"Mexican Drummer Man"/"Ride Ride Ride"

[lgarvin]

The TJB non-LP song "Mexican Drummer Man" is a dance number with girl singers. It was on a 45 (with "Great Manolete" on the flip side) but never on an album, and not of the style the TJB was doing at the time. Does anyone have any background on how this song came to be and why it was not included on any album? The other mystery is a song listed as an alternate B-side to the "Lonely Bull" single in some discographies. It is called "Ride Ride Ride" but I've never seen a copy and don't know if the song really exists at all. It may have been incorrect information that passed from one source to another. All original copies I've seen of the "Lonely Bull" 45 have "Acapulco 1922" on the flip side. Does anyone know if "Ride..." really exists by the TJB? (My best theory is that Brenda Lee released a song by that title on a 45 and the flip side was called "Lonely People Do Such Foolish Things.") Perhaps someone confused the two "Lonely" songs?

 

[DAN BOLTON]

I don't know anything about RIDE, RIDE, RIDE...but I'vealways considered MEXICAN DRUMMER MAN to be an "experimental" recording. MDM was recorded shortly after VOLUME 2 was released, and the album wasn't a big seller. Critics told Alpert that he had a "regional sound", and he wanted to be more than that...so, it was a natural move to incorporate Phil Spector's input into the TJB sound at that point, because they were already working together on the next album, SOUTH OF THE BORDER. MDM has a Motown feel to it, enough to be considered a precursor to the later "street" sound that Herb would explore with RISE and MAGIC MAN.

MDM charted in the lower third of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but it wasn't really what Herb was looking for at the time...the sound wasn't what he wanted, either. I think that the song works pretty well, it certainly is different from anything that the group had done before[or since...]. It isn't what people identify with the TJB though, and a lot of casual fans would be surprised to know that it is even in the discography. It's a colorful chapter in the TJB story.


Dan

 

[Captain Bacardi]

"Mexican Drummer Man" was Herb's attempt at the "wall of sound" thing that Phil Spector had become famous for. Rumor has it that Herb didn't really care for the song and was just trying to make a hit record. It may be a bit of a blessing in disguise that it wasn't a hit, because Herb may have ended up doing a bunch of tunes just like that.

There's a lot of speculation about "Ride, Ride, Ride". Some say it's just an alternative title for "Acapulco 1922". I don't think anybody really knows except Herb himself - and he ain't talkin'!


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Rudy]

"Mexican Drummer Man" also likely coincided with the arrival of Larry Levine, who engineered Spector's recordings. I still think it's a neat single though--it captures that Gold Star Sound (esp. the famed reverb chamber ) and it's a neat diversion from the all-instrumental songs he usually recorded.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

In a couple of interviews, Herb talked about making "MDM", but not by name. He said they used "two of everything," going for that "wall of sound," as Capt. Bacardi said above. It just didn't take off. Also, I think that somehow, a lot of the very early A&M releases didn't get promoted very well, except for on the West Coast.

As for "Ride, Ride, Ride," I have never seen it and it's not for lack of searching. Some time back, I found that title by singer Lynn Anderson. My theory is that the alphabetical proximity from Alpert to Anderson may have just been the result of someone's listing just getting the two confused. I am about totally convinced that the title done by Herb doesn't exist!

 

[thetijuanataxi]

It seems evident to me that "Mexican Drummer Man" was Herb's attempt to infiltrate the "Discotheque" scene, which was very popular at the time. The beat is typical of the songs that were played at those venues. Interestingly, Herb made the same attempt 15 years later with "Rise", this time much more successfully.

David,
showing his age, online....

 

[bob knack]

For what it's worth, I just got hold of a similar 45 by the Baja Marimba Band called Baja Ska. While not a bad record, it doesn't sound like a BMB recording at all. The brass section used is very different and not too appealing. Maybe a little too James Last-ish. Maybe these were made at about the same time. I'm glad they went in a differnt direction.

 

[Mr Bill]

Oh Bob! "Baja Ska" is one of my favorite non-LP BMB tracks! While it is different it's not all that different from the material on SP4104 or 4109....

--Mr Bill
who also likes "Wall Street Rag", "Can You Dig It" (both versions), "Picasso Summer" and the fast version of "Brasilia" that was the B-side of "Yes Sir, That's My Baby"...