⭐ Official Review Fandango [Herb Alpert]

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Herb Alpert
FANDANGO

HRB 087 (Originally A&M SP-3731)
716HGDugrYL._SX466_.jpg


Originally released 1982

Produced by José Quintana and Herb Alpert

Albums Chart: #100 Pop Album, #20 Jazz Album, #52 Black Album
Singles Chart: "Route 101" - #37 Pop Singles, #4 Adult Contemporary; "Fandango" - #26 Adult Contemporary


Songs and Musicians:
  • 1. Fandango (Juan Carlos Calderon) - 3:41[list:8c939c2e1c]Arranged by Juan Carlos Calderon
    Bass - Abraham Laboriel
    Guitar - Abraham Laboriel
    Drums - Carlos Vega
    Keyboards - Michel Colombier
    Synthesizers - Michel Colombier, Bill Cuomo
    Percussion - Paulinho DaCosta

2. Margarita (Juan Carlos Calderon) - 3:41
  • Arranged by Bill Cuomo
    Bass - Victor Ruiz Pazos
    Guitar - Miguel Peña
    Drums - Carlos Vega
    Keyboards - Bill Cuomo
    Synthesizers - Bill Cuomo
    Percussion - Paulinho DaCosta
    Background Vocals - José Quintana

3. Push And Pull (Juan Carlos Calderon) - 4:40
  • Arranged by Michel Colombier
    Bass - "Ready" Freddie Washington
    Guitars - Tim May, Abraham Laboriel, Carlos Rios
    Drums - Carlos Vega
    Keyboards - Michel Colombier
    Percussion - Paulinho DaCosta
    Marimba - Julius Wechter
    Harp - Gayle Levant

4. California Blues (Juan Carlos Calderon) - 3:49
  • Arranged by Eduardo Magallanes
    Bass - Victor Ruiz Pazos
    Guitar - Miguel Peña
    Drums - Carlos Vega
    Keyboards - Bill Cuomo
    Synthesizers - Bill Cuomo
    Vocoder - Herb Alpert

5. Quiereme Tal Como Soy (Love Me The Way I Am) (Rafael Perez-Botija) - 3:49
  • Arranged by Rafael Perez-Botija and Michel Colombier
    Lead Vocals - Herb Alpert
    Bass - "Ready" Freddie Washington
    Guitars - Tim May, Abraham Laboriel
    Drums - Carlos Vega
    Keyboards - Michel Colombier
    Synthesizers - Michel Colombier
    Percussion - Paulinho DaCosta
    Harp - Gayle Levant

6. Route 101 (Juan Carlos Calderon) - 3:21
  • Arranged by Juan Carlos Calderon
    Bass - "Ready" Freddie Washington
    Guitars - Tim May, Abraham Laboriel, Carlos Rios
    Drums - Carlos Vega
    Keyboards - Michel Colombier
    Synthesizers - Greg Mathieson
    Percussion - Paulinho DaCosta
    Background Vocals - Herb Alpert, Mary Hylan, Darlene Kolden-Hoven, Marie Cain

7. Coco Loco (La Guajira) (Diego Verdaguer) - 2:54
  • Arranged by Bill Cuomo
    Bass - Vicotr Ruiz Pazos
    Guitar - Miguel Peña
    Drums - Carlos Vega
    Keyboards - Bill Cuomo
    Percussion - Paulinho DaCosta
    Synthesizers - Bill Cuomo

8. Aria (Eduardo Magallanes) - 3:44
  • Arranged by Eduardo Magallanes
    Bass - Victor Ruiz Pazos
    Guitar - Miguel Peña
    Guitarron - Bernadino Santiago Gonzalez
    Drums - Carlos Vega
    Keyboards - Eduardo Magallanes, Michel Colombier
    Synthesizers - Bill Cuomo
    Horn Section - Carlos Macias, Guillermo Espinosa
    Harp - Gayle Levant

9. Angel (Juan Carlos Calderon) - 2:51
  • Arranged by Juan Carlos Calderon
    Bass - Abraham Laboriel
    Guitars - Carlos Rios
    Drums - Carlos Vega
    Keyboards - Bill Cuomo
    Synthesizers - Bill Cuomo
    Percussion - Paulinho DaCosta

10. Sugarloaf (Erasmas Carlos/Roberto Carlos) - 5:07
  • Arranged by Herb Alpert and José Quintana
    Bass - Abraham Laboriel
    Guitar - Abraham Laboriel
    Drums - Ralph Humphrey
    Keyboards - Michel Colombier, Greg Mathieson
    Synthesizers - Michel Colombier, Greg Mathieson
    Percussion - Laudir DeOlivera

11. Latin Medley (Frenesi, Bahia, Moliendo Cafe, Porompompero) (Dominguez/Barroso/Manzo/Ochiata/Valerio/Solano) - 5:43
  • Arranged by Juan Carlos Calderon
    Bass - Abraham Laboriel
    Guitars - Tim May, Abraham Laboriel, Carlos Rios
    Drums - Carlos Vega
    Keyboards - Michel Colombier, Juan Carlos Calderon
    Synthesizers - Bill Cuomo
    Percussion - Paulinho DaCosta
    Background Vocals - Mary Hylan, Darlene Kolden-Hoven, Marie Cain
    Marimba - Julius Wechter


All trumpets played by Herb Alpert
All strings by Gary Gertzweig's string section[/list:u:8c939c2e1c]

Recorded at CBS Recording Studios, Mexico City, A&M Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
Mixed in Studio "A" at A&M Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
Additonal Recording at Studio Sound Recorders, North Hollywood, CA
Engineered by Howard Lee Wolen
Remixed by Bryan Stott
Mastered by Bernie Grundman at A&M Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
Assistant Engineer: Benny Faccone
Additional Engineers: Don Hahn, John Beverly Jones, Steve Katz and Bryan Stott
Production Assistant: Lisa Marie

Art Direction: Ayeroff & Beeson
Cover Design" Elizabeth Paul
Photography: Richard Avedon

Twenty years have passed since I saw my first bullfight. The memories of that magical afternoon in Tijuana, Mexico, have left me with an everlasting need to say Thank You to the late, great matador (Rejoneador) Carlos Arruza and all my Latin friends, who, in one way or another, have influenced my music.

This album is for you.
Herb Alpert


Thanks to Abraham Laboriel for introducing me to a wonderful new friend and fabulous producer, José Quintana.
 
The FANDANGO album was at one time one of the most highly sought after titles on CD and the old original A&M CD was selling for many hundreds of dollars. The Shout reissue alleviated some of that and now the album is once again widely available in the massive re-release of the Herb Alpert catalog.

The album is as fresh and magical as it ever was, sounding terrific thanks to the new remastering.

A very funny Stan Freberg promo was made for this release:

 
I have the shout factory cd and originally the A&M lp version and i want to say i saw this reviewed here in the past and i believe this is A very definitive album in the Solo portion of Herb's discography. And i was very happy to hear Route 101 getting a lot of radio airplay and at the time i knew it was a Hit. And a short time later i began to hear other songs from this album being played in stores and i still enjoy this album my other favorites on fandango include Sugarloaf. Aria. California blues the Latin medley. The whole album is perfect from start to finish. Its No wonder why the original cd was going for hundred of dollars it just shows how valuable the music is on its own merit
 
I would say it's probably the best Herb solo album. My two favorites are "Route 101" and "Coco Loco" -- to me the whole albums sounds like the TJB might have sounded had they still been in their heyday. Just add in a little more trombone and marimba.

The only song on it I don't like is "Quiereme Tal Como Soy." I think it would have been better had Herb sung it in a lower range.
 
I have the above poster framed and hanging in my study.

Fandango is my favourite Herb solo album and Route 101 my favourite HA tune of them all.
 
Everything about this record I like. Not a bad track throughout. Two years ago, I had occasion to ride between LA and SF and we took - you guessed it - Route 101. Played it for my spouse - not generally a fan - and she smiled. Asked me to repeat it several times. Turns out she likes the tune...
 
Yes Fandango is indeed a fantastic album. I own the old vinyl LP, the original CD(a very expensive purchase on e Bay some years ago), the Shout Factory version and I picked up the new remastered CD at Amoeba in Hollywood yesterday. Our schedule here is quite busy so I did not get the chance to listen to it yet, but soon I will...

- greetings from Santa Monica - (in the north there is lots of snow right now so I escaped for some days)
Martin
 
I have been listening to the CD this afternoon. I really did not think there was much to improve, but it is just better sounding than ever before and some new details are being detected. Wonderful!

- greetings from Santa Monica -
Martin
 
While I knew vinyl releases were going to be limited, this is one in particular I would have enjoyed on a 180g reissue. Not that the original vinyl is all that bad either, and my original copy is like new. :)

I have been listening to the CD this afternoon. I really did not think there was much to improve, but it is just better sounding than ever before and some new details are being detected. Wonderful!
I'm glad you're enjoying it! And hope you are enjoying your visit to the other side of the pond.
 
In another thread, I reported that the track "Push And Pull" showed up in mono on the Rondor PORTRAIT OF HERB ALPERT, and that's the only place that seems to exist.

Today, while playing that track, I noticed the track's timing. All three of my LP's report the track as being 4:40 (including the Spanish version). And the 12" four-song EP also reports it as 4:40. All of my versions on the computer report it at 4:07 or 4:08.

The A&M CD gets it close to correct at 4:05 on the rear insert. The Shout CD has no track timings anywhere, and the Herb Alpert Presents package once again lists it at 4:40.

Not exactly big news that a track timing is wrong, but this one is a little outside the norm, so I thought I'd add the information to the thread.
 
I have copies of the original vinyl release from 1982, and the Shout! Factory CD. Haven't played either in a while.
 
A real oddity though is my Spanish version of FANDANGO. Of course, most of the titles are in Spanish, but the labels are misprinted with the side information. I'm no Spanish linguist, but even I know that Lado 1 means Side 1. Yet the label saying "Lado 1" is really Side 2 of the album, and vice versa. Check these out:

FandangoSPLado1.jpgFandangoSPLado2.jpgFandangoSP2.jpg

This makes me wonder if the somewhat out of place "Lado Uno" and "Lado Dos" on the rear jacket were done that way to somehow override the mistaken labels.

Anyone else with a copy of the Spanish version of FANDANGO with this same issue? Or was it perhaps corrected in another run?
 
Whenever the subject of this album comes up, I have images in my head of people back in the '80s, wondering if this was a TJB reunion project, and looking at the liner notes to see if there was a name they recognized from the musician credits.
 
Whenever the subject of this album comes up, I have images in my head of people back in the '80s, wondering if this was a TJB reunion project, and looking at the liner notes to see if there was a name they recognized from the musician credits.
I thought the same thing too back then however I knew even though there were no TJB alumni on it ( except Julius weather on marimba and vibes) it was truly a contemporary album of the 80s yet it had traces of that TJB sound it was kind of a paradox but in a good way
 
As "Latin American" as this album is, I never associated it with the TJB. The TJB was "old Mexico" via the mariachis. This was more like contemporary Mexico at the time. The same place of origin, but generations apart. Still some stylistic similarities but far more differences. The other Latin album is Passion Dance which is less Mexico than it is South American and Puerto Rican via Nueva York and its burgeoning salsa scene. So again, similarities, but worlds apart.

Or in essence, Fandango solves the problem of doing a Latin American album without sounding like the TJB.
 
Yeah, two albums later, Herb would actually put the "Tijuana Brass" moniker on the BULLISH album, but that one sounded even less like the old Tijuana Brass than FANDANGO did. I know it was done with the tour in mind where a few old TjB members participated, but the album itself sounds like most of Herb's solo output of the day.

Then he put a note on the PASSION DANCE album that said it was created with the old Tijuana Brass fans in mind who wanted to know when he was going to put out another album. And while it certainly has a lot of Latin spice, it doesn't really recall much in the way of the TjB sound.
 
Then he put a note on the PASSION DANCE album that said it was created with the old Tijuana Brass fans in mind who wanted to know when he was going to put out another album. And while it certainly has a lot of Latin spice, it doesn't really recall much in the way of the TjB sound.
I agree as well as on Fandango and in the future I'm sure he will do another Modern Latin flavored Album that is miles and miles apart from the TJB And in many interviews he even said he has been asked when he was going to make another record ( by the TJB Fans who haven't been Keeping up with his Solo work) He Never went away folks He continues to evolve and Move forward.
 
I was playing a few tracks from this album earlier today and first made a mistake queuing up the old CD version as I had it ripped to the server. (I don't think I ever bothered with the Shout Factory version.) But I realized for some reason, the player had chosen this one instead of the 2015 remaster. Hopped over to that in its high-res version and it was so much smoother than that old CD (which I got the week it was reissued in the 80s--that was an exciting find!).
 
I was playing a few tracks from this album earlier today and first made a mistake queuing up the old CD version as I had it ripped to the server. (I don't think I ever bothered with the Shout Factory version.) But I realized for some reason, the player had chosen this one instead of the 2015 remaster. Hopped over to that in its high-res version and it was so much smoother than that old CD (which I got the week it was reissued in the 80s--that was an exciting find!).

Where did you find the hi-res version. All I'm seeing is 44/24 on HDtracks.

Ed
 
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