"The Lonely Bull (El Toro Solitario)"
One of side-A labels of US single
Single by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
from the album The Lonely Bull
B-side"Acapulco 1922"
ReleasedAugust 1962
RecordedAugust 1962
Genreeasy listening, pop
Length2:15
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)Sol Lake[1]
Producer(s)Herb Alpert, Jerry Moss
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass singles chronology
"The Lonely Bull (El Toro Solitario)"
(1962)		 "Let It Be Me"
(1962)
Alternative release
One of side-A labels of UK single
One of side-A labels of UK single

"The Lonely Bull (El Solo Toro)"[2] is a song by Sol Lake recorded by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass among others. The song was the title track to the album The Lonely Bull, released in December 1962. The Herb Alpert single represents the first release on A&M Records.[3] Its original title was "Twinkle Star".

Spanish title

"El Solo Toro" is given on the album as the Spanish translation of "The Lonely Bull", but the words el solo toro directly translate as "the bull lonely" or "the only bull". The translator evidently was not aware that in Spanish the adjective "solo" should have come after the noun "toro". "Solo" means "alone", rather than "lonely"; the proper translation of "lonely" is "solitario". In English, the adjective "lonely" precedes the noun "bull". In Spanish, the noun "toro" (the bull) comes before the adjective, "solitario". Thus, the correct translation of "The Lonely Bull" is "El Toro Solitario".

Background

While experimenting with the sound of an overdubbed trumpet, Herb Alpert recorded this song in his garage. The single and album recordings of the song were recorded at Conway Recorders in Hollywood by members of The Wrecking Crew,[4] and featured the sounds of a crowd cheering "Olé" inside a bullfight arena in Mexico, as well as the sounds of the trumpets announcing the matador before he enters the bullring. The song features a mandolin, a bass guitar, drums, and a wordless chorus, featuring a solo soprano. A video for the song was filmed in 1967 inside the Toreo de Tijuana bullring.[5]

Chart history

In the US, "The Lonely Bull" was a hit, peaking at #6 on the Hot 100.[6]

Chart (1962) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 6

Other recorded versions

Samples

References

  1. ↑ "discogs.com". discogs.com. October 1962. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  2. ↑ ASCAP
  3. ↑ Herb Alpert interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
  4. ↑ Hartman, Kent (2012). The Wrecking Crew. St. Martin’s Griffin. pp. 261–263. ISBN 978-1-250-03046-7.
  5. ↑ "Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass The Lonely Bull Video 1962" on YouTube
  6. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 31.


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