FAQ Correction

[alpertfan]

Who were the members of the Tijuana Brass?

The TJB was never a real band, but more of a sound. The first few albums had studio musicians, most of whom are unknown, but include Ventures drummer, Mel Taylor, Sun Records guitarist Bill Miles, Ervan "Bud" Coleman, Carol Kaye and Hal Blaine. Julius Wechter played on all Tijuana Brass session dates, though uncredited.

However, there was a demand to see the group live, so Herb Alpert had to assemble a constant group of musicians to go out on the road with him. These were:
Tonni Kalash-Trumpet
Bob Edmondson-Trombone
Lou Pagani-Piano
John Pisano-Guitar
Pat Senatore-Bass
Nick Ceroli-Drums

But, even though these 6 toured with Alpert from 1965 to '69, there was never a steady recording studio line-up, as Alpert kept switching out musicians to fit the moods to various songs. (This is according to the liner notes for !!GOING PLACES!!) The only real constants were Herb Alpert himself, (mostly likely) Bob Edmondson, Wechter and Ervan "Bud" Coleman, until his death in 1968. Guitarist Tommy Tedesco may have also played on many sessions.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

We never say that the "band" played on all the albums. But those guys were members of the Tijuana Brass, for sure, so they deserve to be listed as such.

We do say that studio musicians were probably used on all the albums in addition to the band members. Some studio records have surfaced that show all the members of the group as being in the studio. Some of us feel that they all may have participated in various recording sessions, but Herb may have overdubbed certain people with other people to get the sound he wanted. (Tonni Kalash for example - member of the band, listed on studio records, but most everyone believes that Herb played all the lead trumpets himself on all the albums except CONEY ISLAND.)

 

[DAN BOLTON]

It was also a matter of who might be available...scheduling conflicts,etc...at times, the TJB was releasing 2 albums a year, and that's a lot of work...


Dan

 

[alpertfan]

I just basically said what Dan said. It was who was available when. The info is not totally off-base. I gather from what the late Julius Wechter posted on this forum, that the same was the case with the Baja Marimba Band. The static group was only a touring act, but very few (if any) of the members were featured on any recordings. This has led me to wonder: was this also the same pattern Sergio Mendes followed, with Brasil '66 and '77? And what about The Sandpipers? (It has been posted here that John Pisano was on a few B66 studio dates).

 

[Mike Blakesley]

John P. was on the Brasil '66 albums from EQUINOX through FOOL ON THE HILL, at least according to the album credits. He probably played on CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS and YE-ME-LE too, and then Oscar Neves took over guitar duties on STILLNESS.

I have always thought that Sergio's band was more self-contained in the studio, which is why their names appeared on the album covers more often than Herb's band.

 

[Dave]

Well, a lot of groups used Studio Musicians when starting out, (like Herb Alpert and BEFORE any OFFICIAL Tijuana Brass was established) when any rhythm parts were too complicated for a then-amateur band to handle to make hits (The Association and maybe some real early Turtles and Byrds) or when a group just wants to branch out on a particular song (The Beach Boys doing "Don't Worry Baby") or album (PET SOUNDS, though it was basically a Brian Wilson project he did while the remaining group was on tour, but at least all did vocals on when they returned...) And of course guys like The Monkees and even some later-Motown groups, which were "manufactured behind-the-scenes"...

...And what about The Sandpipers...?

Eh, probably the same guys who DID get credits on their final two A&M LP's...!


Dave