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WHIPPED CREAM & OTHER DELIGHTS RE-WHIPPED
• Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass
Herb Alpert's 1965 classic Whipped Cream & Other Delights is best-remembered for two things. The title track, "Whipped Cream," was used as the theme for the television show The Dating Game. And the LP cover featured the image that tantalized a whole generation of fathers and sons with its confectionery erotica. For trivia buffs, the cocoa-skinned model was Dolores Erickson, and what she was strategically swathed in was actually shaving cream. Only the dollop on top of her head was whipped cream.
For this 40th anniversary tribute, there's a lovely new cover model who's sporting a skimpy cream bikini (though I suspect Photoshop spared her from suffering for her art the way Erickson did).
The Tijuana Brass's groovy mariachi music gets a sexy makeover too, at the hands of eight of today's hippest remixers. I find the elements of remixing--scratchy loops, dramatic hard edits, Moogy bleeps--a bit cliched at this point (I wonder who really listens to remixes, aside from other remixers), but some of it works surprisingly well here.
Especially interesting are Camara Kambon's moody chillout take on "Ladyfingers," John King's cut and paste collage of "A Taste Of Honey" and Thievery Corporation's tinsel-coated repruning of "Lemon Tree." With the exception of a heavy-handed hip-hop treatment of "Love Potion #9" by Anthony Marinelli & Ozomatli, this all goes by like a soundtrack for some jet-setting European party.
While it's always a treat to hear the Tijuana Brass's frisky melodies (they're like a shorthand for '60s sunshine pop), the real attraction on Re-Whipped is Herb Alpert himself, who weighs in with new trumpet solos on several tracks. The standout is his long, languid ribbon of a statement on "Tangerine." With his honeyed tone and Miles-influenced sparse phrasing, Herbie sounds as west coast cool as ever.
It all begs the question though: why not take this project a step further and release a new Tijuana Brass album? Here's hoping. • Bill DeMain
return to covers listen to clips
herbalpert.com buy it here
