🎶 Pick a Dozen Herb Alpert on A&M in the 70s and beyond

Since the 70s T.J.B. was short-lived and so stylistically different from the original Tijuana Brass, they fit well (and arguably much better) with the solo recordings. And it will make for an interesting mix with all the different styles.

I'll break with tradition here: since there are so many tunes from You Smile through Midnight Sun, feel free to make this one a "double album" or, in other words, create a Volume 1 and Volume 2 of a dozen tracks each, if you desire. As before, if it helps you sequence your dozen, consider creating each as two LP album sides of six tracks each. This should be interesting whether you choose to one volume or two, as the styles across these albums are very different.

My picks group my four album sides into themes. The first side slightly leans towards jazz and/or adventurous time signatures. The second side heads to the south side of the border (Mexico, Brazil, etc.). The third is kind of a nod towards the pop contemporary instrumental style that Herb made his own, with a variety of flavors. The fourth is the "get down and get funky" side.

A1 Fox Hunt
A2 Musique
A3 Promises, Promises
A4 3 O'Clock Jump
A5 Foreign Natives
A6 Promenade

B1 Lobo
B2 Coco Loco
B3 Vento Bravo
B4 Aranjuez
B5 Route 101
B6 Push and Pull

C1 Beyond
C2 Behind The Rain
C3 Magic Man
C4 Always Have a Dream (Pour le Cœur, a Mon Père)
C5 I Need You
C6 Whistlestar

D1 Skokiaan
D2 Rise
D3 Pillow
D4 Passion Lady
D5 Keep Your Eye On Me
D6 Diamonds

Your ideas? Let's hear 'em! 👍👍

 

[Harry]

Mine's going to have to be a three album set, possibly squeezable onto two CDs. Basically I attempted to pick two favorites from each album. I found that impossibly difficult on RISE, so there are four from that one. Meanwhile I only grabbed one from MAGIC MAN. For BLOW YOUR OWN HORN, I opted for the two tracks from NOCHE DE AMOR. In a few instances, I could pick some shorter single edits, like "Rise". According to Windows Media Player, this playlist clocks in a 2.5 hours. It's essentially in chronological order. I called it Herb Alpert, 70s and Beyond.

 

[JOv2]

Even though I part company with Mr. Alpert’s music after 1976, I can still offer up the following spiffy EP:

A1. Fox Hunt
A2. Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor
A3. Promises, Promises

B1. Coney Island
B3. Senor Mouse
B4. Prominade
B4. Musique

 

[Mike Blakesley]

This is a difficult choice, but I like Rudy's list a lot. I would leave out a couple of the KYEOM and Rise tracks in favor of one or two more songs from Bullish -- specifically, the title tune and "Make a Wish." That album is horribly dated today (unlike most of his other output) but I do like four or five of the tunes quite a bit.

 

[Rudy]

Even though I part company with Mr. Alpert’s music after 1976, I can still offer up the following spiffy EP:

A1. Fox Hunt
A2. Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor
A3. Promises, Promises

B1. Coney Island
B3. Senor Mouse
B4. Prominade
B4. Musique

Five more tracks? 😁

I was close to choosing "Carmine" for one reason--we get to hear Bob Findley stretch out a bit, and I kind of like the moody atmosphere of it. "Aria" was another tough one to eliminate, as was "Lady Needs Romance."

 

[Rudy]

Mine's going to have to be a three album set, possibly squeezable onto two CDs. Basically I attempted to pick two favorites from each album. I found that impossibly difficult on RISE, so there are four from that one. Meanwhile I only grabbed one from MAGIC MAN. For BLOW YOUR OWN HORN, I opted for the two tracks from NOCHE DE AMOR. In a few instances, I could pick some shorter single edits, like "Rise". According to Windows Media Player, this playlist clocks in a 2.5 hours. It's essentially in chronological order. I called it Herb Alpert, 70s and Beyond.

View attachment 7219

The challenge is to trim it down to 12 or 24 essential tracks. 😁 But yeah, doing my own unlimited playlist, I'd have picked up another dozen or so tunes to fill it out, as I'm leaving out favorites from a few albums (like both the Herb/Hugh albums, and Bullish).

When I get a moment, I'm going to try to pare down my 24-track version to 12 tracks. That will be quite a challenge!

 

[Harry]

The challenge is to trim it down to 12 or 24 essential tracks. 😁

Well, given that there are already a few compilations that cover much of this material, I thought a wider, more encompassing set would suit me better. I already own:

 

[Rudy]

I guess my challenge of whittling a set down to a dozen or two doesn't resonate? 🤷‍♂️ The exercise makes us think hard as to which songs we could whittle down to create a tight list of a dozen. (And in this rare exception, a maximum of two dozen.) Not just to churn out a long list of favorites, which we've done in the past.

 

[JOv2]

Five more tracks? 😁

I was close to choosing "Carmine" for one reason--we get to hear Bob Findley stretch out a bit, and I kind of like the moody atmosphere of it. "Aria" was another tough one to eliminate, as was "Lady Needs Romance."

Those two '70s TjB LPs are so strong that, why yes, I could easily assemble 12 just from those -- but then it would seem like a "best of".

 

[Rudy]

Those two '70s TjB LPs are so strong that, why yes, I could easily assemble 12 just from those -- but then it would seem like a "best of".

That's fine, actually--it's like our personal best-of from the era, whether it's one virtual "disc" or two, a dozen tracks each. My TJB-era best-of was mainly tracks from the first five albums as those are still my sweet spot in terms of what I'll listen to. If someone liked only one album out of a dozen or more, then it's possible all twelve might come from that one album. 😁

Likewise, it was hard to choose where to start and end this exercise. The 70s-era T.J.B. was nowhere near the same group as the original Tijuana Brass, and very short lived, and Just You and Me very different from those. I decided to break it apart at the points where Herb took a break, bookending it with his post-TJB break and the break he took once A&M was sold and prior to Almo Sounds being formed. Trying to break this long middle stretch into two pieces really made no sense either--styles changed every album or two. Which is why I made the exception to make it two 12-part ("dozen") compilations rather than one.

 

[Harry]

OK, I get the message and have paired down my list to a two-record set containing 24 tracks. It'll still be in a roughly chronological order to keep things thematically coherent. I've also had some changes of mind regarding a couple of songs I ignored last time.

A1 Fox Hunt
A2 Vento Bravo
A3 Promenade
A4 The You In Me (this is such an odd record, I just thought it should be on an album somewhere, kind of a bonus track)
A5 Skokiaan
A6 Lobo

B1 1980
B2 Rise
B3 Behind The Rain
B4 Aranjuez (Mon Amour)
B5 Beyond
B6 Magic Man

C1 Route 101
C2 Fandango
C3 Sueño Precolombino
C4 Noche De Amor
C5 Blow Your Own Horn
C6 Bullish

D1 Keep Your Eye On Me
D2 Our Song
D3 Ancient Source
D4 3 O'Clock Jump
D5 Jump Street (Brighton Daze Remix/Radio Edit)
D6 North On South Street

Here's some quicky artwork!

 

[Harry]

One thing this exercise did is make me realize just how much I really like the RISE album. I listed four of the tracks - and still left off "Rotation".

 

[David S]

Fox Hunt, You Smile - TSB, Save the Sunlight (Herb and Lani), Besame Mucho (w/ Masekela), Foreign Natives, Rise, Aranjuez, Interlude (for Erica), Beyond, Route 101, Latin Medley, Manhattan Melody, Paradise Cafe, Noche de Amor, Love Without Words, No Time for Time, Diamonds, Stranger on the Shore, Fragile, I Need You, Romance Dance, When the Lights Go Down Low, I Can’t Stop Thinking About You, All The Things You Are, Second Wind, Laura, Steppin’ Out, Cote D’Azur, Migration, Brazilian Moon, I’m Yours

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Kind of funny about the two "T.J.B." LPs -- years ago I would have picked more songs off of Coney Island, but these days I think I'd pick more from You Smile.

Another odd thing about those albums -- on both of them, the vocal track is among my favorite Herb songs! I can't say that about any of Herb's other records.

 

[Mr Bill]

I took my time thinking about this one... I have to opt for the "double LP" approach with 28 tracks... (yeah, I'm pushing the envelope. Plus a little extra push with CD bonus tracks, LoL)

Disc 1
1-Fox Hunt
2-All In All
3-Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor
4-I Can't Go On Living Baby Without You
5-Save the Sunlight
6-Coney Island
7-Ratatouille
CD Bonus Track: Fire and Rain (original 1973 mix)

SIDE 2
1-Catfish
2-Carmine
3-I Belong
4-Whistle Song
5-Promenade
6-Musique
7-African Summer
CD Bonus Track: El Bimbo

SIDE 3
1-Skokiaan
2-Lobo
3-Ring Bell
4-Foreign Natives
5-Rise
6-1980
7-Aranjuez
CD Bonus Track: You In Me

SIDE 4
1-Beyond
2-The Factory
3-Route 101
4-Bullish
5-Struttin' On 5
6-Keep Your Eye On Me
7-8 Ball
CD Bonus Track: Noche De Amore

--Mr. Bill

 

[Rudy]

The idea, though, is to pick a dozen...or two dozen. We've spent decades here making our own dream compilations, but the Pick A Dozen series put a limitation on it, with some critical thinking and gut instincts on tap to sacrifice a few favorites if need be...

 

[Harry]

I love that Mr. Bill pulled in "All In All" from the WINGS album. Wish I'd thought of it!

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I was also happy to see "I Belong" on his list... that one and "Save the Sunlight" are among my favorites of Herb's, with or without vocals.

 

[Harry]

I was also happy to see "I Belong" on his list... that one and "Save the Sunlight" are among my favorites of Herb's, with or without vocals.

Those are favorites of mine, too. As I recall, many moons ago, the composer of "I Belong" (Göran Fristorp) logged in here to try to find Herb Alpert. I got the feeling he felt he was owed some payment for the song.

 

[Harry]

Of the four of us that participated thus far, I think that maybe BEYOND is not getting as much love as it should. All four of picked the title track. Mr. Bill and David S. added "The Factory" and "Interlude" respectively.

I was listening to BEYOND today and it's really a good album, one that I feel gets buried in the shadow of RISE. "Kamali" certainly is a great album opener, and "The Continental" follows it with one/two punch. "Red Hot" is a good track that often gets overlooked because it appeared in two different mixes. I like Herb's take on "That's The Way Of The World" too, and "The Factory" is other-worldly. (The newest HAP CD adds a half of a fading/echo trumpet blaat at the start that wasn't there on the original LP or CD.

I might have to revisit my list and find room for one or two of these tracks.

 

[Bobberman]

I like Harry's list most of those tunes I would choose I would add "I Can't Stop Thinking About You" from North on South Street. That song was ( and still is) my ultra favorite from that album I also love his remake from Second wind it's just a wonderful Instrumental ballad. Period.