One of the better Bond films is the 2006 Daniel Craig debut, Casino Royale. Craig brought back some toughness – some of the rough edges – of Bond that had been drifting away since Roger Moore and his successors took over. And Craig has turned out to be one of my favorites, nearly rivaling Sean Connery.
The movie itself was very well done. The action was right. The plot was right. It was a fine addition to the Bond franchise.
But it wasn’t the first time they’d done Casino Royale. Back in 1967, Hollywood put out a spoof version spy film by that name starring David Niven as James Bond. It was a bit like one of those ensemble comedy jobs that were popular at the time (It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World comes to mind). The kind of movie that needed a whacky car chase or fight scene at the end.
Oddly though, this piece isn’t about James Bond and Casino Royale. It’s about Herb Alpert and “Casino Royale.”
There was a time when Herb Alpert was a thing. I remember we had a few of his albums at our house when I was growing up – my mom probably still does (don’t throw them out Mom!). As a matter of fact, I looked through his album covers on line and recognize as many as 8 (listed below), many of which I’m sure we had. But this has me thinking of the other music of my youth. I’m sure every generation has the music of their parents buried somewhere in their memories before they discovered their own. I remember Roy Clark and Earl Grant (Earl Grant?!?). I’m thankful for Gordon Lightfoot, that’s for sure. And maybe even Neil Diamond, even if I didn’t listen to a lot of him. This is the music I knew before Led Zeppelin and Rush.
But for some reason, Herb Alpert came to mind the other day, and the only song that I could think of was “Casino Royale” (I later remembered “Tijuana Taxi”). And when I listened, the other memories came back. When I saw the “A&M” label on the video, it even more reminded me of something that is there, just at the back of my memories. And it was kind of nice.
The eight Herb Alpert albums I remember: The Beat of the Brass, Going Places, The Lonely Bull, SRO, Sounds Like…, What Now My Love, Whipped Cream & Other Delights (iconic album cover), and Vol. 2.
And here’s a bonus track if you really wanna get rockin’…
The Herb Alpert albums were Jean’s. Whipped Cream certainly had an iconic cover
I remembered that about the albums being Jean’s. Maybe she can remember which ones she owned.