Great music badly rendered
T. J. M. Klerk | Amsterdam, the Netherlands | 12/31/1999
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Either you like Herb Alpert or you don't. It's that simple. I do. Ever since I heard his "Lonely Bull" theme in the early sixties. I treasure my record albums since most of them are still not available on CD. This album was supposed to be replacing the oldest Alpert LP album in my possession. Finally without any clicks and hiss. Unfortunately not so. The clicks are gone, but a lot of tape hiss was added. A great opportunity lost. I have copied the CD tracks to my PC, removed the constant hiss and re-recorded it. Now *that*'s an improvement. But I think the CD is not near the LP original in quality."
Down Mexico Way
W. J. Bernardi | Austin, Tx USA | 09/24/1998
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Herb Alpert's first album is an excursion into quasi-mariachi music. Trumpet lines in 3rds, mandolins, acoustic guitars, and percussion fills this record. And most of it is pretty good. It also contains a bit of jazz with "Desafinado" (where Alpert trades solos with marimba player Julius Wechter) and "Crawfish", which has Herb playing a hot muted trumpet solo. "Limbo Rock" is calypso romp. "Never On Sunday" is beautifully arranged. And the title tune is mesmerizing. A very good start for Herb and the TJB."
The first album by this musical legend still sounds great!
W. J. Bernardi | 11/21/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is Herb Alpert's first LP from 1962, recorded with studio musicians before he actually formed the Tijuana Brass. It's a strong mixture of originals and current hit covers. The remastering is better on this CD than any other Tijuana Brass disc yet released. The sound is sparkling throughout. It's the stereo version of the LP that's on this CD, and some fans may recall that the mono and stereo mixes were a little different. There is a little added instrumentation on the stereo version of some tracks. I do wish that the mono version of the title track was available somewhere, though, because the stereo mix sounds like the whole song on one channel and a trumpet overdub on the other."