Herb Alpert S.R.O. (1966)

Herb Alpert, born March 31, 1937, took up the trumpet at eight and was turned on to jazz while in the US Atrny. His early career was as a songwriter, in partnership with Lou Adler, writing for Keen Records, notably the Sam Cooke/ Herman's Hermits hit 'Wonderful World'. They became producers for Dore Records, handling the early hits by Jan and Dean and together with Lou Rawls set up Shardee, but after friction over Alpert's own recording and acting ambitions they separated.

Acting took him no further than being an extra for The Ten Commandments, and initi-ally recording was equally fruitless. He found a new partner, Jerry Moss, a promoter and coproducer of the sole Dore Alpert single for RCA, and they set up Carnival Records, later A&M. Their third venture was the Mexican sounding 'The Lonely Bull' by the Tijuana Brass, on A&M. It launched simultaneously Herb Alpert re-cording star and middle-of-the-road label executive.

He became a household name with a run of gold albums, sell-out concerts and television specials. In 1969, facing declining popularity, he took a five-year sabbatical, concentrating on the production side of A&M and discovering the Carpenters