Questions re: Mexican Drummer Man

[Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar]

The song 'Mexican Drummer Man' fascinates me at some weird level. The melody, the tempo, the key changes, etc. I found this youtube clip of a group (From London?) called "The Mexicans". WOW! That is sooo not ***PC*** in today's world. I'm surprised they didn't say "A Bunch of Mexicans", or a "Truckload..." etc.

My questions are:

*Did this song ever have tracktion?
*Why did a couple of groups still record it using TJB in the lyrics?
*Could the song be done again with slightly changed feel and lyrics? & *Is there someone crazy enough that would try to do it again?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgFo72eJd1A&feature=related

 

[Harry]

I have zero recognition of the song as far as it being popular or played on radio. I just wasn't paying attention to such things at that time. But the Hot 100 charts tell us that Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass' single went to number 77, and hung around the chart for 5 weeks.

For reference, that's as high as "Last Tango In Paris", which stayed on the charts a few weeks longer at 8 weeks; it's one position better than "Zazueira" which got to number 78; and a little worse than "Jerusalem" which managed number 74.

Harry

 

[Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar]

Hey all. I've searched and can not find. Does any one have the lyrics to MDM? Thx....J

 

[Harry]

Hi Jay,

As a matter of fact, my very first post here on the Forum, nearly 14 years ago to the day, dealt with "Mexican Drummer Man" and its lyrics. I was so thrilled to find a "new" Tijuana Brass track in 1997 that I just HAD to post something about it, so I transcribed the lyrics and posted them on the old Corner board.

That's long gone, but my old .doc file is still floating around here (had to rescue it from a 3 ½" floppy disk), so here they are, the lyrics to "Mexican Drummer Man."

Mexican Drummer Man

Music & lyrics by Scott Turner

Don’t you hear that music?
A sound you’ve never heard before.
If the man on the drums keeps a’playin’ like that,
we’re gonna dance till we go through the floor.
Don’tcha don’tcha don’tcha
hear Herbie blowin’ on his trumpet?
The sounds are comin’ loud and strong.
If the Tijuana Brass keeps a’playin’ like that,
we’re gonna stay here all night long.
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

(instrumental)

Everybody’s dancin’ to the music (oh yeah)
‘cause the sounds are comin’ loud and strong.
We’re gonna dance to the Tijuana Brass.
Gonna stay here all night long.
Everybody come on, come on…

(instrumental)

Come on, come on, come on,
come on, come on, come on…

Harry

 

[Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar]

Harry. Thanks for the lyrics. I'm thinking of trying to put a new arr. of the song together. Maybe. Have you all heard this version by the Poni Tails? j
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=u5aR6VSRdBo

 

[Harry]

Yeah, when you posted the other link, the Poni Tails version was listed as another link from YouTube. I'm somewhat intrigued by the picture of the Poni Tails - you'd think that at least ONE of them would have had their hair in a ponytail!

Harry

 

[TonyCurrie]

The copy of The Mexicans' version on YouTube is really beaten up, isn't it? Yes, it's a British cover version - the album was produced in London by Decca Records and later reissued as "The World of Tijuana" on Decca's budget label.

 

[Shane]

I saw this thread on here a couple of weeks ago, and having no idea what "Mexican Drummer Man" was, never bothered to look. Today I was at an estate sale looking through a box of 45s... look what I found for a dollar!


Wow, this really is an oddball song in the TJB catalog...

 

[Rudy]

Is "The Great Manolette" on the flip side? If so, that is also a unique mix. If you compare it to the version on Volume 2 (either the stereo or mono LP version), it is easy to hear the differences.

 

[Shane]

Yes, the Great Manolette is on the other side... I'll have to give that side another listen. Also, in regards to this single getting airplay... check out the sticker on the label. Tom Maule was a DJ in the 1960s on Fresno's radio station KMAK (I live in Fresno, and found this copy here). He later ended up at KHJ in Los Angeles. Not to say that it got airplay for very long... but evidently it did at some point.

 

[Rudy]

It did make a Hot 100 chart appearance, so it probably did get some airtime.

 

[Harry]

Yes, the Great Manolette is on the other side... I'll have to give that side another listen. Also, in regards to this single getting airplay... check out the sticker on the label. Tom Maule was a DJ in the 1960s on Fresno's radio station KMAK (I live in Fresno, and found this copy here). He later ended up at KHJ in Los Angeles. Not to say that it got airplay for very long... but evidently it did at some point.

That sticker was likely placed on the record by a record promoter, and the record sent out to another station, perhaps a competitor of Tom Maule's. The sticker's purpose was to let another program director or DJ know what records the competition was playing, so as to get the record even more airtime on more stations. But the bottom line is that the sticker tells us at least that it did air on Tom Maule's show and was "hitbound!"

Some of these record promoters themselves were almost legendary. I have a number of records with stickers from Matty "Humdinger" Singer, a larger-than-life character who frequented all of the radio stations in Philly and beyond.

Harry

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

In an interview from long ago, Herb spoke of producing this tune, but didn't mention the title. It was his attempt at a Phil Spector "wall of sound" effect, where he threw in "two of everything" for instrumentation.

 

[Rudy]

Some of these record promoters themselves were almost legendary. I have a number of records with stickers from Matty "Humdinger" Singer, a larger-than-life character who frequented all of the radio stations in Philly and beyond.

For those who weren't in radio: if you want an idea of how these promoters conducted business , I recommend picking up Stan Cornyn's book Exploding!, which is a history of Warner Bros. Records but includes every angle to their success. You would not believe some of the tactics they used. Then again...

 

[Charles H.]

The one way that Herb could have made the "Lost Treasures" compilation even better would have been to include "Mexican Drummer Man," "El Bimbo," the single version of "Tijuana Taxi" (with the extra taxi horn beeps) and the "live" recording of "Zorba the Greek" (with the cheering crowd), singles never included on any original TJB album, instead of the ones that had already been on the "You Smile...The Song Begins" album.

I recall reading that the Tijuana Brass version of "Flamingo" was Herb's second attempt (after "MDM") at the "wall of sound" style. Were there any more?

Charles

 

[Mr Bill]

I fear that may be true, especially since it's been over four years since the last "Signature Series" CD from Shout!Factory. That's sad since it means we'll likely never hear great songs like "Save The Sunlight," "Dida," Song For Herb," "Coney Island," "Promenade" or Musique" on CD...

 

[Rudy]

CDs are on the way out anyway. Seems like the used record shops don't even like buying them back, as I've tried numerous places myself.

If these came as downloads, I would buy them, but only if they are NOT itunes or lossy MP3 files. I would like to see these at HDTracks personally...

 

[Harry]

CBS SUNDAY MORNING did a feature this morning on Darlene Love and mentioned her work with "The Blossoms". But there was no mention of the Tijuana Brass...

Harry

 

[Rudy]

IIRC, I have The Blossoms on a Duane Eddy album...

 

[Bobberman]

Mexican drummer man now you are talking about ANOTHER RARE TJB GEM. that should be released digitally my copy of the single was an A&m forget me nots issue ( like all 45s ihad were lost thru the years but i used copy to tape my 45s and the tapes were well prseved until igot my standalone cd recorder and mdm and others are forever prserved on cd.r) i still enjoy the party atmosphere of the song. I would like to know more about the writer scott turner who seems to have his name on many early a&m titles is m.r turner real or is that a pseudonym. Which seemed to be common practice in those days EVEN IN 2012 MEXICAN DRUMMER MAN STILL ROCKS... NOW IF M.R ALPERT COULD PLEASE REISSUE IT IN SOME FORM THAT WOULD BE SWEET.

 

[Harry]

In the mid-'60s, director John Harris and a young pre-star version of Teri Garr filmed this little short called WHERE'S THE BUS? that featured "Mexican Drummer Man" by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass.



Harry

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Mmmmm, Teri Garr. Always loved her.

 

[Ricky Carrera]

Hi everybody, I found this thread about the song, and would like you to check that versión from The Mexicans, I found the complete album and sharing this song, Regards.