Herb Alpert
Encyclopedia
Herbert "Herb" Alpert is an American
musician
most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records
(a recording label
he and business partner
Jerry Moss
founded and eventually sold to Polygram). The multi-talented Alpert has also created abstract expressionist paintings and sculpture over two decades, which are on occasion publicly exhibited; and he and his wife are substantial U.S. philanthropists through the operation of the Herb Alpert Foundation.
Alpert's musical accomplishments include five number one hits, twenty-eight albums on the Billboard charts
, eight Grammy Awards, fourteen Platinum albums
and fifteen Gold albums
. As of 1996, Alpert had sold 72 million albums worldwide. Alpert is the only recording artist to hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
pop chart as both an instrumentalist ("Rise", 1979) and vocalist (" This Guy's in Love With You", 1968).
He is married to recording artist Lani Hall
(1974–present) and was previously married to Sharon Mae Lubin (1956–1971) (divorced). He has one daughter with Hall, actress Aria Alpert, plus two children, daughter Eden and son Dore, from his first marriage.
, into a Jewish family of Russia
n and Romania
n origins. His father Louis was from Radomyshl
(present-day Ukraine
) and although a tailor by trade, was also a talented mandolin
player. His mother, Tillie, had her roots in Romania
on her father's side; she herself taught violin
at a young age. His older brother David was a talented young drummer
. Alpert himself began trumpet
lessons at the age of eight and played at dances as a teenager. Acquiring an early wire recorder in high school, he experimented on this crude equipment. After graduating from Fairfax High School in 1952, he joined the U.S. Army
and frequently performed at military ceremonies. After his service in the Army, Alpert tried his hand at acting
, but eventually settled on pursuing a career in music
. While attending the University of Southern California
in the 1950s, he was a member of the USC Trojan Marching Band
for two years. In 1956, he appeared in the uncredited role "Drummer on Mt. Sinai" in the film "Ten Commandments". In 1962, he had an uncredited part in a scene in "Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
" where he played (and performed a solo) in a dance band.
In 1957, Alpert teamed up with Rob Weerts, another burgeoning lyricist, as a songwriter for Keen Records. A number of songs written or co-written by Alpert during the following two years became top twenty hits, including "Baby Talk" by Jan and Dean
, "Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke
, and "Alley-Oop" by The Hollywood Argyles and by Dante and The Evergreens. In 1960, Alpert began his recording career as a vocalist at RCA Records
under the name of Dore Alpert.
"Tell It to the Birds" was recorded as the first release on the Alpert & Moss label Carnival Records
. When Alpert and Moss found that there was prior usage of the Carnival name, their label became A&M Records.
in his garage and had been overdubbing
a tune called "Twinkle Star", written by Sol Lake, who would eventually write many of the Brass's original tunes. During a visit to Tijuana
, Mexico
, Alpert happened to hear a mariachi band while attending a bullfight
. Following the experience, Alpert recalled that he was inspired to find a way to express musically what he felt while watching the wild responses of the crowd, and hearing the brass musicians introducing each new event with rousing fanfare. Alpert adapted the trumpet style to the tune, mixed
in crowd cheers and other noises for ambience, and renamed the song "The Lonely Bull
". He personally funded the production of the record as a single, and it spread through radio DJs until it caught on and became a Top Ten hit in 1962. He followed up quickly with his debut album
, The Lonely Bull by "Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass". Originally the Tijuana Brass was just Alpert overdubbing his own trumpet, slightly out of sync. The title cut reached #6 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart. This was A&M
's first album (the original number was 101), although it was recorded at Conway Records.
By the end of 1964, because of a growing demand for live appearances by the Tijuana Brass, Alpert audition
ed and hired a team of crack session men. No one in Alpert's band was actually Hispanic
. Alpert used to tell his audiences that his group consisted of "Four lasagna
s, two bagel
s, and an American cheese
": John Pisano
(electric guitar
); Lou Pagani (piano
); Nick Ceroli
(drums
); Pat Senatore (bass guitar
); Tonni Kalash (trumpet); Herb Alpert (trumpet and vocal); Bob Edmondson (trombone
). The band debuted in 1965 and became one of the highest-paid acts then performing, having put together a complete revue
that included choreographed moves and comic routines written by Bill ("Jose Jimenez") Dana.
The Tijuana Brass's success helped spawn other Latin
acts, notably Julius Wechter
(long-time friend of Alpert's and the marimba
player for the Brass) and the Baja Marimba Band
, and the profits allowed A&M
to begin building a repertoire of artists like Chris Montez
and The Sandpipers
. Wechter would contribute a number of the Brass' original songs, usually at least one per album, along with those of other Alpert friends, Sol Lake and Ervan "Bud" Coleman
.
An album or two would be released each year throughout the 1960s. Alpert's band was featured in several TV specials, each one usually centered on visual interpretations of the songs from their latest album - essentially an early type of music videos later made famous by MTV
. The first Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass special, sponsored by the Singer Sewing Machine Company, aired on April 24, 1967 on CBS
.
Alpert's style achieved enormous popularity with the national exposure The Clark Gum Company
gave to one of his recordings in 1964, a Sol Lake number titled "The Mexican Shuffle" (which was retitled "The Teaberry Shuffle
" for the television
ads). In 1965, Alpert released two albums, Whipped Cream (and Other Delights)
and Going Places. Whipped Cream sold over 6 million copies in the United States
. The album cover featured model Dolores Erickson
wearing only what appeared to be whipped cream. In reality, Erickson was wearing a white blanket over which were scattered artfully-placed daubs of shaving cream—real whipped cream would have melted under the heat of the studio lights (although the cream on her head was real). In concert
s, when about to play the song, Alpert would tell the audience, "Sorry, we can't play the cover for you." The art was parodied by several groups including one-time A&M
band Soul Asylum
and by comedian Pat Cooper
for his album Spaghetti Sauce and Other Delights. The singles included the title cut, "Lollipops and Roses
", and "A Taste of Honey
." The latter won a Grammy Award
for Record of the Year. Going Places produced four more singles: "Tijuana Taxi", "Spanish Flea
", "Third Man Theme", and "Zorba the Greek". "Tijuana Taxi" and "Spanish Flea" would be used in the 1966 Academy Award-winning animated short A Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature.
The Brass covered the Bert Kaempfert
tune "Happy Trumpeter" retitling it "Magic Trumpet". Alpert's rendition contained a bar that coincided with a Schlitz beer tune, "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer". ("The Maltese Melody" was another Alpert cover of a Kaempfert original). Another commercial use was a tune called "El Garbanzo", which was featured in Sunoco
ads ("They're movin', they're movin', people in the know, they're movin' to Sunoco").
In 1967, the Tijuana Brass did the title cut to the first movie version of Casino Royale
.
Many of the tracks from Whipped Cream and Going Places received a great deal of airplay
; they are frequently used as incidental music
in The Dating Game
on the Game Show Network
, notably the tracks Whipped Cream, Spanish Flea and Lollipops and Roses. Despite the popularity of his singles, Alpert's albums outsold and outperformed them on the charts
.
Alpert and the Tijuana Brass won six Grammy awards. Fifteen of their albums won gold discs, and fourteen won platinum discs. In 1966 over 13 million Alpert recordings were sold, outselling the Beatles. That same year, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized that Alpert set a new record by placing five albums simultaneously in the top 20 on the Billboard Pop Album Chart
, an accomplishment that has never been repeated. In April of that year, four of those albums were in the Top 10 simultaneously.
Alpert's only number one single during this period (and the first #1 hit for his A&M label) was a solo effort: "This Guy's in Love with You
" (written by Burt Bacharach
and Hal David
), featuring a rare vocal. Alpert sang this to his first wife in a 1968 CBS Television special titled Beat of the Brass. The sequence was filmed on the beach
in Malibu. The song was not intended to be released, but after it was used in the television
special, allegedly thousands of telephone
calls to CBS asking about it convinced Alpert to release it as a single, two days after the show aired. Although Alpert's vocal skills and range were limited, the song's unchallenging technical demands suited him. The single debuted in May 1968, topped the national chart for four weeks and ranked among the year's biggest hits. Initially regarded by the critical cognoscenti and 'hip' music-lovers of the day as strictly an easy-listening chart hit, Alpert's unusually expressive recording of "This Guy's in Love with You" now enjoys appeal well beyond the so-called mainstream. In 1996 at London's Royal Festival Hall
, Noel Gallagher
(of British rock band Oasis
) performed the song with Burt Bacharach
. Former Beatle George Harrison
has stated that this was one of his favorite recordings.
athletes at the Los Angeles Summer Games
. The invitation led to the Bullish album and tour.
In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Alpert enjoyed a successful solo
career
. He had his biggest instrumental
hit, "Rise" (from the album of the same name), which went number one in October 1979 and won a Grammy Award
, and was later sampled
in the number one 1997 rap
song "Hypnotize
" by the late rapper Notorious B.I.G. Both "Rise" and "Hypnotize" were written by Alpert's nephew, Randy Badazz Alpert and his friend Andy Armer. "Rise" made Alpert the only artist ever to hit #1 on the Billboard pop singles chart
s with both a vocal piece and an instrumental
piece. Another Randy Badazz / Andy Armer song, "Rotation", hit #30 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart. The song "Route 101" off the Fandango album peaked at number 37 in Billboard in August 1982. In 1987, Alpert branched out successfully to the R&B
world with the hit album Keep Your Eye On Me, teaming up with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
on "Diamonds" and "Making Love In the Rain" featuring vocals by Janet Jackson
and Lisa Keith
.
Alpert performed the Star-Spangled Banner prior to Super Bowl XXII
in San Diego
in January 1988. It was the last non-vocal rendition of the national anthem at the Super Bowl to date.
From 1962 through 1992 Alpert signed
artists to A&M Records
and produced records
. He discovered the West Coast band We Five
. Among the notable artists he worked with personally are Chris Montez, The Carpenters
, Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66
, Bill Medley
, Lani Hall
(Alpert's second and current wife), Liza Minnelli and Janet Jackson (featured vocalist on his 1987 hit single
"Diamonds"). These working relationships allowed Alpert to place singles in the Top 10 in three different decades (1960s, 1970s, and 1980s).
Alpert and A&M Records partner
Jerry Moss both agreed in 1987 to sell A&M to PolyGram Records for a reported $500 million. Both would continue to manage the label until 1993, when they left due to frustrations with PolyGram's constant pressure to force the label to fit into its corporate culture. Alpert and Moss then expanded their Almo Sounds
music publishing company to produce records as well, primarily as a vehicle for Alpert's music. Almo Sounds imitates the former company culture embraced by Alpert and Moss when they first started A&M.
in 1997 for their lifetime achievements in the recording industry as executives and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.
For his contribution to the recording industry, Alpert has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6929 Hollywood Blvd. Moss also has a star on the Walk of Fame. Alpert and Moss were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
on March 13, 2006 as non-performer lifetime achievers for their work at A&M.
Alpert was referenced in the second show of the third season of Get Smart
where one of the code signals between Maxwell Smart and his contact was "Herb Alpert takes trumpet lessons from Guy Lombardo
." Also, a fifth-season episode parodied the entire group as Max and 99 sought to unmask "Herb Talbot and His Tijuana Tin" as KAOS spies.
On 17 September 2010 the TV documentary “Legends: Herb Alpert – Tijuana Brass and Other Delights” premiered on BBC 4.
producer, with his production of Tony Kushner
's Angels in America
winning a Tony award
.
In the 1980s Alpert created The Herb Alpert Foundation and the Alpert Awards in the Arts
with The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). The Foundation
supports youth and arts education as well as environmental issues and helps fund the PBS series Bill Moyers on Faith and Reason. Alpert and his wife donated $30 million to University of California, Los Angeles
in 2007 to form and endow the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as part of the restructured UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
. He gave $24 million, which included $15 million from April 2008, to CalArts for its music curricula, and provided funding for the culture jamming
activists Yesmen
.
He is actively overseeing the reissue of his music library
. In 2000, Alpert acquired the rights to his music from Universal Music (current owners of A&M Records
) in a legal settlement and began remaster
ing his albums for compact disc
reissue. In 2005, Shout! Factory
began distributing digital
ly remastered versions of Alpert's A&M
output, including a new album, Lost Treasures, consisting of unreleased material from Alpert's Tijuana Brass years. In the spring of 2006, a remixed version of the Whipped Cream album, entitled Whipped Cream and Other Delights: Re-Whipped was released and climbed to #5 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart. Alpert's 80's catalog, which includes his two most successful solo albums, 1982's Fandango and 1987's Keep Your Eye on Me
, are still unavailable on CD. He continues to be a guest artist for artists including Gato Barbieri
, Rita Coolidge
, Jim Brickman
, Brian Culbertson
, and David Lanz
. Apart from the reissues, the Christmas Album continues to be available every year during the holiday season. On Sérgio Mendes
' 2008 album Encanto
, Alpert performed trumpet solos backing lead vocals by his wife on the song "Dreamer
". It marked the first time Alpert, Mendes and Hall had all performed together on the same song. Most recently, Alpert and his wife (Lani Hall
) signed with Concord Records
and released a new (live) album in the summer of 2009, Anything Goes, which was Alpert's first release of new material since 1999's Herb Alpert and Colors. A new studio album by Alpert and Hall, I Feel You, was released in February 2011. Both albums feature tight jazz renditions of pop classics along with a handful of original compositions.
While Alpert continues to play trumpet, he also devotes time to his second career as an abstract expressionist
painter
and sculptor with group and solo exhibitions around the United States
and Europe
. The sculpture exhibition “Herb Alpert: Black Totems”, on display at ACE Gallery
, Beverly Hills, February through September 2010, brought major media attention to his visual work.
and Eddie Del Barrio, "Carmine", "You Smile-The Song Begins", "Make a Wish", "Love Without Words", "Until We Meet Again", "Our Song", "Cat Man Do", "Life Is My Song", "North On South St.", "Rocket to The Moon", and "Stormy Sunday".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
(a recording label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
he and business partner
Partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
Jerry Moss
Jerry Moss
Jerome S. "Jerry" Moss is an American recording executive, best known for being the co-founder of A&M Records, along with trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert....
founded and eventually sold to Polygram). The multi-talented Alpert has also created abstract expressionist paintings and sculpture over two decades, which are on occasion publicly exhibited; and he and his wife are substantial U.S. philanthropists through the operation of the Herb Alpert Foundation.
Alpert's musical accomplishments include five number one hits, twenty-eight albums on the Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
, eight Grammy Awards, fourteen Platinum albums
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
and fifteen Gold albums
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. As of 1996, Alpert had sold 72 million albums worldwide. Alpert is the only recording artist to hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
pop chart as both an instrumentalist ("Rise", 1979) and vocalist (" This Guy's in Love With You", 1968).
He is married to recording artist Lani Hall
Lani Hall
Lani Hall is an American singer and the wife of Herb Alpert.-Music career:Her first public appearances occurred in Old Town Chicago in early 1966. At one of those performances, she was heard by Brazilian Bossa Nova pianist/bandleader Sérgio Mendes, who happened to be on tour in Chicago...
(1974–present) and was previously married to Sharon Mae Lubin (1956–1971) (divorced). He has one daughter with Hall, actress Aria Alpert, plus two children, daughter Eden and son Dore, from his first marriage.
Early life and career
Alpert was born in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, into a Jewish family of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n origins. His father Louis was from Radomyshl
Radomyshl
Radomyshl is a historic city in the Zhytomyr Oblast of northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Radomyshl Raion , and is located on the left bank of Teteriv River, a right tributary of Dnieper River....
(present-day Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) and although a tailor by trade, was also a talented mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
player. His mother, Tillie, had her roots in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
on her father's side; she herself taught violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
at a young age. His older brother David was a talented young drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
. Alpert himself began trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
lessons at the age of eight and played at dances as a teenager. Acquiring an early wire recorder in high school, he experimented on this crude equipment. After graduating from Fairfax High School in 1952, he joined the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and frequently performed at military ceremonies. After his service in the Army, Alpert tried his hand at acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
, but eventually settled on pursuing a career in music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. While attending the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in the 1950s, he was a member of the USC Trojan Marching Band
Spirit of Troy
The Spirit of Troy, also known as the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band , self-described as "The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe," represents USC at various collegiate sports, broadcast, popular music recording, and national public appearance functions.The...
for two years. In 1956, he appeared in the uncredited role "Drummer on Mt. Sinai" in the film "Ten Commandments". In 1962, he had an uncredited part in a scene in "Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation is a 1962 American comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara. The film is based on a novel by Edward Streeter and features a popular singer of the time, Fabian.- Plot :Mr...
" where he played (and performed a solo) in a dance band.
In 1957, Alpert teamed up with Rob Weerts, another burgeoning lyricist, as a songwriter for Keen Records. A number of songs written or co-written by Alpert during the following two years became top twenty hits, including "Baby Talk" by Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
, "Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
, and "Alley-Oop" by The Hollywood Argyles and by Dante and The Evergreens. In 1960, Alpert began his recording career as a vocalist at RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
under the name of Dore Alpert.
"Tell It to the Birds" was recorded as the first release on the Alpert & Moss label Carnival Records
Carnival Records
Carnival Records was a record label started in 1961 by Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert.They released two records, one which was distributed via Dot Records outside California. Dore Alpert was the name Herb used as a vocalist in those days...
. When Alpert and Moss found that there was prior usage of the Carnival name, their label became A&M Records.
The Tijuana Brass years
Alpert set up a small recording studioRecording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
in his garage and had been overdubbing
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
a tune called "Twinkle Star", written by Sol Lake, who would eventually write many of the Brass's original tunes. During a visit to Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Alpert happened to hear a mariachi band while attending a bullfight
Bullfighting
Bullfighting is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, southern France and some Latin American countries , in which one or more bulls are baited in a bullring for sport and entertainment...
. Following the experience, Alpert recalled that he was inspired to find a way to express musically what he felt while watching the wild responses of the crowd, and hearing the brass musicians introducing each new event with rousing fanfare. Alpert adapted the trumpet style to the tune, mixed
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
in crowd cheers and other noises for ambience, and renamed the song "The Lonely Bull
The Lonely Bull
The Lonely Bull, released in 1962, is the debut album from Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, and was also the first album ever released by A&M Records - which was co-founded by Alpert and Jerry Moss...
". He personally funded the production of the record as a single, and it spread through radio DJs until it caught on and became a Top Ten hit in 1962. He followed up quickly with his debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, The Lonely Bull by "Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass". Originally the Tijuana Brass was just Alpert overdubbing his own trumpet, slightly out of sync. The title cut reached #6 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart. This was A&M
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
's first album (the original number was 101), although it was recorded at Conway Records.
By the end of 1964, because of a growing demand for live appearances by the Tijuana Brass, Alpert audition
Audition
An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performing artist.Audition may also refer to:* The sense of hearing* Adobe Audition, audio editing software...
ed and hired a team of crack session men. No one in Alpert's band was actually Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
. Alpert used to tell his audiences that his group consisted of "Four lasagna
Lasagna
Lasagna is a wide and flat type of pasta and possibly one of the oldest shapes. As with most other pasta shapes, the word is generally used in its plural form lasagne in Italy and the U.K. Traditionally, the dough was prepared in Southern Italy with semolina and water and in the northern regions,...
s, two bagel
Bagel
A bagel is a bread product, traditionally shaped by hand into the form of a ring from yeasted wheat dough, roughly hand-sized, which is first boiled for a short time in water and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior...
s, and an American cheese
American cheese
American cheese is a processed cheese. It is orange, yellow, or white in color and mild in flavor, with a medium-firm consistency, and melts easily. American cheese was originally only white, but is usually now modified to yellow. In the past it was made from a blend of cheeses, most often Colby...
": John Pisano
John Pisano
John Pisano is a jazz guitarist born in Staten Island, New York.John has accompanied in concert or recording some of music's biggest names, including Burt Bacharach, Tony Bennett, Herb Alpert, Natalie Cole, Michael Franks, Diana Krall, Peggy Lee, Julie London, Joe Pass, Frank Sinatra, Barbra...
(electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
); Lou Pagani (piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
); Nick Ceroli
Nick Ceroli
Nick Ceroli , was an American jazz drummer.Ceroli was born in Warren, Ohio. He did a tour of Central and South America in 1963 with Ray Anthony, and that same year recorded with Jack Teagarden and played with Gerald Wilson at the Monterey Jazz Festival...
(drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
); Pat Senatore (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
); Tonni Kalash (trumpet); Herb Alpert (trumpet and vocal); Bob Edmondson (trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
). The band debuted in 1965 and became one of the highest-paid acts then performing, having put together a complete revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
that included choreographed moves and comic routines written by Bill ("Jose Jimenez") Dana.
The Tijuana Brass's success helped spawn other Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
acts, notably Julius Wechter
Julius Wechter
Julius Wechter was an American musician and composer who played the marimba and vibraphone. He also played various percussion instruments. He composed the song "Spanish Flea" for Herb Alpert and was leader of the The Baja Marimba Band.Born in Chicago, Wechter played vibes and percussion for the...
(long-time friend of Alpert's and the marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
player for the Brass) and the Baja Marimba Band
Baja Marimba Band
The Baja Marimba Band was a popular musical group led by marimba player Julius Wechter, initially intended by producer Herb Alpert to cash in on the "south of the border" craze started by his own Tijuana Brass...
, and the profits allowed A&M
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
to begin building a repertoire of artists like Chris Montez
Chris Montez
Chris Montez , is an American singer.-Early life:Montez grew up in Hawthorne, California, influenced by the Latino-flavored music of his community and the success of Ritchie Valens....
and The Sandpipers
The Sandpipers
The Sandpipers were an American easy listening trio/quartet, who carved a niche in 1960s folk rock. They are best remembered for their cover version of "Guantanamera", which became a transatlantic Top 10 hit in 1966, and their Top 20 hit "Come Saturday Morning" from the soundtrack of the film The...
. Wechter would contribute a number of the Brass' original songs, usually at least one per album, along with those of other Alpert friends, Sol Lake and Ervan "Bud" Coleman
Ervan Coleman
Ervan "Bud" Coleman was a guitar and mandolin player who worked with Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass and who famously wrote the hit "Tijuana Taxi."...
.
An album or two would be released each year throughout the 1960s. Alpert's band was featured in several TV specials, each one usually centered on visual interpretations of the songs from their latest album - essentially an early type of music videos later made famous by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. The first Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass special, sponsored by the Singer Sewing Machine Company, aired on April 24, 1967 on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
.
Alpert's style achieved enormous popularity with the national exposure The Clark Gum Company
Clark's Teaberry
Clark's Teaberry is a brand of chewing gum. It was developed by the D. L. Clark Company and is currently a product of Clark Gum Company in Buffalo, New York and made in Mexico. The gum dates to 1900. It was featured in some of author Dean Davis' mystery novels....
gave to one of his recordings in 1964, a Sol Lake number titled "The Mexican Shuffle" (which was retitled "The Teaberry Shuffle
Clark's Teaberry
Clark's Teaberry is a brand of chewing gum. It was developed by the D. L. Clark Company and is currently a product of Clark Gum Company in Buffalo, New York and made in Mexico. The gum dates to 1900. It was featured in some of author Dean Davis' mystery novels....
" for the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
ads). In 1965, Alpert released two albums, Whipped Cream (and Other Delights)
Whipped Cream & Other Delights
Whipped Cream and Other Delights is a 1965 album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, called "Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass" for this album, released on A&M Records...
and Going Places. Whipped Cream sold over 6 million copies in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The album cover featured model Dolores Erickson
Dolores Erickson
Dolores Erickson is a model and artist. She came to prominence by appearing as a model on a number of album covers, most notably Whipped Cream & Other Delights by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.-Modeling:...
wearing only what appeared to be whipped cream. In reality, Erickson was wearing a white blanket over which were scattered artfully-placed daubs of shaving cream—real whipped cream would have melted under the heat of the studio lights (although the cream on her head was real). In concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s, when about to play the song, Alpert would tell the audience, "Sorry, we can't play the cover for you." The art was parodied by several groups including one-time A&M
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
band Soul Asylum
Clam Dip & Other Delights
Clam Dip & Other Delights is the 1989 grab-bag EP from Minneapolis rockers Soul Asylum. The title and cover art are both parodies of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass's album Whipped Cream and Other Delights. It was a humorous nod to their new record label, A&M . Bassist Karl Mueller sat in for the...
and by comedian Pat Cooper
Pat Cooper
Pat Cooper is an American actor and comedian. Cooper is primarily known for his stand-up routines, where he often makes reference to his Italian heritage from Mola di Bari, Italy...
for his album Spaghetti Sauce and Other Delights. The singles included the title cut, "Lollipops and Roses
Lollipops and Roses (song)
"Lollipops and Roses" is a popular song by Tony Velona, best known in a version recorded by Jack Jones in 1962. Other Covers*Ray Rope's Small Grey Band*Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass *Perry Como *Doris Day...
", and "A Taste of Honey
A Taste of Honey (song)
"A Taste of Honey" is a pop standard written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow. It was originally an instrumental track written for the 1960 Broadway version of the 1958 British play A Taste of Honey . Both the original and a cover by Herb Alpert in 1965 earned the song Grammy Awards...
." The latter won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Record of the Year. Going Places produced four more singles: "Tijuana Taxi", "Spanish Flea
Spanish Flea
"Spanish Flea" is a popular song written by Julius Wechter in the 1960s with lyrics by Cissy Wechter.The song is best known from an instrumental version by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, released as a single and on their 1965 album Going Places, both of which were No.1 hits in America...
", "Third Man Theme", and "Zorba the Greek". "Tijuana Taxi" and "Spanish Flea" would be used in the 1966 Academy Award-winning animated short A Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature.
The Brass covered the Bert Kaempfert
Bert Kaempfert
Bert Kaempfert was a German orchestra leader and songwriter. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records, and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, such as "Strangers in the Night" and "Spanish Eyes".-Biography:He was born in Hamburg, Germany - where he received his lifelong...
tune "Happy Trumpeter" retitling it "Magic Trumpet". Alpert's rendition contained a bar that coincided with a Schlitz beer tune, "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer". ("The Maltese Melody" was another Alpert cover of a Kaempfert original). Another commercial use was a tune called "El Garbanzo", which was featured in Sunoco
Sunoco
Sunoco Inc. is an American petroleum and petrochemical manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, formerly known as Sun Company Inc. and Sun Oil Co. ....
ads ("They're movin', they're movin', people in the know, they're movin' to Sunoco").
In 1967, the Tijuana Brass did the title cut to the first movie version of Casino Royale
Casino Royale (1967 film)
Casino Royale is a 1967 comedy spy film originally produced by Columbia Pictures starring an ensemble cast of directors and actors. It is set as a satire of the James Bond film series and the spy genre, and is loosely based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel.The film stars David Niven as the...
.
Many of the tracks from Whipped Cream and Going Places received a great deal of airplay
Airplay (song)
Airplay is a term used in the radio broadcasting industry to state how frequently a song is being played on over-the-air radio stations. For example, a song which is being played several times every day would be classed as receiving a large amount of airplay...
; they are frequently used as incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
in The Dating Game
The Dating Game
The Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired on December 20, 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s...
on the Game Show Network
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
, notably the tracks Whipped Cream, Spanish Flea and Lollipops and Roses. Despite the popularity of his singles, Alpert's albums outsold and outperformed them on the charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
.
Alpert and the Tijuana Brass won six Grammy awards. Fifteen of their albums won gold discs, and fourteen won platinum discs. In 1966 over 13 million Alpert recordings were sold, outselling the Beatles. That same year, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized that Alpert set a new record by placing five albums simultaneously in the top 20 on the Billboard Pop Album Chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
, an accomplishment that has never been repeated. In April of that year, four of those albums were in the Top 10 simultaneously.
Alpert's only number one single during this period (and the first #1 hit for his A&M label) was a solo effort: "This Guy's in Love with You
This Guy's in Love with You
"This Guy's in Love with You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and recorded by Herb Alpert. Although known primarily for his trumpet playing as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, Alpert sang lead vocals on this solo recording, arranged by Bacharach.The recording's origin occurs, as...
" (written by Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
), featuring a rare vocal. Alpert sang this to his first wife in a 1968 CBS Television special titled Beat of the Brass. The sequence was filmed on the beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
in Malibu. The song was not intended to be released, but after it was used in the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
special, allegedly thousands of telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
calls to CBS asking about it convinced Alpert to release it as a single, two days after the show aired. Although Alpert's vocal skills and range were limited, the song's unchallenging technical demands suited him. The single debuted in May 1968, topped the national chart for four weeks and ranked among the year's biggest hits. Initially regarded by the critical cognoscenti and 'hip' music-lovers of the day as strictly an easy-listening chart hit, Alpert's unusually expressive recording of "This Guy's in Love with You" now enjoys appeal well beyond the so-called mainstream. In 1996 at London's Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
, Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
(of British rock band Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
) performed the song with Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
. Former Beatle George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
has stated that this was one of his favorite recordings.
Life after the Brass
Alpert disbanded the Tijuana Brass in 1969, then released another album by the group in 1971. In 1973, with some of the original Tijuana Brass members and some new members, he formed a group called Herb Alpert and the T.J.B. This new version of the Brass released two albums in 1974 and 1975 and toured. Alpert reconvened a third version of the Brass in 1984 after being invited to perform for the Olympic GamesOlympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
athletes at the Los Angeles Summer Games
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
. The invitation led to the Bullish album and tour.
In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Alpert enjoyed a successful solo
Solo album
A solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...
career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
. He had his biggest instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
hit, "Rise" (from the album of the same name), which went number one in October 1979 and won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
, and was later sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
in the number one 1997 rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
song "Hypnotize
Hypnotize (The Notorious B.I.G. song)
"Hypnotize" is the Grammy-nominated hip-hop song recorded by rapper The Notorious B.I.G. It was released as the first single from his album Life After Death in December 13, 1996. It was the fifth song to hit #1 posthumously for a credited artist....
" by the late rapper Notorious B.I.G. Both "Rise" and "Hypnotize" were written by Alpert's nephew, Randy Badazz Alpert and his friend Andy Armer. "Rise" made Alpert the only artist ever to hit #1 on the Billboard pop singles chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
s with both a vocal piece and an instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
piece. Another Randy Badazz / Andy Armer song, "Rotation", hit #30 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart. The song "Route 101" off the Fandango album peaked at number 37 in Billboard in August 1982. In 1987, Alpert branched out successfully to the R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
world with the hit album Keep Your Eye On Me, teaming up with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...
on "Diamonds" and "Making Love In the Rain" featuring vocals by Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...
and Lisa Keith
Lisa Keith
Lisa Keith is an American Christian contemporary/pop singer, probably best known for her work as a backing vocalist for other artists and lead vocalist on Herb Alpert's hit single from 1987, "Making Love in the Rain"...
.
Alpert performed the Star-Spangled Banner prior to Super Bowl XXII
Super Bowl XXII
Super Bowl XXII was an American football game played on January 31, 1988 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1987 regular season...
in San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
in January 1988. It was the last non-vocal rendition of the national anthem at the Super Bowl to date.
From 1962 through 1992 Alpert signed
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
artists to A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
and produced records
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. He discovered the West Coast band We Five
We Five
We Five was a 1960s folk rock musical group based in San Francisco, California. Their best-known hit was their 1965 remake of Ian and Sylvia's "You Were on My Mind", which reached #1 on the Cashbox chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart...
. Among the notable artists he worked with personally are Chris Montez, The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
, Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66
Sergio Mendes
Sérgio Santos Mendes is a Brazilian musician. He has released over thirty-five albums, and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk....
, Bill Medley
Bill Medley
William Thomas Medley is an American singer and songwriter, best known as one half of The Righteous Brothers....
, Lani Hall
Lani Hall
Lani Hall is an American singer and the wife of Herb Alpert.-Music career:Her first public appearances occurred in Old Town Chicago in early 1966. At one of those performances, she was heard by Brazilian Bossa Nova pianist/bandleader Sérgio Mendes, who happened to be on tour in Chicago...
(Alpert's second and current wife), Liza Minnelli and Janet Jackson (featured vocalist on his 1987 hit single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Diamonds"). These working relationships allowed Alpert to place singles in the Top 10 in three different decades (1960s, 1970s, and 1980s).
Alpert and A&M Records partner
Partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
Jerry Moss both agreed in 1987 to sell A&M to PolyGram Records for a reported $500 million. Both would continue to manage the label until 1993, when they left due to frustrations with PolyGram's constant pressure to force the label to fit into its corporate culture. Alpert and Moss then expanded their Almo Sounds
Almo Sounds
Almo Sounds is a record label which was started in 1994 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss after they sold A&M Records to PolyGram. The intent of the label was to recreate the initial concept of A&M Records as a small, "boutique" label....
music publishing company to produce records as well, primarily as a vehicle for Alpert's music. Almo Sounds imitates the former company culture embraced by Alpert and Moss when they first started A&M.
Awards and honors
Alpert and Moss received a Grammy Trustees AwardGrammy Trustees Award
The Grammy Trustees Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "individuals who, during their careers in music, have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording". Through 1983, performers could also receive this award...
in 1997 for their lifetime achievements in the recording industry as executives and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.
For his contribution to the recording industry, Alpert has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6929 Hollywood Blvd. Moss also has a star on the Walk of Fame. Alpert and Moss were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
on March 13, 2006 as non-performer lifetime achievers for their work at A&M.
Alpert was referenced in the second show of the third season of Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
where one of the code signals between Maxwell Smart and his contact was "Herb Alpert takes trumpet lessons from Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
." Also, a fifth-season episode parodied the entire group as Max and 99 sought to unmask "Herb Talbot and His Tijuana Tin" as KAOS spies.
On 17 September 2010 the TV documentary “Legends: Herb Alpert – Tijuana Brass and Other Delights” premiered on BBC 4.
Recently
Alpert has worked as a Broadway theatreBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
producer, with his production of Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner
Anthony Robert "Tony" Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Life and career:Kushner was born...
's Angels in America
Angels in America
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is the 1993 Pulitzer Prize winning play in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. It has been made into both a television miniseries and an opera by Peter Eötvös.-Characters:...
winning a Tony award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
.
In the 1980s Alpert created The Herb Alpert Foundation and the Alpert Awards in the Arts
Alpert Awards in the Arts
The CalArts/Alpert Award in the Arts was established in the 1994 by The Herb Alpert Foundation in collaboration with the California Institute of the Arts . The foundation provides $50,000 annual fellowship to five artists in the field of film and video, visual arts, theatre, dance, and music....
with The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). The Foundation
Foundation (charity)
A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations that will typically either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the source of funding for its own charitable purposes....
supports youth and arts education as well as environmental issues and helps fund the PBS series Bill Moyers on Faith and Reason. Alpert and his wife donated $30 million to University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
in 2007 to form and endow the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as part of the restructured UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture is a professional school at the University of California, Los Angeles. The school plays a vital role in the cultural and artistic life of the campus and the community. Through the six degree-granting departments, it provides a full range of course...
. He gave $24 million, which included $15 million from April 2008, to CalArts for its music curricula, and provided funding for the culture jamming
Culture jamming
Culture jamming, coined in 1984, denotes a tactic used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. Guerrilla semiotics and night discourse are sometimes used synonymously with the term culture jamming.Culture...
activists Yesmen
The Yes Men
The Yes Men are a culture jamming activist duo and network of supporters created by Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos. Through actions of tactical media, The Yes Men primarily aim to raise awareness about what they consider problematic social issues. To date, the duo has produced two films: The Yes Men...
.
He is actively overseeing the reissue of his music library
Library catalog
A library catalog is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations...
. In 2000, Alpert acquired the rights to his music from Universal Music (current owners of A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
) in a legal settlement and began remaster
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
ing his albums for compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
reissue. In 2005, Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
began distributing digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
ly remastered versions of Alpert's A&M
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
output, including a new album, Lost Treasures, consisting of unreleased material from Alpert's Tijuana Brass years. In the spring of 2006, a remixed version of the Whipped Cream album, entitled Whipped Cream and Other Delights: Re-Whipped was released and climbed to #5 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart. Alpert's 80's catalog, which includes his two most successful solo albums, 1982's Fandango and 1987's Keep Your Eye on Me
Keep Your Eye on Me (album)
Keep Your Eye on Me is a pop/R&B/dance album by Herb Alpert, released in 1987. It contains two hit singles, "Diamonds" and "Making Love in the Rain"...
, are still unavailable on CD. He continues to be a guest artist for artists including Gato Barbieri
Gato Barbieri
Leandro Barbieri , better known as Gato Barbieri , is an Argentinean jazz tenor saxophonist and composer who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and from his latin jazz recordings in the 1970s.-Biography:Born to a family of musicians, Barbieri began playing music...
, Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
, Jim Brickman
Jim Brickman
Jim Brickman is an American songwriter and pianist. He has been named the most charted male Adult Contemporary artist to date, with six of his albums receiving Gold and Platinum status. He is known for his solo piano compositions, pop-style instrumentals, and vocal collaborations with artists...
, Brian Culbertson
Brian Culbertson
Brian Culbertson is a musician and instrumentalist from Decatur, Illinois, United States. Son of jazz band director and trumpeter Jim Culbertson, Brian's instruments include the keyboard and trombone....
, and David Lanz
David Lanz
David Lanz is a Grammy-nominated New Age pianist. His most popular album, Cristofori's Dream, topped the New Age charts in 1988, which was No. 1 on Billboard's first adult alternative/New Age chart for 27 weeks and eventually sold platinum. Natural States peaked at No...
. Apart from the reissues, the Christmas Album continues to be available every year during the holiday season. On Sérgio Mendes
Sergio Mendes
Sérgio Santos Mendes is a Brazilian musician. He has released over thirty-five albums, and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk....
' 2008 album Encanto
Encanto (Sergio Mendes album)
Encanto is an album from Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes. It is his thirty-sixth studio album to date. It is also his second work with collaboration from personnel of The Black Eyed Peas.-Track list:-Release history:-Charts:-External links:*...
, Alpert performed trumpet solos backing lead vocals by his wife on the song "Dreamer
Dreamer
-Albums:* Dreamer , an album by metalcore band Haste the Day* Dreamer , an album by Caldera* Dreamer , an album by Emmerson Nogueira* Dreamer, a 1967 album by Labelle-Songs:...
". It marked the first time Alpert, Mendes and Hall had all performed together on the same song. Most recently, Alpert and his wife (Lani Hall
Lani Hall
Lani Hall is an American singer and the wife of Herb Alpert.-Music career:Her first public appearances occurred in Old Town Chicago in early 1966. At one of those performances, she was heard by Brazilian Bossa Nova pianist/bandleader Sérgio Mendes, who happened to be on tour in Chicago...
) signed with Concord Records
Concord Records
Concord Records is a U.S. record label now based in Beverly Hills, California. Originally known as Concord Jazz, it was established in 1972 as an off-shoot of the Concord Jazz Festival in Concord, California by festival founder Carl Jefferson, a local automobile dealer and jazz fan who sold his...
and released a new (live) album in the summer of 2009, Anything Goes, which was Alpert's first release of new material since 1999's Herb Alpert and Colors. A new studio album by Alpert and Hall, I Feel You, was released in February 2011. Both albums feature tight jazz renditions of pop classics along with a handful of original compositions.
While Alpert continues to play trumpet, he also devotes time to his second career as an abstract expressionist
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and sculptor with group and solo exhibitions around the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The sculpture exhibition “Herb Alpert: Black Totems”, on display at ACE Gallery
ACE Gallery
ACE GALLERY is an art gallery with two functioning gallery spaces in Los Angeles, California, United States, with one located on the Miracle Mile section of Wilshire Boulevard and the other also on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills...
, Beverly Hills, February through September 2010, brought major media attention to his visual work.
Hit singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
U.S. AC Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
U.S. R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||
| 1962 | "The Lonely Bull The Lonely Bull The Lonely Bull, released in 1962, is the debut album from Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, and was also the first album ever released by A&M Records - which was co-founded by Alpert and Jerry Moss... " B-side: "Acapulco 1922" |
6 | 22 | ||
| 1963 | "Marching Thru Madrid"/ | 96 | |||
| "Struttin' With Maria" | 102 | ||||
| 1964 | "Mexican Drummer Man" B-side: "The Great Manolete (La Virgen de la Macarena)" |
77 | 19 | ||
| "The Mexican Shuffle" B-side: "Numero Cinco" |
85 | 19 | |||
| 1965 | "Whipped Cream" B-side: "Las Mananitas" |
68 | 13 | ||
| "Mae" B-side: "El Garbanzo" |
116 | 26 | |||
| "A Taste of Honey"/ | 7 | 1 | |||
| "3rd Man Theme The Third Man Theme "The Third Man Theme" is an instrumental written and performed by Anton Karas for the soundtrack to the film The Third Man .... " |
47 | 7 | |||
| "Zorba the Greek"/ | 11 | 2 | |||
| "Tijuana Taxi" | 38 | 9 | 37 | ||
| 1966 | "What Now My Love"/ | 24 | 2 | ||
| "Spanish Flea Spanish Flea "Spanish Flea" is a popular song written by Julius Wechter in the 1960s with lyrics by Cissy Wechter.The song is best known from an instrumental version by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, released as a single and on their 1965 album Going Places, both of which were No.1 hits in America... " |
27 | 4 | 3 | ||
| "The Work Song" B-side: "Plucky" |
18 | 2 | |||
| "Flamingo" B-side: "So What's New?" |
28 | 5 | |||
| "Mame" B-side: "Our Day Will Come" |
19 | 2 | |||
| 1967 | "Wade In the Water" B-side: "Mexican Road Race" |
37 | 5 | ||
| "Casino Royale" B-side: "The Wall Street Rag" |
27 | 1 | 27 | ||
| "The Happening" B-side: "Town Without Pity" |
32 | 4 | |||
| "A Banda (Ah-Bahnda)" B-side: "Miss Frenchy Brown" |
35 | 1 | |||
| 1968 | "Carmen" B-side: "Love So Fine" |
51 | 3 | ||
| "Cabaret"/ | 72 | 13 | |||
| "Slick" | 119 | 36 | |||
| "This Guy's In Love With You This Guy's in Love with You "This Guy's in Love with You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and recorded by Herb Alpert. Although known primarily for his trumpet playing as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, Alpert sang lead vocals on this solo recording, arranged by Bacharach.The recording's origin occurs, as... " B-side: "A Quiet Tear (Lagrima Quieta)" |
1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| "To Wait For Love" B-side: "Bud" |
51 | 2 | |||
| "My Favorite Things" B-side: "The Christmas Song" |
45 | 7 | |||
| 1969 | "Zazueira" B-side: "Treasure of San Miguel" |
78 | 9 | ||
| "Without Her" B-side: "Sandbox" |
63 | 5 | 36 | ||
| "Ob La Di Ob La Da" B-side: "Girl Talk" |
118 | ||||
| "You Are My Life" B-side: "Good Morning, Mr. Sunshine" |
109 | 34 | |||
| 1970 | "The Maltese Melody" B-side: "Country Lake" |
108 | 14 | ||
| "Jerusalem" B-side: "Strike Up The Band" |
74 | 6 | 42 | ||
| 1971 | "Summertime" B-side: "Hurt So Bad" |
114 | 28 | ||
| 1973 | "Last Tango In Paris" B-side: "Fire and Rain" |
77 | 22 | ||
| 1974 | "Fox Hunt" B-side: "I Can't Go On Living, Baby, Without You" |
84 | 14 | ||
| "Save the Sunlight" B-side: "Your Smile, The Song Begins" |
13 | ||||
| 1975 | "Coney Island" B-side: "Ratatouille" |
19 | |||
| "El Bimbo" B-side: "Catfish" |
28 | ||||
| 1978 | "Skokiaan"(with Hugh Masekela) B-side: "African Summer" |
87 | |||
| 1979 | "Rise" B-side: "Aranjuez" |
1 | 1 | 4 | 13 |
| "Rotation" B-side: "Angelina" |
30 | 23 | 20 | 46 | |
| 1980 | "Street Life" B-side: "1980" |
104 | 41 | 65 | |
| "Beyond" B-side: "Keep It Going" |
50 | 39 | 44 | ||
| "Kamali" B-side: "Interlude (For Erica)" |
64 | ||||
| 1981 | "Come What May"(with Lani Hall) B-side: "We Could Be Flying" |
43 | |||
| "Magic Man" B-side: "Fantasy Island" |
79 | 22 | 37 | ||
| "Manhattan Melody" B-side: "You Smile, The Song Begins" |
74 | ||||
| 1982 | "Route 101" B-side: "Angel" |
37 | 4 | ||
| "Fandango" B-side: "Coco Loco" |
26 | ||||
| 1983 | "Garden Party" B-side: "Oriental Eyes" |
81 | 14 | 77 | |
| "Red Hot" B-side: "Sundown" |
77 | ||||
| 1984 | "Come What May"(with Lani Hall)(re-issue) | 32 | |||
| "Bullish" B-side: "Oriental Eyes" |
90 | 22 | 52 | ||
| 1985 | "8 Ball" B-side: "Lady Love" |
73 | |||
| 1987 | "Keep Your Eye On Me" B-side: "Our Song" |
46 | 3 | 19 | |
| "Diamonds Diamonds (Herb Alpert song) "Diamonds" is the second single by Herb Alpert from his Keep Your Eye on Me album, and features vocals from Janet Jackson and Lisa Keith.-Song information and music video:... "(with Janet Jackson Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years... and Lisa Keith Lisa Keith Lisa Keith is an American Christian contemporary/pop singer, probably best known for her work as a backing vocalist for other artists and lead vocalist on Herb Alpert's hit single from 1987, "Making Love in the Rain"... ) B-side: "African Flame" |
5 | 1 | 27 | ||
| "Making Love in the Rain Making Love in the Rain "Making Love in the Rain" is the third single by Herb Alpert from his Keep Your Eye on Me album. It features vocals from Lisa Keith and Janet Jackson ."Making Love in the Rain" was a big success on the U.S... "(with Lisa Keith Lisa Keith Lisa Keith is an American Christian contemporary/pop singer, probably best known for her work as a backing vocalist for other artists and lead vocalist on Herb Alpert's hit single from 1987, "Making Love in the Rain"... and Janet Jackson Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years... ) B-side: "Rocket to The Moon" |
35 | 21 | 7 | ||
| 1989 | "3 O'clock Jump" B-side: "Kalimba" |
59 | |||
| 1991 | "North On South St." | 40 | |||
Discography
(All albums are on A&M Records and are listed with the original catalog numbers, unless otherwise indicated)- The Lonely Bull (1962) LP-101 (mono)/101S (stereo)
- Volume 2 (1963) LP-103/SP-103
- South of the Border (1964) LP-108/SP-108
- Whipped Cream & Other DelightsWhipped Cream & Other DelightsWhipped Cream and Other Delights is a 1965 album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, called "Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass" for this album, released on A&M Records...
(1965) LP-110/SP-4110 - Going Places (1965) LP-112/SP-4112
- What Now My LoveWhat Now My Love (album)What Now My Love is a 1966 album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, their sixth. The album remained at the #1 position on the Billboard Album chart for nine weeks, the longest of any album released by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass....
(1966) LP-114/SP-4114 - S.R.O.S.R.O.S.R.O., issued in 1966, was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass' seventh album. It included work by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, as well as the band's cover of "Mame" , one of the first TJB recordings to include vocals from Alpert, as he and the group sang the song's chorus in the middle of the...
(1966) LP-119/SP-4119 - Sounds Like...Sounds Like...Sounds Like... Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass is the eighth album released by the popular 1960s instrumental group. The album had its first CD release in 2006 on the Shout!Factory label....
(1967) LP-124/SP-4124 - Herb Alpert's NinthHerb Alpert's NinthHerb Alpert's Ninth is a 1967 album by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. It reached number 4 on the Billboard charts and spent 18 weeks on the Top 40. It was the last album by the Tijuana Brass to be released in both mono and stereo versions; all albums afterward would be released in stereo...
(1967) LP-134/SP-4134 - The Beat of the BrassThe Beat of the BrassThe Beat of the Brass was the tenth album release by the popular 1960s instrumental group Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. The album was released on the heels of a television special by the same title . Tom Mankiewicz, who wrote the special, also provided two paragraphs of liner notes for the album...
(1968) LP 146/SP-4146 - Christmas AlbumChristmas Album (TJB)Christmas Album is a late-1968 album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. It was the group's eleventh release. Although the Brass' albums were out of print for a good many years, the Christmas Album was released on CD in the 1980s, with annual reappearances in record stores at Christmastime; and...
(1968) SP-4166; reissued as SP-3113 - Warm (1969) SP-4190
- The Brass Are Comin (1969) SP-4228
- Greatest Hits (1970) SP-4245
- Summertime (1971) SP-4314
- Solid Brass (compilation) (1972) SP-4341
- Foursider (compilation) (1973) SP-3521
- You Smile - The Song Begins (1974) SP-3620
- A Treasury of the Award-Winning Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass plus selections from the Baja Marimba Band (1974) Longines Symphonette LWS-500-505
- Coney Island (1975) SP-4521
- Just You and Me (1976) SP-4591
- Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (compilation) (1977) SP-4627
- Herb Alpert/Hugh Masekela (1978) Horizon/A&M SP-728
- Main Event Live! (1978) SP-4727
- RiseRise (Herb Alpert album)-History:The Rise album was conceived in 1979 after the worldwide success of both the 7" & 12" version of the single "Rise," which became a huge hit song on sales charts, radio, and in dance clubs throughout America, Europe, and Japan....
(1979) SP-4790; reissued as SP-3714 - Beyond (1980) SP-3717
- Magic Man (1981) SP-3728
- Fandango (1982) SP-3731/AyM Discos SP-30001 (Latin market counterpart to A&M SP-3731)
- Blow Your Own Horn (1983) SP-4949
- Noche De Amor (1983) AyM Discos SP-37006 (Latin market counterpart to A&M SP-4949)
- Bullish (1984) SP-5022
- Bravio (1984) AyM Discos SP-37009 (Latin market counterpart to A&M SP-5022)
- Wild Romance (1985) SP-5082
- Classics Volume 1Classics Volume 1Although its actual release date was 1986, Classics Volume 1 was the first release of A&M Records' 25th Anniversary Series in 1987. The commemorative series was solely available on Digital Audio Compact Disc. Each volume would feature the prominent set of a select A&M artist. Volume 1 featured...
(TJB compilation) (1986) CD-2501 - Classics Volume 20 (solo compilation) (1987) CD-2518
- Keep Your Eye on MeKeep Your Eye on Me (album)Keep Your Eye on Me is a pop/R&B/dance album by Herb Alpert, released in 1987. It contains two hit singles, "Diamonds" and "Making Love in the Rain"...
(1987) SP-5125 - Under a Spanish Moon (1988) SP-5209
- My Abstract Heart (1989) SP-5273
- North on South St.North on South St.North On South St. is a hip-hop influenced album by Herb Alpert released in 1991 and his last vinyl release on A&M Records before he released Midnight Sun in 1992. The album was a commercial success and produced two singles: Jump Street and North on South St.. Both of the singles had a video, yet...
(1991) 75021 5345-2 - The Very Best Of Herb Alpert (compilation of Tijuana Brass and solo material) (1991)A&M/PolyGram 82839 7165/2
- Midnight Sun (Herb Alpert album)Midnight Sun (Herb Alpert album)Midnight Sun is an album of late-night jazz standards recorded by Herb Alpert. This was Alpert's final release of newly recorded music for A&M Records in 1992...
(1992) 75021 5391-2 - Second Wind (1996) Almo Sounds AMSD 80005
- Passion Dance (1997) Almo Sounds AMSD 80014
- Colors (1999) Almo Sounds AMSD 80025
- Definitive Hits (compilation of Tijuana Brass and solo material) (2001) A&M/Universal 06949 0886/2
- Lost Treasures (2005) Shout! Factory
- Whipped Cream & Other Delights Rewhipped (2006) Shout! Factory
- Rise (reissue) (2007) Shout! Factory
- Anything Goes (& Lani Hall) (2009) Concord JazzConcord JazzConcord Jazz is a subsidiary of Concord Records, owned by Concord Music Group.-Dozens of albums:*Charlie Byrd*Ruby Braff*Dave McKenna*Marian McPartland*Rosemary Clooney*Scott Hamilton*Tito Puente*George Shearing*Gene Harris*Mel Tormé*Monty Alexander...
CJA-31441-02 - I Feel You (& Lani Hall) (2011) Concord JazzConcord JazzConcord Jazz is a subsidiary of Concord Records, owned by Concord Music Group.-Dozens of albums:*Charlie Byrd*Ruby Braff*Dave McKenna*Marian McPartland*Rosemary Clooney*Scott Hamilton*Tito Puente*George Shearing*Gene Harris*Mel Tormé*Monty Alexander...
088072327573
Compositions
Herb Alpert's compositions include "A Quiet Tear (Lagrima Quieta)", "Acapulco 1922", "Struttin' With Maria", "Tijuana Sauerkraut", "Sugar Cane", "Side Steppin'", "Rendezvous", "Drivin' Home", "Sneakin' In", "Behind the Rain", "1980", "Slick", "Plucky", "Bean Bag", "For Carlos", "T.K.O.", "Passion Dance", "Slinky", "Apasionado" with Stan GetzStan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
and Eddie Del Barrio, "Carmine", "You Smile-The Song Begins", "Make a Wish", "Love Without Words", "Until We Meet Again", "Our Song", "Cat Man Do", "Life Is My Song", "North On South St.", "Rocket to The Moon", and "Stormy Sunday".
See also
- 20th century brass instrumentalists
- Herb Alpert: Music for Your EyesHerb Alpert: Music for Your EyesHerb Alpert: Music for Your Eyes is an American documentary about the paintings and sculptures of musician and record producer Herb Alpert. It was written, produced and directed by Tom Neff...
documentary (20032003 in filmThe year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
) - List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
- List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
- List of number-one hits (United States)
- List of trumpeters
Books
- Darryl Lyman: Great Jews in Music. J. D. Publishers, Middle Village, N.Y. 1986.
- Stanley Sadie, H. Wiley Hitchcock (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. Grove's Dictionaries of Music, New York, N.Y. 1986.
- Colin Larkin: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Third edition. Macmillan, New York, N.Y. 1998.
- Michael Cuscuna, Michel Ruppi: The Blue Note label. A discography. Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. 2001.