Herb Alpert

About Herb Alpert

Herb Alpert made a mariachi sound in his garage in 1962 that somehow turned into one of the most commercially successful instrumental acts in American music history. He was a trumpet player from LA who'd been knocking around the music business for years, writing songs and doing session work, when he recorded "The Lonely Bull" with a group of studio musicians he called the Tijuana Brass. The track had this punchy, brassy arrangement that split the difference between Mexican folk music and easy listening pop. It went to number six on the Billboard Hot 100, which is absurd for an instrumental.

The Tijuana Brass became massive in the mid-sixties. We're talking five albums in the top ten simultaneously in 1966, outselling the Beatles for a stretch. "A Taste of Honey" won four Grammys. "This Guy's in Love with You" went to number one in 1968, proving Alpert could sing too, even if his voice was more conversational than technically impressive. The music was sophisticated without being challenging, the kind of thing your parents could play at a dinner party that wouldn't clear the room.

What people forget is that Alpert was always as much a businessman as a musician. He co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss in 1962, basically funding the label with Tijuana Brass profits. A&M became one of the most successful independent labels in history, signing the Carpenters, Cat Stevens, Sting, Janet Jackson, Soundgarden. Alpert was recording his own albums and running a label empire at the same time. The company sold to PolyGram in 1989 for something like half a billion dollars.

After the Tijuana Brass wound down in the early seventies, Alpert kept making records. "Rise" hit number one in 1979, this sleek disco-adjacent instrumental that sounds nothing like his sixties work. He had another top ten hit with "Diamonds" in 1987. The guy just kept adapting, kept recording, kept touring. He never chased trends aggressively but he never fully retreated into nostalgia either.

He's in his late eighties now and still putting out albums, still performing occasionally. He's also been a serious visual artist for decades and runs the Herb Alpert Foundation, which has given away hundreds of millions to arts education programs. His total record sales are somewhere north of 72 million, and he's one of only two artists to hit number one as both a vocalist and instrumentalist.

The cultural footprint is strange. Everyone knows that Tijuana Brass sound even if they don't know they know it. "Spanish Flea" is embedded in the collective unconscious as shorthand for sixties kitsch. But Alpert's longevity and versatility get overlooked. Most instrumental pop artists get one hit and disappear. He built an empire and then just kept going.

Alpert's shows are relaxed affairs where people actually listen. Expect a well-dressed crowd leaning into the nostalgia without irony. He plays it straight—solid arrangements, professional execution. The trumpet cuts through. It's less concert, more very pleasant night out.

Known for This Guy's in Love with You, Lonely Bull, A Taste of Honey, Whipped Cream, Rise

See Herb Alpert Live