{"id":3534,"date":"2011-08-20T23:53:16","date_gmt":"2011-08-21T06:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=3534"},"modified":"2011-08-20T23:53:16","modified_gmt":"2011-08-21T06:53:16","slug":"herb-alpert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/herb-alpert\/","title":{"rendered":"HERB ALPERT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

HERB ALPERT<\/h1>\n

A master of the trumpet and music business alike reflects and looks ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By Bill DeMain<\/strong><\/p>\n

With a career of nearly five decades behind him, legendary trumpeter Herb Alpert still takes the same approach to reinterpretation that he always has. \u201cI like to do songs that are familiar, then put my own little twist on them,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s no fun in doing them the way they\u2019ve been done before.\u201d He takes just that approach on his first studio album in a dozen years: I Feel You<\/em>, a jazzy collaboration with his wife, former Brasil \u201966 vocalist Lani Hall. Together the duo reinvents classics from the Beatles (\u201cHere Comes the Sun\u201d) to bossa nova (\u201cBerimbau\u201d) to Broadway (\u201c\u2019Til There Was You\u201d), bending them into delightfully unexpected shapes.<\/p>\n

Alpert\u2019s familiarity-with-a-twist style has served him well. In the 1960s, he and his group the Tijuana Brass turned everything from \u201cA Taste of Honey\u201d to \u201cZorba the Greek\u201d into crossover hits and sold more than 6 million copies of their landmark 1965 album Whipped Cream & Other Delights<\/em>. By the time Alpert hit No. 1 in 1969 with his vocal debut, \u201cThis Guy\u2019s in Love With You,\u201d he\u2019d racked up several Grammys and been cited in the Guinness World Records <\/em>for placing five albums in the Top 20 simultaneously.<\/p>\n

Alpert extended his unique philosophy into the music business when he and partner Jerry Moss founded A&M Records in 1962, the same year Alpert released his classic debut single, \u201cThe Lonely Bull.\u201d Home to superstar acts such as the Carpenters, Cat Stevens and the Police, A&M was known for its artist-friendly environment. \u201cJerry and I were not greedy guys,\u201d Alpert says. \u201cWe loved to treat artists fairly.\u201d Alpert and Moss sold the company in 1989 and formed a new label, Almo Sounds, five years later. More recently Alpert has helped found Artists House Music, an interactive education site for musicians. He also continues to pursue his passions for painting, sculpting and, of course, the trumpet. \u201cI\u2019m looking for the same thing in everything I do,\u201d he says. \u201cThat lyrical feeling, that thing that touches the soul.\u201d We caught up with the Chicago native to discuss music, business and the bullfight that changed his life.<\/p>\n

What sparked the new album?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The simple answer: I enjoy playing. Lani and I have a group, and we\u2019ve been doing concerts for the last three years. We made a live album about two years ago called Anything Goes<\/em> and we had a great response to that, so we thought we\u2019d do a studio album as well.<\/p>\n

What was your approach?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My parameter for everyone I record with is \u201cDon\u2019t think.\u201d That\u2019s the key, man. When we started recording, I told the drummer, Michael Shapiro, \u201cI don\u2019t want to hear any backbeats on this record.\u201d He looked at me like a deer in the headlights. (laughs<\/em>) I just didn\u2019t want that incessant two-and-four bang you hear on most fusion records. Sometimes you can do more interesting, creative work when you set parameters like\u00a0that at the outset.<\/p>\n

What do you feel are the pluses and minuses of digital recording?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You have to be careful, because you can oversanitize a recording very easily. Suddenly you find that you\u2019ve got umpteen tracks to fiddle with and all sorts of gadgets to keep you in tune and to replace parts. I\u2019m totally aware of the spontaneity of music, and I\u2019m OK with minor mistakes that happen within a song. A song has to breathe organically to touch me\u2014and if it can touch me, then it can touch others as well. I\u2019m from the old school. I want somebody to stand at a mic and sing and play. Let\u2019s hear what they have to say. That\u2019s something I learned from working with Sam Cooke back in the early \u201960s.<\/p>\n

What was Sam like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sam was always listening for the feel. He wanted his records to have honesty. I remember when he was cutting \u201cFor Sentimental Reasons\u201d and the owner of the record company was in the control room. After a playback, he said to Sam, \u201cListen, you\u2019ve got all these opportunities to put in a bunch of \u2018Whoa-whoas.\u2019\u201d Sam\u2019s previous hit, \u201cYou Send Me,\u201d had a bunch of \u201cWhoa-whoas.\u201d Sam simply said, \u201cHey, you can\u2019t just put a \u2018Whoa-whoa\u2019 in whenever you want. You got to feel <\/em>it!\u201d (laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n

What inspired \u201cThe Lonely Bull\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was the spring of 1962, and I saw a matador named Carlos Arruza at a bullfight in Tijuana. I came home to L.A. and started experimenting in my little garage studio, trying to capture the excitement and visual power of Arruza. I played the tune for a few people but didn\u2019t get a terrific reaction. I\u2019d overdubbed my horns, but the song needed an extra hook. So I came up with the idea of adding in the yells from a bullfight. An engineer friend of mine had a tape of 20,000 people at a bullfight, recorded live in Mexico. The record got some local radio play and really took off from there. With \u201cThe Lonely Bull,\u201d I realized the power of making visual instrumental music.<\/p>\n

Why do you believe Whipped Cream & Other Delights<\/em> was such a hit?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a lucky stroke. Our distributor in New Orleans played the song \u201cWhipped Cream\u201d for me over the phone. It was written by Allen Toussaint for Al Hirt, but Hirt turned it down. There was something unique about it\u2014and that song was the catalyst to a concept album. Jerry always liked continuity in an album, a theme. So it was his idea to have all food titles: \u201cPeanuts,\u201d \u201cTangerine\u201d and so on. \u201cA Taste of Honey\u201d was the song that really took us to another dimension.<\/p>\n

How did you come to sing \u201cThis Guy\u2019s in Love With You\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a question I like to ask songwriters: \u201cIs there one magical song you have in your drawer that you have a special feeling about but has never had its day?\u201d I was looking for a song for a television special I was doing [The Beat of the Brass<\/em>, 1968]. So I asked Burt Bacharach that question, and he sent me \u201cThis Girl\u2019s in Love With You,\u201d with Dionne Warwick singing. She had cut it, but it wasn\u2019t a hit. I fell in love with the melody and asked [Bacharach\u2019s co-writer] Hal David if he\u2019d make some modifications on the lyric\u2014change the gender and adapt it to the TV show. He agreed. And it wasn\u2019t my idea to sing. Honestly, I was reluctant at first. It was Jack Haley Jr., the director of the show, who convinced me. I just had to\u00a0find the right song.<\/p>\n

Why did you sign the Carpenters?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I got their demo tape and used the Sam Cooke method, which was to close my eyes and listen. The speakers were in front of me, about 10 feet from the couch, but Karen Carpenter\u2019s voice seemed to be sitting right next to me. I was intrigued. It wasn\u2019t the type of music I would go out of my way to listen to, because I was coming from Miles Davis and Charlie Parker. But they had a certain honesty that was beautiful, and her voice was extraordinary. I said, \u201cI want to sign them.\u201d Done deal. We didn\u2019t need board members to raise their hands in a meeting. We made decisions quickly, that was the beauty of A&M.<\/p>\n

What about Cat Stevens? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Boy, there\u2019s a guy who was really on his own planet. First time I heard him was at the Troubadour in L.A. This was after he was already a success in the U.K. It was just him and a guitar, but he could captivate you with his unique voice and his songs. His passion was overwhelming.<\/p>\n

And the Police? <\/strong><\/p>\n

They were signed out of London. Then they came over and did a performance at the Whiskey A Go-Go in L.A. I remember thinking, \u201cHere are three guys on stage, and they sound like eight!\u201d Sting was bouncing around the stage like he was on a pogo stick. The songs were terrific, and each member brought a unique\u00a0element to the sound.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a day in your life like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I get up around 6. I\u2019ll read for a while, go in the studio and play the horn, then paint. I like to get on the computer, check email, the news and various websites. I also sculpt. I do these huge bronze sculptures. I live on the right side of my brain about 80 percent of the time. I think about creating. That\u2019s what I love to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HERB ALPERT A master of the trumpet and music business alike reflects and looks ahead By Bill DeMain With a career of nearly five decades behind him, legendary trumpeter Herb Alpert still takes the same approach to reinterpretation that he always has. \u201cI like to do songs that are familiar, then put my own little […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[2433,1634,970],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3534"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3536,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3534\/revisions\/3536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}