Herb Alpert talks music career, whipped cream album cover and more

Herb Alpert was a 25-year-old musician making a living by playing at weddings and parties when he attended a bull fight in Tijuana, Mexico.

“I got kind of interested in this brass band in the stands. The band would introduce the bull before it ran out and had a different fanfare for the matador," Alpert said in a recent telephone interview. 

"The whole process was well orchestrated. I got caught up in that."

Alpert — who performs Sunday at Artis—Naples — was moved enough by the music that he later gained tremendous success as Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, playing trumpet with his band that performed throughout the world in the 1960s and '70s.

It's no wonder that their first big hit was "The Lonely Bull" in 1962. The song also was the title of the album, the first Alpert released with the record label he co-founded, A&M Records. Hits that followed in the '60s included "Tijuana Taxi," "Spanish Flea," "What Now My Love" and "A Taste of Honey."

He said he began his own record company after bad experiences with record executives.

"I thought if I ever had my own company I would certainly put the artist first and we certainly did," Alpert said. 

A&M went on to become one of the more successful record companies, its trademark A&M logo featuring a trumpet, with musical acts including Carole King, Sting, Janet Jackson, Cat Stevens and Sheryl Crow, among many others.

The record label created one of the most iconic Herb Alpert album covers of all time, "Whipped Cream & Other Delights" in 1965. The cover features model Dolores Erickson wearing chiffon and shaving cream. 

“It was not only not my idea but I didn't even like, it," he said of the cover. “I just didn’t think it was the right look for the cover. I was talked into it and glad I was. I thought it was pushing the envelope a little too much in 1965.”

A&M thrived for nearly three decades before Alpert and co-founder Jerry Moss (hence the name A&M) sold the company for a reported $500 million in 1989 to Polygram Records.

Yet Alpert says his greatest success was meeting his future wife, Lani Hall, when she was performing with Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66.

“I fell in love with the music and I fell in love with Lani’s voice," said Alpert. The two will celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary Dec. 15.

They began collaborating on music and Hall will perform with her husband at Artis—Naples along with Manhattan Transfer. 

Alpert's success continued as a solo artist in the 1970s, scoring a No. 1 in 1979 with the song "Rise." With that song, he became the first (and only) artist to reach the top of the Hot 100 with a vocal performance ("This Guy's in Love with You," 1968) as well as an instrumental performance. 

Alpert has won 17 Grammy awards; entered the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2006; and received a National Medal of Arts Award from President Obama earlier this decade. 

He enjoyed some of his greatest success during the '60s, a decade of civil unrest in the U.S. While many musicians were singing and writing about war and social injustice, Alpert said he sought to create songs that would make people smile.

“I was always trying to make inspirational, positive music," he said. "The cup was always half full.”

Alpert, 83, recalled a letter he received in the '60s from a woman in Germany who told him his music took her to Tijuana if only in her mind. 

"That music was so visual to her that it transported her," he said. "That’s the kind of music I wanted to make, to take people some place, hopefully to a good place."

Alpert and Hall went on to create a foundation that supports youth and arts education as well as environmental issues. And in 2007, the couple donated $30 million to UCLA to form and endow the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

They've donated millions of dollars to other causes, which Alpert said stems from his youth. 

When he was 8 years old, he said, he attended a music class at his elementary school in Southern California. He found a table filled with musical instruments, from oboes to clarinets and trumpets.

"I happened to pick up the trumpet," Alpert said. "It fit my hands. I was very small. I was looking for something creative. I tried to make sound out of it and I couldn’t. When I finally made the song it was talking to me. I was a card-carrying introvert.”

“The trumpet was talking for me. I feel like kids should have an experience like that.”

Alpert and Hall recently watched as wildfires swept through Malibu, evacuating to their Century City, California, apartment for a few weeks before returning home.

“Our house almost burned down," he said. “All things considered, so many people lost their homes and memories. I‘m not going to complain about my house standing there.”

He's looking forward to performing with Hall and the Manhattan Transfer, a jazz vocal group known for hits including "The Boy From New York City" in 1981. 

Alpert plans to play Christmas songs along with some of his Tijuana Brass hits with visuals. His wife plans to do the same from her Sergio Mendes days. 

“The show is great, it’s very uplifting," he said.

Alpert said he'll continue to create music, and he still practices every day.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have this amazing career and sell so many records and CDs," he said.

"If I had a hand in helping to make people feel better at a time when they’re listening to my music, that's big."

Herb Alpert, Lani Hall and the Manhattan Transfer

When: 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9

Where: Artis—Naples, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd., Naples 

Cost: $69-$99 (excluding fees)

Information: artisnaples.org or 239-597-1900