Herbert "Herb" Alpert (born March 31, 1935 in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician most associated with the Tijuana Brass, a now-defunct brass band of which he was the leader. He is also famous for being a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records (a recording label he and then partner Jerry Moss founded and eventually sold).
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. As of 1996, Alpert had sold 72 million albums worldwide.
Alpert began trumpet lessons at about the age of eight and played at dances as a teenager. After graduating from Fairfax High School in 1952, he joined the U.S. Army and frequently performed at military ceremonies, settling on a career in music once he got out. He was a member of the USC Trojan Marching Band for two years as a student. He graduated with a BM in 1954.
In 1957, he teamed up with Lou Adler, and co-wrote songs over the following two years that became top twenty hits, including "Baby Talk" by Jan and Dean, "Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke, and "Alley-Oop" by Dante and The Evergreens. He set up a small recording studio in his garage and was overdubbing a tune called "Twinkle Star" when, during a visit to Tijuana, Mexico, he happened to hear a mariachi band while attending a bullfight.
Following the experience, Alpert recalled that he was "inspired to find a way to musically express what [he] felt while watching the wild responses of the crowd, and hearing the brass musicians introducing each new event with rousing fanfare." He adapted the trumpet style to the tune, mixed in crowd cheers and other noises to create ambiance, and renamed the song, "The Lonely Bull." He paid out of his own pocket to press the record as a single, and it spread through radio DJs until it caught on and became a Top Ten hit in 1963. He followed up quickly with an album of "The Lonely Bull" and other titles became known as The Lonely Bull by Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass. The Tijuana Brass were actually studio musicians. The title cut reached #6 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart. This was also A&M's first album but was recorded at Conway Records.
By the end of 1964, due to a growing demand for live appearances by the Tijuana Brass, Alpert auditioned and hired a team of crack session men. No one in Alpert's band was actually Hispanic. The band's style was adopted by American bands as well, most notably Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire. In 1967, the TJB did the title cut to the first movie version of "Casino Royale." Alpert's only number one single during this period (and the first #1 hit for his A&M label) was a solo effort "This Guy's in Love with You" (written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David), featuring a rare vocal. Alpert disbanded the Tijuana Brass in 1969, but released another album by the group in 1971.
In the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, 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 of 1979 and won a Grammy. It also made Alpert the only solo artist ever to hit #1 on the Billboard charts with both vocal and instrumental pieces. From 1962 through 1992 Alpert signed artists to A&M Records and produced records.
For his contribution to the recording industry, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Alpert and Moss were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 13, 2006 as non-performer lifetime achievers for their work at A&M. Alpert continues to play his trumpet and devotes time to his second career as an abstract expressionist painter and sculptor with shows around the U S, and as a Broadway theatre producer. His production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America won a Tony award. And it all started in his garage. Find out more at: http://www.herbalpert.com/
Research info provided by: www.wikipedia.org
Visit my e-zine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
and perosnal blog: http://www.copyat5.blogspot.com/
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. As of 1996, Alpert had sold 72 million albums worldwide.
Alpert began trumpet lessons at about the age of eight and played at dances as a teenager. After graduating from Fairfax High School in 1952, he joined the U.S. Army and frequently performed at military ceremonies, settling on a career in music once he got out. He was a member of the USC Trojan Marching Band for two years as a student. He graduated with a BM in 1954.
In 1957, he teamed up with Lou Adler, and co-wrote songs over the following two years that became top twenty hits, including "Baby Talk" by Jan and Dean, "Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke, and "Alley-Oop" by Dante and The Evergreens. He set up a small recording studio in his garage and was overdubbing a tune called "Twinkle Star" when, during a visit to Tijuana, Mexico, he happened to hear a mariachi band while attending a bullfight.
Following the experience, Alpert recalled that he was "inspired to find a way to musically express what [he] felt while watching the wild responses of the crowd, and hearing the brass musicians introducing each new event with rousing fanfare." He adapted the trumpet style to the tune, mixed in crowd cheers and other noises to create ambiance, and renamed the song, "The Lonely Bull." He paid out of his own pocket to press the record as a single, and it spread through radio DJs until it caught on and became a Top Ten hit in 1963. He followed up quickly with an album of "The Lonely Bull" and other titles became known as The Lonely Bull by Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass. The Tijuana Brass were actually studio musicians. The title cut reached #6 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart. This was also A&M's first album but was recorded at Conway Records.
By the end of 1964, due to a growing demand for live appearances by the Tijuana Brass, Alpert auditioned and hired a team of crack session men. No one in Alpert's band was actually Hispanic. The band's style was adopted by American bands as well, most notably Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire. In 1967, the TJB did the title cut to the first movie version of "Casino Royale." Alpert's only number one single during this period (and the first #1 hit for his A&M label) was a solo effort "This Guy's in Love with You" (written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David), featuring a rare vocal. Alpert disbanded the Tijuana Brass in 1969, but released another album by the group in 1971.
In the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, 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 of 1979 and won a Grammy. It also made Alpert the only solo artist ever to hit #1 on the Billboard charts with both vocal and instrumental pieces. From 1962 through 1992 Alpert signed artists to A&M Records and produced records.
For his contribution to the recording industry, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Alpert and Moss were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 13, 2006 as non-performer lifetime achievers for their work at A&M. Alpert continues to play his trumpet and devotes time to his second career as an abstract expressionist painter and sculptor with shows around the U S, and as a Broadway theatre producer. His production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America won a Tony award. And it all started in his garage. Find out more at: http://www.herbalpert.com/
Research info provided by: www.wikipedia.org
Visit my e-zine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
and perosnal blog: http://www.copyat5.blogspot.com/
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