Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass managed to outsell The Beatles 2:1 in 1966. Herb Alpert is the only recording artist in history to have both a No. 1 hit as a singer and as an instrumentalist. He bumped Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” out of the No. 1 spot with his rendition of Burt Bacharach’s “This Guy’s in Love with You” in the summer of 1968. With the success of that hit, Herb asked Hal David if he had another song for him to sing. Then Karen Carpenter walked into his recording studio at A & M records and Herb was blown away by her talent. So he gave the song to her. That song was “Close to You.” Another big discovery at A & M Records was Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66. Not only did he love the group, Herb Alpert fell in love with their lead singer Lani Hall.

“I like to make uplifting music. I get energy from a concert. I have this opportunity to make people feel good.” —Herb Alpert