Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass Showcase Special (1967)

Herbert "Herb" Alpert (born March 31, 1935) 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.


Here we have some clips from a 1967 television performance. Good stuff.


1) The Lonely Bull - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass



2) What Now My Love? - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass



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.[1] As of 1996, Alpert had sold 72 million albums worldwide.[2][3][4] 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).


3) A Taste Of Honey - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass



4) Flamingo - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass



Alpert set up a small recording studio 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.

5) The Magic Trumpet - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass



6) Up Cherry Street - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass



7) Spanish Flea - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana 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 Games 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 charts 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.