Herb Alpert's Ninth

About Herb Alpert's Ninth

Herb Alpert's Ninth is a 1967 album by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. It reached number 4 on the Billboard charts and spent 18 weeks on the Top 40.[1]It was, as its title indicated, the ninth album released by the Brass. Its cover, in addition to a number of still photos from Brass concerts, included a pop-culture joke. Ludwig van Beethoven had been a popular topic on T-shirts in the late 1960s. In this case, an illustration of Beethoven was shown apparently wearing a T-shirt with Alpert's face on it. The title was also a play on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. None of Beethoven's Ninth actually appeared in the album tracks, but another classical work did - a medley of the tunes from the opera Carmen, centering on "Habanera", and also including "cameos" from some of the group's earlier hits - "Spanish Flea", "A Taste of Honey", "Whipped Cream", "What Now My Love", "Zorba The Greek" and "Tijuana Taxi" - worked into the track. The album otherwise featured the usual collection of lively pop hit covers, along with a song called "A Banda" that was in the style of some of their earlier hits. The Brass' leisurely rendition of "The Trolley Song" was in deliberate contrast to the well-known energetic version originally sung by Judy Garland in the film Meet Me in St. Louis. Other old songs include the Cole Porter standard "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" made famous by Mary Martin; and "The Love Nest", best known as the radio and TV theme of the George Burns and Gracie Allen programs. Juxtaposed with those oldies was a rendition of the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends", its instrumentation emphasizing the monotonal aspects of Ringo Starr's song hit.  more »