Your favorite TJB "album closing" track

[Mike Blakesley]

I don't think we've ever discussed this before. Which Tijuana Brass "album closer" is your favorite? The one that makes you just want to start the whole album over again?

Actualy with a little skillful sequencing, this wouldn't be a bad compilation!

Anyway, fire away with your thoughts.

 

[Captaindave]

Wow, this is a very hard question...

Probably SRO - Flamingo.

But there are several others that are a toss up.

 

[Harry]

Wow. Tough choice.

I like so many of those. In the "hit" category, there's "Zorba The Greek", "Flamingo", "Casino Royale", "Carmen", and "This Guy's In Love With You".

Among the crowd-pleaser and b-side tracks you've got "Lollipops And Roses", "A Quiet Tear", "Sandbox", and "Strike Up The Band".

And then there's the vocal tracks that concluded several later albums, "You Are My Life" and "I Belong".

I guess if I had to pick one, I'd pick "Casino Royale", but I hate to ignore some of the others.

Harry

 

[Steven J. Gross]

Tough One, love 'em all, but I'll say..."Flamingo".

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I would think that the Lost Treasures CD should also be a part of the list, with "Whistlestar" as a candidate. It's a TJB album - or maybe 2 albums timewise.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[cubsfan Joe]

From "What Now My Love" I like The Shadow of Your Smile. A nice easy melody with a bit of a "power" ending. It leaves you wanting more!!

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Captain -- I don't know what's wrong with me!! Of course LT should be included. I will add it to the list forth-with.

 

[DAN BOLTON]

Well, they're all excellent choices to close their particular albums with. Herb has always had a keen perspective of the overall mood he created with each album. I think the most dramatic closing song would have to be ADIOS MI CORAZON. SOTB has always been one of the most pensive and romantic albums the TJB ever did, each song plays off of the others in the set so well that it's almost impossible for me to listen to the album without playing the whole thing. I even listen to HELLO, DOLLY...and as the refrain of AMC fades out, it's like I've been involved in a vacation romance that has to end, but I'll always feel nostalgic for the girl. May seem kinda sad, but that's the way my life seems to work, and it is a powerful image.



Dan

 

[Captaindave]

What Now My Love - The Shadow of Your Smile runs a close second place.

There is something "haunting" about the sound of that song, especially as an album closer.

For me, it does something to capture the general mood of the times. I have always associated The Shadow of Your Smile as sort of a "sound of the 1960s."

 

[audiofile]

Most of the "ending tunes" from the TJB albums are no where near my favorites. Never cared all that much for Flamingo. Always thought of it as sort of the dud of SRO. Same thing for Casino Royale and Sounds Like. After hearing the brass on Wade In the Water, Treasure, Bo-Bo, Got A lot of Livin.. Casino Royale just doesn't cut it for me.

Whipped Cream ends on a high note. I really have to be in the right mood for Zorba. Sandbox is a great ender. The Shadow of Your Smile is really great. Gotta love the trombone lead with sprinkled 12 string guitar solo at the end.

 

[Mr Bill]

An even more fun topic may be the transition tracks between side 1 and side 2 of a given album. Sequencing or programming the tracks was an important part of the production in the days before CDs. Artists and Producers wanted go out big on side 1 to make the listener want to go ahead and play side 2...

--Mr Bill

 

[cubsfan Joe]

"A Quiet Tear" is also a good ending tune. On my list it would be The Shadow of Your Smile then A Quiet Tear....both "haunting" tunes.

 

[toeknee4bz]

"Strike Up The Band" from SUMMERTIME. It's just a really fun song.


Tony

 

[lj]

A lot of great songs here. But I'll choose Zorba the Great. What an incredibly exciting song and arrangement--my favorite TJB song of them all.
This song will live on long after we are gone, as Herb's opening trumpet notes are heard every summer through the public address systems of countless baseball ballparks with the fans always clapping in cadence.

 

[LPJim]

This list includes many of my personal faves, but "Adios Mi Corizon" is the most appropriate end tune IMHO.

JB

 

[Mr Bill]

Another bizarrely placed A&M closer was "No More Songs." It was the last track on Phil Ochs' final LP of original material, the tongue-in-cheekly titled Greatest Hits LP. Eerily prescient of Mr. Ochs to place this track as the final song of his final LP. A self-fulfilling prophesy, perhaps? Irony to a certain extent, indeed!

--Mr Bill

 

[rickster]

"Flamingo"--- hands down ---- what a closer----

 

[4haverstocks]

Whistlestar... great tune, full of energy. Does anybody know why a tune of this quality was not released earlier?

Second choice... Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, which leaves the listener in just the right mood, bringing into focus the real meaning of Christmas in a quiet and moving way. Reminds me of the part of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special where Linus explains the meaning of Christmas.

BTW, if you're interested in tunes that would have made a good closer, but weren't closers, I'd suggest I'm Getting Sentimental Over You.

Dan

 

[Stephen Vakil]

Song For Herb is my choice.

Stephen

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

Whistlestar... great tune, full of energy. Does anybody know why a tune of this quality was not released earlier?
Dan

Contrary to the liner notes in LOST TREASURES, it was released in 1975 - as a single (1762-S) Whistle Song b/w Carmine.

 

[abstract_fan]

The sub-title of Lost Treasures - i.e., Rare and Unreleased I always found curious. None of the tracks, in the LT versions, were released, so why are they rare? Who are they rare to? They were never heard by the public.

But anyway, it's easier to pick the worst ending tune: Milord. The rest are awesome.

 

[honda05]

My heart tells me Shadow of Your Smile. It reminds me of my precious soul mate wife who went to be with God this past December 18th. Nearly crying just replying to this.

 

[Dave]

None of 'em...!!!!!! --If there's anything that makes me sad, it's the "closing of a TjB album"...!

Really, I think "Sandbox" on Warm is right on the money...! (& it makes me wanna play it over again...!)



Dave

 

[jazzdre]

Wow, honda, that really touched me.My condolences to you and the rest of your family on the passing of your wife.Just know that she's resting peacefully in God's arms. Just like you, Herb's version of THE SHADOW OF YOUR SMILE has always been one of my favorite TJB closers.It has a haunting,bittersweet beauty not often found on Herb's other ballads. Also, much credit must be given to Bob Edmondson who does a beautiful trombone solo on the tune.Also complimenting the arrangement is the harpsichord keyboard played by Lou Pagani(?),or Leon Russell(?).Whoever played,it still sounds beautiful.

I also like SANDBOX from WARM, and also WHISTLESTAR from LOST TREASURES,and JESU,JOY OF MAN'S DESIRING from the Christmas Album, all of them for all different types of reasons.However, though SHADOW really is my all time favorite TJB album ending song for the reasons that I mentioned above.

Again, honda, my sincerest condolences to you and your family.
God Bless,
jazzdre

 

[AM Matt]

"Sandbox" from "WARM"!! Matt Clark Sanford, MI