''South of the Border'' is the third album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, originally released in 1964. The name of the group, for this album, is "Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass".

Background

''South of the Border'' was Alpert's fifth

gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, and continued the progression of the Tijuana Brass from its mostly-Mexican sound to a more easy-listening style, with a collection of

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of popular songs. Included were "

I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" is a song from the 1956 in music, 1956 musical theatre, musical ''My Fair Lady'', with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. It was originally performed by Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Hig ...

", originally featured in the Broadway musical ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'' and

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' 1963 hit "

All My Loving "All My Loving" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, from their second UK album ''With the Beatles'' (1963). It was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney), and produced by George Martin. Though not officially rele ...

". It also featured an instrumental cover of its title song, " South of the Border", which was most famously done as a vocal by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

. One number, a Sol Lake tune called "The Mexican Shuffle", was reworked for a TV ad for a brand of chewing gum, and styled "The Teaberry Shuffle".

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born ; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-kno ...

, author of several songs covered by the Brass, returned the favor by issuing a cover of "The Mexican Shuffle". The number called "El Presidente", was a reorchestration of Sol Lake's "Winds of Barcelona", which had appeared on ''Volume 2''. The cover features model Sandra Moss (Mrs. Jerry Moss at the time) at the Patio del Moro apartment complex in West Hollywood.

Popularity and critical reception

''South of the Border'' enjoyed sustained popularity. It appeared on the Billboard Top LPs chart for a total of 163 weeks. For the week ending May 21, 1966, ''South of the Border'', at No. 17, was one of five Tijuana Brass albums listed in the top 20 of Billboard Magazine’s chart of Top LP’s. The others were '' What Now My Love'' (2), '' Going Places'' (4), '' Whipped Cream & Other Delights'' (8), and '' The Lonely Bull'' (20). In a retrospective review for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, music critic Lindsay Planer praised the album's variety and described the ballads as "never seeming maudlin or unnecessarily over the top."

Track listing

Side 1

#" South of the Border" (

Jimmy Kennedy James Kennedy (20 July 1902 – 6 April 1984) was a British songwriter. He was predominantly a lyricist, putting words to existing music such as "Teddy Bears' Picnic" and "My Prayer" or co-writing with composers like Michael Carr (composer), ...

, Michael Carr) - 2:06 #"

The Girl from Ipanema "Garota de Ipanema" (), or "The Girl from Ipanema", is a Brazilian bossa nova and jazz song. It was a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s and won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim a ...

" (

Norman Gimbel Norman Gimbel (November 16, 1927 – December 19, 2018) was an American lyricist and songwriter of popular songs and themes to television shows and films. He wrote the lyrics for songs including " Ready to Take a Chance Again" (with composer Cha ...

Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered as one of the great exponents of Brazilian ...

Vinícius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed "O Poetinha" ("The Little Poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwrig ...

) - 2:35 #" Hello, Dolly!" (

Jerry Herman Gerald Sheldon Herman (July 10, 1931December 26, 2019) was an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway theatre. One of the most commercially successful Broadway songwriters of his time, Herman was the composer and lyricist ...

) - 1:55 #"

" ( Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe) - 2:25 #"Up Cherry Street" (

Julius Wechter Julius Wechter (May 10, 1935 – February 1, 1999) was an American musician and composer who played the marimba and vibraphone. He also played various percussion instruments. He composed the song " Spanish Flea" for Herb Alpert and was leader of t ...

) - 2:13 #"Mexican Shuffle" (Sol Lake) - 2:09

Side 2

#"El Presidente" (Sol Lake) - 2:28 #"

" (

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

) - 1:53 #" Angelito" ( René Herrera, René Ornelas) - 2:20 #"Salud, Amor y Dinero (Health, Love and Money)" (Sol Lake) - 2:05 #"Número Cinco (Number Five)" ( Ervan Coleman) - 2:19 #"Adiós, Mi Corazón (Goodbye, My Heart)" (Sol Lake) - 2:39

References

{{Authority control 1964 albums Herb Alpert albums Albums produced by Jerry Moss Albums produced by Herb Alpert A&M Records albums Albums recorded at Gold Star Studios