Made my own TJB box set

[Mike Blakesley]

I've been wanting to do this for a long time. I got tired of waiting for the powers that be, and made my own TJB box set.

It's got 3 disks - 87 songs - covers every album from LONELY BULL up through CONEY ISLAND (with the exception of the Christmas album -- I want to be able to listen to this in the summer, too) and even had room for half a dozen rarities (singles).

I put in just two tracks each from the first three albums -- from LB and V2, there's only a couple on each that I like, and from SOTB, there's only a couple that I HAVE...but my favorite stuff is the mid-period anyway. Every album after those three is represented by five to eight songs. It's a TJB fest!

To complete the package, I appropriated the packaging from an old 3-disk "book on disk" set, scanned some TJB photos and made my own package. It looks pretty good.

I'll still buy Herb's official version when it comes out, but for now this will do.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

What, no track listing?

I did my own version a few months ago, and I probably would change a couple of things. I haven't done the booklet thing yet. Too lazy. But I did get a bunch of different types of jewel cases from Bags Unlimited.

I'm just starting my solo Herb Alpert box set, which will probably be a 4-disc set since the times of the songs are longer than the TJB days, plus there's a lot of the 12" remixes that I would want to include.


Capt. Bacardi
NP: JJ Johnson - JJ's Broadway

 

[bob knack]

We also got tired of waiting for the boxed set. A friend and myself spent a month boiling down every tune by the original brass. He then collected every mint LP, reel to reel and CD he could find and came up with a great sound quality “Best of” CD that I am crazy about.

It’s not a multi-disc, but if you came up with a disc of the re-formed brass and a disc of unreleased and rarities, you’ve got it made.

Here’s what we came up with:

Taste of Honey, Got a Lot of Livin’, My Heart Belongs to Daddy, Green Peppers, Tangerine, Monday, Monday, Walk in The Black Forest, Lady Godiva, The Happening, Marjorine, I Will Wait For You, Wade In the Water, More & More Amor, Flamingo, Walk, Don’t Run, Slick, Mexican Road Race, For Carlos, A Banda, Town Without Pity, Blue Sunday, I’m Getting Sentimental, Up Cherry Street, All My Loving, Mame, Casino Royale, Wall Street Rag, Work Song, Lollipops and Roses, Bittersweet Samba, So What’s New, Zazuiera.

There are some notable omissions…but these are the ones we like. It’s more of a rockin set. I think young people who never heard of The Brass would love this CD. The only one I would have liked, but we didn’t have room for was “Third Man Theme”.

 

[manifan]

Just curious -- did any of you use a "clean-up" program when you put the songs on CD? I've used Cool Edit Pro, and it works wonders on scratchy LPs. I've yet to do a TJB box set, but I do have a CD of favorites that I transferred. Great to hear "The Sea is My Soil" without scratches!

Elena

 

[bob knack]

no we're not that high tech, but it came out great. my friend did all the work, i can't take much credit.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I used Sound Forge on the tracks transferred from LP. The WARM tracks were from an album that already sounded awesome, so they didn't take much -- just a bit of "click & crackle removal" and a very light application of Noise Reduction did the trick.

For my other LPs, I used two or three passes of click/crackle, plus a couple of passes of Noise Reduction to get rid of groove noise. I used a bit of EQ on those tracks as well, to punch up the bass and treble a bit. SOUNDS LIKE and THE BRASS ARE COMIN, in particular, have weak bass IMO.

According to the Sound Forge manual, it's better to do these cleanups with two or three passes, with the controls set to lower noise/scratch removal, than it is to try doing it all in one sweep.

The only thing Sound Forge can't seem to deal with very well is groove distortion. On my SUMMERTIME, that album is so quiet that the effects really show up. But I like some of those songs enough that I'm willing to put up with it (until I can score a better copy, anyway!)

 

[Rudy]

Mike: I won't rub it in about my near-mint and sealed copies of SUMMERTIME then. I got ahold of another set of DirectX filters to try out, made by Waves. One filter is a "crackle" remover which gets rid of some of the groove wear distortion. I tried it on a really bad needle drop of a Lucille Starr song, and it at least made it a little more tolerable. But like any filter, it takes detail away from the music.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Inspired by Capt. Bacardi's posting of the tracklist for his solo Herb box set, I decided to break down and put my track list up for posterity too.

I didn't put it in "exact" chronological order....I think going for exact order can detract some from listenable-ness, so that (along with the occasional time consideration) dictated the occasional shuffling of songs around. I refuse to put "Lonely Bull" at the beginning because every other career-spanning compilation has it there. I dare to be different. I put the rarities at the end, and followed them with "Carmen" which I think makes a great summing-it-all-up song.

The only song that's NOT here that I wish I had, is "El Presidente" but my copy of SOTB is lost to the ages and I haven't gotten around to replacing it!

Disc 1:
The Mexican Shuffle / A-Me-Ri-Ca / The Lonely Bull / Marching Through Madrid / The Girl from Ipanema / A Quiet Tear / Whipped Cream / Lollipops and Roses / Bittersweet Samba / Green Peppers / A Taste of Honey / Love Potion #9 / Spanish Flea / Tijuana Taxi / I'm Getting Sentimental Over You / More and More Amor / A Walk in the Black Forest / Walk, Don't Run / Felicia / The Third Man Theme / Zorba the Greek / What Now My Love / Cantina Blue / Brasilia / Five Minutes More / It Was a Very Good Year / Freckles / Memories of Madrid / So What's New? / Blue Sunday / Don't Go Breaking My Heart / The Shadow of your Smile

Disc 2:
Mexican Road Race / The Work Song / Flamingo / Our Day Will Come / Bo-Bo / Casino Royale / Town Without Pity / Shades of Blue / Treasure of San Miguel / Wade in the Water / Bud / My Heart Belongs to Daddy / Love So Fine / The Happening / Monday, Monday / She Touched Me / Cabaret / Slick / A Beautiful Friend / Panama / The Sea Is My Soil / Marjorine / Girl Talk / Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da / Zazueira / The Continental / To Wait For Love / Sandbox

Disc 3:
Anna / Robbers and Cops / The Maltese Melody / I'm An Old Cowhand / Moments / Good Morning Mr. Sunshine / Hurt So Bad / Summertime / If You Could Read My Mind / Jerusalem / The Robin / This Guy's In Love With You / Fox Hunt / Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor / Promises, Promises / Save the Sunlight / Catfish / Last Tango In Paris / Vento Bravo / I Belong / Mexican Drummer Man / Zorba the Greek (single version) / Plucky (bump'n'grind version) / Fire and Rain / El Bimbo / This Whistle Song / Carmen

 

[Jason]

Hey guys and girls, my name's Jason, I'm 19, and I have recently rediscovered Herb's music.

I first began listening to Herb (with and without the TJB) at the age of six. Going Places was a common record on my little Fisher Price record player, and still my favorite album of his. I always loved listening to Herb and the gang rock out or cool down. My grandmother, herself a fan of Herb's (and she's watching over me from the best seat in the house, most likely listening as well, since I have Mae on right now, and that was one of her favorite Herb tunes), was kind enough to give me The Lonely Bull, Whipped Cream and Other Delights, What Now My Love, SRO, The Beat of the Brass, and Warm on vinyl, as she had no working record player.

When I rediscovered Herb and his music, I asked my aunt (also a Herb fan), if she could make me some tapes of what she felt was his best music, with and without the TJB. She even threw in a bonus, that bonus being Herb's duet with Lani Hall, Come What May. I recently received the tapes from her, which I then ripped onto my computer and burned to CD, so now I have my own little set to share with you guys and girls.

I would say, compared to a lot of the other sets, mine might be a little more odd than the others, but hey, we're all fans, right?

My set is 3 CDs and 68 tracks. It cover the years 1962-1991 and is arranged in a reasonable chronological order by album.

Disc 1

The Lonely Bull/Never On Sunday/Struttin' With Maria/Let It Be Me/Acapulco 1922/Limbo Rock/Spanish Harlem/Green Leaves of Summer/A-me-ri-ca/Marching Thru Madrid/South of the Border/The Girl From Ipanema/Mexican Shuffle/A Taste of Honey/Green Peppers/Tangerine/Bittersweet Samba/Whipped Cream/Love Potion No. 9/Ladyfingers/Peanuts/Lollipops and Roses/Tijuana Taxi/More and More Amor/Spanish Flea/Mae/Third Man Theme/Walk, Don't Run/Cinco De Mayo/Zorba the Greek/What Now My Love

Disc 2

So What's New?/Magic Trumpet/Brasilia/The Shadow of Your Smile/The Wall Street Rag/The Work Song/Mame/Casino Royale/A Banda/The Happening/Carmen/This Guy's In Love With You/Jingle Bells/Las Mananitas/Sleigh Ride/Moon River/The Maltese Melody/Sunny/Jerusalem/Last Tango In Paris/Skokiaan/Happy Hanna/1980/Rise

Disc 3

Rotation/Come What May/Besame Mucho/Fandango/Route 101/Garden Party/Diamonds/Our Song/Making Love in the Rain/Stranger on the Shore/North on South St./Funky Reggae/I Can't Stop Thinking About You

My aunt's taste in Herb's music is varied to say the least (four tracks from Volume Two but nothing from Warm?!).

My favorite Herb tune has always been Tijuana Taxi; it just has a defining kind of sound, it seems to fit Herb's style. A great record, no doubt. Two minutes and ten seconds of genius.

Some other favorites of mine are Green Leaves of Summer, Mae, Third Man Theme, Mame, Carmen, Skokiaan (love the doubled horns along with Lani's vocals), Stranger on the Shore, and North on South St.

I also have a couple of questions.

On SRO, it sounds like Herb is trying to expand his and the TJB's sonic palette by incorporating keyboards, most notably the organ on The Work Song. However, one thing has been bugging me for a while. Is the organ being played on Mame? I've listened very carefully to this track, especially the beginning, and it sounds like some organ notes are trying to break through (maybe the organ is being drowned out by Pat Senatore's bass).

Who is playing the excellent mandolin solo on What Now My Love?

Jason

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Who is playing the excellent mandolin solo on What Now My Love?

Hi Jason. Welcome to the Corner!

If I recall right, that's Bud Coleman on the mandolin on most of the early TJB recordings. Bud was part of the Baja Marimba Band and wrote a few tunes, including "Tijuana Taxi". The first few TJB albums were actually done by various studio musicians until midway through the !!Going Places!! album, when the touring group that most of us recognize as the TJB was formed. Some studio musicians were still used on records after that time, but the bulk of the recordings were done by the touring group (except on trumpet, of course).


Capt. Bacardi