# Tijuana Brass was a fake! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228 "2007-04-08T23:06:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/21 "2007-04-09T13:16:17Z")
I thought Bobby McFerrin was an old white guy at first, based on _Blackbird_. Hal Blaine was also the drummer for the Partridge Family. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/22 "2007-04-09T13:38:40Z")
[QUOTE=Hilarity N. Suze] **jjimm** do you have the soundtrack of _Buena Vista Social Club?_ It doesn’t have exactly the same sound as '60s Tijuana Brass, but it’s authentic. (Or I’m pretty sure it’s authentic; the songs selected sound a bit Ry Cooderish, but maybe he was just always strongly influenced by that kind of music.) [/QUOTE] I do indeed, and I went to see them when they performed in Dublin. Great bunch of guys. As you say, not exactly the same thing. Perhaps what I’m looking for actually only exists in the mind of As for Mr Alpert’s looks - well, there are Germanic names in central and south America, and he has kind of Hispanic coloring, so no, I never considered that he _wasn’t_ Mexican. Bear in mind, too, that the last time I saw a record of his was probably about 20 years ago… _ETA: [look](http://vinylzart.com/images/AlbumCovers-HerbAlpert&TheTijuanaBrass-WhatNowMyLove(1968).jpg)! Here’s an album my parents had. Why’s a little English kid going to think anything other than he was Mexican?_ ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/23 "2007-04-09T13:38:45Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Did you ever see Pat Cooper’s parody of it, **Spaghetti Sauce and Other Delights**?: [http://franklarosa.com/vinyl/Exhibit.jsp?AlbumID=31](http://franklarosa.com/vinyl/Exhibit.jsp?AlbumID=31) [/QUOTE] Oh! God! My eyes! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/24 "2007-04-09T13:40:33Z")
I guess I always assumed that the Brass were Latin just like Outback Steakhouse was Australian. Hadn’t given it too much thought. But as a kid, man, did I love that album cover…I crushed on that model just like I did on Lori Partridge… ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/25 "2007-04-09T13:40:39Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] I thought it was pretty well known that Hal Blaine was the drummer of the Tijuana Brass (and of the Monkees and the Beach Boys and the Carpenters, for that matter). [/quote] And Blaine is a good example of a top-notch studio musician: one who can perform well in any genre. Anyone see the cats that toured with the Tijuana Brass, the Baja Marimba band, perform live? They sashayed on stage, taking their own time, lacking any coordination, while one of their songs played on the PA. Seemingly unconcerned, looking heavily stoned, they dragged their instruments on the floor, carried them in pieces, and gradually assembled both the instruments and themselves on stage. They just happened to be in place to start playing live at a certain part in the song to make the transition seemless. A cute bit, and carried thruout the show. One guy would wander around the set, and just as you thought he was about to fall asleep, would just happen to be holding a mallet and be in the right place and time to play a one-note solo, then doze off again. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/26 "2007-04-09T13:47:12Z")
Oops: [QUOTE=jjimm] Perhaps what I’m looking for actually only exists in the mind of [/QUOTE] …an early-sixties record exec. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/27 "2007-04-09T14:30:09Z")
I never for a moment thought that the Tijuana Brass was actually _from_ Tijuana. I always assumed that Albert just named the group that to give it a little South-of-the-Border cachet. This just in: the Kingston Trio was not, in fact, from Kingston. And the Beach Boys were not born on a beach. Nor are they, any longer, “boys.” ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/28 "2007-04-09T16:45:35Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] I never for a moment thought that the Tijuana Brass was actually _from_ Tijuana. I always assumed that Albert just named the group that to give it a little South-of-the-Border cachet. This just in: the Kingston Trio was not, in fact, from Kingston. And the Beach Boys were not born on a beach. Nor are they, any longer, “boys.” [/QUOTE] Hey, you 're beginning to make me think the 360 Mafia aren’t Italian. Errr, I mean, insofar as what Americans automatically think when we hear the word mafia. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/29 "2007-04-09T16:49:22Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] The Beach Boys were not born on a beach. Nor are they, any longer, “boys.” [/QUOTE] And they never were surfers, except in song. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/30 "2007-04-09T17:06:37Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] And they never were surfers, except in song. [/QUOTE] Dennis was. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/31 "2007-04-09T17:13:34Z")
Chuck Mangione? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/32 "2007-04-09T17:25:14Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] [Wikipedia has ruined my night](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tijuana_Brass).Well damn. I grew up listening to _The Lonely Bull_, and found it extremely evocative. Now I find it was just a bunch of session artistes in LA. I was, however, inspired to look up Herb after hearing a track by Pérez Prado, who was in fact really latino, and I realise for nostalgic reasons I really like the style. So, does anyone have any more recommendations for that kind of 1960s brass mariachi music - but authetnic? [/QUOTE] Mariachi bands were mostly all-strings until radio programmers convinced them that horns would give the sound more “oomph.” (What’s Mexican-Spanish for “oomph”?) [Here are historical recordings by Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan](http://www.arhoolie.com/titles/7015.shtml) This is old stuff, but should give you an idea of how things developed. _“El Mejor Mariachi de Mundo”_ was record company hype–originally. But nobody has successfully challenged Mariachi Vargas for the title. [Check out some of their newer stuff here–very polished.](http://www.mariachivargas.com.mx/) [Then, there’s\* Banda\* music.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banda_music) Are there any radio stations in your area that cater to recent immigrants? I’ll bet they play some _Banda_. Some of these bands are\* all \* horns & woodwinds. Others have a few stringed instruments–or are going synthetic. Quite a unique sound–especially when accompanying _narcocorridas_. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/33 "2007-04-09T18:06:24Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] I was, however, inspired to look up Herb after hearing a track by Pérez Prado, who was in fact really latino, and I realise for nostalgic reasons I really like the style. So, does anyone have any more recommendations for that kind of 1960s brass mariachi music - but authetnic? [/QUOTE] I don’t have everything recorded by Perez Prado, who was not only latin but Cuban and actually when I have a moustache I’ve been told I look a little bit like him, but as far as I know Perez Prado never recorded mariachi music. He played son, guaracha, rumba, and a whole lot of mambo, but no mariachi. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/34 "2007-04-09T18:19:14Z")
[QUOTE=WordMan] I guess I always assumed that the Brass were Latin just like Outback Steakhouse was Australian. Hadn’t given it too much thought. But as a kid, man, did I love that album cover…I crushed on that model just like I did on Lori Partridge… [/QUOTE] Imagine _my_ disappointment to find out she was covered in shaving cream and not whipping cream! Doesn’t make want to stick my tongue in it quite as much…uh, huh-huh huh-huh… …slinks out of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/35 "2007-04-09T18:39:19Z")
You could, of course, wipe it off. 🙂 And she was a few months pregnant at the time. She’s still around, too–I remember seeing a flurry of articles on her a few months back. Ah, here we go: > **[Dolores Erickson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_Erickson)** > > Dolores Erickson (born September 1935) is an American model and artist. She came to prominence by appearing as a model on a number of album covers, most notably Whipped Cream & Other Delights (1965) by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. > Erickson, the oldest of eight children, was raised first in Port Angeles, Washington, before moving with her family to Seattle, Washington, where she graduated from Cleveland High School in 1954. She started her modeling career at 14 or 15 after winning a contes... ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/36 "2007-04-09T19:21:04Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] This just in: the Kingston Trio was not, in fact, from Kingston. [/QUOTE] Bah. Next you’ll be telling me that the Spiders from Mars weren’t really from Mars. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/37 "2007-04-09T19:28:20Z")
Now hear this! The Grateful Dead aren’t grateful. Or dead (most, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/38 "2007-04-09T19:48:49Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] Now hear this! The Grateful Dead aren’t grateful. Or dead (most, anyway). [/QUOTE] By my count the mortality rate in that band is a whopping 42%\*, so the ones who aren’t dead better be grateful. \*Deceased: Garcia, Pigpen, K. Godchaux, Mydland, Welnick; Alive: Lesh, Weir, Kreutzmann, Hart, Constantin, D. Godchaux, Hornsby. Did I forget anybody? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/39 "2007-04-10T15:25:36Z")
Come to think of it, 10,000 Maniacs grossly overstated their membership. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228/40 "2007-04-10T16:45:22Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Come to think of it, 10,000 Maniacs grossly overstated their membership. [/QUOTE] And the Ben Folds Five moderately less. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tijuana-brass-was-a-fake/399228.md?page=3)