Herb Alpert - Hugh Masekela (SP 728)

[Murray]

I found this LP in a used record store this afternoon. It looked like it might be interesting, so I bought it. Oh man, this album is fantastic! Herb and Hugh blend perfectly together, nice upbeat songs, and I love the african rhythms.

I've listened to the album a couple of times now, and as much as I'm embarassed to admit it, most of the time I can't tell which one of them is playing!

Laugh if you must...

Murray
...wondering if he's the only one...

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I've listened to the album a couple of times now, and as much as I'm embarassed to admit it, most of the time I can't tell which one of them is playing!

It is a great album, isn't it? It's actually pretty easy to tell the two apart if you listen good enough. Herb has a brighter tone than Hugh's flugelhorn, and Hugh's solos are a bit more "busy" than Herb's. For example, Hugh has the first solo on "Skokiaan", then Herb jumps in and they trade off. If I remember right, on the LP Herb is on one side of your speakers and Hugh is on the other.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Harry]

This is one great album, and unfortunately it seems to often be overlooked - no tracks from this album have ever appeared in a compilation. Thankfully, though the album DID get a CD release, albeit briefly, back in 1988, mastered by Rudy Van Gelder. The CD came in a digipak - the first one of those I'd ever seen, and I'm happy I picked it up when I did.

I still remember being surprised walking into a rather urban record store one day at lunchtime in the summer of 1978 and hearing Herb blaring from the speakers. It's not something I would have expected. Herb, prior to this album, had a rather non-standing in the R&B community, but here he was with this new project being embraced by those who'd shunned him before.

Back when I first got the LP, I remember being amazed at the length of the tracks. Being somewhat new at that point to radio, I wondered about how in the world a radio station would commit to playing 7-minute tracks. I got my answer quickly: edited versions supplied by the record company. There in a throway pile, I found the 12" record devoted to supplying just such edits: SP 17007 containing 3+ minute versions of "Skokiaan", "Happy Hanna", and my favorite from the album "Lobo". The 12" single came in a plain white jacket, which must not have set well with me. I found an ad in Billboard® for the album, cut and pasted it on the cover and did my own hand-written artwork, attempting to mimic fonts, etc. This was WAY before computers!

That Billboard® ad, by the way, was the precursor of the artwork for the followup herb/Hugh live album. Perhaps I'll attempt a scan and post it below.

I can also recall spending time with a razor blade and some splicing tape in an attempt to create my OWN edited version of "Lobo." Mine differed from the one on the 12" by having the main "soaring" melody appear three times and included very little of the jazzy middle.

[edit: Here's that photo of the ad from Billboard® (note the darker left and right edges from the tape used to affix it to the blank jacket!]

Harry
NP: Herb Alpert/Hugh Masekela

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I also remember being completely surprised when this album came out. I read Billboard all the time back then, and never saw any mention that this album was to be released. I remember my first reaction to seeing the LP was "What are these two doing together?" and "Wow, Herb grew a mustache". I wasn't sure what to expect at first listen, but "Skokiaan" really set the tone. I played this album 6 or 7 times in a row, because I couldn't believe this was Herb playing. "Lobo" was on the jazz stations all the time. It still sounds as fresh today as it did back in '78. One of my all-time favorite albums!


Capt. Bacardi
...getting ready for some football online...

 

[Rudy]

Definitely a great one! Even my rock/pop friends liked it when it came out...so it wasn't my "old man's" music as usual.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I remember that Billboard ad. The artwork foreshadows the Herb/Hugh MAIN EVENT LIVE album which came out a while later. (Course you guys already prob'ly knew that......)

 

[Brasil_Nut]

Oh, this is a sensational album!

What a combination!! Herb & Hugh followed up with the live album, which was just as good. They sounded sensational in a live venue. As for the length of the songs, I didn't care. I was just getting into Architectural Design at the time, I remember. I was taking an Architectural Drafting class in school, and my parents had just bought me a drawing desk for my room. I'd sit and draw, Herb & Hugh playing the background for hours on end. I'd also listen to "Just You & Me", as well as "Main Event Live" while I drew. I credit Herb & Hugh with giving me some incredible vibes, amazing inspiration while working on house plans.

Gosh, what great memory for me. I'm so glad you brought this up, Murray!

Jon

..."Drawn" to Herb & Hugh for Architectural Inspiration, online...

 

[thetijuanataxi]

I was surprised with the change in direction this album took from "Just You And Me" released only a year or so earlier. I remember that the concert series Herb and Hugh did to promote this album was the first time I'd seen Herb play live and it was a great concert. It was at The Bottom Line in New York City. I do remember though being a bit disappointed that he didn't do any TJB stuff at all. Not even the obligatory "Lonely Bull" entrance. Aparently, Herb wanted to detach himself at that point from his origins and be seen in a new light. "Lobo" and "Ring Bell" sounded like they could have been TJB tunes. I guess they both tried to bounce off of each other's styles and it worked beautifully.

David,
realizing that was 25 years ago.......

 

[Mr Bill]

The Herb&Hugh Tour was the first time I saw Herb in concert, too. I was 17 and brought a date from my job at Arby's. Shared our table with Bonnie Schiffman, A&M staff photog who shot the images on the Main Even Live cover. It was at the Roxy where they recorded the concerts for the Manin Event Live LP. We were sitting right in front of Mosa Jonas Gwangwa -- you should've seen my date jump when he blared out a loud note in a quiter passage from one of the tunes (I can't recall which right now)...

--Mr Bill

listen to the opening of Kalahari Nights -- the last person clapping is me!