Herb Alpert is a music legend.
As leader and trumpeter for Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, he had a string of hit songs in the 1960’s including “The Lonely Bull”, “A Taste of Honey”, “Spanish Flea”, “Casino Royale”, and “This Guy’s in Love with You”. Famously, in 1966 the band outsold The Beatles by a ratio of two to one. Musical success continued, including Alpert’s 1979 instrumental recording “Rise” which hit Number One in the charts.
Along the way, Alpert co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss – the “A” is for Alpert, and the “M” is for Moss. In addition to Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, A&M artists included The Carpenters, Cat Stevens, the Police, and Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, whose early albums for the label were produced by Alpert and Moss. Alpert married Brasil ’66 singer Lani Hall in 1973.
Finally, The Herb Alpert Foundation was created in the 1980’s, and has provided millions of dollars to support youth and arts education in California and beyond.
This interview was for a preview article for noozhawk.com for the 2/28/20 concert by Herb Alpert and Lani Hall at the Granda Theatre in Santa Barbara. It was done by phone on 1/13/20. (Dewey Nicks photo)