Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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ALPERT, Herb

(b 31 March 1937, Los Angeles CA) Trumpet, composer, arranger, producer. With Lou Adler he managed Jan and Dean; they also produced the no. 15 novelty hit 'Alley-Oop' '60 by Dante and the Evergreens (the Hollywood Argyles had the no. 1); later Alpert allegedly said that he and Adler had been Dante and the Evergreens. He had played trumpet in the U.S. Army; overdubbing experiments with 'Twinkle Star' (song by Sol Lake) led to a quasi-Mexican sound, with bullfight/crowd noises dubbed; the record was produced for $200, retitled 'The Lonely Bull' '62 and went gold. He formed A&M records with Jerry Moss; an album of the same title also sold a million by end of '67. The successful novelty style was dubbed 'Ameriachi'; there were 13 chart singles '62-7, 15 LPs in USA charts in ten years; five no. 1 albums included Whipped Cream (And Other Delights) '65, helped by a saucy sleeve photo of a pretty girl dressed in whipped cream.

He'd abandoned ersatz Mexico by the time his MOR vocal on Burt Bacharach's 'This Guy's In Love With You' '68 was no. 1 in the USA for four weeks, re-entering the UK chart three times. (His vocal was just supposed to be on the demo, he said, but the musicians on the session advised him to leave it in.) In the UK 14 LPs charted '66-79, nine singles '63-80; the instrumental 'Rise' '79 was a USA no. 1 and became a dance anthem. Alpert is the only recording artist who has had number one hits with both a vocal and an instrumental. He's a first-class entertainer who enjoys his success; Dave Frishberg told Whitney Balliett about 'two wonderful, funny first-class-all-the-way years' working for him.

Wild Romance '85 and Keep Your Eye On Me '87 were dance albums using the latest studio technology, the latter half vocal/half instrumental including a top ten hit 'Diamonds', with vocals by Janet Jackson and Lisa Keith, written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who wrote the hit album Control for Jackson. My Abstract Heart '89 was described as 'music for wine bars' by Richard Williams in the London Times, but he went on to ask, 'Had it been released under Miles Davis's name, would we all be quite so indifferent?' Under A Spanish Moon, North On South Street and Midnight Sun followed in the '90s; meanwhile A&M had been successful for years with Sergio Mendes, the Carpenters and many other artists: Alpert and Moss sold it to Polygram '89 for $500m. They then formed Almo Sounds '94: Second Wind '96 was a new Alpert album (just as a transatlantic rap hit 'Tres Delinquentes' by Delinquent Habits used a sample of 'Lonely Bull'), followed by Passion Dance '97.

His album Steppin' Out on Shout! Factory in 2013 earned his 9th Grammy in January 2014, and in September In The Mood was released on that label, described by Marc Myers as 'a jazzy, electronic lounge album featuring his relaxed, after-midnight trumpet'.

Married to singer Lani Hall, Alpert also paints and sculpts at his home in Malibu.