THE BRASS ARE COMIN' resequenced: Opinions? Thoughts?

Mike Blakesley

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As anyone who has bought it from iTunes knows, THE BRASS ARE COMIN' was resequenced on the iTunes version. This was touched on in the review thread for the album, but I think it might be a good discussion topic on its own, especially since things are a mite quiet lately.

The original lineup was:

The Brass Are Comin' (The Little Train of Caipira)
Good Morning Mr. Sunshine
Country Lake
I'll Be Back
Moon River
The Maltese Melody
Sunny
I'm An Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)
Anna
Robbers and Cops
Moments
You Are My Life

iTunes rejiggered the lineup significantly, thusly:

The Maltese Melody
Anna
Good Morning Mr. Sunshine
Country Lake
You Are My Life
Robbers and Cops
Sunny
Moments
I'll Be Back
Moon River
I'm An Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)
The Brass are Comin' (The Little Train of Caipira)

I can't exactly put my finger on why, but to me the iTunes lineup plays much better than the original. "Maltese" besides being a minor hit single, is also a much stronger "opening song" than the title tune. I also like that they moved "You Are My Life" away from the end - it's not a good closer like "This Guy's In Love With You" was. Also putting the very melancholy "I'll Be Back" in the side two area is a good idea.

I know some here would prefer the original album lineup. I think one reason the lineup change doesn't bother me too much is that I did most of my "back in the day" listening on this album on 8-track, which had yet another different sequence. So maybe I can hear this album in just about any order without it bugging me.

Any other opinions floating around on this? Any other TJB albums you think could use resequencing?
 
I resequenced the album to match the LP after downloading the iTunes version, so to be honest, I never listened to it in the re-jiggered track lineup.

Maybe, if I get some time, I'll try that sequence and see how it plays.

Harry
 
To my ears, Harry and Mike, what can I say...I've grown so used to it, that the original LP sequencing is it for me. Any scrambling thereof just wouldn't "compute." John's "Moments" just makes my heart melt as the album closes out..such a tender, sweet melody and arrangement. "You Are My Life" wraps it up with a touch of wistful optimism for the true love one yearns for, and has always left me a little sad, thinking it was the "final" track of the "final" real TJB album.

Best to all,
Michael
 
On the albums that I have listened to a lot for the last 40 years or so - SRO is a good example, I have the sequence memorized. A change would be noticeable to me, and maybe even a little annoying at first - until I got used to the new sequence.

On other albums that haven't had as much time in play, and TBAC would be one of them, I don't know the sequence and don't care.

As mentioned above, once an album is downloaded from iTunes and placed in a playlist, it can be rearranged in any way the listener desires.
 
I don’t listen to “The Brass Are Comin’” enough to have the track listing embedded into my brain, so I had to look to see what order I have the tracks in. And, I have my iTunes version CD-R sequenced in the same order as the original LP; and that’s fine with me.

That being said, I do like TBAC and I should listen to it more often. In fact, I’m listening to it right now!

All the best,
Mike
 
Living in the UK we can't download TBAC on itunes, but personally I don't like tracks to be re-sequenced - somehow it changes the character of the album and doesn't sound right - I'm a great believer in leaving things " stock ". If it aint broke it don't need mending !!!!! But that's just me folks. Have a nice day


Dave........
 
"You Are My Life" wraps it up with a touch of wistful optimism for the true love one yearns for, and has always left me a little sad, thinking it was the "final" track of the "final" real TJB album.
Which is kind of strange considering you can hardly hear the band on that track for all the orchestration!
 
Interesting question, Mike...but ultimately only of concern to us die-hard TJB connoisseurs. The song selection was hard-wired in my head as a kid from countless plays; however, as an adult, a rarely listen to the LP. As usual, I fully agree with Cap'n D. (I only purchased a couple of the songs off the i-net.)

Basically, it's a 1.5-star LP from a 5-star band. (The LP doesn't hold a weed to SRO.)

Now, that said, I agree that the i-tunes line up is a far better play -- for the reasons you indicated.
 
I don't really have an opinion on this matter because I don't tend to worry about song to song flow on albums as much as you guys seem to and also because I've never had the opportunity to hear this album at all other than the two tracks on Foursider from it and The Maltese Melody on Classics, Volume 1. Therefore, I think I'd take either order and not complain. They could put the tracks alphabetically or order them by length and I wouldn't care if they were released in a form that I could actually find and buy. I don't do internet purchases and I certainly don't do I-tunes because I wouldn't know how to do anything with them once I bought them.
 
Since TBAC is not on the Norwegian Itunes and I already own the CD version (from Japan), I have not yet checked out the re-sequenced version. But I suppose that this version is part of the Herb Alpert Signature series, even if only as a download, and that the re-sequencing has been done by Herb himself?

-greetings from the north -
Martin
 
The re -sequence really got me angry along with the fade in of The Brass are Comin. The way Nicky comes in on that first note was always a highlight for me.The title song not being first was just wrong. I put the songs back in the proper order when I made my CD from it tunes. I hold The Brass are Comin on haloed ground being the last official Tijuana Brass album.Don't mess with it.
 
Gotta have this in the order of the OG LP. I wouldn't wanna reschedule "The White Album" or "In A Silent Way" or any of my other faves either...
 
I disagree -- It's a weak, weak album. Herb was having major chop problems around this time. The band sounds so uninspired. No energy, no life. It was time for a break.
 
Title song has a wonderful melody & I don't think it is weak sounding at all.It is a pretty enegetic track. Sunny is also pretty energetic with Nick's cymbal work being the high point. I'm an old cow hand is grovin',i can't not stomp my foot along to the beat. Good morning Mr sunshine is just delightful. Moon river is a quirky gem, Anna is straight forward Tijuana Brass, Moments too... all other songs....they are not my favorites but I don't think Herb & the Brass ever produced a weak album.
 
rickster said:
I disagree -- It's a weak, weak album. Herb was having major chop problems around this time. The band sounds so uninspired. No energy, no life. It was time for a break.

Yes, I agree.

I did hear the TJB in concert in one of the last live performances they ever did. It was in Cleveland, Ohio, in late October, 1969.

If my memory is correct, there was a brief tour just after TBAC was recorded and the companion TV special aired.

Looking back many years now, I think that most people would say, and me included, that the sound of this final performance was still very good. Even on a so-called "bad day," this group was still able to play extremely well and sound very good. On a good day, they were nothing short of extraordinary.

However, when compared to the live performances I heard in August, 1968 - a little over a year earlier, it might be possible to say that there was somewhat less excitement and energy in the 1969 concert. More of a "going through the motions" type of program.

No question in my mind...a final slowing down was taking place - both in the studio and on the concert stage. But, IMO, I think it was more noticeable in the studio...
 
Though this conversation seems like a hundred years ago, I found it interesting as I've been revisiting THE BRASS ARE COMIN' a lot more lately now that I've been able to undo the Haeco-CSG processing, making it sound a lot better to my ears.

In the back of my mind, I recalled that when Shout! Factory issued the album digitally through iTunes, there was some kind of re-ordering of the tracks. And knowing me, I was sure that the first thing I would have done back then was to place the tunes in the LP order, which I did. Thus, I never even considered the iTunes order - nor even jotted it down anywhere, so thankfully Mike started this thread way back when with a comparison of the two orders.

So as I write this, I've made a playlist of the tunes without the CSG stuff and in the iTunes order and am listening to it. And I think maybe Mike was right, that the album plays pretty well in this order. But then I've never been as harsh a critic of the album as some are.
 
On the Shout Factory version of the "Rise" CD, to accommodate 2 versions of "Rotation" and "Aranjuez" it states on the back cover ----

THIS ALBUM HAS BEEN RESEQUENCED BY HERB ALPERT FOR THIS REISSUE. At least there was a reason.
 
I can't quite wrap my head around the resequencing--I grew up listening to the original album, so it would always seem "off" if I heard it any other way. I didn't play it often but had no issues with the record overall--it always had a happier vibe than the middle albums. Kind of ironic, too, that at the end of the TJB's run, they would finally do a full-on Mariachi tune ("La Bikina")--their version is very similar to a Mexican version I've heard elsewhere, including the strings. One of Mexico's signature tunes from the old days, if I'm not mistaken.

 
Yeah, when it comes to order, I've generally been near-OCD about things. But I've also come to accept that sometimes a little juggling of order is acceptable, and I think this is one of those cases. We never really found out why - or who - made the changes to the order of songs on THE BRASS ARE COMIN' when Shout Factory provided iTunes with audio files. We do know that Randy placed things back where they always were to mimic the LP - and that's fine.

I've also got the original LP order burned into my brain, so it's kind-of like a breath of fresh air to hear it in a different order. Now I suppose that could be true of many albums, but this was a case where there was an official release in this somewhat jumbled order. I can understand the RISE thing that was done to separate a main track from its bonus version.

And it's so easy these days to just re-order things in a playlist to get a sampling of how that order sounds.
 
I don't know if it was as true for the TJB albums, but many are sequenced by the producer and/or artist to maintain a certain flow through the album. And even in the CD era, some still sequenced the tracks in two parts, like an A-side and a B-side for an LP or cassette. (I'd heard that in a Rush documentary, of all places.)
 
It might even make sense to add the three or so country sounding tunes from Lost Treasures to round out the album...Tennessee Waltz, Raindrops and Flowers On the Wall.
 
I always felt Flowers on the Wall was from the What Now My Love sessions, but Tennessee Waltz would fit right in! It should’ve replaced Maltese Malody...😏
 
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