it to Intel is a cool thing to do, or at least to me it is. Now I'm going to head out, and contact iVisit about their failure to connect me. Have a pleasant one, and thanx Rudy, for that info...I'll check into your recommendations on Netscape.
Warm Wishes,
Steve
 
Because O.S.'s and browsers are a part of our Internet life, they have a place within the 'Corner', but this topic was intended for things musical, so please see 'Techie Stuff' for future discussions of technical interests which (hopefully) will contribute to our Web experience.
Warm Wishes,
Steve
 
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