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Whipped Cream & Other Delights Review
07/13/2005 4:26 AM, AMG
It'll never be known exactly what made Whipped Cream & Other Delights Herb Alpert's big commercial breakthrough -- the music or the LP jacket's luscious nude model covered almost entirely with simulated whipped cream. Probably both. In any case, Alpert's most famous album is built around a coherent concept; every song has a title with food in it. Within this concept, Alpert's musical tastes are still refreshingly eclectic; he uses Brazilian rhythms on "Green Peppers" and "Bittersweet Samba," reaches back to the big-band era for the haunting "Tangerine," uses Dixieland jazz on "Butterball," and goes to New Orleans for the Allen Toussaint-penned title track (familiar to viewers of TV's The Dating Game). He also has developed a unique sense of timing as a producer, using pauses for humorous effect, managing to score his second Top Ten hit with a complex, tempo-shifting version of "A Taste of Honey." No wonder Alpert drew such a large, diverse audience at his peak; his choices of tunes spanned eras and generations, while his arrangements were energetic enough for the young and melodic enough for older listeners. Whipped Cream & Other Delights, number one in the U.S. for eight weeks, is available on CD, though the cover obviously doesn't make as alluring an impression as it did on LP. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
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