Spotlight: DEFINITIVE HITS

[Captain Bacardi]

Herb Alpert
DEFINITIVE HITS
A&M/Universal 069 490 886-2

Released 2001

Format: CD

Compilation Produced by Herb Alpert, Larry Levine and Mike Ragogna

Albums Chart: #3 Top Contemporary Jazz

Songs:

• 1. The Lonely Bull (Sol Lake) - 2:17
  2. Mexican Shuffle (Sol Lake) - 2:14
  3. Whipped Cream (Naomi Neville) - 2:35
  4. Lollipops And Roses (Tony Velona) - 2:29
  5. A Taste Of Honey (Bobby Scott/Ric Marlow) - 2:45
  6. Spanish Flea (Julius Wechter) - 2:08
  7. Tijuana Taxi (Ervan Coleman) - 2:07
  8. Zorba The Greek (Mikis Theodorakis) - 4:24
  9. What Now My Love (Gilbert Becaud/Pierre Leroyer/Carl Sigman) - 2:17
  10. So What's New? (John Pisano) - 2:10
  11. The Work Song (Nat Adderley/Oscar Brown, Jr.) - 2:09
  12. This Guy's In Love With You (Burt Bacharach/Hal David) - 4:01
  13. Casino Royale (Burt Bacharach/Hal David) - 2:37
  14. Route 101 (Juan Carlos Calderon) - 3:18
  15. Fandango (Juan Carlos Calderon) - 3:43
  16. Rise (Andy Armer/Randy Badazz) - 7:35
  17. Rotation (Andy Armer/Randy Badazz) - 5:10
  18. Diamonds (Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis) - 4:54
  19. Keep Your Eye On Me (Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis) - 5:13
  20. Making Love In The Rain (Terry Lewis/Jimmy Jam) - 5:56

20-bit re-mastered with tube equipment from the original master tapes

All trumpets played by Herb Alpert, except those heard in the orchestra on "Casino Royale"

Mastered by Doug Sax and Robert Hadley at The Mastering Lab, Los Angeles, CA
Editorial Assistance, Tape Research: Barry Korkin
Production Coordination: Beth Stempel
Project Assistance: Derek Alpert, Chuck Pruce

Art Direction: Vartan
Design: Junie Osaki
Photo Research: Jason Paston and Ryan Null
Photos: Herb's trumpet on cover, page 11, inside inlay: Gerry Wersch/page 3: Edward L. Simpson
Management: Kip Cohen
Booking: Monterey Peninsula Artists
Herb Alpert Interview & Transcription: Mike Ragogna
Liner notes: Herb Alpert, Burt Bacharach, Quincy Jones



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Five of the songs here are "rarities" now -- the non-RISE solo tracks. Other than that, it's a disk that should have been two disks.

This is probably the best selling Herb Alpert item these days (along with WHIPPED CREAM) but as anyone can tell, it barely scratches the surface. And there are those infamous dropouts here and there. For the true fan, the best reason to buy it is for the booklet/liner notes, which include several interesting tid-bits from Herb and some nice photos. A non-collecting fan will find many of the hits here but certainly not all.

In the end, the best feature of this package is that it's so incomplete -- any neophyte who likes the music will be tempted to check out more of Herb's catalog.

 

[gameenjoyer]

I have never heard this compilation. I'm thinking the first few times I saw it were before I had heard the signature series version of Rise and thus had no interest whatsoever in the solo recordings, and, of course, having Classics Volume 1, I already had all of the TJB recordings on this disc. After hearing Rise and concluding that the solo recordings were good in their own right, I figured it was only a matter of time before other solo albums were released in the series, so five tracks from various solo albums haven't been enough so far to entice me to buy this.

 

[Dave]

Needing TWO discs ("Just one more...!") is what I have to say about this, too... Surely the novice will be excited by this set and if not for the availability of most of the albums on CD would be disappointed that he could not obtain the original albums if not for them finally being reissued...

"Rise" really needs the "1980"-prelude, so I luckily obtained it on a '45' to play before I kick this set of with it and the newer songs before finally getting into the older stuff and ending this album with "Keep Your Eye On Me", "Diamonds" and "Making Love In The Rain", the "newest stuff"...

I really think "Last Tango In Paris" should have been included if the liner notes by Quincy Jones were to make the mention of that, just to name at least one omission that the long-awaited LOST TREASURES filled us in on for the '70's material, which it is hard to pick only one or two of for this, which was why it got easily skipped...

Still, like most "introductory compilations", a good starter-set...!


Dave

 

[audiofile]

This is perhaps the worst Alpert compilation ever.

If you're going to have Tijuana Taxi and Diamonds on the same album, you should put the songs in chronological order, which is the case for the most part. However, going from Casino Royale to Route 101, just doesn't sit well with me. There's a whole chunk out of Herb's career that's missing here, however inessential it may be according to some people.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

I believe that I've said this before, but I'll say it again - this was Herb's FINAL A&M release, that was agreed to in the settlement of the lawsuit between Herb & Jerry and Universal, which assumed the legal liability when it bought PolyGram. As such, one could see perhaps how Herb might have had mixed feelings about putting a package like this together. On the plus side, it did well on the charts and sold a lot of copies. If you like the tunes contained therein, buy it. If you don't like them, don't buy it. In this computer age, it is very easy to make your own, graphics included. But, I bet nobody fed theirs through tube driven equipment to warm up the sound!

 

[Harry]

This is perhaps the worst Alpert compilation ever.

If you're going to have Tijuana Taxi and Diamonds on the same album, you should put the songs in chronological order, which is the case for the most part. However, going from Casino Royale to Route 101, just doesn't sit well with me. There's a whole chunk out of Herb's career that's missing here, however inessential it may be according to some people.

This is where I disagree, and in the extreme. If anything, DEFINITIVE HITS is brilliantly ordered, making more sense than a compilation of Herb's career should.

"Casino Royale" to "Route 101" - these two flow together better than they ought to. Herb was well into his solo career when FANDANGO was released, yet FANDANGO is often cited as the most TJB-like of his solo project, given the Latin theme of it all. And "Route 101" is among the least "Latin" of the offerings on FANDANGO, yet TJB-like enough that it can flow from the un-TJB-like "Casino Royale" (a Burt Bacharach recording with Herb Alpert on lead trumpet, with Julius Wechter thrown in).

Following "Route 101" you've got "Fandango", the song, which certainly fits in with this motif, yet more exemplifies the sound of Herb's solo career.

From there the album morphs into the more urban-sounding hits of "Rise", "Rotation", etc.

No, I'd have to say that if DEFINITIVE HITS has anything positive about it, it's the programming of the tracks.

Harry

 

[Captaindave]

IMO, it's for someone who wants to sample the Herb Alpert sound, but doesn't really want to go any further with Herb Alpert's long and diverse career or all the inner album tracks on all the TJB albums that were excellent songs in their own right, but aren't the ones that people "hummed along" with back when they were on Top 40 AM radio.

I'd be more inclined to call this album "Radio Hits". I don't think these songs are any "better" or more definitive songs than most of Herb's other songs over the years. They are just the ones that became "better known."

It's another attempt at a collection or compilation. I think when you have an artist as prolific and with the longevity of Herb Alpert, you will see a variety of compilations of this kind. This is just another one.

 

[Moritat]

Seems to me that the person who put this together was not a fan of the group. Looks like songs were chosen by a computer based on sales. No imagination or creativity in the choices. I don't like it.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Well it IS very likely that most of the songs were indeed chosen based on sales. It is called "HITS" after all. But, there are TJB chart hits that did not make the cut (see our list of TJB singles in the TJB area of this site), and solo songs that DID make the cut that were lesser singles than some of the TJB singles. This is meant as a brief overview of Herb's career high-points and in that it succeeds.

 

[audiofile]

This is perhaps the worst Alpert compilation ever.

If you're going to have Tijuana Taxi and Diamonds on the same album, you should put the songs in chronological order, which is the case for the most part. However, going from Casino Royale to Route 101, just doesn't sit well with me. There's a whole chunk out of Herb's career that's missing here, however inessential it may be according to some people.

This is where I disagree, and in the extreme. If anything, DEFINITIVE HITS is brilliantly ordered, making more sense than a compilation of Herb's career should.



No, I'd have to say that if DEFINITIVE HITS has anything positive about it, it's the programming of the tracks.

Harry

We'll just have to agree to disagree. I really don't have anything else to say about this other than I don't think this is a good representation of Herb's music from a musical standpoint. (not radio play, record sales, and chart positions...)

 

[Harry]

It's all subjective and we all have our likes and dislikes. That's what discussion forums are for.

Harry

 

[thetijuanataxi]

I think the animosity towards DH stemmed from the fact that when it was released, the market was already flooded with Herb Alpert/TJB compilations and no catalog titles. There were no new tracks on the disc that weren't previously available on CD, and TIJUANA TAXI had horrendous dropouts at the end of the song. I personally found this unacceptable since TT is my favorite TJB tune and since this CD was supposed to have superior mastering. I suspect that plans were already in the works for the Shout! reissues when this CD was being produced and so Herb may not have taken too much trouble to make it a crowd pleaser(in spite of its very respectable sales). Herb himself may have considered it like the last concert in "69. He was fulfilling his contract with Universal and moving on to his venture with Shout!. That being said, now that at least some of Herb's work is available on CD, I can be fair with this package. The only real problem I have with it is the dropouts on TT. They are horrible! Other than that, I think the album is just what it is meant to be: an initiation to Herb and the TJB. I agree that perhaps "Flamingo", "Mame" or "Carmen" would have been preferred over "Making Love in the Rain". But this is not meant to be an anthology. And I've seen anthologies that skipped certain songs that were well known hits for the artist. Bottom line: I have never seen a greatest hits, Melinneum edition, Definitive Hits, best of package that didn't leave off at least one song that I thought should be on it. So if you're expecting DH to cover everything significant that HA has done, you're gonna be disappointed. If you're one of us who are still upset that the rest of the catalog hasn't been released yet, you may not care for this disc. However, if You're looking at it as a sampling of the high points of Herb's career, it's a perfectly fine choice of material on a well mastered( TT excepted) CD.

David

 

[stosh]

Almost half of this CD was on "Classics Volume 1". So unless you're into later Herb, and not the Tijuana Brass, why buy it? I never bought it, and I'm happy with the Shout! releases.

 

[Harry]

I bought it as a fan and collector, and I was curious about the 20-bit tube remastering. Though plagued with a few wonky master tape dropouts, the disc actually sounds really nice. Some songs, like "Casino Royale" have never sounded better than they do here.

Harry

 

[martin]

I believe DH should be considered as a commercial release based on peoples memories of the TJB sound. It does not cater to the die hard fans, like us, but to the people that have a TJB album or two on vinyl or tape and would want to hear the sound again on their CD players.

- greetings from the cold north -
Martin

 

[toeknee4bz]

This is perhaps the worst Alpert compilation ever.

There's a whole chunk out of Herb's career that's missing here, however inessential it may be according to some people.

What do you expect? This is nothing more than an attempt by the Universal conglomerate to shrink Herb's 30-year A&M legacy down to one CD in the current catalog. It's been quoted time-and-time-again what Uni is all about: The bottom line. They couldn't give a rip less about Herb Alpert, or Jerry Moss for that matter.

When DEFINITIVE HITS doesn't bring in the required revenue in ten or fifteen years from now, the so-called "A&M" imprint will no longer show any loyalty to either one of the co-founders. Even now they're trying to say that A&M stands for "Artists & Music", instead of "Alpert & Moss". What are you going to do? It's now a different company, owned by different people, and [unfortunately] they can run it into the ground if they choose to do so.

Tony

 

[Mike Blakesley]

It's been quoted time-and-time-again what Uni is all about: The bottom line.

And some companies aren't?

Actually you're not really accurate in this assessment. Herb was involved with this release; wrote liner notes and selected and sequenced the tracks. The MILLENIUM series........that is strictly all about the money. Take note that there is no Herb Alpert MILLENIUM release in the catalog.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

As far as a greatest hits compilation goes, this is an adequate release. It covers the big hits while also including songs that barely made the Top 40 ("Tijuana Taxi", "Route 101") and those that weren't charted at all ("Lollipops & Roses"). As a die-hard fan I would prefer that something called "definitive" would actually be a multi-disc set. Still, these kind of compilations are for the casual fans and those that have the "Oh, I remember him" attitude. And as Steve mentioned, this was basically a contractual obligation kind of thing. But to call this the "worst" compilation ever is kind of bordering on ignorance as to what this CD was all about. But it is what it is and complaining about it won't change anything. I enjoyed Herb's comments on the tracks. But other than that I don't play this very much since I have the original albums/CDs, so this is basically for my collection.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[toeknee4bz]

It's been quoted time-and-time-again what Uni is all about: The bottom line.

And some companies aren't?
Actually you're not really accurate in this assessment. Herb was involved with this release; wrote liner notes and selected and sequenced the tracks. The MILLENIUM series........that is strictly all about the money. Take note that there is no Herb Alpert MILLENIUM release in the catalog.

A&M itself was not strictly "bottom line" conscious, or at least not in the early days. This is evident in the remarks of Karen Carpenter, taken from the Carpenters DVD entitled CLOSE TO YOU - REMEMBERING THE CARPENTERS: "When we finally did get into A&M Records, it took Herb Alpert, who signed us not because he thought it might sell, but [just]because he dug us." This was evident with many of the early A&M roster of artists.

Fast forward to 2001. Major lawsuit filed because Universal did not honor the sale contract of A&M Records to PolyGram (You can read all the details elsewhere). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened.

I surmise it this way: Alpert & Moss were simply being appeased by the court-ordered Universal settlement agreement. To smooth things over, they asked Herb's input, and DEFINITIVE HITS would be the result. True, this is merely my own personal theory, and has not been confirmed officially as fact. But I'd bet a dollar against a plug nickel that I'm not the only one who sees the whole debacle this way. Just read Rudy's final posting on the "Black Thursday" Page right here @ A&M Corner and you'll see what I mean.

For the record, I don't necessarily agree that DEFINITIVE HITS is the "worst" compilation ever. I also understand Captain Bacardi's analogy of this project being aimed at the casual listener, not the die-hard Herb Alpert fan. All I'm saying is that this compilation, for better or worse, was intended to replace all of Herb's previous releases in the current-day "A&M" catalog. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me by way of posting any other currently available Herb Alpert material from A&M. My guess is, you won't find any.

But thanks to Herb's agreement with Shout Factory, we now have the option of buying at least a good chunk of earlier material, even if it doesn't sell as many copies as DEFINITIVE HITS.

Tony

 

[audiofile]

Okay...what is the worst HA compilation then?

 

[toeknee4bz]

That dishonor would fall to the 1991 import release entitled (ironically) THE VERY BEST OF HERB ALPERT (A&M/PolyGram 397 165-2). It's only 15 tracks, as opposed to the 20 on DEFINITIVE HITS, and is a dismal effort to showcase his career.

It completely ignores several hits, including "Mexican Shuffle", "Whipped Cream" (Come on!) , "Lolipops And Roses", "So What's New?", "The Work Song", "Fandango", Route 101" (Hello???) and "Making Love In The Rain" (Like it or not, it was a pretty popular hit). To be fair, it does include a couple of songs which were minors, "Without Her" and "Jersusalem", but I'd trade these two for the previous eight major hits any day! (Even though I personally love "Jerusalem", let's not forget that this is a 'best' or 'definitive' hits compilation.)

You want to talk about bad segues? How's this?: VERY BEST OF HERB ALPERT, Track 10, "Jerusalem", is followed by Track 11, "Rise". Oh, wow. Now there's a really smooth transition! A PORTRAIT IN MUSIC was terrible about the track orders as well, but at least you got more than one disc worth of material! THE VERY BEST OF HERB ALPERT was, IMHO, the worst attempt at a compilation of Herb's 30 years on A&M.

Since you asked...

Tony

 

[Harry]

THE VERY BEST OF HERB ALPERT is particularly valuable as it includes shortened and alternate versions of some of the solo tracks that are unavailable on CD anywhere else.

Harry

 

[toeknee4bz]

THE VERY BEST OF HERB ALPERT is particularly valuable as it includes shortened and alternate versions of some of the solo tracks that are unavailable on CD anywhere else. Harry

True, but personally speaking, I never cared for 45 edits, even if they were what the radio actually played back in the day, and subsequently became the 'hits'. Once I had heard the full length album version, I felt somewhat cheated by the radio edit, and was actually inclined to turn the dial if I knew early on that it was a major surgery chop-job! I wanted to hear the entire song. I don't care if it is seven minutes long.

As for the alternate versions on VERY BEST OF, both are in edited form. The Cool Summer Mix of "Diamonds" (3:52, as opposed to the entire 5:53 version) as well as the Brighton Daze Remix of "Jump Street" (3:58 instead of 6:29) are teasers in my opinion. After all, the entire compilation was only 47:31. You mean to tell me that they ran out of room? Come on. I want my money's worth, and I'm pretty confident that everybody else does too. And if we're going to introduce 12" single mixes, let's go all the way. But that's a different compilation than what we have here... BTW, the Brighton Daze Extended Remix (as well as four additional mixes) of "Jump Street" was available on CD Single (75021 7542-2)

Suddenly, DEFINITIVE HITS doesn't seem so bad after all. At least you get all of the essential hits, and what you get are the entire songs.

Tony

 

[Harry]

Well there you go then. Something else that can make one appreciate the subject of this thread, DEFINITIVE HITS!



Harry