Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Tijuana Brass music finally available on CD

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-08-2005, 02:15 PM:

This isn't video related, but it's momentous enough that I thought it deserved a post here since there are a few Herb Alpert fans in the group.

The music of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, out of print for years, is beginning to see the light of day on CD starting this week.

The first wave of new releases came out today (Feb. 8) with the albums "The Lonely Bull" and "South of the Border." A third CD with rare-unreleased songs, "Lost Treasures," also came out today. The TJB's most famous album, "Whipped Cream and Other Delights," comes out in April.

The rest of the band's albums will be released throughout the next two years, two or three albums at a time, on the Shout!Factory label.

Some of the band's albums were released on CD in the early '80s with crappy packaging and sound, and have been selling for upwards of $100 or more apeice on eBay in the past few years. The new releases are remastered and come with detailed packaging.

Some of you young whippersnappers may not remember the Brass or the impact they had on this country in the '60s, but they were probably the biggest thing going, second only to the Beatles, during that time. Their music hasn't really dated much at all and is still great fun to listen to today.

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 02-08-2005, 02:54 PM:

Very cool [thumbsup]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-08-2005, 03:38 PM:

I have their greatest hits on cd, and nothing, and I do mean NOTHING makes for better intermission music. [Big Grin]

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-08-2005, 04:12 PM:

Tijuana Brass on that A&M label...I still have the records!

They definatey had a "sound" to them.

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 02-08-2005, 04:51 PM:

Will any of these have two versions of "Rise"...one played at 33 and one at 45?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-08-2005, 06:41 PM:

James - No, but the Shout!Factory press release says that all of Herb Alpert's albums (with the TJB and solo) will eventually be released. Somewhere around 25 albums in total.

Posted by Luciano Brigite (Member # 1104) on 02-08-2005, 08:14 PM:

That's something I'll surely look for around here. My father used to listen to Herb Alpert and TJB,I was a kid at the time ,grew up listening to it.The records,2 of them are still around somewhere. Recently I got a CD called Herb Alpert-definitive hits.better than nothing for the time..After switching the entire sound system at home, a good music is now called for!

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 02-08-2005, 09:56 PM:

Those albums were generally very well recorded, without being over-produced. Very clean sound. [thumbsup]

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 02-08-2005, 10:06 PM:

quote: David Stambaugh
Those albums were generally very well recorded, without being over-produced. Very clean sound.

Yes they sounded VERY good in general because Herb Alpert was the A in A&M rescords!!

Mark

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 02-08-2005, 10:52 PM:

Much of Herb's music can be heard on Standard, Swing and Big Band stations (usually AM).

For those who collect vinyl, Tucson has one of the premiere stores in the country: PDQ Records and Tapes on Grant Rd.

Cheers

Kutler

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 02-09-2005, 12:50 AM:

It shows how much musical tastes vary. I like a lot of the music Mike Blakesley likes, but the Tijuana Brass aggravated & annoyed me to a degree matched only by their elevator music contemporaries Percy Faith and Lenny Dee. When all that stuff disappeared from the airwaves, it was like a great holy enema had come & cleansed the world.

As instrumentals, they hung on FOREVER, 10+ years, longer than the span of their popularity or endurability, because of some incompetent radio disc jockeys who were incapable of backtiming to the top of the hour news would just play any instrumental & fade it out; also as instrumentals they hung around past their date of popular enjoyment as background music in radi & TV commercials, background office music, "Easy Listening" elevator music radio stations, etc.

Who in the world could sit there & endure "Spanish Flea" one more time when they could just give the radio knob one quick spin & get a station that played Booker T & The MG's, King Curtis, & Wilson Pickett & Sam & Dave besides?

I will admit to liking the TJB's "Casino Royale" a LOT, but the rest of it is just goop!

Okay, the Tijuana Brass music is finally available on CD, but so is The Salsoul Orchestra! Torture yourself with either one, but don't take us with you!

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-09-2005, 02:53 AM:

They sold over 75 million records. I doubt this was all caused by incompetent radio DJs. [Cool]

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 02-09-2005, 06:25 AM:

Pthbbbt.... 75 million albums, if you measure how good the music is by album sales, Herb Albert would rank about 23 levels of hell below the New Kids On The Block.

The part about the incompetent disc jockeys just referred to those guys who couldn't backtime still playing instrumentals like the TB for a DECADE after they'd fallen off the charts, making it just impossible to get away from "Spanish Flea", "The Happy Organ", "Theme From A Summer Place In Hell", etc.

Posted by Joseph Pandolfi (Member # 223) on 03-09-2005, 05:25 PM:

Baja Mariba band was another one of those bands signed on the A & M label and had the MOR type. I have a ton of LP and 45's of the Tijana Band. Tijuana Taxi tickled my funny bone (HOOOONNNKKK!)

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-09-2005, 06:28 PM:

Yup, the Baja Marimba Band was awesome as well, although not as well known.

TJB's "Lost Treasures" is a great collection of tunes. Fans should check it out for sure.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 03-09-2005, 11:17 PM:

I have Whipped Cream & Other Delights on QUADRAPHONIC 8-track! [Big Grin]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-06-2005, 08:59 PM:

As of tomorrow (6/7/05), seven of the TJB albums will be available: The Lonely Bull, South of the Border, Whipped Cream and Other Delights, Going Places, What Now My Love, and S.R.O., along with the rarities collection Lost Treasures.

Three more (Sounds Like, Herb Alpert's Ninth, and The Beat of the Brass) will be released in August, with the Christmas album following in October. A box-set is also rumored for the holidays but not officially announced yet.

First-timers should pick up Whipped Cream or Going Places and prepare to tap their feet a lot. [Big Grin]

For those who want to pick individual tunes, all of the music is available on iTunes as well.

[ 06-07-2005, 01:34 AM: Message edited by: Mike Blakesley ]

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 06-07-2005, 04:56 AM:

Hey William, you had it easy! You could just turn the radio dial....me, I couldn't get away from it. I am not as distressed by TB as you, and I probably listened their popular stuff along with the rest of the country, but then along came this cartoon; the theatre I was working in had booked to play with BLOW UP (I think). It was basically what we would today call a music video, animated to the Tijuana Brass's Spanish Flea tune. I had to endure this day in and day out for the entire run of BLOW UP. Day in an freakin DAY OUT....six times a day....for weeks. That stacatto horn was like Chinese water torture burning into my brain. Anyone ever run this thing? Or see it? No? Count yourself way lucky.

I probably could enjoy these new CDs, but I will be sure to burn my protection copy and leave out the Spanish Flea cut; I never want to hear that ditty again. Just the title makes me hear it inside my head. Most annoying song ever.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 06-15-2005, 05:10 PM:

All of the Brass albums have made the rounds at used record stores for years. If there are 21 albums, then I have them all on vinyl, in A+ condition! At least they don't fade [Razz]

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 06-15-2005, 05:17 PM:

quote: Jesse
I have Whipped Cream & Other Delights on QUADRAPHONIC 8-track!

Cool...but how many of yous have it on a quad LP? I do! [thumbsup]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-15-2005, 06:43 PM:

Phil - there are probably people over at A&M Corner (www.amcorner.com) that would love to have that LP or at least a scan of the label. I don't think I've ever seen a Quad A&M label.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-16-2005, 03:26 PM:

As of today (Aug. 16), three more albums are available: SOUNDS LIKE, HERB ALPERT'S NINTH, and THE BEAT OF THE BRASS.

These are good records to check out if you enjoyed Alpert's music, but got sick of hearing "A Taste of Honey" and "Spanish Flea" over and over. Most of the music on these albums is pretty obscure today, except maybe "Casino Royale" (from SOUNDS LIKE) and "This Guy's In Love With You" (from BEAT).

The next item in the series is the TJB Christmas album, which comes out in October. There are six more TJB albums in the catalog besides the ones already out, but no word on when or if they will be re-released.