Herb Alpert and A&M Masters

Nugent's morning show was quite a trip for me! I agreed with a lot of what he said, but even if I didn't, I really admired his spirit and conviction. That was the first station I listened to that turned me on to everything from Metallica and Ozzy to Johnny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. They narrowed the format down in their later era, but earlier on, they had a lot of variety.

Never listened to it much, but it had some of the most original programming in the area. Likewise, their sister station 89X was good back in the early 90's, but drifted into a formulaic "alternative" format like everyone else. They even went the uncensored route for a month...in Canada, they could get away with it.

Their "special" weekends and programs are great--I'll still tune in for those. I always try to listen to "The Paz" on Sunday evenings if I remember to. (Reminds me--I really want to get up to Memphis Smoke one of these days to catch his band.) But yes, if I hear "Brown Sugar" one more time in my life, it's still one time too many. (I even skip it on my HOT ROCKS SACD when it comes around. ) Even as repetitive as it is, I still like it better than that other new "classic rock that really rocks" station. (Heck they even stole that slogan from The Bear...how original! )

Sounds like we're no different than any other big city's radio programming...IMHO, given our choices, we're actually worse since there's not much variety anymore.

 

Which albums did you manage to acquire?

 

Good haul! Is the vinyl clean or cleanable?

 

Gotta love that "wall of sound" production on "South Of The Border". Make sure it's kicked up a few notches on the volume control! Going to do that now, in fact, with my vinyl copy...as I clean up from the hurricane of my two girls trashing the house.

 

Great mix, mono preferable but the stereo's pretty nice, also!

Even nicer is, with a little legwork the albums are still easy to find in good to mint condition, and for a song, they're so commonplace...the 45's are a bit tougher to find, though still inexpensive compared to other hits of that era, even the PS's don't go for as much as you'd think.


ED

 

I can see (or hear) why, too--to me it sounds like it was a little more simply recorded than the following albums. (Fewer overdubs maybe?) It is sonically my favorite TJB album, and out of all of them, I think it transfered the best to CD. That Gold Star echo on "Girl from Ipanema" is something, isn't it?? Whole thing begs to be played loud.

Too bad we can't convince Herb to reissue this one on LP...

 

Another vote here for that suggestion

 

I say, "box set" too.

 

My Dad got this one back in the real early 70's and it's been a favorite ever since, especially the track "Memories of Madrid". Yeah, a box set would be great. (Here's the site from where I got this picture: http://www.billbernardi.com/TJBAlbums.html)

 

Aaaaah, you have been to "The Captain's" site. (We call him Captain Bacardi for a FEW reasons... )

There are a few interesting notes about this album.

This album had enormous pre-sales--I believe it had the longest stay at #1, 9 weeks if I remember. Interesting about the title track. The version that was released was actually the demo. If you listen closely, the sound is not very good...I can hear some minor speed problem with Pisano's guitar near the beginning. They ended up using the demo because they couldn't recreate the same feel again.

I've also found that there are two stereo versions of this LP. There are some minor differences in the mix. However, "Brasilia" is missing a small trombone riff in the opening bars on one copy and not the other, and the song "Plucky" actually has a "strip tease" midsection on one version and not the other. I only discovered the "strip tease" version a few years ago (which is also on the CD version), which was a surprise having grown up with the other version.

 

The second Baja Marimba Band LP, Rides Again, sounds very similar. Probably another product of Gold Star (as many A&Ms were). It has a similar spacious sound to it, and is very "clean" sounding.

 

Interesting info, Rudy. I'll give What Now My Love (the track) a more critical headphone listen since you said it was the demo.

On another Herb note, I found the 1982 single, "Route 101" so TJB like, it's one of my all-time favorite singles. I really wish he would do more stuff like that.

 

"Route 101", and the entire Fandango album, is a good one. In a way it's TJB-like, but on another note, the TJB was more like the old bullfighting Mexico, where Fandango is more of a modern-day Mexico sound. Understandable why a lot of us consider it our favorite solo album! Find the vinyl if you can--you'd never find a CD on eBay for under $300. Seriously. (Last one closed over $400.)

The closest he's done to Fandango is the Passion Dance CD. It's still "Latin" but is actually more of a salsa recording. That one was on Almo Sounds.

 

And let's not forget my 'hybrid' version of WHAT NOW MY LOVE, a mixture of the two different mixes. Side One on mine sounds 'normal' to me (no striptease "Plucky"), but Side Two is the other version with the missing trombone in "Brasilia." Truly weird!

 

There must have been a quantity of those pressed. Probably small! Was it Steve who mentioned that Herb would mix separate masters for the east and west coasts? Could stampers have been mixed up? I wonder how new your pressing is...in other words, maybe a second run.

As usual, only guessing.

 

From this thread:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?threadid=8249

 

Regarding the song, "Whipped Cream", since getting the Herb Alpert Definitive Hits collection last year and playing it a lot, I've noticed the well-known track, "Whipped Cream" sounds like it borrows from some New Orleans jazz styles, not in the main melody but the other part (not sure musically-speaking what it would be called, counter-melody, break?) but I'm sure Herb fans know the part I speak of. (yeah, I know the subject is 35+ years behind but just an observation). Does anyone know or read liner notes from years ago about this track that mentioned any New Orleans Mardi Gras influence?

Pt. 2, I went over to All Music Guide and found this quote about the track: "uses Dixieland jazz on "Butterball," and goes to New Orleans for the Allen Toussaint-penned title track (familiar to viewers of TV's The Dating Game)."

 

Aaaah, the "food" album. My subject!

The title track was originally credited to a pseudonym, Naomi Neville. It was intended for Al Hirt, and he rejected it. Pressed on a single, the TJB's version sold 150,000 copies and hit the charts. Jerry Moss thought a food-themed album would be a good idea...which brought us some "Other Delights".

There's quite a mix of styles on the album...the title track definitely is New Orleans flavored, considering its roots! "Peanuts" is a pretty decent polka, actually!