El Bimbo and Other Herb Alpert Rarities

That is a very good wise rule one thing to keep in mind you will find posts around the forum concerning unauthorized bootlegs especially those that claim to be domestic remember only Herb Alpert Presents is THE ONLY AUTHORIZED LABEL for All things Alpert ( New titles and Reissues) as well as left over Shout factory and Older A&M issues there have been many discussions here concerning the bootlegs

 

I like it!

 

El Bimbo is not the name of a tune I recognised, but as soon as I played the Youtube link above, I realised that it is familar to me. I did a quick search and came up with the following ......

The track seems to have made it on to singles in at least 4 different markets in 1975. From the Discogs website:

El Bimbo ‎(7") A&M Records 16227 A Spain 1975
El Bimbo / Catfish ‎(7") A&M Records AMRS 1158 1975
El Bimbo ‎(7", Single) A&M Records AMS 7183 UK 1975
El Bimbo ‎(7", Single) A&M Records 16 227 AT Germany 1975
El Bimbo ‎(7", Single, Promo) A&M Records 1714-S, 1714 US 1975​

Additionally, it appeared as the opening track on a 1976 Japanese compilation TJB album of the same name:

El Bimbo (LP) A&M Records (manufactured by King Record Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan) ‎– GP-281​

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I remember hearing it in Bar Playa, Rota, Spain in 1975. The melody was in my head, but I had no idea what it was and wouldn't find out for another 40 years. That you tube video satisfied a very old curiosity for me!

 

I am going to stick my neck out here and say that the combination of a beach bar in Rota, Spain in 1975, coupled with you now being in Palataka, Florida, itself fairly close to Jacksonville, Florida means ....... you might have served in the US Navy?

Or have I compeletely misread that?

 

Close. I'm a Navy brat. I was only six years old when I heard Herb on the speakers in Rota. Dad was an Aviation Metalsmith, and he served in VR-24 Detachment in Rota and in HS-11 in Jacksonville.

 

I also did not recognize the song by title, but I do recognize the melody.

To my ears, El Bimbo reminds me of early TJB....perhaps somewhere in the Lonely Bull or Volume 2 time period, or at the latest, South of the Border. The sound and style would have fit nicely on one of those earlier albums.

 

i think the song was written much later. Maybe about 1974, from what I can find. But yes, the sound is very much early TJB. I think some Baja Marimba Band tunes used that type of vocal background also.

 

There seems to be some controversy over just who wrote the song, and when.

There are some claims that the song was actually written in 1971 by Afghani songwriter and singer Amad Zahir, and the song was originally called Tanha Shodan Tanha; and Claude Morgan from Bimbo Jet covered the melody in 1974, calling it El Bimbo. Others say that Morgan wrote the song first, and Zahir covered the song in 1977.

The TJB single credits Morgan, so that would place the Brass' recording ca. 1974-75.

This song reminds me a lot of Aranjuez, with its quasi-middle eastern beat with a bit of a funk jive to it due to the wah-wah pedal guitar.

It's impossible to ask Zahir just what the deal is regarding authorship because he died under mysterious circumstances in the late '70's.

My strongest memory of the song comes from the gay leather bar scene in Police Academy.




Dan

 

Wey-hey, well that wasn't a bad guess then! I am still amazed that I was bang on with the Rota and Jacksonville USN links!