Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass FAQ
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1. Herb and the band
2. Recording trivia
3. Album releases
4. Album trivia
5. Song trivia
6. Chart trivia
7. A&M Records trivia
8. TV appearances
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1. HERB and THE BAND:
Q. When was Herb Alpert born?
A. He was born March 31, 1935, in Los Angeles.
Q. Who were the members of the Tijuana Brass?
A. The band was not formed until after the WHIPPED CREAM album was released, when demands for live shows made a “real” band a priority. The band members were:
Herb Alpert – Trumpet, vocals
Tonni Kalash – Trumpet
Bob Edmondson – Trombone
John Pisano – Guitar
Nick Ceroli – Drums
Lou Pagani – Piano
Pat Senatore – Bass
This group disbanded in 1969.
In 1974, Herb recorded a new album, YOU SMILE – THE SONG BEGINS, and formed a new band to tour behind it. The second band was known as “Herb Alpert & the T.J.B.” The lineup for this band underwent a few changes for the next album, CONEY ISLAND.
The musicians on YOU SMILE were:
Herb Alpert: Trumpets
Bob Edmondson: Trombone
Bob Findley: Trumpets
Dave Frishberg: Piano
Julius Wechter: Marimba
Vince Charles: Steel Drum/Percussion
Lani Hall: Vocals
Nick Ceroli: Drums
John Pisano: Guitar
Ernie McDaniels: Bass
For the CONEY ISLAND album, Nick Ceroli, John Pisano and Ernie McDaniels were replaced with:
Steve Schaeffer: Drums
Peter Woodford: Guitar
Papito Hernandez: Bass
(Other session players no doubt played parts in BOTH LPs)
A third incarnation of the group convened to tour after Herb released the BULLISH album in 1984. This album had been recorded mostly by Herb and keyboardists John Barnes and Derek Nakamoto. The album was really a Herb Alpert solo record, but it did carry the Tijuana Brass name on the cover. The BULLISH tour group included:
Herb Alpert: Trumpet
Nick Ceroli: Drums
Bob Edmondson: Trombone
Bob Findley: Trumpet
Jimmy Imperial: Guitar
Ken Kaplan: Trumpet
Sal Macaluso: Piano
John Patittucci: Bass
John Pisano: Guitar
Julius Wechter: Marimba/Percussion
Lani Hall: Vocals
Q. Is Herb Alpert Mexican?
A. No, he is an American citizen of Jewish descent.
Q. Were there any Mexicans in the Tijuana Brass at all?
A. No. There were several Italians though!
Q. How did Herb get started in the music business?
A. (from Wikipedia) He began trumpet lessons at about the age of 8 and played at dances as a teenager. After graduating from Fairfax High School in 1955, he joined the U.S. Army and frequently performed at military ceremonies. After his service to the Army, he tried his hand at acting, but decided to pursue 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 2 years.
At the dawn of his music career, Alpert co-wrote (along with Lou Adler) early rock and roll hits such as “Wonderful World” and “Only Sixteen”.
His recording career began at RCA under the name of Dore Alpert. He also produced Dante & the Evergreens hit “Alley Oop” and Jan & Dean. In 1962, Alpert and his business partner Jerry Moss founded their record label, A&M Records.
After much experimentation, he took a song, “Twinkle Star,” written by his friend Sol Lake and added bullfight noises to it, creating “The Lonely Bull” and scoring his first hit.
Q. How many of the members of the Tijuana Brass are still alive today?
A. Herb Alpert, Bob Edmondson, John Pisano and Pat Senatore are still with us. Departed band members are:
Tonni Kalash- b. 6/15/37, d. 5/15/01; Age 63
Lou Pagani- b. 11/6/27, d. 10/19/98; Age 70
Nick Ceroli- b. 12/22/39, d. 8/11/85; Age 45
Q. What’s Herb Alpert doing now?
A. These days he’s concentrating mainly on his art, which he has been involved with for years. An exhibition of his sculptures titled “Herb Alpert: Spirit Totems” was on display in New York in 2004, and he continues to experiment with abstract painting. He was also personally involved with the 2005 reissues of the Tijuana Brass albums, writing an introduction for each album and overseeing the LOST TREASURES collection. His latest musical work has been to revamp the WHIPPED CREAM AND OTHER DELIGHTS album with a group of remixers and electronica artists. The word RE-WHIPPED has been added to the title, and the results were released on March 7, 2006.
Q. How can I contact Herb Alpert?
A. You might try:
Herb Alpert Foundation
31930 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA 90265
…but there are no guarantees that he will read and/or respond to your letter.
2. RECORDING TRIVIA
Q. Did any of the group members play on the early albums?
A. Records are incomplete, but we know John Pisano played guitar on the WHIPPED CREAM album. We also know that Bob Edmondson played on every TJB album. The rest of the band joined up when the group started doing live shows in 1965.
Q. Who played on the records besides the TJB band members?
A. Some of the names we know are:
Carol Kaye – Bass (played on at least the WHIPPED CREAM album)
Hal Blaine – Drums (played on everything up through GOING PLACES, at least)
Ervan “Bud” Coleman (played guitar, mandolin and banjo through the NINTH album)
Julius Wechter (played marimba, xylophone, vibes and percussion on all of the Tijuana Brass albums)
Other studio musicians probably also played on most (if not all) of the albums, as needed by Herb to get the sound he was looking for.
Most “experts” agree that not all of the band members played on the albums, even after the band was formed. Since Herb Alpert played all of the trumpets heard on record, Tonni Kalash apparently did not play in the studio — and if he did play, he just did so as a counterpart to Herb, who would then go back and dub in his own second trumpet part. There are various sources (including the liner notes of the new TJB CD releases) stating that Herb used session musicians to get the exact sound he wanted.
Q. Who played the marimba, xylophone and vibes on the albums?
A. That would be Julius Wechter, who played on all the TJB albums but was not a credited member of the group. However, Julius was a member the second incarnation of the band, known as the “T.J.B.,” for two albums in the mid 1970s. Julius died February 1, 1999 at the age of 63.
Q. Who played the other instruments you don’t normally associate with the TJB, such as banjo, mandolin, etc.?
A. Most of the string instruments were played by “Bud” Coleman, who also helped Herb with arrangements. Other instruments heard, such as clarinet, saxophone, etc. were played by various studio musicians who were contracted as needed.
Q. Who were the TJB’s songwriters?
A. TJB albums usually consisted of covers of several hits of the day, plus showtunes and several originals by Alpert’s stable of writers. The most prolific of the TJB’s writers were: Sol Lake (writer of the band’s first hit, “The Lonely Bull” and several other notable tunes); Julius Wechter (marimba player and writer of “Spanish Flea,” “Brasilia” and others) and Ervan “Bud” Coleman (writer of “Tijuana Taxi” and others). Herb Alpert also wrote several tunes himself, and John Pisano and Bob Edmondson also contributed.
Q. Did any other A&M artists, like Sergio Mendes, play on the TJB albums?
A. Pete Jolly played electric piano on “This Guy’s In Love With You.” Burt Bacharach’s orchestra played on that tune and also on “Casino Royale.” Lani Hall (Herb’s wife) contributed vocals to a few TJB songs and was a member of the later “T. J. B.” band. To our knowledge, Sergio Mendes did not play on any of the Tijuana Brass albums.
Q. Did Herb Alpert play trumpet on other artists’ albums?
A. Yes, too many to mention here. He played trumpet, sang or produced on various other albums by such artists as Lani Hall (his wife), Rita Coolidge, Michel Colombier, the Baja Marimba Band, and others. Herb coproduced all of the Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 albums but did not play or sing on them.
Q. Is that Herb Alpert playing the trumpet on the Carpenters’ “Close to You?”
A. No, that’s Chuck Findley.
Q. Is that Herb Alpert playing trumpet at the end of B.J. Thomas’ “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on my Head”?
A. No. Chuck Findley again.
3. ALBUM RELEASES:
Q. Why is VOLUME 2 not available on CD when all of the other popular TJB albums are?
A. Herb Alpert expressed his dissatisfaction with the sound of that album, calling it “metallic.” The album was a relatively poor seller compared to the rest of the TJB catalog, and not really representative of the definitive TJB sound. Alpert has said he would like to revisit the album at some point and try to remaster it with a “warmer” sound but that’s as close as we are to an actual release. The original 1988 CD release of the album can occasionally be found on eBay or other online sellers, but be prepared to pay high prices! If you don’t mind buying the album as an authorized download, it is available as of Feb. 2, 2007 on iTunes.
Q. What were the original release dates of the TJB albums?
THE LONELY BULL * – December 1962
VOLUME 2 **** – 1963
SOUTH OF THE BORDER * – February 1964
WHIPPED CREAM & OTHER DELIGHTS * – April 1965
GOING PLACES * – October 1965
WHAT NOW MY LOVE * – May 1966
S.R.O. * – December 1966
SOUNDS LIKE… * – June 1967
HERB ALPERT’S NINTH * – December 1967
THE BEAT OF THE BRASS * – May 1968
CHRISTMAS ALBUM * – December 1968
WARM ***** – July 1969
THE BRASS ARE COMIN’ **** – 1969 (Original CD release in Japan only)
GREATEST HITS ** – 1970
SUMMERTIME *** – 1971
SOLID BRASS ** (compilation) – 1972
FOURSIDER ** (compilation) – 1973
YOU SMILE – THE SONG BEGINS *** – 1974
CONEY ISLAND *** – 1975
GREATEST HITS VOL. 2 ** – 1977
BULLISH ** – 1984
CLASSICS VOL. 1 ** (compilation) – 1987
DEFINITIVE HITS * (compilation) – 2001
LOST TREASURES * (collection of tracks recorded from 1963 to 1974) – February 2005
WHIPPED CREAM AND OTHER DELIGHTS – REWHIPPED * – March 7, 2006
* = currently available on CD
** = Previously released on CD but now out of print
*** = never released on CD (yet!)
**** = Previously released on CD, now available exclusively on iTunes
***** = Never released on CD but now available exclusively on iTunes
Q. What were the original CD release dates of the various albums?
A. The first six TJB albums plus THE BEAT OF THE BRASS and CHRISTMAS ALBUM were released in 1988 when record companies were scrambling to get their catalogs out on CD. S.R.O. and THE BRASS ARE COMIN’ were released soon after that in Japan, but never in the U.S. All of the various compilations have been released on CD at some point, but none (except DEFINITIVE HITS) is available today.
Q. Where can I write to encourage the release of VOLUME 2 and other albums on CD?
A. Please don’t write to anyone. Post your desires on the A&M Corner message board. People from the Herb Alpert organization are aware of our board and they know what people want. Letter-writing campaigns are really a waste of time because the machine will move at its own pace. Patience will be rewarded!
Q. Will the unreleased albums ever see the light of CD?
A. Herb Alpert owns and controls the masters and thus he has the final say of when (and whether) the unreleased albums will be released on CD. Along with the currently-available albums as listed above, you can buy VOLUME 2, WARM, and THE BRASS ARE COMIN’ as downloads from iTunes. Cover art for those albums will be available from A&M Corner within the coming days.
Q. Will there ever be a Herb Alpert box set?
A. One has been discussed, but nothing definite has been announced yet. We’re confident such a set will surface at some point. According to our contacts at Shout!Factory, some “pretty major” CD projects are scheduled for 2007 and 2008, so a box set might be among those plans. Stay tuned.
Q. Do any live concert recordings of the Tijuana Brass exist?
A. Probably a few, but concert recordings were not as prevalent (or as high quality) in the 1960s as they are today, so the chance of their release is slim. Discussions are being held about releasing the TJB’s TV specials on DVD, so at least some live performances may surface someday.
Q. Is there enough material in the vault for a LOST TREASURES PART 2?
A. Very likely. The TJB is known to have recorded several tunes for TV specials that have never surfaced on albums; there are supposedly several Sol Lake songs that are still in the can; mono and single versions of various songs, quite different from their LP counterparts, are known to exist; and the 1970s “T. J. B.” edition of the band was rumored to be working on a third album when Herb split the group. So there should be more than enough material available to continue the flow of TREASURES, should Herb decide to open the vaults again.
4. ALBUM TRIVIA:
Q. Is it true the model on the WHIPPED CREAM cover was pregnant at the time of the photo shoot?
A. Yes, Delores Erickson was three months pregnant at the time.
Q. Is that really whipped cream covering Delores on the WHIPPED CREAM cover?
A. No, it’s shaving cream. Whipped cream would melt under the hot studio lights. Also, if you look close, a good share of the “cream” is actually a white blanket.
Q. Is it true that the WHAT NOW MY LOVE album was a “gold” record before it was even released?
A. Yes. In those days, charts and sales figures were compiled by adding up dealers’ orders, and the WHAT NOW album had amassed orders of over a million copies before it was released.
Q. How many variations of the WHAT NOW MY LOVE album are there?
A. At least four versions are known to exist on vinyl. The first version has the regular (non-striptease) version of “Plucky.” (See the separate entry under “Song Trivia” for more information on “Plucky.”) The second version of the album has a drier-sounding mix and the striptease “Plucky.” The third version has the dry mix, and the regular version of “Plucky.” There is also at least one “hybrid” version of the album out there that combines the characteristics noted above. The CD releases of the album seem to feature the same mix of “Plucky” as heard on the second version of the album. The song “Brasilia” is also different – on the LP releases, a three-note trombone riff is heard leading into the melody, and a very short trumpet riff is present in the middle of the first verse. Both of these bits are missing from the CD versions of the album. All of these anomalies are probably due to the records being made from different masters at different times and at different pressing plants.
Q. I notice on the album covers, the group’s name changes from “Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass” to “Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass” and back again. Why is this?
A. We don’t know, but here is a theory. The first album was credited to “Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass,” it is true. The next three albums are credited to “Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass,” probably because the real band didn’t exist yet, so the sound was credited solely to Herb Alpert. By the time of the fifth album, GOING PLACES, a real band was in the process of being formed so the entity was renamed “and the Tijuana Brass.” This is just a guess, but it makes some kind of sense.
Q. If Herb disbanded the group in 1969, who played on the SUMMERTIME album?
A. We don’t have musician credits for that album, but it’s likely several (if not all) members of the band played on it. The album was probably not all recorded at the same time, but was assembled from various sessions. You could almost call it the first “Lost Treasures” collection!
5. SONG TRIVIA:
Q. What is the shortest tune in the TJB’s repertoire?
A. Short-time honors go to two tracks, “Green Peppers,” from WHIPPED CREAM, and “Julius and Me” from LOST TREASURES, each of which runs 1 minute 32 seconds. (“Green Peppers” is listed as 1:31 on some LP pressings.)
Q. OK then, what is the longest tune?
A. If you consider the whole TJB catalog including the two 1970s albums, the long-shot honors go to “Carmine,” from the CONEY ISLAND album, at 5:32. Considering only the catalog of the original TJB, the longest tune is “The Sea is My Soil,” which opens the WARM album. Its running time is four minutes, 30 seconds.
Q. Who are the singers on “Hello Dolly,” “Mame” and “Talk to the Animals?”
A. As you might expect, Herb and the band-members do the honors, with almost everyone around the studio at the time (including a maintenance man) joining in on “Mame.”
Q. Is it true there is more than one version of the song “Plucky?”
A. Yes. The Shout!Factory and A&M CD issues of the WHAT NOW MY LOVE album both contain the version known as the “striptease” version of “Plucky.” In this version, the song breaks in the middle and a slow, sexy vamp plays for a few bars, only to revert back to the original rhythm for the ending of the song. This version of the song appears on some LP variations of the WHAT NOW MY LOVE album, but not all.
Q. Is there more than one version of the song “Numero Cinco?”
A. Sort of. Some LP pressings of the SOUTH OF THE BORDER album have a short spoken intro before this song. The intro is on the 1988 CD version of the album, but is left off of the 2005 CD version. The main body of the song, however is the same on all versions.
Q. Is the single version of “Zorba the Greek” really a live recording?
A. No. The applause and audience reactions on the record (plus some echo effects) were added to an edited version of the studio recording.
Q. The song “A-Me-Ri-Ca” on the VOLUME 2 album sounds like it was recorded at a party or something. What gives?
A. No “live” recordings of the Tijuana Brass have been released; the party noises on “A-Me-Ri-Ca” (and several other songs in VOLUME 2) were added after the tune was recorded in the studio.
Q. Where can Herb be heard speaking on Tijuana Brass songs?
A. Several places: He says “OK now – everybody clap!” on “In A Little Spanish Town” (from SOUNDS LIKE). He says “Terrific, terrific” at the end of CHRISTMAS ALBUM’s “The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle.” His slowed-down voice intones “Oh yeah!” during “Third Man Theme” from GOING PLACES, and his whispered voice says “Robbers and Cops – Take one” at the beginning of that song, on THE BRASS ARE COMIN’. And, his voice might be heard doing the “five, six, seven, eight” countdown during “Flowers on the Wall,” from LOST TREASURES – but some fans feel that’s not Herb’s voice.
Q. Who is the voice yelling “Hah!” and other exclamations on several of the TJB songs?
A. Opinions on this vary, but most people think most of those shouts came from Bob Edmondson, who was a big contributor to the band’s humor and onstage personality.
Q. Who says “Oh yeah!” during “The Third Man Theme”?
A. Most agree it is the voice of Herb Alpert, slowed down.
Q. Who is the female vocalist on “The Lonely Bull?”
A. This fact has not surfaced yet, and it is not revealed in any of the liner notes of the albums. Maybe someday…
Q. What is that little bit of sound at the very beginning of “Walk, Don’t Run” (from GOING PLACES)?
A. That’s the sound of John Pisano’s fingers sliding down the neck of his guitar. This can be heard on the Shout!Factory edition of GOING PLACES but was edited off of all earlier versions of the song.
Q. Did Herb ever do any singing for other A&M artists’ albums?
A. Yes. He appears on quite a few Lani Hall songs (not surprising, since he’s married to Lani and produced many of her records); and he can be heard singing on the Baja Marimba Band’s “Goin’ Out the Side Door” on their BAJA MARIMBA BAND RIDES AGAIN album. Herb sings “All In All” on the Michel Colombier WINGS album, which he also produced.
Q. When were the songs on LOST TREASURES recorded exactly?
A. Unfortunately, Herb Alpert didn’t include that information in the album’s notes, possibly because some information was misplaced in the 30-plus years since the songs were recorded. Here’s what we know (or can deduce):
– Five songs on the album (“Up Cherry Street,” “I Can’t Go On Living, Baby, Without You,” “Alone Again Naturally,” “Promises, Promises,” and “I Might Frighten Her Away,”) originally appeared in slightly-different versions on the 1974 album YOU SMILE – THE SONG BEGINS. ”
– (They Long to Be) Close to You” was recorded in 1968 as a possible followup to “This Guy’s In Love With You.”
– “Fire and Rain” and “Whistlestar” were probably recorded in 1974 and could have been part of the aborted third “T.J.B.” album. “Popcorn” was probably recorded around this same time.
– “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” was probably recorded around 1970 during the sessions that produced the SUMMERTIME album.
We have to rely on speculation and guesswork to determine the rest of the recording dates. Many songs’ dates can be guesstimated by comparing the “sound” of the song to other tunes Herb recorded. “Happy Hour,” for example, sounds like it could have been on the NINTH or SOUNDS LIKE albums.
Q. Is there really a film with “Tijuana Taxi” and “Spanish Flea” as its soundtrack?
A. Yes. The film is animated and was released in 1966. The running time is 6 minutes. The film was directed by John Hubley and won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Subject in 1967. The film is out of print today. (Details in this answer courtesy of the Internet Movie Database)
6. CHART TRIVIA:
Q. How many hit singles did Herb have with the Brass?
A. Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass had numerous hits on the Billboard charts in the US. The following is gleaned from Joel Whitburn’s books on the subject:
3 singles in the Top 10
6 singles in the Top 20
14 singles in the Top 40
28 singles in the Top 100
There were 7 more singles that “Bubbled Under”, just missing the Top 100.
Q. What were the chart positions of the TJB albums?
A. Here is a list of Herb’s Billboard chart rankings, from Joel Whitburn’s Record Research:
Pos = the chart position reached by the album
Wks = the number of weeks the single was on the chart
Date = the date the single first charted
In the case of a #1 album, the number in parentheses tells how many weeks the album was at #1.
Date…..Pos…….Wks…Title
1/26/63 24 49 The Lonely Bull
6/12/65 1(8) 141 Whipped Cream & Other Delights
11/6/65 1(6) 107 Going Places
12/18/65 6 52 South Of The Border
3/5/66 17 13 Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass Volume 2
5/21/66 1(9) 59 What Now My Love
12/17/66 2(6) 38 S.R.O.
6/10/67 1(1) 36 Sounds Like
12/30/67 4 18 Herb Alpert’s Ninth
5/18/68 1(2) 28 The Beat Of The Brass
7/19/69 28 7 Warm
12/9/69 30 5 The Brass Are Comin’
This list does not include Herb’s solo albums, several of which charted.
Note: Herb’s reworking of the WHIPPED CREAM album, WHIPPED CREAM & OTHER DELIGHTS – RE-WHIPPED, rose to #2 on the Contemporary Jazz charts after its release in early 2006.
Q. What was the best-selling TJB album?
A. Probably WHIPPED CREAM AND OTHER DELIGHTS, which spent 8 weeks atop the Billboard album charts and was on the chart for 141 weeks. The WHAT NOW MY LOVE album was on top of the charts a bit longer (9 weeks) and sold more units “out of the box,” but was only on the chart for 59 weeks. Our contacts with Shout!Factory have told us that WHIPPED CREAM is the best seller among the newly-issued Brass CDs.
Q. What was Herb’s best selling single?
A. During the TJB years, the honors go to “This Guy’s In Love With You,” which was the first #1 single for Herb Alpert, A&M Records and songwriter Burt Bacharach. However, Herb’s best-selling single of his whole career is “Rise,” which was released in 1979, after the TJB era.
Q. What Tijuana Brass singles hit the Hot 100 charts?
A. Here’s a list of all of the TJB’s Billboard chart singles.
Pos = the chart position reached by the single
Wks = the number of weeks the single was on the chart
Date = the date the single first charted
Pos…Wks…Date…….Title
96 01 03/30/63 Marching Through Madrid
85 05 06/27/64 Mexican Shuffle
84 06 05/18/74 Fox Hunt
78 05 03/29/69 Zazueira
77 05 03/28/64 Mexican Drummer Man
77 08 03/10/73 Last Tango In Paris
74 04 10/17/70 Jerusalem
72 06 04/20/68 Cabaret
68 10 02/20/65 Whipped Cream
63 06 05/31/69 Without Her
51 06 08/31/68 To Wait For Love
51 06 01/13/68 Carmen
47 06 09/11/65 Third Man Theme
45 06 12/14/68 My Favorite Things
38 08 12/25/65 Tijuana Taxi
37 05 03/11/67 Wade In The Water
35 06 09/09/67 A Banda
32 05 07/08/67 The Happening
28 06 09/03/66 Flamingo
27 07 03/19/66 Spanish Flea
27 09 04/08/67 Casino Royale
24 08 03/19/66 What Now My Love
19 08 11/19/66 Mame
18 08 07/02/66 The Work Song
11 12 12/25/65 Zorba The Greek
07 16 09/25/65 A Taste Of Honey
06 14 10/27/62 The Lonely Bull
01 14 05/18/68 This Guy’s In Love With You
Note: “This Guy” was credited simply to Herb Alpert on its label.
7. A&M RECORDS TRIVIA:
Q. What do “A” and “M” stand for?
A. The “A” is, of course, Herb Alpert. The “M” is Jerry Moss, who is still Herb’s business partner today. Herb and Jerry started A&M Records in order to release Herb’s “The Lonely Bull” single in 1962. Their initial startup costs were about $500. They sold A&M to Polygram International in 1992 for $500 million. Not a bad return on investment!
Q. Is Herb Alpert the best-selling artist on A&M Records?
A. No. We don’t have sales figures available, but the best-selling artist on the label is probably Carpenters.
Q. Does A&M Records still exist today?
A. The record company was sold to Polygram International, and then later Polygram was folded into the Universal Music umbrella. The A&M label imprint is now owned by Universal Music. Several artists, including Richard Carpenter, Black-Eyed Peas, Pussycat Dolls and others are still signed to A&M Records, but the company is now mainly a shadow of its former self.
8. TV APPEARANCES
Q. What TV specials did the Brass appear on?
A. Tijuana Brass TV specials included:
– “Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass,” aired in the spring of 1967 on CBS and sponsored by Singer. The special was re-run on NBC on Nov. 24, 1967.
– “The Beat of the Brass,” aired April 22, 1968 on CBS and was sponsored by Singer.
“The Brass Are Comin'” aired October 25, 1969, on NBC, sponsored by BankAmericard.
– “Herb Alpert & The T.J.B.” aired sometime in 1974, on ABC, and was sponsored by Sentry Insurance. This show featured the re-formed Brass, while the other specials featured the original band.
Q. Did Herb and the Brass appear on other TV shows?
A. Yes. A list of shows they were on will appear here eventually. Herb’s most notable TV appearance outside of the TJB specials was probably when he hosted the Midnight Special in 1975. The show featured selections from the CONEY ISLAND album, a medley of TJB hits, a solo performance of “Wheelers and Dealers” by Lani Hall, two TJB tunes “Desert Dance” and “Neverland” that have never otherwise seen the light of day, and performances from other A&M acts including Captain and Tennille, Supertramp, Joe Cocker, and non-A&M act Phoebe Snow.
Herb’s most recent TV appearance was on the Tonight Show on March 16, 2006; he appeared with Ozomatli and they performed “Love Potion #9” from the new WHIPPED CREAM & OTHER DELIGHTS – REWHIPPED album.
Q. Are there any DVDs or videos of TJB’s TV specials available?
A. Not at this time, but such releases are being considered by Shout!Factory, the same label which released the TJB albums on CD.
FAQ written by Mike Blakesley with contributions from Rudy (your host), Harry Neyhart, Mr. Bill, Captain Bacardi, Bob Papp and other members of the A&M Corner community. Please post corrections, additions or additional questions to the Herb Alpert/Tijuana Brass forum at A&M Corner.
Updated: Feb. 7, 2007