a producer (Jan and Dean’s “Baby Talk”), and as an actor: blowing a ram’s
horn in The Ten Commandments, but deciding that acting was not for him.
In 1960, he became a recording artist in his own right: signed to RCA
Records by trumpet legend Shorty Rogers and recording as “Dore Alpert.”
In 1962, Alpert found his sound and struck paydirt. Experimenting in his
garage studio on a reel-to-reel tape deck, he played a tune written by a
friend, layering in a mariachi horn arrangement and the excited cheers of
a crowd watching a Tijuana bullfight. With a new partner, Jerry Moss, a
music promotion man from New York City, Alpert released the single on a
fledgling record label they established together. “The Lonely Bull” by
“The Tijuana Brass featuring Herb Alpert” – single #703 on A&M Records –
shot into the Top Ten before the year ended.
The ensuing chapter from the Herb Alpert story is now inextricably woven
into the tapestry of popular ’60s culture. The sound of the Tijuana Brass
proved as ubiquitous – and profitable – as that of the best-known music-
makers of the era, on a par with the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
Hit singles and albums seemed to pour out effortlessly on the A&M label, as
Alpert continued to craft the TJB sound. Frequent use of his tunes on
television and Hollywood soundtracks only amplified the overall impact.
