Herb Alpert on Making His Grand Ole Opry Debut, Country Artists He Admires & Taylor Swift Tying His Six-Decade Record

At 88, Herb Alpert has had one of the most illustrious and celebrated careers in American popular music. As leader of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass and as a solo trumpeter, he has won 9 Grammys and sold more than 72 million albums. He co-founded A&M Records with the late Jerry Moss, bringing the work of Janet Jackson, the Carpenters, The Police, Peter Frampton, Cat Stevens and many more artists to the public. 

Until July when Taylor Swift tied his record, Alpert had been the most recent artist to have four albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart simultaneously, and on Sept. 15, he’ll release his 49th studio album, Wish Upon a Star. The album’s first single is “East Bound and Down,” an instrumental remake of the Jerry Reed hit that Reed took to No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart in 1977 and then revived for the 1980 film Smokey and the Bandit. 

It would seem that Alpert has done it all, but there are still some firsts ahead of him. He’ll check off a big one tonight (Aug. 18), when he plays the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville for the first time. Also on the bill is Carrie Underwood. 

He may be making his Opry debut, but Alpert has some long relevant ties to Nashville and the country community that he shared with Billboard. He also admits that it took him some time to come around to Willie Nelson, and makes clear that he has nothing but kind words for Swift. The conversation, condensed and edited for space and clarity, took place Aug. 15, one day before Moss died. 

So here you are at 88, doing something that you have never done before by playing the Opry. Has this been on your checklist? 

I never thought about it. It just never crossed my mind. I did this tune from [1980 movie] Smokey and the Bandit that was written by Jerry Reed, who was in the movie as well, but I never got that tune out of my brain. I saw [the movie] maybe 20 years ago. And I always remember that melody, and I tried to see if I could play that melody in my style and make some sense out of it. And it seemed like the I had a favorable reaction.

So one thing led to another and I was asked to perform and they seem to be very excited. I’m going to not only do [“Eastbound”] with the Opry band, but I’m bringing my band and we’re going to do a Tijuana Brass medley. I don’t know what to expect, but I hear great things about being there. 

Have you ever been to the Grand Ole Opry? 

Not inside. I’ve been to Nashville many times. I had a show in the museum with my artwork. And we’ve played on various venues in Nashville.

All the artists are mingling and hanging out in the hallway instead of staying in their dressing rooms. It’s an incredibly friendly atmosphere. 

I have heard exactly what you just stated. I’m excited. You know, it’s not that easy for me because I’m an introvert, so I’ve got to lose my feeling of being uncomfortable around new people. I’m gonna be there.

In John Scheinfeld’s excellent 2020 documentary on you, the film talks about your picking up the trumpet when you were eight years old because you were so introverted. The trumpet is the way you communicate.

“That’s the way I communicate” is exactly right.

Since you’re headed to Nashville, let’s talk about some of your connections to country music. One of A&M’s first signings was Waylon Jennings in 1964, long before he became a country legend and in the early years of A&M.

We signed Waylon, and I used to go down to Arizona to record him. I did this one record called “Four Strong Winds.” [RCA label head and musician] Chet Atkins heard the record and he made some overtures to Waylon about, when he gets out of the contract with A&M he’d like to talk to him — which he shouldn’t have done, because Waylon was under contract to us. It seemed like he was jumping over our bones a bit. But I loved Chet. He was certainly a brilliant musician, as well as administrator.

Waylon really wanted to be a country artist. Waylon’s voice was really unusual, because he could sing just about anything and it sounded darn good — he had something in his voice that just resonated right into the heart. I wanted to take him a little more pop, and he really wanted to be a country artist. He told me confidentially about Chet Atkins wanting to see him. So my partner Jerry Moss and I decided to let Waylon out of his contract so he could go with Chad and RCA.

Waylon couldn’t believe that we were willing to do that. But I remember the day that Jerry and I signed his release. I looked at Jerry and I said, “Man, this guy’s going to be big star.” And Jerry said, “I know it.” I got goosebumps thinking that, “Man, if we could be that honest with people with our artists, we’re gonna be a big success.” It was really a pivotal moment for me and my feelings about A&M Records and what we were doing. 

What memories do you have of playing with the Tijuana Brass in Nashville? 

When I played in Nashville with the Brass in 1967, Johnny Cash came backstage and I had a nice conversation with him after, and he seemed to really love the music that I was making.

Any other memories from other times that you’ve played Nashville where country artists came to your shows?

I met Marty Stuart when I was exhibiting at the art museum. I don’t remember the year. The museum gave me 7,000 square feet, and I was putting up sculptures and paintings [one of Alpert’s sculptures is permanently installed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville]. Marty was a friend of David Conrad, who was running our publishing company Almo Irving. I like his artistry and just him in general.

A&M also signed the Flying Burrito Brothers, who were absolutely pivotal in the evolution of country rock. You released their 1969 album, The Gilded Palace of Sin. What did you see in them? 

Jerry signed up. When I heard them, I thought they were going to be much larger than what actually happened. They had something special, I felt, but nobody knows what a hit record sounds like or what the public is going to take to in a big way. 

In 1964, you and the Tijuana Brass has a hit album called South of the Border, which took its name and the title track from the Gene Autry country movie classic of the same name. How did that song influence you? 

Before A&M records, I was earning a living playing on weekends with various bands, and I had a little backlog of songs that I could just play out of the blue because I had the gift of if I hear a song on the radio, I can just about play it back. So “South of the Border” was probably one of those songs that I had in my stockpile. I tried to do songs when they’re known to others in a way they haven’t been done before. That’s one of my goals.

I’ve never tried to make a hit record. I always tried to make records that felt good. And the honest truth of it is, at 88 years old, I make records for myself. I make records that make me feel good. I’m not trying to make a record that’s going to trump somebody else. I feel like if they can touch me, and it can make me feel good, possibly. I worked with Sam Cooke. [Alpert co-wrote Cooke’s hit and now classic, “Wonderful World”.] He came out of the gospel field and just was so authentic as an artist, and as a person. Loved the guy. He taught me a lot. There was something about him that just gave me the feeling of “Man, you gotta be real. You can’t fake it. You can’t pretend you’re one thing and do another.” I always tried to make records that just really reflected who I was as an artist and I’ve been darn lucky.

In the ‘70s, there was a very successful act called Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass, which was a country version of the Tijuana Brass. They won the Grammy for best country instrumental performance in 1970 and snagged several CMA Awards. Did you hear them? 

I didn’t get it. I mean, that’s just that’s like trying to take advantage of what I did.

Were there country artists that you had admired?

Like everyone else, I love Dolly [Parton]. I love her as a person. I love her as an artist. I think Kris Kristofferson had a big mark, big effect, on country music. He was writing songs that really had provocative meaning and I think he took it to a different level. He was just really special.

Willie Nelson was also an influence on me. When I first heard Willie, it was probably 1959-1960. He was recording for Liberty Records. A friend of mine was working at Liberty and would send me his records. I was listening to him and thinking, like, “Wow, I don’t get why this guy is popular. I don’t get that voice of his.” And all of a sudden, through the years, I transitioned with him and I ended up really loving him. I think he’s a major artist. I think he’s like a jazz artist. He’s very spontaneous. He’s of the moment. And I’m so used to that voice now that it’s part of me. I really love what he does.

We most recently wrote about you last month when you posted a very sweet TikTok to Taylor Swift, congratulating her on tying your record for four albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200. Did she respond to you?

Somebody that worked for her did, but that’s okay. I didn’t need a response [from her]. I mean, she’s good. I think she’s real good. She’s the real thing.