Music Smarts

We dip once again into the Bonzai Vaults for this 1989 interview with trumpeter and record company executive Herb Alpert. Alpert reflects on his humble beginnings, his lucky breaks, his work as a musician, the artists he helped to develop, and the evolution of an incredibly successful record company in an era that will never return. Shortly after the interview, Alpert and A&M partner Jerry Moss sold their company to Polygram Records for a reported sum of approximately $500 million.

Herb Alpert at Bernie Grundman Mastering in 1999. Photo by Mr. Bonzai.

©1989 by David Goggin, all rights reserved
no reproduction without written permission from mrbonzai@mrbonzai.com

In 1962, Herb Alpert emerged from his little garage studio with a moody blend of melancholy trumpet, bullfight cheers, and dreamy ahh-ahh girls. “The Lonely Bull” launched a career that has racked up 72 million records to date, seven Grammy Awards, and five Number One albums.

If we listen back to his Greatest Hits we find that sound effects and graphic instrumentation were trademarks of many tunes: from the oogah horn of “Tijuana Taxi” to the clapping, whistling and party animals of “America.” “A Taste of Honey” features drummer Hal Blaine’s solitary “bomp, bomp, bomp” and that brassy “boowah” — what a sample! In the Summer of ‘65, not everyone was acting “Like a Rolling Stone” — a lot of folks did the funky chicken and frugged carelessly to “Whipped Cream.” The records are straightforward — we’ve got concept here with sonic imagery and impeccable musicianship.

A&M Records, co-owned by Herb and partner Jerry Moss, has been home to a rather diversified group of chartbusters over the past three decades: Cat Stevens, The Carpenters, Peter Frampton, Supertramp, The Go-Go’s, The Police, Bryan Adams, Janet Jackson, Joan Baez, Quincy Jones, Joe Cocker, the Captain and Tennille, Billy Preston, Suzanne Vega and more than enough gold records to rock a trade balance.

When we arrive at A&M, we pass through the gates of an old movie studio where Charlie Chaplin once called it home. The guard politely directs us down a tree-lined pathway to a rustic little bungalow. If we’re lucky, the softspoken Mr. Alpert might open up.

To read the entire interview, click Alpert_Herb_1989.