The Monday, Monday thread: Defend your favorite unappreciated TJB songs

[Rudy]

Since this thread is all about defending the unappreciated, I'll mention that I actually liked Volume 2 even more than I did the Lonely Bull album.

My sweet spot is Border - Whipped Cream - Going Places, but Vol 2 is close behind. Bull was good but had a lot of varied styles--a natural for a first album, I would think, and I'm thinking it was recorded at different times. Vol 2 at least has a cohesive sound throughout, and I'll still stand by "A-Me-Ri-Ca" as one of the best songs the TJB ever recorded.

 

[abstract_fan]

I must say I am enjoying the Volume 2 conversation (sorry I sort have changed the thread a little).
Sticking with the thread's title, I nominate the Tijuana Brass Christmas album's Las Mananitas as an an unappreciated song. Presumably with Shorty Roger's contribution, it developed beautifully from the earlier Baja Marimba and 45 RPM B-side versions.

PS Now seriously, can anyone say Volume 2 is his or her favorite?

 

[Harry]

I surely cannot say that. VOLUME 2 was the last TjB album that I added to my collection back around the time of maybe NINTH. I started with WHIPPED, LONELY BULL, and GOING PLACES, then got WHAT NOW and SOUTH for Christmas. Added SRO, SOUNDS LIKE, and NINTH as they came out, but VOLUME 2 came last.

I remember looking at the song titles that were listed on the innersleeves and it just didn't seem like there were any recognizable songs for me at the time.



Once I heard the album, it still wasn't a favorite. A couple of good songs, but overall it missed the more established sound of the latter albums. That didn't stop me from buying the CD that was out in the 80s, and I was happy to do so - for completeness.

 

[Aaron Bitman]

I remember looking at the song titles that were listed on the innersleeves and it just didn't seem like there were any recognizable songs for me at the time.

No? I remember hearing "America" from West Side Story on the radio when I was a child, although I don't recall ever having heard of West Side Story by name at the time. Also during my childhood, I remember hearing that song (from West Side Story, not the Herb Alpert version) was the leading answer in a poll asking foreigners "What's your favorite song about America?"

 

[Rudy]

I grew up having the first eight records on hand all the time (mono, among my parents' records), so they've always been a constant. Volume 2 was what I listened to when I got tired of other records in the house, same with any other record. I mainly liked it since it was a unique mood compared to the others.

 

[Harry]

No? I remember hearing "America" from West Side Story on the radio when I was a child, although I don't recall ever having heard of West Side Story by name at the time. Also during my childhood, I remember hearing that song (from West Side Story, not the Herb Alpert version) was the leading answer in a poll asking foreigners "What's your favorite song about America?"

What I meant was that the list of songs didn't include any known TJB songs that I might have heard on the radio

No hits = no hurry to buy.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I think Volume 2 is a good album, for what it is. You have to keep in mind the circumstances that led to it, to wit: It was a followup to "The Lonely Bull" single, because there were no other hit singles from the first album. So naturally it had a "doubled-down-on-the-Mexico-flavor" sound to it.

But that flavoring proved to not be the magical ingredient: It was the pop sound crystalized in the Gold Star studio, not the Mexican influence, that was the ticket to massive success.

I was looking at the Wikipedia entry for Volume 2 -- it mentions that some pressings of the album had a spoken intro by Herb on the "Great Manolete" song. Has anyone ever heard that? I thought the only spoken entry in Herb's catalog was the "Numero Cinco" one.

 

[Harry]

That's news to me. The only thing I hear is that the mono 45 has a half-second or so more of the crowd noise to start.

I'd bet that Wiki info is confused with "Numero Cinco."

 

[martin]

Volume 2 always confused me, because back in the day I only had access to the DG version with a much more recent photo of Herb and the TJB on the cover, than what would have been the case for such an early album. I actually think it has some quite nice moments, and it is a sweet childhood memory for me, because the very first Herb LP I got as a ten year old was the "America" LP where half of the songs are from Volume 2.

- greetings from the north -
Martin

 

[Harry]

This one, right?

 

[Rudy]

I was looking at the Wikipedia entry for Volume 2 -- it mentions that some pressings of the album had a spoken intro by Herb on the "Great Manolete" song. Has anyone ever heard that?

Being Wikipedia, I'd be suspect of the source of that information. One of us here would have discovered it by now. I've had both versions of the covers for Volume 2--the original, and the reissue cover with the large photo of Herb on the rear. Beyond that, and minor label differences (aka 12'o clock logo vs. 9 o'clock logo), if this were true, one of us would have heard it by now.

I was almost going to say a promo version could be a possibility, but why would they go to the expense of cutting another version of it? It's not like I'm going to ever hunt another copy down--I have all I need in life.