It's 1966 and you're Herb Alpert. Who else would you sign to A&M?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by action pact, Apr 9, 2020.

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  1. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore Thread Starter

    [​IMG]

    A&M Records in the 1960s had a very distinctive and appealing house sound, centered around presenting a sort of hip, sophisticated pop music aimed at folks just a little too old for rock'n'roll, infused with a distinctively Southern California coolness.

    It's 1966, and you're Herb Alpert. You've already signed Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, Chris Montez, Wes Montgomery, the Baja Marimba Band, etc., and Phil Ochs is about to come on board. Who else do you have your eyes on for the label, and feel would fit in well with the label's established character?

    My choices:

    Van Dyke Parks
    Steve & Eydie
    Nancy Sinatra
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2020
  2. YardByrd

    YardByrd rock n roll citizen in a hip hop world

    Location:
    Europe
    Jake Holmes

     
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  3. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore Thread Starter

    I can imagine how great it could have been if A&M had signed Gene Clark right after he left the Byrds!

     
  4. mbrownp1

    mbrownp1 Forum Resident

    Burt Bacharach
     
  5. geo50000

    geo50000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canon City, CO.
    I think Bob Lind would've been a good fit, and he'd probably have a few more Top 40 hits with better promotion at A&M.
     
  6. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    They did!

     
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  7. YardByrd

    YardByrd rock n roll citizen in a hip hop world

    Location:
    Europe
    The one artist nobody figured out how to produce properly in the '60s except for a handful of songs (a broken clock is right twice a day example): Judy Henske
     
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  8. kunstwork

    kunstwork Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I think the Association were still signed to Valiant at that point--they would have done well on A&M
     
  9. drift

    drift Forum Resident

    Location:
    Peoria, IL
    I'd try to snap up Chip Taylor and Mickey Newbury.
     
  10. Spaghettiows

    Spaghettiows Forum Resident

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    Silver Creek, NY
    The 13th Floor Elevators
     
  11. geo50000

    geo50000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canon City, CO.
    :laugh:That's not so far-fetched...A&M actually had these acid-fried weirdos, the Magic Mushrooms:
     
  12. willy

    willy hooga hagga hooga

    :agree: :agree:
     
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  13. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Buffalo Springfield
    Moby Grape
    The Velvet Underground
     
  14. tmoore

    tmoore Forum Resident

    Location:
    Olney, MD
    Bacharach did actually wind up on A&M as well, he had at least one album released on that label, I think no later than 1967 or 1968.
     
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  15. little too old for rock and roll...

    so I'll go with Scott Walker, we'll do some bent sunshine pop

    Timi Yuro, she's got the pipes we'll position her for soul

    Roy Orbison, arguably the first art rocker, he's got the Voice; we'll go big grand and weird with a balance of spare and powerful

    Terry Riley, we'll give him a studio as a lab, let's see what he does
     
  16. Tom Perry

    Tom Perry Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    The 5th Dimension
     
  17. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore Thread Starter

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Yeah, but that was a few years later, after A&M started really going after the youth market, and doesn't really fit in with the classic A&M sound.

    I presented his 1967 recording of "The French Girl" because its baroque-pop sound would have been a natural fit for A&M.

    Oh, heck yeah!

    Those could have been interesting, although the records by A&M artists based outside of Los Angeles were not quite as A&M-ish, if you know what I mean.
     
  18. ShockControl

    ShockControl Bon Vivant and Raconteur!

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    Lotus Land
    When he had Bacharach, Claudine Longet, and Brasil '66, he could have stopped right there, as far as I am concerned.
     
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  19. tmoore

    tmoore Forum Resident

    Location:
    Olney, MD
    The one Bacharach LP that I can see in the earlier post (Make It Easy On Yourself) is not the Bacharach A&M LP I'm thinking of --- the one I'm thinking of has a mostly white cover, and is earlier than what you posted.

    Looking around on web -- I'm thinking of Reach Out, which is from 1967.

    I see there is another image posted above there which I cannot see, if that is Reach Out, I apologize.
     
  20. tmoore

    tmoore Forum Resident

    Location:
    Olney, MD
    Disagree with you there. as Fairport Convention was there before the end of the '60s.
     
  21. ShockControl

    ShockControl Bon Vivant and Raconteur!

    Location:
    Lotus Land
    I prefer the label when it had a consistent philosophy. That went to hell when he started signing acts that did not have a decadent, international jet-set aesthetic. Nothing wrong with those other acts, per se, but they did not belong on A&M, imo.
     
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  22. geo50000

    geo50000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canon City, CO.
    "Takes Off", Signe-era Jefferson Airplane...sort of a scruffier We Five with better lead guitar.
     
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  23. Tommyboy

    Tommyboy Senior Member

    Location:
    New York
    Beatles

    :hide:

    Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
     
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  24. willy

    willy hooga hagga hooga

    Jackie De Shannon
    Harpers Bizarre
    Daughters of Albion
    BJ Thomas
    Sagittarius
    Mason Williams
     
  25. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    It might have been interesting to see what Harry Nilsson would have done at A&M, rather than him signing that far too long of a contract at RCA. Herb & Jerry Moss, might have given him a better focus, especially being around the likes of Paul Williams and Roger Nichols, in just a few years.
     
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