Customer Reviews

A&M Gold Series

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Others have expressed surprise at some of the song choices on this import CD called GOLD SERIES 2 for Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. Looked at by itself, it IS rather surprising to see such choices as "Mexican Road Race" and "Third Man Theme." These were not hits after all, so what are they doing on a hits compilation?

Well they ARE great tunes - and this disc is only half of a two-disc set as originally conceived. In 1991, PolyGram, the new owners of the A&M Records back catalog, decided to mine those older records by putting out a series of discs called the GOLD SERIES in Europe and Japan. Australia got a similar series called STARTRAX.

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, originators of the A&M label, got two discs, since I suppose one wasn't felt to be long enough to hold all of the great songs. Somehow though, in label consolidation and titles going in and out of print since then, this title, Volume #2 in the set survived. Perhaps it was the more popular of the two, since it contains Herb's standout vocal on "This Guy's In Love With You." Though it was indeed Volume 2, nowhere on this disc is that designation found. Thus it seems that the powers that be decided it was good enough to stand on its own.

For the curious, the rarer and harder-to-find Volume 1 contained these tracks: The Lonely Bull / What Now My Love / Tijuana Taxi / The Maltese Melody / Bittersweet Samba / Casino Royale / Flamingo / Zorba The Greek / Our Day Will Come / The Girl From Ipanema / My Favorite Things / Wade In The Water / Spanish Harlem / So What's New / Without Her.

Harry from amcorner.com

Whoever heard of a Tijuana Brass compilation without "The Lonely Bull"? I didn't actually notice that the "Bull" was absent until I was listening to this disc. You don't really miss it though because there are so many great tunes here anyway. This West German collection leads off with "A Taste of Honey", the first of 15 classic cuts from Herb Alpert & The TJB. I'm not sure what warrants the track listing of this particular disc. Maybe these are the biggest hits of the TJB in West Germany. Then again, maybe like some American compilations, it could be more of a random sampling. One selling point to American consumers on this disc is the inclusion of two songs that have yet to have a CD release in the US: "Mexican Road Race" and their 1967 top 30 cover of The Supremes' "The Happening". It also contains "Third Man Theme" which has not been on any "best of" collection before. I think the sound quality is just a notch better than what we've gotten on "Greatest Hits", "Foursider", "Classics" and the like. It's just a little bit cleaner with a little deeper bass and not quite so much background hiss. The differences are subtle however. No liner notes but still I recommend this disc to the Alpert completist.

No matter what they put on these "Best Of..." CD's, it's just not enough. Where's the box set A & M? Now that Alpert and Moss no longer run the label they created, many of the old guard of the label are given no respect by the "new guard." And since the old albums are short, two to two and a half albums could fit on one CD! They had only twelve or thirteen albums. That's a five or six CD box set. So make it limited edition guys...I think there are a lot of TJB fans out there just waiting for such a set. Stop with the slap and dash "Best Of's..." and give us "The Works!!"

I must say that if your a Herb Alpert TJB fan, this is definately for you. I has many of the popular songs from his albums along with the Third Man's Theme and Mexican Road Race which are two of my favorites. I guarantee, that if you love his music, you definately will love this one. Thanks Herb Alpert for letting us enjoy your wonderful talent all rolled into one CD!

With a great and popular group like the Tijuana Brass, it's hard to make a single disc spotlighting their biggest and best songs. But I have to tell you, this is well worth the buy!

One thing you may notice is that "The Lonely Bull" is absent from the list; but wait a second! Have you ever had a TJB CD with "The Happening", "Mexican Road Race", and "The Third Man Theme"? It surprises me that since two of these songs did fairly well on the charts, they never appeared on an American compilation. "The Happening" propelled into the top forty and "The Third Man Theme" just missed it.

If you think that DEFINITIVE HITS is all their is to buy, take a look at GOLD SERIES. After all, DEF HITS is hardly definitive and this CD is well worth it.

Buy this and let your musical ears be in glory!

This music takes you back to that (largely nonexistent time) when things were fun, life was good, people were nice and the sun shined all the time. I loved this group growing up and they still bring a smile to my face. Not the most `high brow' music, not very intellectual, but uplifting, decent, positive and fun. The arraignments may strike modern ears as simple and a bit thin, but think of them as basic and efficient. Too bad you can't hear a sample.

Hard to believe that Herb is 70 now.

Would also make a plug for the "South of the Border" cut, which is actually my favorite of the record. Grabs you and lifts you along, inspiring horn harmony.

Marvelous news that the original albums are going to be reissued starting in February.