"The Lonely Bull (El Solo Toro)" is a song by Sol Lake recorded by

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

among others. The song was the title track to the album ''

The Lonely Bull "The Lonely Bull (El Solo Toro)" is a song by Sol Lake recorded by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass among others. The song was the title track to the album '' The Lonely Bull'', released in December 1962. The Herb Alpert single represents the fir ...

'', released in December 1962. The Herb Alpert single represents the first release on

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. Its original title was "Twinkle Star".

Spanish title

"El Solo Toro" is given on the album as the Spanish translation of "The Lonely Bull", but the words ''el solo toro'' directly translate as "the bull lonely" or "the only bull". The translator evidently was not aware that in Spanish the adjective "solo" should have come after the noun "toro". "Solo" means "alone", rather than "lonely"; the proper translation of "lonely" is "solitario". In English, the adjective "lonely" precedes the noun "bull". In Spanish, the noun "toro" (the bull) comes ''before'' the adjective, "solitario". Thus, the correct translation of "The Lonely Bull" is "El Toro Solitario", as noted above.

Background

While experimenting with the sound of an overdubbed trumpet, Herb Alpert recorded this song in his garage. The single and album recordings of the song were recorded at Conway Recorders in Hollywood by members of The Wrecking Crew, and featured the sounds of a crowd cheering "Olé" inside a bullfight arena in Mexico, as well as the sounds of the trumpets announcing the

matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

before he enters the bullring. The song features a

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, a

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, and a wordless

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

, featuring a solo

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

. A video for the song was filmed in 1967 inside the Toreo de Tijuana bullring.

Chart history

In the US, "The Lonely Bull" was a hit, peaking at #6 on the Hot 100.

Other recorded versions

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

recorded a version for their 1963 Dolton album, ''

The Ventures Play Telstar and the Lonely Bull ''The Ventures Play Telstar and the Lonely Bull'' is an album by the band the Ventures, released in 1963. It consists entirely of cover versions of popular instrumentals from the late 1950s to early 1960s (all of which reached the Top 15 on Billb ...

'', BST 8019. *

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

recorded a cover version in 1964 on the album ''

Dance with The Shadows ''Dance with The Shadows'' is a 1964 rock album by British instrumental (and sometimes vocal) group The Shadows. It was their third album. It reached number 2 in the album charts. The album was also released as a double-album with ''The Sound o ...

''.

The Untouchables Untouchables or The Untouchables may refer to: American history * Untouchables (law enforcement), a 1930s American law enforcement unit led by Eliot Ness * ''The Untouchables'' (book), an autobiography by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley * ''The U ...

released a cover version on their 1985 album ''Wild Child''. *

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

recorded a version in 1965 on the album ''Harry James Plays Green Onions & Other Great Hits''. ( Dot DLP 3634 and DLP 25634).

Samples

*This song is sampled in the song "

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" by

Delinquent Habits Delinquent Habits is an American hip hop group, formed in Norwalk in 1991. They are known for their Latin-tinged rap, which is both melodic and hardcore. Their first album was executive produced by Cypress Hill member Sen Dog and featured gues ...

. *This song is sampled in the song "All Night" by

The Trash Can Sinatras Trashcan Sinatras are a Scottish band that were formed in Irvine, Scotland in 1986. The band's music makes frequent use of pop harmonies and wordplay. History Formation The band members met through the club/pub music scene in Irvine. The ...

on their 2016 album Wild Pendulum.

Popular culture

*The chorus of the song is briefly quoted in the song “ This Town” on the 1977 album ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

'' by

The Tubes The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band. Their eponymous 1975 debut album included the single "White Punks on Dope," while their 1983 single "She's a Beauty" was a top-10 U.S. hit and its music video was frequently played in the early day ...

. *The song is featured during a

montage sequence Montage (, ''mon-TAHJ'') is a film editing technique in which a series of short shots are sequenced to condense space, time, and information. The term has been used in various contexts. In French, the word "montage" applied to cinema simply de ...

in Cameron Crowe's film ''

Jerry Maguire ''Jerry Maguire'' is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama sports film written, produced, and directed by Cameron Crowe; it stars Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger, and Regina King. Produced in part by James L. Brooks, it was inspi ...

''. It also appears in the

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gu ...

film ''

Matchstick Men ''Matchstick Men'' is a 2003 black comedy film directed by Ridley Scott and based on Eric Garcia's 2002 novel of the same name. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, and Alison Lohman. The film premiered on September 2, 2003 at the 60th Venic ...

'', along with other jazz songs. *On the inner sleeve of the

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

single "

I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" is a song written by Morrissey along with Boz Boorer, the two being responsible for lyrics and music respectively. The song was the first single to be released from Morrissey's 2009 album ''Years of Refusal''. ...

", his guitarist

Boz Boorer Martin James "Boz" Boorer (born 19 May 1962 in Edgware, Middlesex, England) is an English guitarist and producer most known for his work founding the new wave rockabilly group the Polecats; and later for his work as a co-writer, guitarist and m ...

can be seen holding "The Lonely Bull."

References

External links

*https://www.onamrecords.com/labels/a-m-records/146447/history A&M Records history 1962 singles Number-one singles in Australia Herb Alpert songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients 1962 songs A&M Records singles 1960s instrumentals {{1960s-single-stub