🎵 AotW Classics Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass VOLUME 2 SP-103

What is your favorite track?

  • The Great Manolete

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Spanish Harlem

    Votes: 1 4.0%
  • Swinger From Seville

    Votes: 2 8.0%
  • Winds Of Barcelona

    Votes: 10 40.0%
  • Green Leaves Of Summer

    Votes: 3 12.0%
  • More

    Votes: 1 4.0%
  • A-me-ri-ca

    Votes: 3 12.0%
  • Surfin' Señorita

    Votes: 1 4.0%
  • Marching Through Madrid

    Votes: 4 16.0%
  • Crea Mi Amor

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mexican Corn

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Milord

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    25

Harry

Charter A&M Corner Member
Staff member
Site Admin
Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass
VOLUME 2

A&M SP-103

sp4103.jpg


Tracks:

The Great Manolete (La Virgin de La Macarena)
Spanish Harlem
Swinger From Seville
Winds Of Barcelona
The Green Leaves Of Summer
More

A-me-ri-ca
Surfin' Señorita
Marching Through Madrid
Crea Mi Amor
Mexican Corn
Milord

Produced by: Herb Alpert - Jerry Moss
Engineer: Ben Jordan
Album Design: Peter Whorf

Also issued as LP 103 (mono); A&M CD 3262; and issued digitally on iTunes.
 
I had to go with SPANISH HARLEM...it's one of my favorite songs anyway, and Herb's take on it is by far my favorite version. There are several other nice interpretations of this song out there[Aretha Franklin's comes to mind], but Herb's version has a marvelous lilt that the others seem to lack.

I had several later TJB albums before I had the chance to buy this one, and I was a little surprised at the overall mood of the album. It's definitely a party album, and I wasn't used to that back in the late '60's; so, I was taken a bit aback by this. It seemed almost gimmicky; but that feeling faded away with RISE. When I heard the album version of the single and got into the "street" groove, I had a new appreciation for VOLUME 2. This album is the soundtrack for a 1963 East L.A. block party. The problem is/was that nobody outside of L.A. was ready for this album in 1963. It's much better produced than THE LONELY BULL, the arrangements are much broader [for lack of a better term], it has every bit as much of the character of the album that preceded it, but no real standout hit. That works against it, too...but it certainly was worthy of being rereleased after WCAOD and GP hit the charts. There are several excellent arrangements here; most notably MORE, AM-ER-I-CA, CREA MI AMOR[Think, My Love], MEXICAN CORN[almost a tie for my fave...] and MILORD[love Herb's take on this one making a rather forgettable Broadway tune a rousing drinking song...].

It's a shame that this album didn't get the respect it deserved in 1963...it was ahead of it's time, for sure. It's still an obscure gem in the TJB catalogue; Herb was disappointed by it, but for the life of me, I can't understand why...


Dan
 
I voted for "Winds of Barcelona" which later became "El Presidente."
It would be great to see a VOL. TWO reissue with "Mexican Drummer Man" as a bonus track.

JB
 
Well, I voted for "Marching Through Madrid", but, as a disclaimer, I've only heard it (off of Classics, Volume 1) and "More" (off of Foursider). I've heard "America" as well, but only when I was younger and used to listen to the couple LPs I have, so I don't remember it at all. So, of the two I remember, I greatly prefer "Marching Through Madrid", but it's possible I'd like one of the other ten the best if this album were actually available on CD.
 
DAN BOLTON said:
I had to go with SPANISH HARLEM...it's one of my favorite songs anyway, and Herb's take on it is by far my favorite version.

It's a shame that this album didn't get the respect it deserved in 1963...it was ahead of it's time, for sure. It's still an obscure gem in the TJB catalogue; Herb was disappointed by it, but for the life of me, I can't understand why...

Dan

I agree that this album was a great one, but, since I was born in '68, I've always judged it from a catalog perspective. Therefore, I obviously don't know much about the confluence of the album with popular culture in 1963. My parents met in the Navy in '63, but they didn't get into TJB until SOTB came out in '64.

I picked "Green Leaves Of Summer" for my favorite, largely due to the haunting echo of Herb's trumpet on this piece. At times it gives me goosebumps! As for "Spanish Harlem", I too find myself whistling this one every now and then, and it usually motivates me to put this one on!

Someone heard me playing "The Great Manolete (La Virgen De La Macarena)", and they shouted "Hey! That's 'The Bullfighter's Song'!" Was this ever marketed as such..., by a cover artist or something??? Or was this just a monicker that someone attached to Herb's brilliant composition?

Tony
 
Funny how Herb went for a more "underground sound" here than he did with his first album... Not a retread of Alpert's first set, but something more advanced and deeper, while momentarily drifting away from the "EZ List'nin' and Top-10 Charting" territory which was where "The Lonely Bull" was successfully heading...

"Green Leaves Of Summer" gets my First Pick, here...! Something about applying a Brothers Four folk song to a Latin structure and a Mariachi beat... Very creative arrangement enough that it may or may not have played a role in inspiring Wes Montgomery to record his version a bit like the Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass interpretation...

Second pick: "Spanish Harlem" which boasts some good fanfare-ing trumpet but surely not anything like the version by Sonny Charles & The Checkmates version, with even more harder-edge trumpet blowing which would later follow...



Dave
 
If I can find all my notes, maybe I can keep up with Harry as he posts the TJB Classic AOTW.

Here's the scoop on the Volume 2 recording sessions:

6/20/63 - Western Recorders - America, Winds Of Barcelona - Herb Alpert - trumpet, Dave Wells - trombone, Ray Pohlman - bass, Bill Pitman - guitar, Earl Palmer - drums, Milt Holland - percussion, Gil Falco - trombone. A&M 714 Dina, credited to Dore Alpert was also recorded during this session.

8/1/63 - Western Recorders - Surfin' Senorita, Foolish, Foolish Pride, Swinger From Seville, Picture On The Wall, Green Leaves Of Summer - Herb Alpert - trumpet, Julius Wechter - marimba, Dave Wells - trombone, Lew McCreary - trombone, Ray Pohlman - bass, Bill Pitman - guitar, Earl Palmer - drums, Nick Bonney - guitar, Ernest Freeman - ?
Note: It appears that the actual titles of "Marching Through Madrid" and "Mexican Corn" were as noted above in bold. A search of BMI and ASCAP did not reveal the previous titles by the composers. I'm going to make an educated guess that "Foolish, Foolish Pride" became "Mexican Corn," as a known alternate title is "Heartache On The Way."

8/13/63 - Western Recorders - Crea Mi Amor, More, Milord, La Virgen De La Macarena, Spanish Harlem - Herb Alpert - trumpet, Julius Wechter - marimba, Dave Wells - trombone, Tommy Tedesco - guitar, Ray Pohlman - bass, Earl Palmer - drums, Bud Coleman - guitar & mandolin, Hal Blaine - drums, Lew McCreary - trombone, Bill Pitman - guitar, Ira Westley - ?

sp103+logo+top.jpg

First pressing with logo at top.

sp103+back+cover.jpg

First pressing back cover.

Volume2SP403juke.jpg

Little LP stereo jukebox with tan label.

Volume2SP403jukewhite.jpg

Little LP stereo jukebox with white label.

sp4103+later+logo_edited-1.jpg

SP 4103 - a later vinyl pressing.
 
Just wondered if there was a vinyl pressing with "SP 3262" on either the jacket or record. Some 3200 catalog numbers only appeared on a piece of white tape along the album seal.
JB
 
Jim:

You are correct! On checking old A&M catalogs, it looks like there was SP 3262 from 1984 to about 1986 and after that it existed only as CS 3262 and CD 3262.

For your correct response, you win a mint condition promo 45 copy of Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass doing "Foolish, Foolish Pride" b/w "Picture On The Wall" - NOT! :D
 
I just gave my mint condition V2 lp with the original back cover a listen and after 45 years this album still rocks! It may not have been the commercial cannon blast that WHIPPED CREAM or GOING PLACES were, but still it has a charm all its own. I chose "Green Leaves of Summer" as my favorite track with "The Great Manolete" as a close second. Herb has always done a great job with tone poems and "Green Leaves" was one of his best. It still gives me goose bumps whenever I hear it. Herb's version of A-Me-Ri-Ca is also a worthy mention. I loved it before I even saw West Side Story. I think it's also interesting that although Herb claims to not like this album much, he chose to end the very last TJB record with a song and arrangement that sounds like it could have replaced "Milord" on V2, "Strike Up the Band". If Steve's credits are correct then that means Bob Edmonson didn't play the trombone part on "Dina". I would have sworn that it was him. Steve, are FOOLISH FOOLISH PRIDE and PICTURE ON THE WALL lost TJB tracks that might appear on a future LT cd or were they Dore Alpert tracks?

David
 
thetijuanataxi said:
Steve, are FOOLISH FOOLISH PRIDE and PICTURE ON THE WALL lost TJB tracks that might appear on a future LT cd or were they Dore Alpert tracks?

David

Read through Steve's post again. He theorizes on what those two tracks likely might be.

Harry
 
I also chose "Winds of Barcelona" as my favorite track.

I know we've discussed this thoroughly in the past, but it's the awful overall sound that detracts from this album. Songs like "Marching Thru Madrid" are a prime example of this. It's a muddled sound at best. Still, I do enjoy some of the more simpler songs like "Surfin' Senorita", "Swinger From Seville" and "More". On the other hand, I truly can't stand "Milord" and "Spanish Harlem". I tend to like the 45 version of "Great Manolete" better than the album version, simply because of the extra bottom sound of the 45.



Capt. Bacardi
 
I have to agree on that. When making a TJB compilation, I took my favorite tracks from this album and "fixed" them somewhat with software -- added some bass, and decreased some of the midranges very slightly - but it still has a different sound.
 
Though I generally like a bright sound, VOLUME II always sounded a bit too harsh in the highs department. The Shout! Factory/iTunes digital files sounded less harsh, but it also tended to "muddy-up the sound a bit.

It depends on my mood, but generally I think I prefer the remastered version even with the highs rolled off a bit. It's not a favored album by any stretch, so it doesn't get that many spins around here.

Harry
 
I voted for "Marching Thru Madrid" instead of "Winds of Barcelona," but LPJim's suggestion is excellent. "Volume Two" should be added to the Herb Alpert Signature Series and "Mexican Drummer Man" is a very appropriate bonus track (especially since it wasn't included on the "Lost Treasures" CD).

Charles H.
 
I hope it's OK to ressurrect old threads like, but this album is not as easy to get ahold of as the others and I have a few comments and questions about it. While used record stores turn up plenty of everything else in the Herb Alpert catalog, I had to go to a classy big-city vinyl shop and pay full price for what looked like an unplayed album. I agree that the sound is much more refined than The Lonely Bull album (although some of the panning is a bit lop-sided in places). I also agree that it's under-rated - there's some very enjoyable stuff on here.

I really like the different texture to the trombones in More, compared to other TJB arrangements. There seem to be several trombones creating a very smooth sound.

My favourites are A-MER-I-CA (I'm a sucker for those West Side Story tunes) and Winds of Barcelona, although The Great Manolete is sticking in my head quite a bit.

I have 1000+ vinyls at home and recently bought a Teac LP-R400 unit so I'm transferring things to CD to listen to at work. I'm starting with the A&M vinyl so I will probably be voting on old polls sometimes.

On this album I finally found a song that's been getting played over and over again at my daughter's figure skating lessons (for the couples' skate dancing lessons) and that I'd had trouble identifying. It's Swinger From Seville. Except that it isn't this version (for one thing, no hoots and hollers). I had guessed Baja Marimba Band, as the piano sounds like Leon's - but I'm not finding evidence of a BMB version, and there's no prominent marimba in it. The arrangement sounds to be that same mid-sixties era. Anyone know of Swinger from Seville covers that could sound like a marimba-less BMB?
 
Feel free to resurrect old threads, and it's a good idea to open your thread with an announcement to that fact. It helps clue folks in that it's not a new thread.

I always thought "Milord" sounded familiar the first time I heard it, but have never run across whatever earlier version I might have heard. But then again, I've never really investigated...

Harry
 
I always thought "Milord" sounded familiar the first time I heard it, but have never run across whatever earlier version I might have heard. But then again, I've never really investigated...

I hate to admit this, but I know that Edith Piaf did "Milord" several decades ago. A little search showed that even Cher recorded the tune back in the 60's. So it's had some dust on it over the years. :D



Capt. Bacardi
 
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