Herb & TJB - THE BELL THAT COULDN'T JINGLE

Nice video. Thanks Steve.

Now, on another matter. As I listened to that video, I thought something sounded off. Herb's vocal sounded odd, like it wasn't focused. So I dug out the old PhaseBug tool, and sure enough, this track - on every version ever released - has HAECO-CSG, even though the rest of the album does not.

A simple phase shift of 90° on one channel, or 45° on both, will bring the vocal back into center focus.

It appears that it was done that way for the 45 single as the CSG legend appears there:

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Ain't THAT a kick in the head!

It makes sense as this was around the time that A&M began experimenting with releasing stuff with the CSG processing.

The track sounds so much better with the CSG phase shift corrected.
 
This is one of my favorite Christmas songs by any artist. I always thought Herb would have done well to try a few more "uptempo" vocal tunes instead of just sticking with ballads.

This song also has the distinction of having (in my estimation) the smallest amount of Herb Alpert trumpet of any of his TJB vocal songs. There are only about 10 seconds of trumpet on this song. Are there any with less?
 
Interesting that Herb's official channel decided to do a video for this 54-year-old track. Is something up with the '68 CHRISTMAS ALBUM? Was it remastered along with the other A&M albums? I've forgotten.
 
Correct. Went to a Barnes & Noble in the Schaumburg area of Illinois to get them when released around Thanksgiving.
 
Radio requested the video and that's how it came to be done. It will get good exposure!
 
After neutralizing the CSG processing on this track, it's possible to use the Out-Of-Phase stereo trick to remove Herb's lead vocal, leaving what sounds to me like the touring Tijuana Brass, as they sounded on "Talk With The Animals". Here's a small section of the track:

 
After neutralizing the CSG processing on this track, it's possible to use the Out-Of-Phase stereo trick to remove Herb's lead vocal, leaving what sounds to me like the touring Tijuana Brass, as they sounded on "Talk With The Animals". Here's a small section of the track:



...which makes sense. CHRISTMAS ALBUM would have had to be recorded very shortly after the sessions for THE BEAT OF THE BRASS.
 
Christmas Album LP being advertised through the MeTV Mall


 
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