WEBVTT - Herb Alpert 0:00:08.560 --> 0:00:13.600 Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob Left Sense Podcast. My 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:18.160 guest today is a true legend, Herb Albert, who's been 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:19.520 on a sold out tour. 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:23.440 It's going to play the Hollywood Bowl this coming summer. Herb, 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:27.680 what's the difference between being on the road today as 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:29.080 opposed to in the sixties. 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:33.199 You know, I think I'm having more fun, believe it 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:36.400 or not. At ninety I never thought I'd be doing this. 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:40.360 I just got into a new groove here. I mean, 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:42.800 all of a sudden, I think my music is back 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:43.640 in vogue. 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:51.600 So being a nomagenarian, being ninety years old, what perspective 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:54.200 have you gotten on life that younger people don't know? 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:59.840 Oh? Man, what a question? What younger people don't know? 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:04.160 How to relax, how to be honest, how to be 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:06.160 true to yourself? 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:12.320 Okay, and how's your health? You're ninety now, but how 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:13.280 are your numbers? Etc? 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:18.240 Or do you know something I don't? No, I don't lately, Bob, 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:22.360 what is the deal here? No, I'm good. I'm feeling 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:25.919 pretty darn good at this time of my life. Actually, 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:28.399 I'm having more fun now than I did like thirty 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.200 years ago. Playing the trumpet. You know, when COVID hit 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:35.679 for some reason. I was down. We had to cancel 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:42.640 you all are our concert tour. And I spent that 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:46.040 time like reliving some of the teachers that I had 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:49.080 through the years that taught me certain things that really 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:52.600 didn't hang on all the way. So I started all 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:56.280 of a sudden, I found out how to blow the trumpet, 0:01:57.080 --> 0:01:59.640 how to make this sound? Or what happened? How do 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:01.800 you make that sound? I never thought about that. I 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.480 started playing when I was eight years old, so the 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:07.680 sound was just it was there, and it was talking 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:11.040 for me because I you know, I'm a card carrying introvert, 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:14.240 so at that age did that The horn was saying 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:16.920 things I couldn't get out of my mouth. So I 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:19.000 never thought about how do you play the darn thing? 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:23.120 So I went through the whole history of the people 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:26.480 that I spent time with, and I found out a 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:31.600 lot of interesting tidbits that I didn't really think about. 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:34.080 Can you tell us some of those tidbits? 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.200 Oh? Absolutely nothing, Are you kidding me? 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:40.120 Oh? 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:45.880 Yeah? Sure. First off, you have to relax. For one, 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:51.000 you definitely have to practice while you're while you're sleeping, 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:53.760 somebody else is practicing. Who wants the same thing you do. 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:57.600 There are images, you know, that I could give you 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:01.320 that might not translate to you know, the average person listening. 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:05.440 But to blow the trumpet, you need to You need air, obviously, 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:08.760 and so where's that air come from. It comes from 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:11.920 a deep place. It comes from your diaphragm. And the 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:15.399 image that one of the teachers gave me was that 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:20.400 if you're skiing behind a boat and you're going at 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:23.359 a certain speed and the boat all of a sudden 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:26.560 slows down, you're going to slow down into the water. 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:32.200 So when you do that, you're slowing down into your lips. 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:35.800 And if you keep the speed constant, the air constant, 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:40.000 you know, you have a better chance of producing what 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:41.480 you know, the sound you want to produce. 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:44.920 So how'd you pick up the trumpet? At age eight? 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:50.760 Luckily I was in a school that had a music 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:56.000 appreciation class and they had a table filled with instruments. 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:59.080 I could have picked up the tuba, the clarinet, of flute, 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:01.920 didn't matter. Happened to pick up the trumpet and I 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:03.600 couldn't make a sound out of it. I thought you 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:07.160 just blow hot air into it, and that did didn't work. 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:11.360 But when I finally started making a sound the talk. 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:13.800 It was talking for me. It was saying things I 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:19.599 couldn't get out of my mouth, and one thing led 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:25.680 to another. I started having, you know, great luck playing 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:29.480 because I was enjoying the process. And luckily enough, I 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:32.080 had a teacher. I had several teachers, but one teacher 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:35.560 in particular was an old. He was the first trumpet 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:41.040 player with the San Francisco Symphony and he was Russian. 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:42.960 Happened to have been run he happened to be Russian. 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.560 And he told me one afternoon when I was playing 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:53.440 an an atude that he asked me to learn. I 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:57.440 played it for him and I looked over. I said 0:04:57.440 --> 0:04:59.960 how it was, and the guy was he was in tear. 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:02.800 He had a tear rolling down his face. I said, 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:06.760 what's happening? He said, you sound so beautiful. I said, well, 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:09.280 thank you very much. And that was I think I 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:13.400 was fourteen at the time, maybe twelve, thirteen, fourteen, maybe fifteen, 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.640 and I thought, well, gee, maybe I do have something. 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:20.120 I never thought of becoming a professional at that time. 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:23.040 I was just you know, playing the horn. And when 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:25.680 I got into high school, we had a little band, 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:31.640 a little trio, and at that time there was this 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:36.839 television show called High Talent Battle that was pitting the 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:41.440 different high schools in the Los Angeles area, and we 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:45.240 entered the show. It was the early stages of television, 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:49.040 and we won about eight weeks in a row. So 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:53.000 from that point on, we you know, started playing parties 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:58.880 and little affairs, and I had a lot of fun 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.560 playing the horn. I got some good feedback from people saying, 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:04.640 I'm alect the way you play. So one thing led 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:05.160 to another. 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:10.160 Okay, you were in that band. Was that an instrumental 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:11.560 band or was there a singer? 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:16.960 No, it was just a little group. It was piano, drums, 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:19.880 occasionally bass and trumpet. 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:24.760 Okay, you started playing the trumpet at age eight. Did 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:28.239 your parents push you into music before that, like piano 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:29.680 lessons or anything like that. 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:33.839 No. No, My dad was from Kiev, born in Kiev, 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:37.480 little town outside of Kiev, actually, and he brought his 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:42.320 mandolin with him and he played by ear. You know, 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:45.520 he could play some interesting little ditties with not knowing 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:47.920 what he was playing or what chord or what note 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:51.480 he was on. But he had a great feeling, and 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:54.160 you know, to take this whole thing forward with feeling. 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:58.680 To me, I think all our forms and our music 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.920 and all acting, poetry, whatever happens to be. I think 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:06.080 it's all about a feel. It's that feel, and that 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:09.440 feel is hard to describe. What is that thing? It 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:13.440 could be magical to some people and doesn't mean anything 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:15.720 to others. But it has to be the person who's 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:19.840 putting it out there. You have to you have to 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.600 live it, you have to be it. And this is 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:28.360 what keeps me so enthused about making music. I just 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:32.440 love to blow the horn and make find good songs. 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:35.040 And it's about a song. I think it's about melodies. 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:38.760 If you find a great melody and you can can 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:42.480 couch it in something that's interesting to listen to. It's 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:45.240 always fun for me to play it, and if it's 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:47.160 fun for me to play it, I think it might 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:49.040 be fun for someone else to listen to it. 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:51.960 Where did your mother come from it? How did your 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:53.160 parents meet? 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:55.480 Well, my mother was born in the Lower East Side 0:07:55.480 --> 0:08:00.360 of New York. She played violin. They met in Chicago, 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:04.560 and my father, God bless him, he was a hero. 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:07.680 He came to this country when he was sixteen years old, 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:11.880 not speaking a word of English, and he didn't speak 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:16.440 Russian because in a little staddle outside of Kiev. He 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:21.960 was speaking Yiddish. He communicated in Yiddish, and Albert was 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:24.600 the name that was it wasn't it wasn't translated into 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:30.080 another name at ls Island when he landed there. And 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:35.199 he was a hard worker and he you know, he 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:37.920 spent a lot of time, you know, learning a craft 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:42.320 that he was a schneider. He was made ladies coats 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:45.160 and suits, and little by little, you know, he brought 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:49.319 his whole family back to the United States from Russia. 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:54.560 So he landed in Elos Island. How did he end 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:57.040 up in Chicago and how did they end up in 0:08:57.160 --> 0:08:57.959 Los Angeles? 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.200 Yeah, that's a bit of a mystery for me. I 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.319 kind of left out. You know. There were times when 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:06.520 I just said, man, I should have asked him so 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:10.880 many different questions when when he was around, and I didn't. 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:14.040 I didn't get the nitty in that and that particular question. 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:17.480 I would have liked to know how he got there 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.760 and who helped him along the way in that period. 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:23.440 Do you have any brothers or sisters. 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:26.040 Yeah, I have a sister and a brother. My sister 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:30.480 played piano. My brother was a professional drummer, and we 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:36.600 played occasionally you know, parties and a few other events. 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:39.840 But he it wasn't in his bones. It wasn't something 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:44.840 he had to do. I have to make music. This 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.360 is my this is my calling, Bob. 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.480 And how did they handle your incredible success? 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:56.320 You know, my dad wasn't sure, you know, the Tijuana brass. 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.600 He didn't know what the heck that was. But that means, 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:04.520 who are you know? Uh? So he was a little 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:11.000 He wasn't discouraging me. He wasn't encouraging. And he you know, 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:14.199 he'd listened to the records and he he loved when 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:16.240 I played If I were a rich man, That was 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:20.840 the song got to his heart. My mom was more encouraging. 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.040 She she was really there when the neighbors used to, 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:28.240 you know, yell from across the street or wherever they were, 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:33.720 shut up, don't play so loud, so she would yelled 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:36.440 back at them. She was very encouraging. She was there 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:37.319 every moment for. 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:42.280 Me and your siblings. How did they deal with your success? 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:50.280 Well, my brother when we bought A and M Studios, 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:54.240 the Chaplain Studios, he was an integral part of that 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:57.160 because we started with you know, this whole thing with 0:10:57.240 --> 0:11:00.559 A and M. My partner Jerry Moss, God bless them. 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:05.120 It started in my garage in nineteen sixty two and 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:07.560 it was just the two of us, and there were 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:11.520 three and four and five, And then we moved to 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:18.080 a little office on Sunset Boulevard and had some success 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:22.520 with the Tijuana Brass Records enough to make an offer 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:28.000 on this property that was being sold by CBS. And 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:30.720 Jerry had big thoughts, you know, he thought we were 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:34.840 going all the way and I was a little reluctant 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:39.800 with that, but I loved him so much. He was 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:44.920 a great guy. He was just he wasn't a musician, 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.040 but he was musical, you know. He had a really 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:53.520 good sense of songs, and obviously he was great dealing 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:57.360 with people. And I learned a lot from him and 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:04.000 we had a wonderful career on a handshake. I know 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:07.000 this sounds a little corny, but we shook hands in 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:11.120 nineteen sixty two when we put out The Lonely Bull, 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:15.640 and then little by little we became super successful and 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:21.199 sold the company in nineteen ninety and never had an 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:24.040 agreement between us. We never signed an agreement. It was 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:27.839 just on a handshake, and that gives me a chill bumps. 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.160 Just to think about it. But that's what happened. 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:32.000 How'd you meet Jerry. 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:40.880 A friend of mine? I did a record Lou Adler 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:41.880 with Lou Adler. 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:46.120 Wait, let's stop there for a second. Yeah, how'd you 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:47.080 meet Lou Adler? 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:55.760 Okay, Lou Adler man. Okay, ex wives, we're talking now, Okay. 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:01.040 I was in the army. I gradual, I waited in 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:07.640 nineteen fifty five for the army, and I was married 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:15.120 to a lady whose best friend was married to Lou Adler. 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:19.240 At that time, Lou was in the clothing business. He was, 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:27.480 you know, selling T shirts and jackets and suits. I 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:29.760 don't know what he was doing exactly, but and we 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:33.480 became friends. We had an instant liking for each other, 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:39.600 and he knew I was a musician. And one point 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:44.680 he showed me some poetry that he had written, and 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:47.079 I said, I can put some music to that poetry. 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:50.040 Let's see what happened. So I put poetry to about 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:53.880 six of the songs, these songs, and then we made 0:13:53.920 --> 0:14:04.200 some demos. And I'm being a very quiet introvert. Luke 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:07.000 kind of had to step forward for me because he 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:10.480 was an introvert as well. But he knew he wasn't 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.040 as serious as I was, but he had this knock 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:18.800 on any door type of attitude which helped us a lot. 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:23.400 So we took these songs around to various places publishing companies, 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:27.680 and then we landed. We had this one place in 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:32.640 Imperial Records with Don Sunset Bulliver. At the time, Sonny 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:38.240 Bono was their an R chief and he listened to 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:41.880 these records. I never met Sonny before. He listened to 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.360 these records and looked at us and said, hey, yeah, 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:46.400 I think you guys better get out of the bid 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:51.880 before it's too late. So obviously we thanked him and 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:57.560 moved on. And then Jerry Well, well, no, this was 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:02.720 still And then little by little we uh landed a 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:09.200 job at Keene Records and Sam Cook was the star 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:14.720 artists there, and we were hired by Bumps Blackwell, who 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:19.880 produced Sam's records, and Bumps liked us and liked some 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.640 of the songs that we wrote. But our job for 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:26.960 him was to listen to all the tapes of recordings 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:30.120 that he makes with Sam and other artists and and 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:35.440 and review the tapes and and you know, one by 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:37.600 one you would say, he wants he want to know 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:39.800 if you like the first verse or the second verse, 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:43.160 the fourth verse, which verst was better if there's multi 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:46.880 tape tracks of a particular song. So that's what Lou 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:49.840 and I used to do for him, which was, you know, 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:55.720 a great experience, you know, listening that closely to the songs. 0:15:57.800 --> 0:15:59.880 You said that you were making these things. How did 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:04.480 you get associated with King Records, which was in Ohio. 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:10.080 Lou knocked on the door and played this the songs 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:13.240 that we had, and then Bumps liked him and he 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:16.400 thought we would be in a nice audition to his rosters, 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:19.840 so he'd creates some music for some of the artists 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:20.400 that they had. 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:31.720 So did you make records that came out on King Records? 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:35.160 Oh? Yeah, sure we did. We wrote a Wonderful World 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:41.000 with Sam. Don't know much about history. Oh yeah you 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:41.840 wrote that? Yes? 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:45.200 Wait wait wait stop that tell me how you wrote that? 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.840 Well, we Lou and I wrote a song called all 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:52.640 My Life, and there was Looks and there was a 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:58.400 that was a song that Sam had recorded, and there 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:03.120 was another song that Sam took a fancy to that 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:07.359 he really liked, and we kind of he took that 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.560 song and then we added whatever we had to add 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:12.720 but the beauty of that song is, Man, this is 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:16.960 an amazing story because that song was We finished that 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.320 song and Sam wanted to just see if the song 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.200 was worthy of putting it out, so he did a 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:27.480 rough demo. He had a couple of amateur musicians with 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:31.840 him that made this demo. I think one the drummer, 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:35.119 I think might have been recording drummer or actual recording 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:41.159 professional drummer. And it was put on the shelf at 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:45.679 Keene Records. They know, they didn't release it. And so 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:50.840 after Sam had this you know, really beautiful career at RCA, 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:54.520 when he left Keene Records, the only thing they had 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:59.639 Keene had was this one track of Sam singing Wonderful World. 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:04.880 So they put that out just as maybe and it's 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:10.360 the biggest record Sam had, which was crazy that it 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:12.840 wasn't crazy, but it really gives you the aha that 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:15.760 you know, nobody knows what a hit record sounds like 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:21.520 until it really gets out there. So that record surprised everyone, 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:23.200 including Sam. 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:25.879 Can you take us into the room and how the 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:26.960 song was written? 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.080 Well, Lou Adler and I and Sam we just kind of, 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:38.159 you know, threw ideas out and one thing led to another. 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:39.560 You know, it just kind of developed. 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.359 Now Herman's Hermit's ended up having a huge hit with 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:46.480 it a few years later. Was that surprising to you? 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:51.600 Oh sure, Yeah, the whole thing is surprising to me. 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:56.679 Okay, you're working with lou Is Lou still in the 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.600 schmata business or is he now in the music business? 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:05.920 Lou No, Lo's a wonderful producer. He's produced some great records. 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:08.440 And you know, we did the Jan and Dean records. 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:16.440 I did the arrangements for Baha, you know, baby Talk, 0:19:16.520 --> 0:19:21.800 which was a young kid. And so after that, you know, 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:24.840 I was still playing the trumpet and Plague got weekends 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:29.600 with various groups. I got a little tired of that. 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:31.879 I I really wanted to be an artist, and I 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:37.080 really wanted to explore my own, uh way of making records. 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:39.879 So Lou and I parted as friends, and lou happened 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:46.960 to be one of my best friends. Now I took 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:50.920 the the the record player and he took something else, 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:56.439 and then we split on a handshake. Oh but before that, 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:58.680 we did do the cover record, which was a big 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:04.760 record in New York and on these coast of Elle 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:10.920 oop elae oop oop oop oop by Dante and the Evergreens. 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:14.800 And that was an eye opener for us because it 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:20.240 sold around two hundred and forty thousand something, I mean, 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:23.679 just an enormous amount of records in one area, but 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:28.320 we never got paid for it. Somehow they were able 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:31.600 to find that more money was spent making the record 0:20:31.680 --> 0:20:34.479 or doing something that they didn't know us any money. 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.720 So I wanted to get out of that and move 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:40.080 on to doing other things. 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:43.040 While you were working with loub were you making your 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:45.480 money solely from music or did you have a day job. 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:49.679 No. I was making music. I was playing on weekends. 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:54.320 I made a good living in high school, displaying parties, weddings, 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:58.960 bar mitzvahs, whatever you had. You know, a triple scale 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:01.120 on New Year's Night, Man, that was a big deal. 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:06.320 Yeah, okay, so you break up with Luke, you get 0:21:06.359 --> 0:21:08.879 the record player. What's the next step after that? You 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:09.879 want to be an artist? 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:16.880 No, I wasn't that sure about that. I was writing 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:20.720 songs and I did this one song called Gonna Get 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:24.480 a Girl, and I thought it would be good for 0:21:24.640 --> 0:21:27.600 Gogie Grant, who just had a hit record called the 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:31.439 Wayward Wind or something like that. So I called the 0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:34.159 people at RCA, and they recognized my name because the 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:43.160 Yale Oops and the Baby Talk records. So I made 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:46.600 an appointment there and I spoke with I forgot who 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:51.320 Bob Yorke I think his name was, and I sat 0:21:51.359 --> 0:21:53.720 down on the piano and started singing this song and 0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:57.040 playing it and he said, I, how about recording it 0:21:57.080 --> 0:21:59.679 with you? I said, with me, I'm not a singer. 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:02.720 He said yeah, but I like the way you sound. Anyways, 0:22:02.760 --> 0:22:09.760 I signed with ARCTA and Shorty Rogers was my ANR 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:14.920 producer who was a great jazz musician and who I 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:17.320 adored because I used to go listen to his group 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:21.600 in that particular period. So they had a nice little 0:22:22.400 --> 0:22:27.879 introduction to one of my favorite musicians. I did a 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:31.399 few records with RCA there for about a year and 0:22:31.400 --> 0:22:33.720 a half. I did this one record where I wanted 0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:38.000 to put the trumpet on this uh in the middle 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:39.840 of the song. I thought it would be a good idea, 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:43.040 and that they said it's against the union rules or 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:46.040 something like that. Anyway, I was listening to a playback 0:22:47.480 --> 0:22:50.639 of the song and I wanted also to hear more bass. 0:22:50.680 --> 0:22:52.919 I wanted to hit, have it hit a little bit harder, 0:22:52.920 --> 0:22:55.639 So I go over to the board and I lift 0:22:55.720 --> 0:22:58.959 up the bass track and the guy slaps my hand. 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:01.359 It was a Union guy had a button on, you know, 0:23:01.480 --> 0:23:05.560 with Union numbers. He said, don't ever touch that board again. 0:23:07.320 --> 0:23:10.600 And I looked at him, thinking like, wow, isn't that interesting. 0:23:10.600 --> 0:23:17.679 He shouldn't a record company be revolving around an artist. 0:23:17.840 --> 0:23:20.200 You know, I didn't like that I was being treated. 0:23:20.320 --> 0:23:23.399 You know, they ever treated me like a number. I 0:23:23.400 --> 0:23:26.320 didn't even have a name there at the recording session. 0:23:26.359 --> 0:23:29.240 It was, you know, three eight seven five five five 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:33.840 four three two take one. So I filed all this 0:23:34.000 --> 0:23:39.160 and I didn't have dreams of starting my own record company. 0:23:39.160 --> 0:23:42.040 But I just remember thinking, if I did ever have 0:23:42.480 --> 0:23:45.480 had a chance to have my own company, I certainly 0:23:45.920 --> 0:23:52.639 treat artists in a different way. And the rest his history. 0:23:52.880 --> 0:23:57.560 Okay, you're making these records for RCA. Do you have 0:23:57.600 --> 0:24:03.200 a contract. What happens next? Do you record by yourself 0:24:03.320 --> 0:24:05.360 or do you meet Jerry? Do you have to get 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:08.640 out of your deal with RCA? What are the mechanics there? 0:24:09.320 --> 0:24:12.920 No? I left RCA and I met Jerry around nineteen 0:24:13.080 --> 0:24:20.479 sixty one. I think Jerry was in coming from New 0:24:20.560 --> 0:24:29.479 York in his little Volkswagen Bug and we met. I 0:24:29.520 --> 0:24:32.000 was introduced to him by a friend, a New York friend, 0:24:32.440 --> 0:24:35.720 Ted Fagan, who was working for Madison Records at the time, 0:24:36.560 --> 0:24:44.280 who had also worked for Liberty Records, and met Jerry 0:24:44.480 --> 0:24:47.919 and took a liking to him. He's just he's just 0:24:47.960 --> 0:24:50.439 a regular guy, and he had a wonderful person not 0:24:50.480 --> 0:24:56.960 only personality, but he had a wonderful resume of promoting 0:24:57.000 --> 0:25:00.440 certain records. I can't think of the name right now. 0:25:00.520 --> 0:25:06.040 It was on scepter. You'd probably remember that one, not. 0:25:06.040 --> 0:25:08.479 Off the top of my head, but yeah, okay. 0:25:08.560 --> 0:25:17.399 So anyways, Jerry had an actor friend who wanted to record, 0:25:18.840 --> 0:25:21.000 and I had a song I wanted to record it 0:25:21.280 --> 0:25:25.360 called tell It to the Birds, and I said I'd 0:25:25.359 --> 0:25:28.879 help him record his actor friend, Charlie Robinson actually was 0:25:28.920 --> 0:25:30.560 his name. It just came to my mind. I can't 0:25:30.600 --> 0:25:35.240 believe I remember the name. So we did that recording, 0:25:35.280 --> 0:25:37.439 and this Tell It to the Birds record that I 0:25:37.560 --> 0:25:42.399 did made some noise. We released it under the label 0:25:42.480 --> 0:25:49.480 of Carnival Records, and it's sold in Los Angeles and 0:25:49.840 --> 0:25:55.480 San Francisco, not a lot, but enough to some companies 0:25:55.520 --> 0:26:01.040 were interested in distributing it bigger companies, so we sold 0:26:01.040 --> 0:26:06.000 the rights to Dot Records. Wink Martindale was the an 0:26:06.119 --> 0:26:11.840 R producer at the company at the time, and with 0:26:11.920 --> 0:26:14.640 that money, I think they gave us six hundred dollars, 0:26:15.200 --> 0:26:17.359 we recorded the Lonely Bull. 0:26:18.760 --> 0:26:22.720 Okay, a little bit slower. How'd you write the Lonely Bull? 0:26:22.800 --> 0:26:24.199 And where did you record it? 0:26:26.280 --> 0:26:29.600 Well? I didn't write it. I wrote a couple passages 0:26:29.840 --> 0:26:32.400 of it. Didn't take credit for it, but that's all right. 0:26:32.480 --> 0:26:35.560 The song was already there. The song was great with 0:26:35.680 --> 0:26:39.280