Sergio Mendes still has a cult following!

Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - "Crystal Illusions" (1969) - A&M Records

Hello Friends,

Crystal Illusions is not as good as Sergio Mendes' landmark LP, Look Around, but its still a good listen especially on a warm, late spring evening with the sun going down, a cocktail in hand and a pretty girl sitting next to you on the patio! 

Bossa Nova at its swinging best!

An exotic and lush cover of "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" kicks things off, but the real star of the record are the sultry vocal stylings of Ms. Lani Hall (who sings in both English & Portuguese.)  When you hear her on songs like "Salt Sea" or "Empty Faces" it almost makes you want to drink more, scheme more and get into some good kinds of trouble.

Another standout is the album's closer and title track.  A bit of a psychedelic soundscape clocking in at almost 8 minutes featuring lots of shuffling rhythms and Mendes's electric piano.

Of course, the album was produced by Mr. Lani Hall (aka Herb Alpert) and many of the arrangements/orchestrations were composed by legendary jazz composer, Dave Grusin.

RATING: 3.5 watching the wind blow tasting the salt seas out of 5

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - "Christmas Song" (1968)

This little gem can be found on Alpert's 1968 Christmas Album.

Surprisingly sweet & understated.

Handsome chap that Herb Alpert!

Hi-Fi Holidays: Christmas Album

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - "Christmas Album" (1968) - A&M Records

Hello Friends,

Wow!  What a great schmaltzy & swinging Christmas record by everyone's favorite Jewish, trumpet-playing Santa Claus!

Its like the soundtrack to a Holiday-themed wrap party on The Dating Game featuring plenty of Dubonnet on Ice (how nice!), Leisure Suits, mustaches, side burns and lambskin condoms where you're hoping like heck that the wet spot you just sat down in is someone's spilled cocktail and nothing more!

Oy Vey!

Ten tracks all performed in the TJB style featuring a hybrid of lite jazz and latin arrangements, weaving vocal choruses, zippy time changes and Herb Alpert's signature overly-accentuated trumpet playing.

For better or for worse, its unlike any other holiday record in our collection.

Songs like "Winter Wonderland", "Jingle Bells" & "Sleigh Ride" all begin with a melodramatic "whimper" and end with a spastic and bombastic bang.  Hold on to your sombreros, amigos!

"My Favorite Things" sounds like a mariachi mash-up of The Sound of Music and an early Bond film.

Herb even steps out from behind his trumpet to sing Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song" and Burt Bacharach's "The Bell That Wouldn't Ring".

We're not sure what it has to do with Christmas, but there's even a smooth as silk take on the traditional Mexican birthday song, "Las Mananitas".  ¿Porque no?

You can definitely slow dance to Alpert's dreamlike pacing on "Let It Snow" while looking forward to a striptease by the end of "Jingle Bell Rock" all to be lulled into a gentle and graceful sleep by the strains of Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", the album's closer. Classic!

RATING: 4.5 chestnuts roasting on an open fire out of 5

There's Something in the (Fresh) Air

The Baja Marimba Band - "Fresh Air" (1969) - A & M Records

Hello Friends,

These zany cats are back for their Ninth record!  Can you believe it?  Originally a side project (and novelty act) of Herb Alpert's percussionist, Julius Wechter, The Baja Marimba Band survived the 60's and were still going (somewhat) strong 9 albums in!

Slightly more relaxed and less manic than some of their previous records, the highlights being their take on the Mexican Ranchera song, "Cielito Lindo" (aka the Frito Bandito's theme song); Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Wave"; the haunting takes on "Eleanor Rigby" and "The Windmills of Your Mind" (aka the theme song from the movie, The Thomas Crown Affair); the dueling marimbas in "I'll Marimba You"; and what is arguably the album's best track, "Madagascar".

As an added bonus, the album also feature Julius Wechter's singing debut on the Loesser & Styne song, "I Don't Wanna Walk Without You."  Stick to your day job Jules!

Besides the clever title and funny mustaches another running joke on these records is how there always seems to be someone pissing in the background on the album cover!  Keepin' it classy!  

Maybe that's where The Who got the idea for the Who's Next cover art?!?

RATING: 3.5 windmills of your cabezas out of 5 

Herb Alpert's Number 2

Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass - "Volume 2" (1963) - A&M Records

Hola Amigos,

Everyone's favorite Jewish trumpet player is back with his second album, simply titled, Volume Two, a record that at the time sold poorly compared to his debut record, The Lonely Bull (1962). Funny, because there's really not a big sonic departure on this record.  In fact, it sounds pretty much like everything else Herb Alpert has ever done!  

Lesson learned! Put a sexy brunette on the cover and come up with a snappy title and you're good to go!  Speaking of which, here's an interesting article about Alpert's famous Whipped Cream album cover model, Miss Dolores Erickson.

Volume Two kicks off with a rowdy crowd at a bullfight with "The Great Manolete"-- Alpert's tribute to the great Spanish Matador featuring some great spaghetti western-style trumpet solos.

His take on Ben E. King's (actually Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector's) "Spanish Harlem" is pretty good, too.  It features some signature Alpert trumpet-playing over an accompaniment of marimba and percussion, and ending with a pleasant wordless-vocal chorus with some fine acoustic guitar soloing.

"The Swinger from Seville" is a boozy, striptease-type number written by Alpert.  Its like the theme song to some sleazy television game show!  (Wife Swap?)

Side one ends with a trio of easy listening ballads, "Winds of Barcelona", "Green Leaves of Summer" and "More."  Much of the same, although, we really like the Spanish style guitar and lone trumpet that starts off "Green Leaves".

Side Two kicks off with a cover of Leonard Bernstein's "A-me-ri-ca" from West Side Story.

Perhaps influenced by the fledgling California band called The Beach Boys (heard of 'em?) is Alpert's own composition, "Surfin' Senorita".


There's two Sol Lake compositions, "Marching Thru Madrid" and "Crea Mi Amor", as well as another Herbal Pert original entitled, "Mexican Corn".  Sounds yummy!

The album concludes with some more of that rowdy crowd noise, cat calling and bottles clinking.  It sounds as if the Mezcal's been flowing all album long!  We end with a jubilant, sing-along take on Edith Piaf's familiar "Milord"!  (Although I don't think this version is necessarily what the original songwriters intended! A quien le importa!)      

RATING: 3.5 Surfin' Señoritas out of 5 

Rusty Trumpet

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - "What Now My Love" (1966) - A&M Records

Hello Friends,

Herb Alpert's "magic trumpet" is making another appearance on Vinyl in the Valley tonight.

What Now My Love is Herb's sixth album with the Tijuana Brass and its more of the same Ameriachi-style jazz-inspired lounge muzak.  Great music to mix up a batch of margaritas to while waiting for your special lady to come over.  

So spray that cologne on heavy and tie up that bolo because tonight you're either getting lucky or hosting a Spanish game show!

Fun Fact: The puckery brunette on the cover is Mrs. Sandra Moss, wife of Jerry Moss, Herb's partner at A & M records.  Wonder if things ever got awkward?

RATING: 3.5 Memories of Madrid out of 5

7 Days of Xmas: "Something Festive" (1968)

Various Artists - "Something Festive" (1968) - A & M Records

Hello Friends,

Thinking about inviting the cute neighbor girl over for a little pre-Holiday cocktail?  Sounds good to us!  Its the Holidays, after all!  

"Lucky snowman"
(Bettie Page)

Get those lights on the tree working, open up that bottle of Red you've been saving and to "seal the deal" drop the needle on this 1968 compilation album put out by Herb Alpert & A&M Records.

Ten tracks from A&M artists, including some sublime easy listening Latin Jazz with Herb Alpert and TJB ("Winter Wonderland", "Jingle Bell Rock"), Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 ("The Christmas Song") and the Baja Marimba band ("Partridge in a Pear Tree", "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen").  

There's also Burt Bacharach ("The Bell That Couldn't Jingle"), We Five ("My Favorite Things"), Pete Jolly ("Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"), a manic-sounding Liza Minnelli ("Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy") and the hot French gun-enthusiast/husband killer, Claudine Longet ("Snow").



Something Festive, indeed!

RATING: 4 Bells That Couldn't Jingle out of 5

Comin' in the Back Door

¡ Ay Caramba !

The Baja Marimba Band - "Baja Marimba Band" (1964) - A&M Records

Hola Friends,

We're going down tonight-- South of the Border-style-- with the debut album by the legendary Baja Marimba Band!

Led by marimba player extraordinaire, Julius Wechter, and produced/arranged by one Mr. Herb Alpert, The Baja Marimba Band was formed in part to cash in on the fiesta-style music started by the likes of the Tijuana Brass and Sergio Mendes in the early 1960's.  Their whimsical, laid-back lounge style has its roots in latin jazz and Exotica.  (In fact, Wechter, a talented percussionist, cut his teeth playing with Martin Denny in the 50's.)  

The songs are percussion-heavy (lots of bongos, vibes and marimbas, obviously), with flamenco guitar, the occasional brassy burst and spaghetti western-type wordless choruses thrown in for good measure!  The song selections range from melodic and atmospheric ("Maria Elena", "Charade", "Samba de Orpheu" "December's Child") to downright zany ("Up Cherry Street" & "Acapulco 1922")!  

"Comin' in the Back Door" would be the group's first and highest-charting single.

And don't let the fake mustaches and sombreros fool you, this band was about as Mexican as a Burrito Bowl from Taco Bell!

RATING: 4 Frito Banditos out of 5

Number NEIN!

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - "Herb Alpert's Ninth" (1967) - A&M Records

Hello Friends,

Poor Tiki T. is feeling a little under the weather tonight so to "warm" things up we're listening to some Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass on the old turntable!

As the title implies, this is Senor Alpert's ninth record with the Brass.  Unlike what the title (and cover art) implies, this is NOT a record of Latin-themed Beethoven covers!  Most of the songs are pretty lively and shrill in the typical Herb Alpert-style like the top 40 hit, "A Banda", Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", "The Love Nest", "The Happening", "Flea Bag" and a medley from Bizet's opera, "Carmen."

There's also some more subdued tracks like the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends" and Judy Garland's-on-Nyquil, "The Trolley Song".

The highlight of this record, however, is Alpert's solemnly exotic tribute to songwriter & guitarist Ervan "Bud" Coleman who died earlier in the year. 



Well, that blows!

RATING:  3.5 rusty trumpets out of 5

Whip it good!

Suddenly, her lactose intolerance went from being "mildly inconvenient" to downright uncomfortable.

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream and Other Delights



Hello friends!

This 1965 LP boasts one of the most iconic album covers of any era! 

The music is loungey Mexican-stripper music featuring Herp Alpert's "famous trumpet." [wink, wink]

The title track, in fact, was used as the theme song for "The Dating Game".

The cream-covered model on the cover, in case your were wondering, was a young woman named Dolores Erickson.  She seems nice.

Anyways, she worked out much better than the first model.  [after the jump]