Vinyl plays with occasional light-crackles (play-graded). Cover looks good; light scuffing and a few small surface abrasions on front; discoloration with darker discoloration spots on back. Inner-sleeve is original (A&M ads); one side partially split at top. Spine is easy-to-read (text is crooked) with wear. Minor shelf-wear along top/bottom-edge and corners. Opening is crisp with signs of light use. Stereo pressing. (Not a cut-out.)
South of the Border by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass,it was Alpert's first top ten hit, and fifth gold record. The album continued the progression of the Tijuana Brass from its mostly-Mexican sound to a more easy-listening style, with a collection of cover versions of popular songs. Included were I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face, originally featured in the Broadway musical My Fair Lady and The Beatles' 1963 hit All My Loving. It also featured an instrumental cover of its title song, South of the Border, which was most famously done as a vocal by Frank Sinatra. Hello, Dolly! had the band singing a couple of lines of the mostly-instrumental rendition, in what might now be considered stereotyping, using mock-Mexican accents. Alpert's distinctive singing voice was not discernible in that portion. Also, in some versions, he can be heard whispering "Número Cinco", effecting a Mexican accent, at the start of that song's track. One number, a Sol Lake tune called The Mexican Shuffle, was reworked for a TV ad for a brand of chewing gum, and styled The Teaberry Shuffle. The cover features Alpert and perennial HATB model Sandra Moss at the Patio del Moro apartment complex in West Hollywood.