Originally released in 1962, The Lonely Bull was not only Herb Alpert's musical debut, but the first album released on A&M Records. "After experiencing my first bullfight in Tijuana, Mexico," Alpert recalls, "I was inspired to find a way to musically express what I felt while watching the wild responses of the crowd, and hearing the brass musicians introducing each new event with rousing fanfare." The excitement translated, and The Lonely Bull was a stunning success. The title track hit the Billboard Top 10, as did the LP, which peaked at #10 and remained on the album chart for three years. The disc also includes the perennial stadium favorite "Never On Sunday," and the intricate, bossa nova-inflected "Desafinado." The cover, featuring Alpert toasting with a tequila glass, began a run of memorable TJB covers—including the groundbreaking and unforgettable one featuring a barely covered model immortalized on the Whipped Cream & Other Delights.
Trumpet player, bandleader, label boss, visual artist and talent spotter are just a few of Herb Alpert's many talents that have seen the light of day over his 40 years in the music business. Along the way he’s scored massive hit singles (iconic tunes such as "Rise") and albums (with the Tijuana Brass and many others) around the world, as well as starting A&M Records--the home to The Carpenters and a host of other talents. The Essential Herb Alpert brings together a disc of Herb’s greatest hits (including "Rise", "Spanish Flea", "The Lonely Bull" and many others) with a brand new live album "Anything Goes", recorded by Herb and Lani in 2008.
For one week in June 1967, Sounds Likewas able to break the Monkees' 31-week hammerlock on the number one slot on the charts — just two weeks before the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper took over and changed the world. This shows, lest we forget — and many have — just how popular the Tijuana Brass were, still spanning the generations during the Summer of Love, still putting out records as fresh and musical and downright joyous as this one. Though not as jazz-flavored as S.R.O., Sounds Like does preserve the feeling, particularly in the extended vamps on an updated slave song, "Wade In the Water" (a hit single). "Gotta Lotta Livin' to Do" settles us into the record with nothing but a long vamp — a daring production decision. Yet Alpert was on a roll; everything he tried in the TJB's heyday seemed to work. The lesser-known tunes back-loaded on Side Two are a string of pearls — John Pisano's appropriately titled bossa nova "The Charmer," Roger Nichols' tense "Treasure of San ! ! Miguel," Ervan Coleman's catchy "Miss Frenchy Brown." Finally, Alpert takes a flyer and concludes the LP with an extravagant Burt Bacharach orchestration of his theme from the film Casino Royale — an artifact of '60s pop culture, to be sure, but still a perfectly structured record.
Before his run at the top of the easy-listening charts, Herb Alpert was already a music-industry veteran, writing and producing hits for Sam Cooke and Jan & Dean. Alpert also deserves a place in history as co-founder and owner of A&M Records, one of the most successful independent labels of all time. A solid 20-track compilation spanning Alpert's career, DEFINITIVE HITS covers the trumpeter/singer/label executive's glory years--the 1961-'68 stretch between "The Lonely Bull" and the Burt Bacharach-penned vocal showcase "This Guy's in Love with You". However, it also conveniently gathers material from the post-Tijuana Brass period when Alpert specialised in easy-listening fusion hits like the disco-tinged jazz-funk of 1979's "Rise" and the adult-contemporary R&B of 1987's "Diamonds", which features A&M Records' then-new star Janet Jackson on lead vocals. But, of course, the real meat of the collection is the brilliantly arranged suburban exotica of "Spanish Flea", "A Taste of Honey", and "Whipped Cream", along with other fine examples of Alpert's Latin-tinged pop.
1965's Whipped Cream & Other Delights transformed Herb Alpert & The Tijuana into bonafide superstars, spending an incredible 8 straight weeks at the top of the charts. The album was not only memorable for its music, but for the iconic cover art which featured model Dolores Erickson strategically swathed in whipped cream. The original twelve tracks revolve around the theme of food and include such classics the triple Grammy-winning hit, "A Taste of Honey" and the Dating Game theme "Whipped Cream." This special 40th Anniversary edition features two studio bonus tracks along with a 20-page booklet and a collector's poster.
Trumpeter Herb Alpert is one of the most successful instrumental artists in American music history. He is also a successful businessman, having founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss and later, Almo Sounds. On top of this, he has exhibited as an artist, produced shows on Broadway and established the Herb Alpert Foundation for arts education.
This 1996 performance at the Montreux Festival features Herb Alpert together with The Jeff Lorber Band in a sparkling performance of Alpert’s biggest hits. DVD highlights include performances of "Spanish Flea", "This Guy’s In Love With You", "Rise" and many more.
The first ever biography of the great entertainer. From an unexpected Gold Record in 1962 on to his induction into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in the 21st Century- Herb Alpert has had a unique tale to tell...Now for the first time ever, a book pieces together the highlights and career of one of America's top entertainers! The Herb Alpert File provides the facts, figures and history of this long overlooked chapter in American music history. A multi-Grammy winner, dynamic executive and member of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, Alpert is the embodiment of the American dream. The Herb Alpert File finally provides the general reader with a chapter long overlooked in the annals of American pop culture.
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