Lost Treasures

Herb Alpert, Herb Alpert,tijuana Brass

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 8, 2005)
• Original Release Date: February 8, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Shout Factory
• ASIN: B000771T1U
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #44,838 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

• This item is part of The Herb Alpert Signature Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The debut entry in a 2005 series that sees the reissue, repackaging and remastering of the entire Herb Alpert/Tijuana Brass catalog, Lost Treasures collects 22 tracks that were either never released or available on obscure, unsuccessful albums. Compiled by Alpert who contributes fascinating liner notes and overdubbed a few horn parts that hadn’t been preserved through the decades, this is not only a labor of love, but a remarkably cohesive hour-long listening experience. It is also far from a haphazard collection of throwaway material. All of these tunes are finished and would have comfortably slotted on one of Alpert's dozen or so 1960s releases. Modified versions of standards such as "Tennessee Waltz" and often radically rearranged pop hits of the day from James Taylor, The Beatles and Gilbert O'Sullivan comprise the majority of the disc. Alpert also plunges into the fertile Bacharach/David songbook that yielded a number one hit with "This Guy's in Love With You." The aborted followup single of "Close to You" that appears here, was handed over to the Carpenters. Throughout, the Brass' sunny, south of the border jazz-pop retains its innocent, upbeat, bright-eyed appeal. The lack of specific personnel or recording dates doesn't detract from this surprisingly successful collection of "leftovers" that ultimately stacks up as one of Alpert’s most diverse and enjoyable albums. --Hal Horowitz

Product Description
22 Previously Unreleased and Rare Recordings That Are Just as Good as the Hits!

The first album by the original Tijuana Brass lineup in 30 years, Lost Treasures compiles previously unreleased tracks and hard-to-find rarities, hand-picked by Alpert himself. Herb Alpert was so prolific in the ’60s that tons of great songs got left behind in the vaults. Many are interpretations of songs by pop music’s greatest writers, including James Taylor’s "Fire and Rain" and The Beatles’ "And I Love Her." Other standouts include Cat Stevens’ "Whistlestar," written specifically for Alpert, and Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s "(They Long To Be) Close To You," which, after recording it himself, he felt was better suited to a new A&M act called The Carpenters. This song, like the other 21 gems here, has been newly mixed and mastered.

Each album in the Herb Alpert Signature Series features meticulously remastered sound, deluxe packaging, detailed liner notes, and an intro by Herb Alpert containing personal recollections and anecdotes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At long last, a new Tijuana Brass album!, April 24, 2005

By	Harry Gene Neyhart "hgn2001" (North Wales, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A fixture on the music scene in the '60s, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass racked up many hits, and many fans along the way. Those of us who've remained loyal have been rewarded with this new LOST TEASURES album, a wonderful album of new material from the legendary Tijuana Brass.

The songs are leftovers and half-finished recordings from Herb and the boys way back when, newly finished off by Herb with some new trumpet parts and remastering by Bernie Grundman. Some are well-known tunes like Spanky and Our Gang's "Lazy Day" and the Burt Bacharach classic "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head", while others are unfamiliar songs by Herb himself, longtime sidemen Julius Wechter and John Pisano, and label-mate Cat Stevens.

Completist fans will recognize five of the tunes as having been released before on a less-than-successful '70s album called YOU SMILE - THE SONG BEGINS. Two other tracks had come out before on lesser-known singles, but that still leaves fifteen wonderful "new" songs by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass.

Since getting this album back in February, I've scarecely had it out of my CD player!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome Addition to the Herb Alpert Catalog, February 17, 2005

By	Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Shout Factory has done a superb job of reissuing Herb Alpert's A&M catalog and this generous helping of mostly previously unissued tracks is just the icing on the cake. [Or should I say whipped cream?] The twenty-two songs on LOST TREASURES were recorded between 1962 and 1972 and they all hold up well alongside tracks from classic albums like The LONELY BULL and WHIPPED CREAM AND OTHER DELIGHTS. [The former has already been reissued, the later is forthcoming.]

There are a couple of originals hear ("Tradewinds" and "Speakeasy"), but most of the tracks are covers of popular tunes of the era given the Tijuana Brass treatment. In addition to four Bacharach-David songs (notably "(They Long To Be) Close to You," a big hit for labelmates The Carpenters), Alpert also covers James Taylor ("Fire and Rain"), The Beatles ("And I Love Her") Cat Stevens ("Whistlestar") and even Gilbert O'Sullivan ("Alone Again (Naturally)").

Even before Alpert's rise to fame with the TJB, he was a writer (notably "Wonderful World," which he co-wrote with Sam Cooke and Lou Adler), a producer (with Adler he produced Jan & Dean's first hit "Baby Talk") and record executive (he formed A&M Records with Jerry Moss). Over a two-year period from 1965 to 1967, Alpert and the TJB placed a dozen hits in the Top 40. If you enjoyed hits like "A Taste of Honey," "Tijuana Taxi" and "Spanish Flea," this album is a goldmine. Enjoy! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brass Blast from the Past, February 8, 2005

By	Morgan Broman (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In the 1960s, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass provided the background music at a million parties thrown by the parents of the baby boom generation. The kids, hooked on rock and roll, generally thought it was music for squares. The kids were wrong. Herb and his band had an easy groove that sounds pretty hip today. This release, "Lost Treasures," gathers up 22 rare and unreleased cuts that did not make the nine or so LPs the Tijuana Brass released in the 1960s. There are some real finds here; "Flowers on the Wall" takes the country classic and sets it swinging, "Popcorn" (yes, the early '70s synthesizer annoyance) becomes a neat workout for the rhythm section, "Killing me Softly" becomes a samba - perfect for a summer night, "Tennessee Waltz" is transformed into a near-Dixieland march, even "Fire and Rain" loses it's maudlin feel and becomes a breezy toe-tapper. Herb Alpert has always been underrated as an instrumentalist, and here he sweetly stamps his unmistakable trumpet style on songs well-known and obscure. This is not an exercise in nostalgia - Herb worked on this Shout Factory! release (all of the Tijuana Brass CDs will be newly remastered for release) and added a few overdubs where needed to finish a cut. His work is rewarded - "Lost Treasures" stands stands with Alpert's best work. My Dad was a huge Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass fan - he wore out 2-3 copies of each new release. He would have loved this disc.