🎵 AotW Classics Herb Alpert & The TJB - BEAT OF THE BRASS SP-4146

[Mike]

I went with Talk to the Animals.

As everyone probably already knows, Talk to the Animals was an Academy award winning song from the 1967 movie Doctor Dolittle. This was a time in the USA when family movies accounted for something. I find it no surprise that Herb recorded it. Heck, Sammy Davis Jr. Made an album out of the Dolittle sound track.

Do I really think it’s the best song on the album? No. But, I do like it and voted for it so that it wouldn’t be totally skunked. Although, I see I’m not alone.

It's a happy song, and I like being happy.

Mike

 

[thetijuanataxi]

I agree with Mike about TALK TO THE ANIMALS. While far from my favorite TJB tune or even on the album, I see no reason for kick in the teeth it seems to get from most of us here. If nothing else, Herb and Julius's solos as well as Bob's trombone fills ought to be enough to keep even the stiffest fuddy-duddy entertained for 2 minutes. I regard it as one of my lesser TJB favorites, but definitely not as a throwaway.

 

[rickster]

Oh my God --- Given Herb's superb track record up to that point , the track IS an absolute throwaway --- and to me it looks to me like he may have been pressured to record it buy the producer of the TV special that aired the same time the album came out. It is absolute fluff/filler, a period piece ,and nothing more. I'm sorry, but by this time it was time for Herb and the Brass to take a break.

 

[thetijuanataxi]

I'm sorry Rickster, I do not agree. I will say that songs like Tijuana Taxi and Spanish Flea would be at the top of my favorites list and TTTA would probably be on my 10 least favorites list, but I don't have a problem with it. Now if the whole album had been songs like that I would probably feel different. As for Herb being pressured to do that song: Make no mistake Herb called the shots and was the final word. If he recorded that song, it was because he wanted to. Remeber Herb's audience in those days ranged from 9-90. I can have a sense of humor for 1 track on an album.

 

[Mike]

Oh my God ---

Oh my God, Ricky, you invoked the OMG phrase! Well, I guess that's it, Talk To The Animals is total $hit now. But, alas, I disagree with you... so there!

Mike

 

[rickster]

Trust me --- that song is BENEATH Herb --- It is HORRIBLE -----

 

[Harry]

"Talk To The Animals" was a product of its time. It was included in a TV special, and as a memento, was also included on the tie-in album.

That's the way things were in those days. There weren't VCR's or mutiple broadcasts in the same week or Youtube, so anyone who wanted to hear some of the special again, the record album was the go-to choice.

So while I would never claim "Talk To The Animals" as any kind of favorite, its existence is at least tolerable in the context of from whence it came. I surely wouldn't want a copy of BEAT OF THE BRASS that had it eliminated.

Harry

 

[Mr Bill]

I went with Talk to the Animals... so that it wouldn’t be totally skunked. I see I’m not alone. It's a happy song, and I like being happy.

I went with it for the same reasons... For a long time in my yoiuth it was my favorite tune as we got to hear the voices of these musicians. I'd spend time wondering which brassman sang which line -- to this day I still don't know for sure who sings which line (though Herb's voice is, of course, definitely recognizable)!

--Mr Bill

 

[Captaindave]

Is Talk To The Animals really any worse than...can I say it...Milord? Or, TJ Sauerkraut?

Actually, I don't mind the instrumental sections of it...it's the vocals that...

 

[thetijuanataxi]

Is Talk To The Animals really any worse than...can I say it...Milord? Or, TJ Sauerkraut?

Gee, Captain Dave, I'm surprised you didn't mention the ever popular "Freight Train Joe"

 

[4haverstocks]

"It's a happy song, and I like being happy."
--Mike

I couldn't agree more, Mike. I used to not like the song so much... too corny even by TJB standards, I thought. But it's kind of grown on me. The TJB version is just so good-natured, it's hard to stay mad at it for long. I'd recommend to those who don't like it to listen a few more times... I predict it'll win you over, unless you're total scrooges.

I'm planning on doing the song at a gig our TJB tribute band has next February at a retirement community... a chance to invite some of the singers in the community to join us on stage for a rousing rendition. Should be fun.

Dan

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Hey Dan - maybe those people would also get into "Mame" -- it has similar vocals as you know. I always thought it'd be fun to karaoke that song especially having had a few beers before hand.

 

[4haverstocks]

Mike,
Wow, that's impressive: I am planning on doing Mame, too. Great minds think alike! The retirement community has a lot of clubs, etc., and I'm going to track down a singing club and invite them to do TTTA and Mame with us. Another possibility is Hello, Dolly!, but we've done that song in the past at the same place, inviting the audience to sing along, so we'll probably go with Mame this time. We may skip the beers, however
Best,
Dan

 

[Dave]

Heck, Sammy Davis Jr. made an album out of the Dolittle sound track.

Mike

Bobby Darin did, too:

Dave

 

[4haverstocks]

And, according to allmusic.com, here are some other artists who recorded TTTA:

Louis Armstrong
The Chipmonks
Bing Crosby
Micky Dolenz
Anthony Newley
Roger Williams
and many others

-Dan

 

[thetijuanataxi]

Enoch Light did a swinging big band version with his Light Brigade back in his Command days.

 

[Mr Bill]

Wow! All this discussion regarding "Talk To The Animals" makes one wonder if we shouldn't spin it off as its own thread!

I must add that in addition to being able to hear different brassmen singing the different lines, as a marimbaist/percussionist I am also partial to it because of the xylophone...

But it looks like Brass fans and Bob Hope fans are two distinctly different groups of people as "Thanks For The Memory" has not (as yet) gotten a single vote!

--Mr Bill

 

[rickster]

Frankly, I don't care if Sinatra or even Pavarotti would have recorded "Talk To the Animals", I still wouldn't like it. And that is the beauty of such a forum. I only know one thing --- when I purchased this album as a young trumpet player in 1968, got home and played it --- when the vocal section of TTTA came up I picked up the needle in the middle of the tune and never played that song again. In over 40 years my opinion has not changed one iota.

 

[thetijuanataxi]

I've got a suggestion, Rickster: Line up two chairs facing each other and put a big pillow on one chair with "TTTA" written on it in big red letters. Next, grab a baseball bat and sit in the other chair facing it and vent. Tell the TTTA pillow how you've loathed it over the years. How you felt cheated by it's very existence. How it has sullied your entire TJB listening experience, all the while beating the tar out of it with the baseball bat. After an hour or two, the TTTA pillow will begin to respect you and realize how its silliness musically traumatized you all these years and you will come away with total loss of animosity for the song/pillow.

Dr. David

 

[Harry]

Do all of that while playing "Tijuana Sauerkraut"!

harry

 

[david]

I think it (Talk to the Animals) was simply an attempt to create a family atmosphere and perhaps possible fill in space, but above all to have fun. For any of us old enough to remember, 1968 was the most tumultuous year in a very stressful decade. This special would have been aired right after or before the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. I think people were looking for something light hearted during race riots, Vietnam, assassinations. Just my .2 cents worth.

 

[jimbob]

Do all of that while playing "Tijuana Sauerkraut"!

harry

Wow, I tried it and it even worked on this song.......only took 90 minutes though.

 

[Captaindave]

Is Talk To The Animals really any worse than...can I say it...Milord? Or, TJ Sauerkraut?

Gee, Captain Dave, I'm surprised you didn't mention the ever popular "Freight Train Joe"

I know I'm taking a chance here at being hit with cyber-tomatoes or Internet eggs, but I really don't mind FTJ.

Now, it definitely isn't my all time favorite song by a long shot, but I always thought it had a sort of wistful, playful sound that was sort of soothing/calming - depending on the listener's mood and state of mind...

 

[Captaindave]

I think it (Talk to the Animals) was simply an attempt to create a family atmosphere and perhaps possible fill in space, but above all to have fun. For any of us old enough to remember, 1968 was the most tumultuous year in a very stressful decade. This special would have been aired right after or before the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. I think people were looking for something light hearted during race riots, Vietnam, assassinations. Just my .2 cents worth.

I was 17 at the time and it was the summer before my senior year in high school, so I remember the times very well. I saw the TJB in concert twice that year. Nothing like a warm summer night in 1968, the TJB in concert, and This Guy's...being sung by a young 33 year old Herb Alpert to a crowd of about 25,000 people over a two night concert series to set the mood of the times in absolute perspective...

IMO, This Guy's... was the song that tended to give the times a sense of "rose-colored romance" and late sixties "ambiance." This Guy's...was the soundtrack behind quite a few romantic relationships - mine included, and further enlarged Herb Alpert as a pop music icon of the 1960s. This #1 song back in the summer of 1968 made Herb Alpert more than a trumpet player. It created an additional layer of pop music stardom for him. Many people who had only heard of the TJB but were unfamiliar with the details of the music, became far more familiar with the person of Herb Alpert because of this song.

IMHO, TTTA is included as a sort of "novelty" track and is a song that had achieved a measure of recent popularity in 1967. I think the TJB simply gave it a cover version "nod" on this album. It's not a song I would take all that seriously regardless of author, and I'm sure that Herb Alpert himself would not place much emphasis on it as anything representative of the 1960s TJB era.

 

[Harry]

I know I'm taking a chance here at being hit with cyber-tomatoes or Internet eggs, but I really don't mind FTJ.

Now, it definitely isn't my all time favorite song by a long shot, but I always thought it had a sort of wistful, playful sound that was sort of soothing/calming - depending on the listener's mood and state of mind...

I'll never understand anyone's disdain of "Freight Train Joe" and consider its recent discussions in that direction to be an abberation.

Harry