As Alpert’s renown exploded worldwide, so did the fortune of his record
company. With Moss at the helm of the label’s business dealings and Alpert
steering its musical direction, the label expanded its musical horizons. In
an amazingly short period, the label signed and delivered hit-producing
music by a plethora of popular acts working in a wide range of styles:
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 and Waylon Jennings. The Sandpipers and
Burt Bacharach. Wes Montgomery and Quincy Jones. Procol Harum,
Joe Cocker and Cat Stevens… and many others.
By the end of the decade, facing a schedule crammed with studio
productions, recording deadlines and performances around the country
and overseas, Alpert was understandably tired.
“I had an ‘Ah Ha!’ experience in Germany in 1969, onstage, playing with
the TJB. All of a sudden I saw myself in the third row, and I got into this
idea of, I just want to be comfortable. So I took a trip to Brazil and I
remember sitting at the end of Ipanema Beach, alone on a rock, looking at
these seagulls that were catching the thermals, not moving their wings,
just having a ball. And I said, ‘I want to be free like that.’”
Accordingly, Alpert dismantled the Tijuana Brass and refocused his
attention on matters closer to home. He divorced and married the new
love in his life – singer Lani Hall. He helped guide A&M through a hard-
rocking decade; as the ’70s progressed, the label yielded one successful
