Herb Alpert

Herb Alpert is one of the few people to have become a legend on both the business and artistic sides of the music business, and the first artist to hit No. 1 in the U.S. with both an instrumental song and a vocal tune. Born in L.A. in 1935, Alpert came from a long line of musicians and began working as a trumpeter in his teens. He also began writing songs and eventually cowrote several hits, including Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World”. In the early ’60s he formed The Tijuana Brass, mixing mariachi brass with pop and became phenomenally successful, especially with singles like “The Lonely Bull” and “A Taste of Honey” and the blockbuster 1965 album Whipped Cream & Other Delights. But in 1968 he took an unexpected, poignant vocal turn on the Bacharach/David-penned “This Guy’s in Love with You”, which became a chart-topper—as did his funky 1979 jazz-pop instrumental “Rise”. On the business side, Alpert cofounded A&M Records with Jerry Moss in 1962, doing A&R and production for the label and turning it into one of the most consistently vital imprints in America.