Vinyl plays with occasional light-crackles (play-graded). Cover looks great; a few creases near edges; light-scuffing (front/back). Inner-sleeve is original (A&M ads). Spine is easy-to-read with some wear. Little shelf-wear along top-edge, slightly more wear along bottom-edge and corners. Opening is crisp with signs of light use and divots. (Not a cut-out.)
Herb Alpert's Ninth by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass reached No. 4 on the Billboard charts and spent 18 weeks on the Top 40. It was, as its title indicated, the ninth album released by the Brass. Its cover, in addition to a number of still photos from Brass concerts, included a pop-culture joke. Ludwig van Beethoven had been a popular topic on T-shirts in the late 1960s. In this case, an illustration of Beethoven was shown apparently wearing a T-shirt with Alpert's face on it. The title was also a play on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. None of Beethoven's Ninth actually appeared in the album tracks. The album otherwise featured the usual collection of lively pop hit covers, along with a song called A Banda that was in the style of some of their earlier hits. The Brass' leisurely rendition of The Trolley Song was in deliberate contrast to the well-known energetic version originally sung by Judy Garland in the film Meet Me in St. Louis. The album also featured an unusual original entry, a mournful, minor-key melody called Bud, which was written "In memory of our dear friend Ervan (Bud) Coleman" (who had died from surgery complications on May 26, 1967 (age 45), before the album was completed) and was also credited as being authored by Coleman and his wife Eleanor. Coleman was the composer of several Brass tunes (notably Tijuana Taxi) and also played guitar, mandolin and banjo on several TJB tracks.