I know what at least four or five of you are likely muttering to yourselves right now: ‘Man oh man, is she ever gonna stop with these damn Tijuana Brass albums?!? It’ll be Christmas 2024 by the time this #TuesdaysWithJerry series finally gets to the Police!’
Hopefully not. But, see, the A in A&M Records — whose history I’ve been recounting in tribute to the label’s departed M, Jerry Moss — put out a baker’s-dozen discs before an onslaught of rock stars joined the roster in the early ‘70s. Frankly, I’ve only skimmed the surface, cherry-picking important ones.
Like this pair, also submitted for #vinyltwosdays.
Of all the snazzy sets in Herb Alpert’s ’60s discography, these are the two that might matter most beyond label-launcher ‘The Lonely Bull’ — because ’68 was perhaps his most banner year.
‘The Beat of the Brass’ (upper right), from May, accompanied a widely watched CBS television special from a month earlier, during which Alpert appeared in a proto-music-video singing his signature Bacharach/David song ‘This Guy’s in Love with You’ for the first time, strolling the Malibu beaches with then-wife Sharon. Viewers loved it, and called in to local stations in droves — so not only did Herb and Jerry make it the album’s finale, they put it out as a single.
It soared to the top of the charts, making it the first No. 1 hit for Alpert, A&M and B&D, collectively.
How could I not acknowledge that?
And how could I overlook the TJB’s equally fast-selling Christmas album from the end of ’68? More than a half-century later it’s still a delight requiring no whipped cream.