Herb Alpert "The Lonely Bull"

After a lifetime of ignoring and being annoyed by Herb Alpert's "The Lonely Bull" album appearing all over the place, multiple copies in every thrift store, every bargain bin, every yard sale at any given time, I had no idea it was awesome until now. I'll buy the next one I find.

 

Welcome to the club. Herb is great.

 

I love all of Herb's output from the 60's into the 80's. Get his albums as you see them in thrift stores for cheap. You won't be sorry.

 

Not to mention how wickedly cool that baritone guitar is.

 

Great album, classic vibe of the times. Yeah yeah, a bunch of New Yorkers ... so what? I think everybody in the country had a copy of this album.

 

For the title track and "Acapulco 1922" you need the mono version. The cream colored original label mastered by Ami Hadani in mono sounds best. The 45 is OK and the Stereo LP as an alternative.

 

I agree! Like I wrote it myself.

 

But the tune itself is! I happen to prefer the stereo mix of The Ventures cover of it, off of The Ventures Play Telstar, but noteworthy covers include a 1964 version by The Shadows and this way cool recent version by The East Nashville Teens, which sort of combines The Ventures and The Shadows versions:

http://www.sundazed.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=2662

 

I guess I need the mono 7", then.

 

And, interestingly, Mel Taylor, who the following year became the permanent drummer
for the Ventures, was the drummer on the TJB version of "Lonely Bull" (although Hal
Blaine says he's not so sure).

 

What Steve pictured is the best sounding version you'll ever hear. And Ami Hadani mastered. That 45 is essential, the LP is not so much. Agree heavily from here to just go straight to "South Of The Border" onwards.

 

Funny story: my kitchen crew is all Hispanic. They play music in the morning and it's obviously all in Spanish. So I asked them if I could put on something they may like, it was Herb and the TJB. To my surprise, they liked it. I don't think they'll run out to the thrifts to pick up the remaining copies, but they asked me to put on some more when the playlist ended.

 

"The Lonely Bull" was recorded in Herb's garage, where he and Jerry Moss started "A&M Records". I totally agree that Herb's real magic, outside of the song "The Lonely Bull", started on the "South Of The Border" album. The rest of that first album and "Volume 2" are pretty lame.

I own the "creme colored" 45 of "The Lonely Bull", along with three copies of the "Lonely Bull" LP, one that is mono with the same creme colored label as the 45 that Steve showed, but it has the famous A&M trumpet logo on the label at 12 o'clock. The other two I own, one mono, one stereo, both on the famous ochre colored A&M label.

This is not my video, but it is the original creme colored 45 …

 

Count me in as well.

Huge Herb Fan, however I do not care for the first two releases with the exception of a few songs.

 

Love HAATTB, but don't own this album yet. It is on the list - thanks for the recommendation.

 

I've always felt that "El Presidente" was "The Lonely Bull" part two. It soars a little higher, in my opinion, as you can hear that they have arrived at "Gold Star" (Great Larry Levine engineering) and that Hal Blaine (the "trick" to any worthy TJB song), is clearly on the drums!

 

Always loved the song. I've felt that horns in Love's Alone Again Or... were inspired by it.

 

I remember my mother had almost all the albums and she rarely played the first two. There's a reason Whipped Cream is still discussed today, and it's not all about the cover photo. Just great song choices. Even the remix cd that came out a few years ago can't tarnish the essence of most of these performances.

 

Speaking of Herb's great recording engineer, Larry Levine …, who would have ever thought that there was an interview with Larry, the late Doug Fieger of "The Knack" and mastering guru Kevin Gray, talking about (of all things), one of my favorite old songs, "Wonderful Summer" by Robin (Jackie) Ward?

 

It sold some,but it didn't really take off until the Whipped Cream(fourth release)/Going Places(fifth) juggernaut propelled sales of the earlier three albums. Around here,LB shows up with the same frequency as Vol.2 & SOTB,with a slight nod of stereo over mono. Whipped Cream is always the most frequently found. I look upon WC &OD as the federal license that lets a vendor sell used vinyl.
Another way of purchasing is the Longines mail order five LP box which contain the tracks of the first four LPs in different order and selections from the first two Baja Marimba Band LPs on the fifth. If your looking for the Longines box, there are no outer markings for mono or stereo on the package,even on the spine. The monos have maroon labels and LW for the LP prefix while stereo copies have black labels with a LWS prefix,clearly stating "stereo". And don't pay a lot,no matter what ebay hucksters say. I've seen it for as little as fifty cents,since it gets tossed in the same section as Reader's Digest boxes,but five bucks would seem fair.

 

That "Whipped Cream" remix "Re-whipped" CD was the worst and I mean, the WORST!

 

I have been collecting original German pressings of TB at the thrift stores in NM condition...now I need to go though my extra CDN/USA copies.

sean

 

Herb is great - if you like those albums, tracking down this old thing might interest you - my family loves it.

http://tralfaz-archives.com/coverart/F/frivolous_sour.html