Trini Lopez The Rare Reprise Singles (CD)

(Omnivore Records) 24 tracks, Digipack

The first collection of rare A and B sides from the Reprise years.

Trinidad López III was born in Dallas, TX on May 15, 1937 and formed his first band, The Big Beats, at the tender age of 15. Trini played guitar and his repertoire consisted of Mexican folk songs, rhythm-and-blues hits and rock and roll favorites. The Big Beats played local clubs in Texas, where he met Buddy Holly. Holly referred him to his producer Norman Petty, and Petty helped The Big Beats and Trini land their first recording contract with Columbia Records. Unfortunately, Petty wanted the band to be an instrumental group. Trini was not interested in this style of music and left the band soon after. He then recorded some solo sides for Volk and King Records, but by 1962 he was without a label and began playing in clubs in Los Angeles.

Living and playing in Los Angeles, Trini developed a large following. Soon he had a permanent spot in one particular club, PJ's in West Hollywood. Record producer Don Costa, who worked for Frank Sinatra's new label, Reprise Records, brought the boss to one of Trini's gigs one night, and shortly thereafter Lopez was signed by Reprise and released his first album, Trini Lopez At PJ's. The album reached #2 on the Billboard album chart, and Trini's live cover of Pete Seeger's If I Had A Hammer soon went gold and reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Trini went on to have a stellar career with Reprise, releasing 20 albums between 1963 and 1969 and establishing herself as one of the first Latin crossover acts on the pop charts. But the long player wasn't the only place to hear new music from Trini Lopez, as he released several A and B sides outside the LP over the years.

Omnivore Recordings is proud to announce the release of The Rare Reprise Singles, a 24-track compilation featuring all of the non-LP tracks Lopez recorded for Reprise Records between 1962 and 1970. Many of these songs are heard for the first time on CD, including the studio version of A-Me-Ri-Ca, The Bramble Bush (from the MGM production The Dirty Dozen, in which Trini starred) and a cover of Randy Newman's Love Story, produced by Bob Gaudio of The Four Seasons.

With liner notes by former Warner Bros. scribe Gene Sculatti, photos and ephemera from Trini's career with Reprise, this is the ultimate Trini Lopez rarities collection!