What's Your Favorite Herb?

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What's Your Favorite Herb?

1) "The Lonely Bull" 4 votes

2) "A Taste of Honey" 3 votes

3) "Zorba the Greek" 1 votes

4) "Tijuana Taxi" 2 votes

5) "What Now My Love" 0 votes

6) "Spanish Flea" 2 votes

7) "The Work Song" 0 votes

8) "Flamingo" 1 votes

9) "Mame" 0 votes

10) "Wade In The Water" 0 votes

11) "Casino Royale" 1 votes

12) "The Happening" 0 votes

13) "A Banda (Ah Bahn-da)" 0 votes

14) Other (please specify) 2 votes

Edgy MD
Jan 14 2017 08:47 PM

Herb Alpert was a phenomenon back in the sixties. Fronting a brass-and-guitar combo that produced catchy, tastefully ethnic, dad-music instrumentals, he put out a remarkable amount of records. He'd regularly appear in the top 40, but far more peaked in the back half of the Hot 100, but they kept coming and coming. Recognizing a similar spirit in hard working Jerry Moss, they founded a label out of the garage and produced enough to gobble up similarly hard-working, similarly smarmily good-looking, tasteful sophisticated artists like Quincy Jones and Burt Bacharach, ride to the big time, and by the seventies become as powerful as any of the major labels, signing breakthrough rock big shots like Styx, The Police, and Joe Jackson.

But harkening back to the sixties, he was the sound funny horn ditties. And that's what we're looking at—just his sixties instrumental catalog. Feel free to go off ballot, but you may choose from:

1) "The Lonely Bull" (#6, 1962)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]16B5Xm8_IKw[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

2) "A Taste of Honey" (#7, 1965)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]LGmQXuySF28[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

3) "Zorba the Greek" (#11, 1965)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]_Rz5Z5t4B7g[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

4) "Tijuana Taxi" (#38, 1965)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]HfG5Nftpp4I[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

5) "What Now My Love?" (#24, 1965)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]f2XOSJY-_KU[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

6) "Spanish Flea" (#27,1966)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]5Z0pP8FqYvk[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

7) "The Work Song" (#18, 1966)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]cV5h6h83Yf4[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

8) "Flamingo" (#28, 1966)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]z0Z8RS4O8OA[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

9) "Mame" (#19, 1966)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]mmTjFrm23-A[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

10) "Wade In The Water" (#37, 1967)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]y38RB6BL9iI[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

11) "Casino Royale" (#27, 1967)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]SSEmKXzpQMQ[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

12) "The Happening" (#32, 1967)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]f0I4xIAHdoo[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

13) "A Banda (Ah Bahn-da)" (#35, 1967)
[youtube:3auyc3jf]Z1f3CU9zIds[/youtube:3auyc3jf]

14) Other (please specify)

Lefty Specialist
Jan 14 2017 09:32 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Spanish Flea. My dad had that album for some reason, and I remember it from when I was small. Years later it dawned on me that he and Benny Hill had overlapping tastes in music.

cooby
Jan 14 2017 10:17 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Mom played Herb Alpert all the time. Good night nurse these bring back memories. He was a good looking sucker too wasn't he?

I can't decide!

cooby
Jan 14 2017 10:22 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

WEnt with Zorba in appreciation of the movie clip and also cos I once tried to learn it in Zumba class. Epic fail but love the song

RealityChuck
Jan 14 2017 10:38 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Unfair to make me choose, but I went with Casino Royale, since it's less known.

Interesting tidbit: When he recorded "The Lonely Bull" (originally named "Twinkle Star"; Alpert made it Mexican), he had no recording contract, so created his own vanity record label with his friend Jerry Moss. After they discovered their first choice had already been used, they renamed the label A&M Records.

Yes, that A&M Records.

Alpert and Moss retained ownership until 1989.

Edgy MD
Jan 14 2017 10:45 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

I kind of sum that up in the post, man.

Edgy MD
Jan 14 2017 10:49 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Hey, the four of you who already voted, please re-vote. I edited the poll to add an "Other" category, and that ended up deleting the votes already in the ballot box.

Frayed Knot
Jan 14 2017 11:05 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Can we just vote for favorite album cover instead?

[fimg=500:3kjo50xy]http://www.billboard.com/files/styles/article_main_image/public/media/herb-alperts-tijuana-brass-whipped-cream-and-other-delights-billboard-1548.jpg[/fimg:3kjo50xy]

Mets Guy in Michigan
Jan 14 2017 11:16 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Went for "A Taste of Honey." Was surprised by how many of those I knew -- but had no idea what the names were!

Frayed Knot
Jan 15 2017 12:02 AM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

I figured TASTE OF HONEY going in, but went through the lot to see if there was anything better ... didn't find one so I'll stick with ToH

Ashie62
Jan 15 2017 12:21 AM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

A Taste of Honey. The album is still in the house.

d'Kong76
Jan 15 2017 01:45 AM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

I voted for the The Lonely Bull earlier without comment. I hadn't
listened to the videos, but I'm familiar enough with most of them
to vote without listening to HA&tTB Greatest Hits album today on
youtube to go with TLB.

Song reminds me of sitting in the kitchen listening to WLNA and
eating a soft-boiled egg on white toast before walking to school.

Fman99
Jan 15 2017 02:23 AM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Makes me want to eat chimichangas.

John Cougar Lunchbucket
Jan 15 2017 02:45 AM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

I had some serious stoner roommates who thought Tijuana Taxi was the funniest thing ever. Withholding my vote until I have had a chance to listen to more of these

Edgy MD
Jan 15 2017 03:42 AM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Hard to disassociate "Spanish Flea" from The Dating Game. I"m not sure if that brings it up or down.

My vote is going to the nuanced Brian Wilson arrangements "Flamingo" for now, but I'm soft for the Jesus jazz of "Wade in the Water," too.

Ceetar
Jan 15 2017 04:22 AM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Basil maybe?

Lefty Specialist
Jan 15 2017 11:44 AM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Another one of my favorite Herbs:

[youtube:2zejmbcp]bH4aYU61OIo[/youtube:2zejmbcp]

MFS62
Jan 15 2017 03:06 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Lefty Specialist wrote:
Spanish Flea. My dad had that album for some reason, and I remember it from when I was small. Years later it dawned on me that he and Benny Hill had overlapping tastes in music.

We still have at least one of his albums on vinyl. My wife liked his music.
I voted Spanish Flea, but liked many others of their songs equally as much.*

Later

* = I'm not really comfortable with the construction of that sentence.

cooby
Jan 15 2017 08:11 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Did he do the teaberry shuffle song too?

Edgy MD
Jan 15 2017 08:40 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

A vote just came in from Springfield.

[youtube:1gbsfa0z]c09ewDuzkWw[/youtube:1gbsfa0z]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr
Jan 16 2017 04:17 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Just saw this, and fell down a Herbhole for a good 30-40 minutes.

Like JCL's stoner-coterie, I'm leaning "Taxi," but... I cannot make this decision sober.

Edgy MD
Jan 16 2017 04:35 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote:
Just saw this, and fell down a Herbhole for a good 30-40 minutes.

I live to serve.

Lefty Specialist
Jan 16 2017 07:03 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

The arena at the beginning of 'The Lonely Bull' looks eerily like Shea Stadium for a second or two.....

Edgy MD
Jan 16 2017 08:50 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

"El Toro Solitario" just took a slender lead.

Vic Sage
Jan 17 2017 07:25 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

my brother's name is Herb. Does that count? No? Ok i went with CASINO ROYALE. Its an awful movie, but in a fun way, and that theme song has always stayed with me. 2nd choice: TASTE OF HONEY.

Edgy MD
Jan 17 2017 07:42 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

I wrote last month remarking on the remarkable remarkableness that "Baby, It's Cold Outside" was first performed on film and record by Ricardo Montalban and Esther Williams.

Well, even more remarkabler may be the original recording artist (or at least, the first to record it with lyrics) for "A Taste of Honey":

[youtube]TR7E0go-g8Y[/youtube]

In other words, the Beatles covered Billy Dee Williams.

John Cougar Lunchbucket
Jan 17 2017 08:16 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Rewarding the dignified fanfare, I went with the bull, and also fell into a Herbhole over the weekend. None of these really stands out ahead of the others, or that far behind. I think that's my thing with this guy.

Edgy MD
Jan 17 2017 08:46 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Even after putting this poll together, I still have trouble distinguishing "Tijuana Taxi" from "Spanish Flea."

Edgy MD
Jul 28 2017 07:36 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Holy smokes! A nu Herb Albert joint about to drop!

[youtube:1i1w3rxo]6HLMpsxPXjI[/youtube:1i1w3rxo]

MFS62
Jul 28 2017 10:54 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

I voted Spanish Flea. Is it too late to write in Moford?
Later

RealityChuck
Jul 28 2017 11:45 PM
Re: What's Your Favorite Herb?

Seeing this a second time, I realized my choice would be Carman.

[youtube:1qd3ecvq]tbWQxWjBqio[/youtube:1qd3ecvq]