Today’s classic song of the day is an instrumental by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. The song is “The Lonely Bull” and, when it was released in August of 1962, it went all the way to #6 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100.
“The Lonely Bull,” which was written by Sol Lake, originally was titled “Twinkle Star.” Since it doesn’t have any lyrics, I guess they could have called it anything they wanted to.
Herb Alpert recorded this track before there was a real Tijuana Brass. He recorded it at Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood, using members of the Wrecking Crew (including drummer Earl Palmer) to back up his solo trumpet. It became the first single on Alpert’s then-new A&M Records label and the lead track on the first Tijuana Brass album, aptly titled The Lonely Bull.
Herb Alpert recalls how “The Lonely Bull” became an instant worldwide hit:
“When ‘The Lonely Bull’ came out, three days after its release, it was known internationally. We were getting calls. That was our first release on A&M Records. And we were getting calls from distributors all over the world wanting to distribute the record. And when the record finally hit the top 10, I got a letter from a lady in Germany thanking me for taking her on a vicarious trip to Tijuana.”
For today’s daily bonus video of the day, here’s a performance of “The Lonely Bull” from Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass on the December 11, 1965, episode of The Hollywood Palace. Yes, that’s Fred Astaire doing the introduction.
