Love Finding Herb in a Dumpster
posted by on May 20 at 13:38 PM
Herb Alpert is playing two sold out shows at Jazz Alley tonight and tomorrow. It was a beautiful sunny day like today, probably 7 years ago, when I acquired my first Herb Alpert record. I was at a 2pm Saturday show at the old Paradox on University seeing Zao and a then unknown 3 Inches of Blood. The singer from one of the bands (I can’t remember which) excitedly informed the audience, “There’s a whole dumpster full of vinyl down the street behind the Safeway!” After the show several of us went to check it out, and sure enough, there was a dumpster, chained shut, filled top to bottom with thousands of records. The chains were loose on one corner, enough to grab a couple hundred old records and throw them in the back of my buddy’s car. Most of them were garbage, but among our stash I found this gem:
Those smooth horns, wafting Latin rhythms… it was, and still is the perfect soundtrack to a lazy summer afternoon. Other than my son, Clarence, it remains the best thing I have ever found in a dumpster.
Probably one of my favorite album covers / pieces in my collection: http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000002GA9.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
you gotta learn how to put clarence in his fucking place.
I was at that show, and I also visited the dumpster afterward, loading up the trunk of my Buick Skylark with hundreds of records, most from artists I had never heard of. Less than a week later, I totaled my car. It was towed off with most of the albums still in the trunk, though I managed to salvage some Springsteen, Van Morrison, Tiny Tim, Mojo Nixon, and a handful of other gems.
What Herb Alpert lacked in trumpet virtuosity he made up for with cuteness, smartness, and business savvy. He was/is a very classy guy. A tailor once told me that Alpert was a "perfect" size 39.
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