Posted on 03/12/2013 5:05:04 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Many musicians have gotten their start in garages and, in the tech era, so have many entrepreneurs. But Herb Alpert has the rare distinction of beginning not only a successful career as a musician but a multinational entertainment corporation at the same time in one of them.
"It was a two-car garage that I converted into a studio," Mr. Alpert, 77, said during a telephone interview, recalling the events in his West Hollywood home more than 50 years earlier. "I made a room inside a room, and I was able to go out there at any time, day or night, and blow the horn and not disturb anyone."
That "horn" is the trumpet with which Mr. Alpert climbed the pop charts—first with "The Lonely Bull," the garage recording he made in 1962 after hearing the sounds of a Mexican bullfight, followed by a string of singles in the '60s with his band, the Tijuana Brass. He continued to have sporadic hits in the '70s and '80s, including "Rise," a disco-flavored instrumental work that topped the Billboard pop charts for two weeks in 1979.
Mr. Alpert and his wife, the singer Lani Hall, are currently performing with a backing trio at New York's Café Carlyle through March 16. He says playing in such small venues reconnects him to his musical roots of playing at weddings, bar mitzvahs and sororities before his breakthrough with "The Lonely Bull."
"I get a more sincere feeling out of playing at small, intimate clubs," Mr. Alpert says. "People are right there, and you can see them, and they react. I like to just have that feeling of playing and getting a response."
During this visit, Mr. Alpert will head uptown from the Café Carlyle's tony Upper East Side neighborhood to the Harlem School of the Arts.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I grew up listening to him. Lots of good memories. I’d love to hear him live...
In before the “Whipped Cream” album cover.
Herb Alpert is one of the greats for sure.
In before he’s awesomely amazing, oh, my god!
Unggh
That’s the parody I was thinking of.
As a boy, I spent many hours staring at the cover of “Whipped Cream and Other Delights.”
Remain a player, Herb.
ff
They were (and still are) all wonderful. Why should we make fun of them?? People who found their own way, and succeeded, many times over, by doing something no one else was doing. Isn’t that what we say we want? Lani Hall has a most beautiful voice.
This is my favorite parody. (But I do not acknowledge by this that I think Herb Alpert needs a parody. This is just FUNNY.)
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Don+Bowman+Tijuana+Drum+and+Bugle+Corps&FORM=HDRSC2#
My understanding is the model was 3 months pregnant when this photo was shot. Apparently, someone else was fascinated with her as well.
Herb & Sergio Mendes were my favorites as a young kid.
I had one of those sampler Reel-To-Reel tapes of A&M artists, including Herb, Brasil 66, Wes Montgomery, Jobim......great stuff!
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