Beatles Covers #4: When I'm 64 by Los Norte Americanos

According to Space Age Pop: The Tijuana Brass represents the last brilliant burst of space age pop before it flamed out as schizophrenia took over and America's musical tastes split between the radical disaffection of psychedelic rock and the Silent Majority safety of "The Lawrence Welk Show."

Believe it or not, between 1963 and 1969, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (TJB) racked up sales and airplay of their singles and albums to rival the Beatles and Frank Sinatra. At one point in 1966, they had five of the Top 20 best-selling albums on Billboard's charts, and at various times, held the #1 spot for a total of 26 weeks between 1965 and 1968. "Whipped Cream and Other Delights" stayed on the Top 40 album chart for nearly three years!

So, I guess it shouldn't be surprising that there were a lot of TJB knock offs.  If it's popular, it's going to be imitated.... more often than not, poorly.  This track by Los Norte Americanos not only capitalizes on the success of TJB, but also rides on the coat-tails of The Beatles.   It is sure to disappoint. And it does so spectacularly.



Click the "read more" option below to see some more TJB rip-offs from yesteryear, including one by Colonel Sanders himself.

A thanks to the RetroTrash database for several of the following images