The sixties weren't only the Beatles and Vietnam.

I was reminded of this on Saturday night.

Who didn't own "Whipped Cream & Other Delights"? Who didn't like Herb Alpert? The aforementioned Beatles triumphed alongside the Southern California trumpeter, but a dividing line between the two was not there. Herb was not part of what came before and was excoriated thereafter, like Perry Como, even youngsters like Fabian and Bobby Rydell. No, we LIKED Herb Alpert and his music. It and other instrumentals sat alongside the British Invasion on Top 40 radio and these were cuts that both our parents and we could enjoy.

And I know these songs by heart, but they've been disconnected from the era over the ensuing decades. Saturday night, they were placed in time, and oh, what a time it was.

One of optimism.

For all the protests, the youthquake, the dissatisfaction, the sixties were a time of belief in the future. Things were good and we only wanted them to get even better. Sure, there was poverty, then again, LBJ had a campaign against it, I remember wearing my "War on Poverty" button to school.

And nostalgia for what came before was not a thing. No one wanted to return to the black and white fifties, never mind the war years before, no...we experienced a sunny explosion.

There were the colors. Bright and shiny, electric orange, pink and yellow. The sixties were an era of graphic experimentation. Everything was up for grabs, we thought we were taking a great leap forward, there were smiles on our faces.

So the funny thing about Saturday night's show is it was definitely 2025, but none of the dissension, the disagreements, the divide of today's' era was extant. We were all in it together, no one cared what political party you were from, we were there first and foremost for the music, we did not expect the cultural journey to yesteryear.

You see there was a lot of video. "What's My Line?" I'm sure a kid would be flummoxed by that title. And watching the footage of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In"...you HAD to watch on Monday night to discuss the skits in school on Tuesday. It was a cultural requirement.

Not only the skits, but the syncs... Like the one for Clark's Teaberry gum... God, that was a thing back then, but I didn't remember until Saturday night when the dots were connected. This was my life, I was fully alive back then, and seemingly everybody in the audience was too, this was our life.

But not the life of the youngsters who were not in attendance. But the funny thing is I believe youngsters would have LOVED the show. Because you didn't have to know the songs to enjoy it. That's part of the magic of instrumental music. Also, kids have never lived in an era where instrumentals are hits. Sure, there's EDM... But everybody knew "A Taste of Honey," never mind "Love Is Blue" and "Java" and so many more.

So the show began with "The Lonely Bull," my personal favorite.

And this was kind of weird, he was starting with one of his biggest hits... Most acts save them for the end of the show. But in truth, Herb has so many greats.

And his horn dominated, but there was full instrumentation from the Tijuana Brass. A cohesive sound with nothing on hard drive, this was definitely the sixties...when we thought everybody on stage could play, otherwise why be there?

And the thing about "The Lonely Bull" is it's wistful. The music I love most creates a mood. You marinate in it. Your mind is set free. You feel fully alive, despite journeying solely in your mind.

And there was another quick song and ultimately Herb started to speak.

This was not a performance. It was more like being in Herb's living room with him telling you the backstory of the songs and his career in between numbers. It was fascinating and edifying. And all these years later we credit Herb's partner Jerry with steering A&M, but Herb showed how important to the partnership he was on Saturday night. He not only created the initial hits, he brought Sérgio Mendes to the label, and worked with the Carpenters and...

There was footage of Herb with all the heroes of the era, even Satchmo. You see back then it was really a club, and you were either in it or not. There were not smartphone cameras. What happened even in the great wide open was unknown by most. It was a floating party in Hollywood, and only Hollywood. And we felt it elsewhere, it was cool, if only we could be involved.

And Herb's playing one song after another. And I'm thinking to myself...he's ninety, can he sing "This Guy's in Love With You"?

Not only did he sing it, he told the story of it! How he was doing a TV special and the producer thought he should sing a song... Herb was game, but his range was narrow, he needed someone who could write within it. So he called Burt Bacharach (like I said, everybody knew everybody), who was instantly in, who concocted the number with his partner Hal David. And they were in the studio, and Herb was doing a rough take, sort of talk/singing, getting ready to cut the real vocal, but when they played it back Burt said THIS IS IT, THIS IS THE ONE! Herb didn't agree, but it was released and soon went to number one. Because it was featured in the special! That was the power of TV back in the day.

I forgot Herb covered "Love Potion No. 9." That was the highlight of the night for me. It was originally done by the Clovers, the Searchers had the British Invasion hit. But Herb's version, sans lyrics... It swung in a way none of the hit versions did, was almost akin to Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger," and I'm swinging along with it, mentally singing the lyrics about Madame Roux...you know, that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth!

Then there was the latter day hit, "Rise," which was released on 1979, just like Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall," and comfortably sits in the same groove...sounds just as hip. A modernistic leap forward from the sixties.

And I'm waiting for the big hit...

It wasn't first, but it was Herb's true breakthrough, his take on "A Taste of Honey"... talk about bringing you back and making you smile. This take encapsulates the buoyancy of the sixties, with just a hint of gravitas...and that was the era.

And there was all that video shot by the label as promotional footage. That I'd never seen, and most people probably have not either. Herb performing with Charlie Chaplins on the A&M lot which was originally Charlie Chaplin's studio.

There was none of the dourness of today. None of the cynicism. But without being fake upbeat. This was Herb's career, he earned his success.

And unlike many of his contemporaries, money is not his issue, after the sale of A&M thirty five years ago, so...this is not a mercenary venture. Herb's not hawking a single, merch, he's just performing... Blowing his horn and talking like a much younger man. Herb has all his marbles, his functionality, and the weird thing is so many of his contemporaries are no longer with us.

But Herb survived and so did we.

Now once the Beatles hit, going to a show... It was anything but a passive event. It was hard to get a ticket and just to be in the presence of a star... You forget that it was such a big deal that girls were screaming so loud that it was hard to hear the music.

And that extreme passion for stardom is still a feature of most modern concerts, by the ones who've achieved superstar status or are riding a current hit. You pinch yourself, you can't believe you're there.

This was something different. The trappings, the aura was gone. It was just Herb and the music. It was human, anything but artificial.

And people care. Brian Martin, the promoter, told me this was the fortieth straight sellout.

If you have any interest at all, GO! The show will put you in a mood, jet you back to what once was without completely disconnecting you from today. I'm not sure where else you can get this experience.

And unlike so many concerts... It was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass only. No opening act. He played for two hours. You got enough and then he was gone.

He was thrilled, and so were we.

And that's what we're looking for.


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