Herb Alpert - Keep Your Eye On Me (1987)

"Admit it - if it were your record company, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis would have produced your solo album, too." - Musician magazine

Ya damn right they would have. I might even get my label's current star to sing on a couple of tracks and have a few big late-career hits. But I'd probably use that formula for the whole album. That's not the case here as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis bring their immediately recognizable Minneapolis sound to only 4 of the 10 tracks on the album. The remainder of the tracks are typical '80s Alpert fare, written and produced by Alpert himself or guests such as Albert Hammond and Roy Bittan (I count a total of 7 producer credits on the album). So the album is incredibly uneven moving from new jack swing to instrumental pop and back again, but somehow the variety makes for a pleasurable listen and a musical time capsule direct from 1987. Good, not great, but certainly worth the $1.99 I paid for it.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "an altogether commercial package"
• CashBox: "Amid all the technological razzmatazz, strains of the old TJB brass sound seap [sic] through."
• Musician: "there's never anything condescending about the music here"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #18
• Billboard Contemporary Jazz: #16
• Billboard R&B: #5
• Billboard CD: #29
• CashBox: #16
• Rolling Stone: #29

Tracks: I think the best tune here is the title track (#46 pop, #3 R&B, #3 dance). The bigger hits, though, were Diamonds (#5 pop, #1 R&B, #1 dance) and Making Love In The Rain (#35 pop, #7 R&B, #21 AC); both featuring lead and background vocals by Janet Jackson and Lisa Keith. The other Jam/Lewis tune is titled Pillow and features a vocal duet between Alpert and his wife, Lani Hall. Of the remaining six tracks, my picks are Our Song and Rocket To The Moon. 

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I had given up on new Alpert releases in the early part of the decade and had moved on to albums by other trumpeters, so I didn't purchase this album in 1987. After all, I was a 'serious musician' by that time. What a knucklehead. I would have enjoyed the heck out of this thing back then.

Previously revisited for the blog:

A Portrait In Music (1997)	Beyond (1980)
Passion Dance (1997)	Rise (1979)
Classics, Volume 1 (1987)	What Now My Love (1966)
Magic Man (1981)

Herb Alpert - Magic Man (1981)

Note: the CD I listened to was 1990 Audio Master Plus Series version.

The third album of Alpert's late '70s comeback - instrumental pop with lots of hand claps. It worked for the hit song Rise back in '79, so maybe lightning will strike twice? [spoiler alert: it didn't] There's nothing on this album as good as anything on its predecessor, Beyond. And there was nothing on Beyond as good as Rise. You get the picture. As they mention over at allmusic.com, "The high-flying confidence of Rise and the experimental bent of Beyond began to wear off by 1981, giving way to the more relaxed but musically weaker ministrations of Magic Man." Still, that doesn't mean there's not the occasional good tune scattered among the 8 tracks. Speaking of 8 tracks:

I bought copies of the Rise and Beyond albums in 1980, but wasn't wild enough about Beyond to seek out Magic Man in '81.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "a third exploration of urban pop/r&b rhythms"
• Stereo Review: "if you are a fan of his you won't be disappointed"
• Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide (1985): ★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #61
• Billboard Jazz: #10
• Billboard R&B: #39
• CashBox: #71
• CashBox Jazz: #15
• Record World Jazz: #12

Tracks: The title cut was released as a single and peaked at #22 on the adult contemporary chart, #79 pop. It's one of the better tunes on the album. Manhattan Melody, track 2, is an unabashed disco tune and while it would have been slightly dated in 1981, I dig it now. Then things turn a bit sour. Herb doesn't need autotune, but he doesn't exactly have a great voice. Nonetheless, when you own the record label, you can do whatever you want. In this case, he chooses to sing on I Get It From You, a cover of a wonderful tune from Pages' 1978 self-titled album. It falls flat and is exacerbated by the fact he has Pages sing back up on his version. Stick with the original version. We're also treated to lackluster covers of Besame Mucho and Alpert's own You Smile - The Song Begins. If by chance I had purchased this album in 1981, chances are quite good I wouldn't have listened to side 2 much.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Around the time this album was released in 1981, the high school band would have been starting summer rehearsals and I would have been right there in the heat and humidity of it all. Admittedly I may be remembering incorrectly, but I seem to recall having practice 5 mornings and 1 night each week for the 3 weeks prior to school. Practices focused on learning new music for the year, retraining ourselves how to march, and learning some drill so that we could entertain at halftime at the first football game. There was also a lot of "YOU WILL OBEY" brainwashing going on throughout, but that's a large part of every high school extracurricular activity's hidden curriculum. If all my close friends hadn't been in band, I'm not sure I would have endured that mess even with my love for music. Nonetheless, I tolerated such situations for four years in high school immediately followed by another four years in college so I must have enjoyed something about it back then. But summer band practice really doesn't have much to do with this Herb Alpert album other than coincidental timing and the fact Herbie and I both played trumpet, so never mind. As you were.

Previously revisited for the blog:
A Portrait In Music - Disc One (1997)
Passion Dance (1997)
Classics, Volume 1 (1987)
Beyond (1980)
Rise (1979)
What Now My Love (1966)

Herb Alpert ‎- A Portrait In Music (1997)

THINKING OUT OF THE BOX SET WEEK (MARCH 8 - 14, 2020)*
*In which I've lost/misplaced/can't find/never had one or more CDs in a multi-disc set.

Disc 1 of a 2 CD limited edition career retrospective. No idea where disc 2 ran off to.

Yes, I'm going to voice my usual complaints about non-chronological sequencing in this post. You've been warned.

I wonder about the selections included here - based solely on chart data, this would appear to be a lackluster compilation, but it ain't that bad. Alpert had 46 Adult Contemporary Hits and 19 Top 40 Hits; so there's obviously a wealth of material to choose from but much of that stuff is overlooked for reasons unknown. These tracks skew toward the earlier Tijuana Brass recordings from the '60s (14 of the disc's 22 tracks) and, to me, that sound is entertaining for a bit, but not for an hour. Mostly due to reasons of nostalgia, I'm partial to the '70s and '80s material, but that should come as a surprise to absolutely no one.

I also can't figure out why 1997 seemed like a good time to put out a promo-only compilation and on the Rondor label (one of Alpert's publishing arms), not A&M. Admittedly, I don't know much about publishing rights; I always figured Alpert owned all his own stuff but a man's gotta eat. [shrug]

Alpert played loose with genres - samba, bossa, pop, swing, disco, latin, R&B, smooth jazz, covers, as well his own "Ameriachi" sound with the Tijuana Brass - but to sequence them like they did on this disc doesn't properly serve the material and disrespects the listener with sudden jolts of contrasting production and arranging styles. I love to shuffle tracks as much as the next guy (I still own no fewer than 3 iPod Shuffles - they're around here somewhere, possibly next to disc 2 of this set.), but when it comes to compilations, I've long believed that chronological sequencing is not only easiest, it's the right thing to do.

I'm doing a lot of bitching about this CD, but I'm doing it a disservice with all these negative comments. It's good, I'm just disappointed it isn't as good as it could have been. Coulda woulda shoulda.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Promotional release

Tracks:

Song	Year	Hot 100	AC
The Lonely Bull	1962	6	-
Tijuana Taxi	1965	38	9
Cantina Blue	1966	-	-
Beba	1997	-	-
Slick	1968	-	36
Behind The Rain	1979	-	-
Cinco De Mayo	1965	-	-
So What's New	1966	-	-
Route 101	1982	37	4
Can't Stop Thinking About You	1996	-	-
Rotation	1979	30	23
Bittersweet Samba	1965	-	-
Memories Of Madrid	1966	-	-
Our Song	1987	-	-
Salud, Amor Y Dinero	1964	-	-
Green Peppers	1966	-	-
It's All For You	1985	-	-
El Presidente	1964	-	-
Bo-Bo	1967	-	-
A Beautiful Friend	1968	-	-
Adios, Mi Corazon	1964	-	-
Rise	1979	1	1

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Passion Dance (1997)
Classics, Volume 1 (1987)
Beyond (1980)
Rise (1979)
What Now My Love (1966)

Herb Alpert - Passion Dance (1997)

I gave up on Alpert after Beyond in 1980, so this is a "comeback album" of sorts for me. And I love it: high-energy and Latin-flavored (thanks to the collaboration of bassist/keyboardist/producer Oskar Cartaya). It took me a while to figure out why I like it so much and then it hit me: the flavor/groove of this album reminds me of Spyro Gyra. This ain't TJB or Rise or dance tunes with Janet Jackson; Alpert was moving on and he scored a (lonely) bullseye here. ;-)

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Contemporary Jazz: #7

Tracks: I dig the first nine tracks, especially TKO, Slinky, the cover of Stevie Wonder's Creepin, ¿Qué Pasa Mr. Jones?, and Baila Conmigo (Dance With Me). The final track is an odd updating of Alpert's 1982 Top 40 instrumental, Route 101 and they shoulda left that one alone. It's not terrible, but what's the point?

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Classics, Volume 1 (1987)
Beyond (1980)
Rise (1979)
What Now My Love (1966)

Herb Alpert - Beyond (1980)

Note: this release was originally purchased as an LP, later replaced by a CD.

Herb Alpert recently regained control of his catalog (he had licensed it to Shout! Factory) and on September 9, 2016, he released all of 'em in one fell swoop on his new vanity label, Herb Alpert Presents. The new releases have all been remastered (this one sounds great) and Alpert has released several CDs that Shout! Factory chose not to reissue for whatever reason (like this 1980 release, for example). In any case, I'm glad to have this one for reasons of nostalgia.

Alpert had left behind the cocktail party music of the Tijuana Brass for instrumental disco with his 1979 hit album Rise. Well, if it ain't broke, don't fix it (this adage may be followed more closely in the record industry than elsewhere). On this follow-up to Rise, the production crew is the same and so is the format: mid-tempo instrumentals with a disco feel. In fact, except for the final track, the whole album has a mid-'70s disco feel. Unfortunately, while the production hasn't changed, the songwriting isn't as good as Rise. However, as on Rise, the use of hand claps is prominent throughout the album. So much so, this credit is given:

Alpert, who contributed some tracks to Rise, didn't write any of the pieces on this disc. However, he was the "A" in A&M Records (Jerry Moss was the "M"), so I'm sure he didn't have any problem finding material.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "quite an adventurous trip"
• CashBox: "faithfully duplicates successful recipe"
• Record World: "nine further possibilities for listening and dancing"
• Stereo Review: Recording of Special Merit

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #28
• Billboard Jazz: #6
• Billboard R&B: #26
• CashBox: #32
• CashBox Jazz: #7
• Rolling Stone: #32

Tracks: Let's rank 'em from best to worst:

1. The Factory: The relentless percussion and bass lines churn out a memorable musical representation of a factory and set the backdrop for long, repetitive trumpet lines from Alpert and guitar work from Peter Frampton. Yes, THAT Peter Frampton. I know it all sounds silly but somehow it works.
2. Beyond: (#50 pop, #39 AC, #44 R&B) Here's where the album starts to stretch out and sound a little different. While not leaving the disco realm entirely, this piece sounds more like something Giorgio Moroder would come up with. Lots of synth sequencing. All that's missing is the synth drums.
3. Interlude (For Erica): Now things are looking up. A very beautiful ballad with songwriter Andy Armer on piano. Like much of Armer's work, it is very repetitive, but the repetition works here.
4. That's the Way of the World: A fairly straight ahead instrumental cover of the Earth, Wind & Fire tune. A good choice for a cover.
5. Red Hot: Alpert and the gang keep the momentum going here with an upbeat party tune that is a welcome departure from the disco 16th-notes-on-the-high-hat feel.
6. Kamali: (#64 R&B) Not surprisingly, the lead track is almost the same tempo and feel as Rise, so it's almost too easy to label this formulaic and derivative (but I did it anyway). You can't chase a hit, but they sure give it the college try here. The great Ernie Watts shows up to help out on the bridge and is almost ignored - why didn't he get a solo turn?
7. Keep It Goin': A pseudo-reggae feel backs up a boring melody. The only glitch in an otherwise enjoyable side.
8. Reach for the Stars: After an unaccompanied trumpet intro, this falls into the familiar disco lope with big hand claps on beat 4 of each measure.
9. The Continental: A complete throwaway. If the introduction doesn't turn you off, the repetitive melody will.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: My family moved from West Texas to the Gulf Coast in 1978, but we would go back occasionally to visit friends. One visit must have happened around Christmas 1980 because that's when I remember buying this album at a discount store in Odessa. It was a frustrating experience having a brand new album with no way to listen to it until the vacation was over a few days later.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Classics, Volume 1 (1987)
Rise (1979)
What Now My Love (1966)

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - What Now My Love (1966)

Today is my birthday, so I thought it would be fun to listen to the album that held #1 spot on the Billboard albums chart on the day I was born. Not only did Alpert & the TJB have the top album in that week's issue (June 11, 1966), they had three albums in the top five! I never realized how huge they were back then; I usually naïvely think of the late '60s being all Stones and Beatles, peace and love, baby. But I guess a lot of cocktail parties needed hours of background music and the TJB was there.

I ordered this CD for my birthday last year, but it was back-ordered and I didn't receive it until July so I've saved it in its cellophane until today. The album is characteristic of the TJB's typical "Ameriachi" sound with lots of trumpet duets, strings, and marimba over a samba-ish beat. However, instead of Mexican-themed originals, this album's songs were chosen from the pop charts and Broadway shows. As written in the liner notes, "the album is more piano bar than Tijuana bullring." But, simply put, if you like other music from this group, you'll like this album, too.

Today's trivia: the attractive woman on the album with Alpert is is Sandra Moss, wife of Herb's A&M Records partner Jerry Moss.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #1 (9 weeks between May 28 - Sept 3, 1966)

Tracks:  It's a very brief album, 12 tracks in only 32 minutes. The better cuts are the title track, Memories of Madrid, So What's New (which was used as the theme music for the syndicated pop music television program of the 1960s, The Lloyd Thaxton Show) and Brasilia (which was used as the theme music for the short-lived game show, The Face is Familiar). A few of the songs fall short, including Freckles, It Was A Very Good Year, and The Magic Trumpet. The title track was the album's only Top 40 single, peaking at #24 on the pop chart and #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It also won the Grammy award for Best Instrumental Arrangement.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Classics, Volume 1 (1987)
Rise (1979)

Herb Alpert - Rise (1979)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP, later replaced by a CD, the 2007 reissue with two bonus tracks.

Do you ever consider certain albums to be "summer albums"? These would be albums that you bought or were introduced to during the summer or albums you listen to only during the summer. This is definitely such an album to me. This was listened to quite a bit in the summer of 1980 and then in subsequent summers. Here it is the end of May with a forecast in the mid-90s today, so it's as good a time as any to pull out this CD.

Legend has it that 3M loaned A&M records one of their newfangled digital recorders and this album is the result of Alpert and his nephew playing around with the capabilities of the new technology. Despite Alpert's subpar trumpet tone, this is good instrumental disco music (if such a thing actually exists). I'm not sure if I listen to this now because of the music or for reasons of nostalgia.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "mixes his traditional MOR sound with lunkier, third world influences."
• CashBox: "His patented Latin trumpet sound glides nicely over jazz, disco and pop rhythms."
• Record World: "This LP should zoom up the charts."
• Stereo Review: "perhaps his most glittering achievement so far"
• DownBeat (★): "a soft core disco package. It should be called Sunday Night Torpor."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #6
• Billboard Jazz: #1
• Billboard R&B: #6
• CashBox: #6
• CashBox Jazz: #2
• Rolling Stone: #9

Tracks: As a 13-year-old kid that had just recently taken up the trumpet, I loved all the tracks. I don't skip any tracks, but if I had to pick the stand out tunes, I'd go with 1980 (written for that year's Olympics), the title track, Rotation, and the cover of Joe Sample's Street Life (which rivals the original). At the time, I had no idea that the track Aranjuez (Mon Amour) was a cover of a classic guitar concerto (Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez). I have to admit that it makes a great disco tune. The studio was obviously more of a lab at that time, but I didn't know any better so I thought having pedal steel guitar in a bad calypso arrangement of Procol Harum's Gary Brooker's tune Angelina was a perfectly normal thing to do.

Bonus tracks: The two bonus tracks don't get any mention in the liner notes, but the first is an alternate version of Rotation. It may be me, but I don't think the backing tracks could have been recorded in 1979, so I think it's just Alpert's old trumpet solos over some new backing tracks. The second bonus track is a 2007 dance mix of Aranjuez which is nothing remarkable. Neither bonus track is worth ripping to iTunes. Speaking of iTunes, it is necessary to listen to the CD on iTunes because, for this re-release, the sequencing was changed. As it notes on the CD, "This album has been resequenced by Herb Alpert for this reissue." Why? Doesn't really matter, because I restore the original sequence when I listen.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: So many. I have an image of me mowing the yard in the summer of 1980 at church. I was probably paid $10 and was then able to buy this album. That fall, I started high school and played an above average arrangement of Rotation. I think that song stayed in our folders all four years of high school. I also remember buying the piano/vocal/trumpet sheet music for the title track from Collins Music Center in BC. I'd play the trumpet part on my cornet and thought I sounded better than Alpert. I'm sure I've still got that music around here somewhere. Wow, I just confessed to being a total music geek AND a pack rat. (Update 23 Sept 2013: sheet music found. Lyrics below.)

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Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - Classics, Volume 1 (1987)

Herb Alpert and the TJB have a very distinctive sound. At 25 tracks and over an hour of music, this CD contains a lot of that distinctive sound. I find it interesting that this sound was so popular in the '60s. Alpert doesn't have the clearest trumpet tone or the best singing voice, but it made for great background music at cocktail parties, I guess. Mating calls from the '60s. Warning: might retain potency if served with liquor.

Tracks:

	Title	Year	Pop	EL*
1	The Lonely Bull	1962	6
2	Acapulco 1922	1962
3	A Taste Of Honey	1965	7	1
4	Green Peppers	1965
5	The Work Song	1967	18	2
6	I'm Getting Sentimental Over You	1965
7	Whipped Cream	1965	68	13
8	Lollipops And Roses	1965
9	What Now My Love	1966	24	2
10	Memories Of Madrid	1966
11	This Guy's In Love With You	1968	1	1
12	The Maltese Melody	1969		14
13	So What's New?	1966
14	Spanish Flea	1965	27	4
15	Tijuana Taxi	1965	38	9
16	More And More Amor	1965
17	Jerusalem	1970	74	6
18	Zorba The Greek	1965	11	2
19	Tangerine	1965
20	Mexican Shuffle	1964	85	19
21	Marching Thru Madrid	1963	96
22	Mame	1967	19	2
23	A Banda	1967	35	1
24	Casino Royale	1967	27	1
25	Love Potion #9	1965

*Between the years 1965-1979, Billboard magazine's Adult Contemporary chart was titled Easy Listening.

Certainly The Lonely Bull and A Taste of Honey are fun, as are some of the covers like Zorba the Greek and Love Potion #9. The vocal take on Bacharach's This Guy's In Love With You is a nice change of pace, even if it's not the best version of that song. For pure cheese, check out Mame.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Not any associated with this CD, but the songs on the disc are some of the very first songs I remember hearing on the radio as a young lad. Of course, Spanish Flea reminds me of watching The Dating Game.