Pirated Herb Alpert CDs & Downloads

[Harry]

This one has an entry on Discogs, but it looks like a fantasy home-made compilation to me. First, it's got an A&M logo on it, and it's supposedly from 2011. The added word "VOCALIZE" in the title doesn't seem like anything Herb or his people would have come up with. It says "EU" as the country of origin.

Herb Alpert - The Essential Vocalize

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2011 CD release of "The Essential Vocalize" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Years ago, I made a compilation CD that I called "Herb Alpert: Words and Music" that consisted of Herb Alpert vocal songs. I included songs with full-on vocals, but I also put a in few like "Sunny" and "Darlin'" that only included just a few vocals for variety. I included "All in All" from the Michel Colombier Wings album, but I left out some of the more obvious Herb clunkers like "Talk to the Animals" and the above-named "Pillow" (which I don't like at all). Quite a few of the songs in that compilation above are also on my comp.

 

[Rudy]

It screams illegitimate. The EU never used the CD-xxxx designation in 2011. And if it really were A&M, I'm sure they had some sort of Universal legalese in fine print on the case somewhere, as they do. The barcode numbers are not quite compliant either--the number scans as a 13-digit ISBN (for which there is no record of, no pun intended), not a product UPC code (as you'd expect for music). The terrible cover art should also be a clue--it's an oft-stolen photo of Herb, always with a TJB-ish logo next to him.

We'd have to prove it was pirated music before Discogs would accept it. (I think it's filed under "unofficial release".) I could just stick a comment in there that it seems like it's a pirated release.

 

[Harry]

the above-named "Pillow" (which I don't like at all).

Hmm. I really like "Pillow". After all of the bombast on side one of KEEP YOUR EYE ON ME, "Pillow" calms things down nicely for the more mellow side two.

 

[Rudy]

"Pillow" is the overlooked Jam & Lewis track on the album. It's also my favorite of the four, although they're all good.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Hmm. I really like "Pillow". After all of the bombast on side one of KEEP YOUR EYE ON ME, "Pillow" calms things down nicely for the more mellow side two.

Well.... I'm just not a fan of Jam & Lewis in general. To me those songs were the only instance where Herb seemed like a guest performer on his own records, although I will say it's good to hear Lani singing with Herb on "Pillow." I think it's mainly the percussion sounding so mechanical and all the various synths, etc. makes it sound more dated than even his '60s music. Just not my cup-o-tea, I guess.

 

[Rudy]

More weirdness found today...



These are available on Qobuz (and most likely every other streaming service, as they use the same distributors). I sampled a few of the tracks and they have an odd sound quality--"Without Her" has the dynamics quite smashed. I also tried "To Wait for Love" in case it was the non-album 45 RPM mix, but it's not--it's a similarly compressed sound as the others, though. No idea of the source of these--they're way too clean to be needle drops of styrene 45 RPM records.

Scrolling down to the label credit in Roon Player, I see "A&M." Can't be. Anyhow, I hopped over to the Qobuz application and have to look up the song title "To Wait for Love" to find one of these singles in search. I located the single, plus a few others:



I found these other singles by selecting the "See the label" option in the menu:



Given that aside from these singles, there only 15 other albums listed for the "A&M" label, it's easy to tell that this is some sort of piracy operation although, given the different "A&M" logo on some of the releases, it might be a legit label in whichever country these come from. Here's a few of them:



In other dubious product, this is a newer one that has popped up. Same old crap, though--mostly Lonely Bull tracks, and one or two from the following two albums. Sorry Planet Blue Records (USA), your release is not legit.




Here's another, and it is more of a hits compilation up through The Beat of the Brass. This one is on a label called Play Music. Sorry, Play Music, your release is not legit either.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

I learned that Herb got credited for ALL of his tunes, regardless of what type of unofficial cover and compilation appears on the screen.

 

[Rudy]

This is good!

Given the sound quality issues, though, I will always recommend genuine Herb Alpert Presents products.