Herb Alpert

Biography

Herb Alpert was born on March 31, 1935, in Los Angeles, California.[1] After high school, he studied music at the University of Southern California but was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1954 before completing his degree.[1] During his military service at the Presidio in San Francisco, he performed with the Sixth Army Band at military ceremonies.[1] After his discharge, Alpert began working in the music industry in 1957, initially as a songwriter for Keen Records, where he co-wrote several Top 20 hits including "Baby Talk" by Jan and Dean and "Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke.[1][3] In 1960, he launched his recording career as a vocalist at RCA Records under the stage name Dore Alpert.[1]

Alpert's most significant career breakthrough came in the early 1960s when he met music executive Jerry Moss, and together they founded A&M Records in 1962.[1] That same year, Alpert released The Lonely Bull with his band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, recorded in his garage and at Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood.[1] The album's success was inspired by Alpert's visits to bullfights in Tijuana, Mexico, where he sought to capture the energy and excitement of those events in his music.[1] The Tijuana Brass became enormously successful, releasing hit albums including S.R.O. (1966), Sounds Like (1967), and Herb Alpert's Ninth (1967).[1] At one point in 1966, the band had multiple albums on Billboard's top 20 chart and were outselling the Beatles.[1] Although primarily an instrumentalist, Alpert achieved a number one vocal hit in 1968 with "This Guy's in Love with You," cowritten and arranged by composer Burt Bacharach.[1]

Beyond his performing career, Alpert became a major figure in the music industry as a record label executive. A&M Records, which began in his garage, developed into one of the industry's top independent labels, signing influential artists including Carole King, the Carpenters, Cat Stevens, Supertramp, the Police, Soundgarden, and Sheryl Crow.[1] Alpert and Moss sold A&M Records to PolyGram in 1989, and later founded Almo Sounds in 1994, signing artists such as Garbage and Gillian Welch.[1] Throughout his career, Alpert has sold an estimated 72 million records worldwide and received numerous accolades, including nine Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.[2] He was also awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama in 2013.[2] As of 2025, his net worth is estimated at $850 million, largely from his music career and the A&M Records sale.[6]

Fun Facts

• Alpert is the only musician to achieve number one hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 as both a vocalist ("This Guy's in Love with You," 1968) and an instrumentalist ("Rise," 1979).[2]
• At one point in 1966, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass had multiple albums on Billboard's top 20 chart simultaneously and were outselling the Beatles.[1]
• A&M Records began operations in Alpert's garage in Hollywood before developing into one of the industry's most successful independent labels.[1]
• In the late 1980s, Alpert ventured into the perfume business with H. Alpert and Co., comparing the creation of fragrances to music composition with high and low notes, and in 2004 he opened Vibrato, a jazz club and restaurant in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles.[6]

Associated Acts

• Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - eponymous
• Dore Alpert
• Sixth Army Band
• USC Trojan Marching Band - trumpet

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Burt Bacharach - Composer and arranger who cowritten and arranged Alpert's number one vocal hit (This Guy's in Love with You) [1968]

Key Collaborators

• Jerry Moss - Business partner and co-founder of A&M Records (A&M Records label operations) [1962-1989]
• Hugh Masekela - South African trumpeter collaborator on studio and live albums (Herb Alpert/Hugh Masekela (studio album), Main Event (live album)) [1978]
• Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - Alpert's primary performing ensemble throughout the 1960s (The Lonely Bull, S.R.O., Sounds Like, Herb Alpert's Ninth) [1962-1960s]

Artists Influenced

• A&M Records Artists (Collective) - As founder and executive, Alpert's label nurtured and influenced numerous artists across genres (Artists signed to A&M Records including Carole King, the Carpenters, Cat Stevens, Supertramp, the Police, Soundgarden, Sheryl Crow) [1962 onwards]

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia
• MusicBrainz

Tags: #classic-pop-and-rock, #disco, #easy-listening