The Lonely Bull | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | December 1962 | |||
Recorded | Conway, Hollywood, California | |||
Genre | Pop, easy listening | |||
Length | 30:07 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Producer | Herb Alpert Jerry Moss | |||
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Lonely Bull | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Lonely Bull, released in 1962, is the debut album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. It was produced to follow up on the success of the band's first single The Lonely Bull (El Solo Torro) .
Most of the tracks on the album were geared toward the TJB's Mariachi sound. There were also a few cover versions of popular songs, a trend which would grow in their next two albums, Volume 2 and South of the Border .
"Limbo Rock" covered a novelty dance song that had been a calypso-style hit by Chubby Checker. "Struttin' With Maria" was later used as the theme for a TV game show called Personality, hosted by Larry Blyden. The tune "Acapulco 1922" uses the old song "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" (by Seymour Brown and Nat D. Ayer, 1911) as a starting point, with a mariachi spin.
Unlike the single of the same name, The Lonely Bull album did not sell well, at least not immediately. However, with the band's subsequent releases, the album enjoyed a long chart life. It premiered at number 132 on the Billboard Top LPs chart on November 27, 1965, and remained on the chart for 132 weeks, into June 1968. It reached No. 10 for two weeks in March and April 1966.
For the week ending May 21, 1966, four years after its release, The Lonely Bull was one of five Tijuana Brass albums listed in the top 20 of Billboard Magazine’s chart of Top LP’s. The others were What Now My Love (2), Going Places (4), Whipped Cream & Other Delights (8), and South of the Border (17). [2]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "The Lonely Bull (El Solo Toro)" | Sol Lake | 2:29 |
2. | "El Lobo" (The Wolf)" | Harry Green, Sol Lake | 3:00 |
3. | "Tijuana Sauerkraut" | Herb Alpert, Jerry Moss | 2:44 |
4. | "Desafinado" | Antônio Carlos Jobim, Newton Mendonca | 3:42 |
5. | "Mexico" | Boudleaux Bryant | 2:36 |
6. | "Never On Sunday" | Manos Hadjidakis, Billy Towne | 2:38 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Struttin' With Maria" | Herb Alpert | 2:10 |
2. | "Let It Be Me" | Gilbert Bécaud, Mann Curtis, Pierre Delanoë | 2:55 |
3. | "Acapulco 1922" | Dave Alpert (as Eldon Allan) | 2:38 |
4. | "Limbo Rock" | Billy Strange | 2:05 |
5. | "Crawfish" | Sol Lake, Elsa Doran | 2:20 |
6. | "A Quiet Tear (Lágrima Quieta)" | Herb Alpert | 2:23 |
The album was originally issued in both mono and stereo versions, though the stereo version essentially had the mono version on the right channel with a separate solo trumpet track on the left. Because of this, critics have noted that when listened on headphones, the stereo album sounds excessively "heavy" on one side. This led many later fans to prefer the mono version.
The original stereo version of the album has since been reissued on the Shout! Factory music label.
The mono version of the title track, "The Lonely Bull," can be found on the Herb Alpert compilation Definitive Hits.
Herb Alpert is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, five of which became No. 1 albums; he has scored 14 platinum albums and 15 gold albums. Alpert is the only musician to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 as both a vocalist and an instrumentalist.
Volume 2 is the second album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, known in this recording as "Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass". It was released in 1963 on A&M Records, and sold poorly upon initial release.
"Spanish Flea" is a popular song written by Julius Wechter in the 1960s with lyrics by his wife Cissy Wechter. The original version was recorded by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass in 1965. Cover versions of the song have been recorded by dozens of artists worldwide.
Whipped Cream & Other Delights is a 1965 studio album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, called "Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass" for this album, released on A&M Records. It is the band's fourth full album and arguably their most popular release.
South of the Border is the third album by American easy listening brass band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, originally released in 1964. The name of the group, for this album, is "Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass".
What Now My Love is the sixth album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, released in 1966. It remained at #1 on the Billboard Album chart for nine weeks, the longest of any album released by the group. The cover photo, an outtake from Alpert's 1964 South of the Border album, features model Sandra Moss at the Patio del Moro apartment complex in West Hollywood.
Going Places is the fifth album by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. It was originally released by A&M Records in 1965 and has appeared in many formats.
S.R.O., is an album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, released in 1966. The title stands for "Standing Room Only," which is a term used to describe a sold-out performance where all the available seats are taken and only standing room remains. The album features the hit singles "Work Song" and "Mame," as well as other popular tracks such as "Flamingo" and "Our Day Will Come." It was the seventh album released by the group and reached #2 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Julius Wechter was an American musician and composer who played the marimba and vibraphone. He also played various percussion instruments. He composed the song "Spanish Flea" for Herb Alpert and was leader of the Baja Marimba Band.
"This Guy's in Love with You" is a hit song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and released by Herb Alpert in May, 1968. Although known primarily for his trumpet playing as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, Alpert sang lead vocals on this solo recording, which was arranged by Bacharach. An earlier recording of the song by British singer Danny Williams with different lyrics titled "That Guy's in Love" appeared on Williams' 1968 self-titled album.
The Beat of the Brass is the tenth album by the popular instrumental group Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, released in 1968. It was the last album by the Tijuana Brass to be released in both mono and stereo versions; all albums afterward would be released in stereo only.
"Milord" or "Ombre de la Rue" is a 1959 song, famously sung by Édith Piaf.
"The Lonely Bull (El Solo Toro)" is a song by Sol Lake recorded by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass among others. The song was the title track to the album The Lonely Bull, released in December 1962. The Herb Alpert single represents the first release on A&M Records. Its original title was "Twinkle Star".
"Mexico" is the title of a 1961 instrumental recording by American bassist, orchestra leader, and Rockabilly Hall of Fame member Bob Moore. The song was written by Boudleaux Bryant. Moore was a noted session musician in the 1950s and 1960s who worked with Elvis Presley, Pat Boone, Roy Orbison, and Brenda Lee, among others.
The Beatles in Mono is a boxed set compilation comprising the remastered monaural recordings by the Beatles. The set was released on compact disc on 9 September 2009, the same day the remastered stereo recordings and companion The Beatles were also released, along with The Beatles: Rock Band video game. The remastering project for both mono and stereo versions was led by EMI senior studio engineers Allan Rouse and Guy Massey.
"A Banda " is a composition by Chico Buarque that was first performed live in 1966 by Buarque and Nara Leão, during the II Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) Festival in TV Record's theater, São Paulo, winning the "Viola de Ouro" award for best composition. "A Banda" brought Buarque immediately into the limelight in Brazil. The song was also released in 1966, on the Brazilian RGE label, as the first track of side 1 in Chico Buarque de Hollanda LP.
Fandango is a studio album by American musician Herb Alpert released on A&M Records in April 1982 with catalog number SP-3731.
Warm is a 1969 album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. It reached number 28 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Summertime is a 1971 album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. It consists of tracks assembled by Alpert's A&M Records label and was released during Alpert's hiatus from performing that occurred between the albums The Brass Are Comin' (1969) and You Smile – The Song Begins (1974).
Coney Island is a 1975 studio album by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, the second release that was billed as "Herb Alpert & The T.J.B." It followed the 1974 release of You Smile – The Song Begins. Both albums reflected personnel changes from the Brass that was disbanded after 1969's The Brass Are Comin'.