Two Of A Kind: TJB vs. BMB -- "Las Mananitas"

Which version is your favourite?

  • Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

    Votes: 4 40.0%
  • Baja Marimba Band

    Votes: 6 60.0%

  • Total voters
    10

JOv2

Well-Known Member
  • The Tijuana Brass and the Baja Marimba Band have at least eight recorded songs in common.
  • Vote for your favourite version and tell us a bit about why you made your selection. (The selections are listed in release order.


 
Shootout Victories To Date: TJB = 4; BMB = 1

The BMB needs to pull this and the last 2 shootouts to obtain a 4-4 series tie. There is a pathway to a BMB victory given the BMB can flip Spanish Flea (currently the TJB leads 6-5) combined with the fact that the last three shootouts do not involve TJB hits.
 
Again this was another tough one but I voted for Herb on this one only because his was the first version I ever heard when the Christmas album was first reissued in 1980 I didn't hear the BMB'S Until a couple years later on the foursider lp but they sounded almost identical to each other with a few slight exceptions as was mentioned elsewhere and knowing that Herb Played His trumpet on both versions is what makes it hard to decide which was best I love this tune and both version equally and I play this on the trumpet myselt just for fun. And I remember a TJB version of Las Mananitas was on side B of the Whipped Cream single without the chorus and chimes (equally as wonderful you could call that one an alternate mix)
 
Yeah, both are nearly the same recording. I think we decided years ago that the two were simply different takes from the same session. And yes, there's a simpler mix on the 45.
 
This one is more or less the same recording, or at least the same recording session. (Unlike today, the way things were recorded at Gold Star, doing a "remix" for the TJB version is out of the question. But overdubs against the same base track are possible--Gold Star had to "bounce" to another tape to make "A Taste of Honey," so that is certainly a possibility for this tune as well, seeing there are three versions out there.) I remember reading somewhere that Herb "borrowed" this from Baja. Especially back in those days, the TJB and Baja were more studio creations than touring outfits, so there's no secret that some of the same studio musicians appeared in both bands in the studio.
 
To this day I hear virtually no difference between the two versions. I've played them back to back so many times. For that reason, I'm with Harry in voting BMB!

--Mr Bill
 
Can there be a tie? I like both. The TJB sounds more polished, the BMB sounds more organic. I agree Herb stole it, because in our now-legendary Q&A with Julius that appeared right here on this very site, Julius confirms that Herb played trumpet on the song, and that he liked it so much that he "took it" for his own Christmas album.

Speaking of that Julius Q&A, does it still live anywhere on the net? I wouldn't mind reading it again.
 
Speaking of that Julius Q&A, does it still live anywhere on the net? I wouldn't mind reading it again.

I found it here:

 
And so it's easier to find, I've reposted it here on the Music Forum.

 
Harry, Thanks for bringing that "back to the front" so to speak. Hard to believe it's been 23 years since that visit.

--Mr Bill
 
Fixed... My work computer is set up to calculate time in "dog years" and I forget to reset it when visiting music and Lego forums...

--Mr. Bill (427 dog-years-old)
 
Reading the Q&A, Julius was such a gentlemen...I like the "you were our kind of guy" nod for buying BMB and TjB LPs back in the day. I recall always proudly stating on the playground that the TjB was my favourite and the kids would always reply, "my dad" or "my mom likes that kind of music". In fact, it was not until about 11th grade that "discovered" the likes of the Beatles, the Byrds, and Simon & Garfunkel, and began to fully embraced the progressive '60s music -- of course by this time it was nearly 1980! Unlike the TjB, with whom I had a long dry spell (1985-2000), I always played BMB music.
 
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