Christmas II

Discussion in 'The Beat of The Brass: Herb Alpert/Tijuana Brass' started by walterphil, Feb 6, 2019.

  1. walterphil

    walterphil Member Thread Starter

    i think i found a rarity at the flea market this weekend. it's an a & m promo vinyl lp and it's called "herb alpert and the tijuana brass Christmas II."

    it certainly isn't mint, but it's very playable, and i have to say it sounds just great.
    here's the line up:

    side 1
    1. Christmastime is here
    2. the little drummer boy
    3. feliz navidad
    4. mashmallow world/i love the winter weather
    5. i heard the bells on Christmas day

    side 2
    1. Mary's wandering/deck the halls
    2. the merriest
    3. Linus & Lucy
    4. Santa Claus llegó a la ciudad
    5. what child is this
    6. happy little new year

    there's no date, but someone wrote on the back with grease pencil 1969.

    like the earlier Christmas album it's kind of a mix of really peppy bright arrangements and slower, moving instrumentals. no chorus this time but there's a guest vocalist that pops in here and there (that sounds a lot to these ears like Lani) and herb sings "the merriest" a song i've only ever heard by June Christy. odd that they do two (!) vince guaraldi songs, but there you go.

    really fun string instruments, by Shorty Rogers.

    and the cover is really nice. all of the boys with scarves and hats on, standing around in fake snow. a couple gals too, in cute santa suits. the back cover is a big wreath with bizarre cut-outs of everyone's heads floating in it.

    and it's a gatefold, but the inside is just pictures of forthcoming a & m releases.

    pics and sound bytes to come...

    ps. does anyone remember my review of the brasil 66 Christmas album, like, over 10 years ago? thought it was time to get everyone all excited again. :)
    xox walt
  2. Harry

    Harry Charter A&M Corner Member Moderator

    Yes, walterphil, your prank around these parts is legendary. We "lifers" remember...
    walterphil likes this.
  3. walterphil

    walterphil Member Thread Starter

    i missed these pages. going to look around for a bit. thanks for still being here.
    Rudy likes this.
  4. Rudy

    Rudy ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Site Admin

    We won't hold our breath. :laugh:

    How can we forget? :wink:

    About this "lost" TJB Xmas album, though, I think I've actually heard of it. In the UK, it was allegedly released with two extra tracks because, as you know, the Brits loved to do that at the time. More tunes for a few extra shilling, and all that.

    One of those missing tracks was "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Which in the hot breath of the Santa Ana winds, really didn't make sense while the band was recording it, and we're really not missing much here. Hearing Bob pipe up from the background between cymbal crashes, "Who you foolin', Herbie??", was a priceless moment though, I'm told. It wasn't the best recording since the constant din of firetrucks driving past the studio crept into the piano track, and Larry Levine thought the smoke smell was coming from one of his prized microphone cables on loan to the studio.

    The other was, "Castro Got Run Over By A Reindeer." Since we've had an embargo on Cuba since the great cigar coup of 1959, A&M wasn't allowed to release it, and received a rather terse letter from the state department addressed to Herb Albert and Jerry Moses. It was set to a mambo beat (completely with congas on loan from Ray Barretto, played with only one hand by ace percussionist Julius Wechter who was nursing a sore hand from an unfortunate incident with hedge trimmers) and had an unscheduled cameo from Perez Prado, who poked his head in from an adjoining studio at RCA to see what all the commotion was about, and inserted his trademark "Dilo!! Ugh!!" yelps any time Herb put is horn down.

    The British album jacket was slightly different. They reused the polyester pants version of the photo from the jacket of Summertime, but with the addition of a poorly drawn Santa hat perched precariously on top of Herb's head. It also gave a mistaken credit to Julio Wechter. Of course it has the usual MFP (Music For Pressure) logo on front and back.

    There was also a French pressing of this album, with a completely unrelated photo front and back. And while I couldn't quite read the language on it, the words did seem slightly naughty in nature and I had to hide it in the middle of my Time-Life big band era LPs so I wouldn't get caught. I suppose we had better leave this one be.
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  5. Harry

    Harry Charter A&M Corner Member Moderator

    walterphil's old B66 stunt may have been on our older BBS board with threaded messages so it won't be found in these pages.

    My clean copy of this album made a nice needledrop...
    walterphil likes this.
  6. Rudy

    Rudy ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Site Admin

    I copied mine to Elcaset. Then the player broke. :mad:

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  7. walterphil

    walterphil Member Thread Starter

    so funny. you had me believing it! :)
    Rudy likes this.
  8. walterphil

    walterphil Member Thread Starter

    a classic has been lost to the ages. boy were people pissed off at me.
    Rudy likes this.
  9. Harry

    Harry Charter A&M Corner Member Moderator

    I'm not quite over it yet... :)
    walterphil likes this.
  10. DeeInKY

    DeeInKY Well-Known Member

    Sounds like I missed a classic. :D
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  11. walterphil

    walterphil Member Thread Starter

    oh it was. the likes of which shall never be seen here again...:)
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  12. Rudy

    Rudy ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Site Admin

    Except maybe a TJB Christmas II album... :D

    I figure, no harm done--it doesn't help to be all serious, all the time!
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  13. Harry

    Harry Charter A&M Corner Member Moderator

    I spent a long time searching for that Brasil '66 Christmas album, and back then the Internet was not as thorough as it is now. But ultimately I was able to find it.

    Christmas Collection.jpg
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  14. walterphil

    walterphil Member Thread Starter

    good job! i sold mine on ebay and got $2,400 for it!
    Rudy likes this.
  15. Rudy

    Rudy ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Site Admin

    I never did find one. I inquired about one I saw on an eBay listing, but the seller said the cover was a bit torn at the seams and reeked somewhat of Doritos, the MSG from said Doritos likely causing a rash if I came in touch with it. Nothing like a nice red rash to go with that new Brasil '66 record, eh? One other copy looked bogus. They couldn't even spell the "A&M" logo correctly. The cover photo also could have been faked, as the person sitting in Sergio's chair looked like a low-rent imitation of George Hamilton, and the ladies were scantily dressed in candy-cane-striped bikinis. It was only then I noticed the cover said "Sergei Mendez & Brassiere 66" and realized it wasn't quite the droid I was looking for.
  16. walterphil

    walterphil Member Thread Starter

    i would've taken the rash one. worth it.
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  17. Bobberman

    Bobberman Well-Known Member

    I'm surprised Nobody found a " Baja Marimba Band " Christmas album since they did only 2 Christmas songs ( One being a non album single) it would have been easy for them to do Lol But then again it's best to leave Well enough ( or Bad enough alone) haha
  18. Rudy

    Rudy ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Site Admin

    I believe there was an entire Baja album for the holidays. But it was only released on AyM Discos in certain countries in South America, and strangely in a couple of the Yugoslavian countries (who often confuse polkas with their kolos, so it never would have flown in Montenegro, as the old saying goes).

    Santa Claus Rides Again

    SIDE A
    1. Sleigh Riders In The Sky ("Sleigh Ride" filtered through "Ghost Riders In The Sky")
    2. Gringo Bells (uncredited cameos by Herb and Bob Edmonson)
    3. O Tacobomb (Demasiado Tequila version, roughly a mash-up of "Cry of the Wild Goose" and "O' Tannenbaum")
    4. Frosty el Muñeco de Nieve (yep, "Frosty the Snowman," with his maracas frozen)
    5. Partridge In A Pear Tree (the "nope, no extra days added" mix)
    6. Las Mañanitas (the Baja Marimba "It Was Our Song in the First Place" ultra-sleigh-bells dub mix)

    SIDE B
    7. The Kris That Couldn't Kringle (Bacharach's "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle" with vocals by José Jimenez)
    8. Papá Noel de Plástico en mi Patio ("Plastic Santa in my Yard," an original by Julius)
    9. Fleas Navidad (recorded before José Feliciano!)
    10. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (see, it wasn't a non-album cut!)
    11. Big Red ("sleigh bells" dance remix of the track from Those Were The Days)
    12. Jesús, El Hombre que Arregló mi Chevy en la Víspera de Navidad (A rare lost Bud Coleman composition kind of similar to "Tijuana Taxi" roughly translated as, "The dude who fixed my Chevy on Christmas Eve.")
  19. Harry

    Harry Charter A&M Corner Member Moderator

    The even rarer Japanese CD had a bonus track: "Baja Humbug" (Ebenezer Scrooge mix)
  20. Rudy

    Rudy ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Site Admin

    :doh: Forgot about that one! I think that was originally a B-side to "Gringo Bells."
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  21. Harry

    Harry Charter A&M Corner Member Moderator

    Yep. Almo International label I believe...
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  22. Bobberman

    Bobberman Well-Known Member

    I stand corrected Haha .
  23. Harry

    Harry Charter A&M Corner Member Moderator

    Ah, here's a copy I found online:

    Baja Christmas.jpg
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