"The Brass Are Comin'" TV Special

AM Matt

Forum Undertaker
From October of 1969, the complete TV special of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass "The Brass Are Comin'" on NBC with special guest Petula Clark (with special appearances by the late James Stewart, the late Johnny Carson & the late Lorne Greene). I did like the segment when John Pisano did the guitar work on "Moon River" & then the orchestra came along. Not sure which song that Petula Clark sang on the show because it was new to me & I haven't heard of the song. Can't believe they used the Glen Glenn Sound laugh track (YEP, "Mr. What" known as "one" is heard) when Petula Clark talks to Herb & does "Singin' In The Rain" (with a brief appearance by the late Gene Kelly)!! I also like the segment of the song "Sunny" (with the words added). Somehow you don't see the NBC "snake logo" at the end of the broadcast!! The last 3 minutes is the 1991 movie "Basic Instinct" (with Michael Douglas & Sharon Stone) heard in audio only. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
Thanks for posting this. I don't think I've seen it since it first aired on TV.

I always wished the album version of "I'm an Old Cowhand" had the same trombone ending as the TV special did...it's a funny bit, although it would have lost a lot of its humor without the visuals.
 
I saw this on YouTube a few months ago for the first time and I totally enjoyed it and the last segment was where they played a medley of their songs and Herb sang " This Guy's in love with you" albeit briefly and after that they all walk away on the beach "into the sunset" so to speak it was a memorable finale to the first TJB era
 
Grusin's orchestra track for "You Are My Life" has always sounded to me like he cut it with the same people---and maybe at the same session---as the track for Sergio's version of "Pretty World".
 
It was great hearing "Good Morning Mr. Sunshine" again from this special-- fifty years later. What a beautiful melody. Herb has said that it's the melody that attracts him to a song. Quincy Jones has said that you can teach orchestration and harmony, but a good melody is a gift from the gods.
 
It was great hearing "Good Morning Mr. Sunshine" again from this special-- fifty years later.
"La Bikina" (its original name) is a Rubén Fuentes tune from 1964 that has been covered by many artists over the years. I think the following might be a re-release of the original version of the tune. Talk about a nearly direct copy by the TJB (which is a good thing--the original arrangement is special).



Mariachi Vargas De Tecalitlan* - La Nueva Dimension Del Mariachi Vargas De Tecalitlan

3202
 
"La Bikina" (its original name) is a Rubén Fuentes tune from 1964 that has been covered by many artists over the years. I think the following might be a re-release of the original version of the tune. Talk about a nearly direct copy by the TJB (which is a good thing--the original arrangement is special).



Mariachi Vargas De Tecalitlan* - La Nueva Dimension Del Mariachi Vargas De Tecalitlan

3202

This is definitely an exact Almost Identical arrangement Showing that in many cases Herb always tried to stay true to the original versions this was and still is one of my all time favorites and thanks for sharing the original version
 
I really like this song--my musical discovery of 2019, fifty years later, although I vaguely recall hearing it in '69. I am posting the TJB version of the song so you guys can compare the the two versions. Congrats Herb for your great arrangement staying true to the spirit of this wonderful Mexican song.

 
I remember being in the Mexican restaurant in Epcot at Disney World and hearing "Good Morning Mr. Sunshine" over the background music system. Not Herb's version, but I recognized the melody right away.
 
I heard it the same way several years ago--at a Mexican restaurant. I don't know if it's the same version I posted but it was very similar to the TJB version.

Esquivel did a version of it on one of his later albums, Actual (Mexico) aka The Genius of Esquivel (US/Canada).

 
The live segment at the end is the most enjoyable part of the special. I wonder if they "pre-coached" that girl who Herb sings "This Guy's In Love With You" to. A lot of girls would be absolutely freaking out if that happened to them at random. It's a really sweet moment in the show.
 
One of our members sent me a copy of this THE BRASS ARE COMIN' TV special a number of years ago. It looks as though it's from the same "master" as the one posted on YouTube. It's got that awful color-timing that makes everything look yellowish. The one I have looks like it's a generation or so down and through a VHS layer somewhere.
 
I always download these things when they show up--there's no telling when YouTube might take them down.
 
I should download it myself and run it through my video software...might be able to fix that color problem somewhat, not to mention maybe enhance the sound slightly.
 
I should download it myself and run it through my video software...might be able to fix that color problem somewhat, not to mention maybe enhance the sound slightly.
Although you might learn...you can't polish a turd. 😁
 
I thought about saying that but decided not to! :D

If I clean it up I might edit out the Petula Clark part, it goes on about 15 minutes too long.
 
The song "You Are My Life" reminds me of the late Perry Como!! Too bad that Perry did not record that song. Matt Clark Sanford, MI

I always thought that if "You Are My Life" had followed "This Guy's In Love With You" instead of "To Wait For Love" and "Without Her", Herb might have gotten two vocal hits in a row.

FYI, here's the original---which, in the US, was just an album cut on what was kind of a cult LP by Peter Starstedt, driven by the song "Where Do You Go To My Lovely":

 
Way, way back in the early days of this board, Peter Sarstedt logged in to see how he could contact Herb Alpert. I got the sense that he was looking for some past remuneration from the sales of his song on THE BRASS ARE COMIN' and on the single. We've not heard from him since.

The other day, I spotted a UK single of "You Are My Life" on Discogs, and noted that the b-side over there was "The Sea Is My Soil". There was no way to tell if the single was stereo or mono. Earlier singles from the UK had an AMS prefix and so did this one. I thought it might be a way to get a mono version of my all-time favorite, "The Sea Is My Soil". It arrived yesterday and it's stereo, nothing remarkable, and even "You Are My Life" is laden with CSG. Oh well. Live and learn.
 
Never seen this until now. How exciting!

For my money that two-minute BankAmericaCard commercial featuring the brass was the best thing on here! That was great -- particularly the low-grade unison vocals, which were a riot! Otherwise, the "live in studio" performance gives us a good glimpse of the group as it approaches its late '60 end. I thought the performance was wonderful. Although it's far too late in the game now, I just wish the powers-that-be would have given us a live TJB release from the day...
 
I remember in the 80s/early 90s, I had to go to Manhattan to the Museum of Broadcasting to see this special. Now, thanks to the magic of the internet, I can see this anytime! One note: I've always wondered that when Petula Clark was the guest on the special, was this appearance supposed to be a prelude to Petula getting signed to A&M Records? Just a query....
 
I remember in the 80s/early 90s, I had to go to Manhattan to the Museum of Broadcasting to see this special. Now, thanks to the magic of the internet, I can see this anytime! One note: I've always wondered that when Petula Clark was the guest on the special, was this appearance supposed to be a prelude to Petula getting signed to A&M Records? Just a query....
A really good question. I remember thinking it was odd that Herb was featuring a Warners artist as a guest.
 
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