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- Apr 9, 2018
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So did I. People forget -- or for younger people, never knew -- just how popular he and the Tijuana Brass were back then. His first hit (#6 on charts) was "The Lonely Bull" in 1962. The lp itself, and the next two or three, didn't sell all that well, until they came up with a "concept album", South of the Border, IIRC.
By the mid-sixties, they were everywhere, including in a famous series of commercials:
And of course, on The Dating Game.
Their music was enjoyed by young and old, even by those who pretended they didn't. At one point, of the top ten albums on the charts, five were by them.
It wasn't until 1968 that they had a number one single, though, and that was an unusual one: Herb was singing! It was a song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David:
Shortly afterward, he dissolved the band, being dissatisfied with his own progress as a musician, and "retired" -- from playing at least; his co-founded A&M Records continued to sign artists-- especially those who didn't fit in with other companies.
His other number one single didn't come until 1979; musical tastes and styles had changed, and he changed with them:
He's still going strong -- and still touring-- at age 87!
Oh, BTW: he -- and everyone else -- acknowledges that the cover on the Whipped Cream album had a lot to do with the rise in popularity of the band. 😄
(As it happened, the model was heavily pregnant at the time, and needed extra "whipped cream" to disguise the fact)
On a personal note, I first learned to "growl" my sax from this:
By the mid-sixties, they were everywhere, including in a famous series of commercials:
Their music was enjoyed by young and old, even by those who pretended they didn't. At one point, of the top ten albums on the charts, five were by them.
It wasn't until 1968 that they had a number one single, though, and that was an unusual one: Herb was singing! It was a song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David:
His other number one single didn't come until 1979; musical tastes and styles had changed, and he changed with them:
He's still going strong -- and still touring-- at age 87!
Oh, BTW: he -- and everyone else -- acknowledges that the cover on the Whipped Cream album had a lot to do with the rise in popularity of the band. 😄
(As it happened, the model was heavily pregnant at the time, and needed extra "whipped cream" to disguise the fact)
On a personal note, I first learned to "growl" my sax from this:
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