For those unaware, Trinidad López III (aka Trini Lopez) was born in Dallas, TX on May 15, 1937 and at the tender age of 15, he formed his first band, The Big Beats. Trini played guitar and his repertoire consisted of Mexican folk songs, rhythm and blues hits and rock ’n roll favorites.

The Big Beats played the local clubs in Texas where he met Buddy Holly. Holly referred him to his producer Norman Petty and Petty helped The Big Beats and Trini get their first record deal with Columbia Records.

Unfortunately, Petty wanted the band to be an instrumental outfit. Trini was not interested in that style of music and soon left the band. He then did some solo sides for Volk and King Records but by 1962 he was without a label and started playing clubs in Los Angeles.

Living and playing in Los Angeles, Trini developed quite a following. Soon, he established a residency at one club in particular, PJ’s, in West Hollywood. Record man Don Costa who worked for Frank Sinatra’s new label, Reprise Records, brought the boss to one of Trini’s shows one night and soon thereafter, Lopez was signed to Reprise and released his first album, Trini Lopez At PJ’s. The album went as high as #2 on the Billboard album charts and Trini’s live cover of Pete Seeger’s “If I Had A Hammer” soon went gold, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Trini’s career with Reprise was plentiful, releasing 20 albums from 1963–1969 and establishing himself as one of the first Latin crossover acts to the pop charts. But the long player wasn’t the only place one could hear new Trini Lopez music as he released several non-LP A- and B- sides throughout the years.

Omnivore Recordings will now release The Rare Reprise Singles (out December 3rd, 2021), a 24-track compilation that puts together all of the non-LP tracks that Lopez would record for Reprise Records from 1962–1970.

1. A-MER-I-CA
2. LET IT BE KNOWN
3. I’VE LOST MY LOVE FOR YOU
4. REGRESA A MI (RETURN TO ME)
5. MI FELICIDAD (LITTLE MISS HAPPINESS)
6. MADE IN PARIS
7. PRETTY LITTLE GIRL
8. UP TO NOW
9. THE BRAMBLE BUSH
10. THE BALLAD OF THE DIRTY DOZEN
11. TOGETHER 12. MASTER JACK
13. MALAGUEÑA SALEROSA
14. SOMETHING TELLS ME
15. EL NIÑO DEL TAMBOR (THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY)
16. NOCHE DE PAZ (SILENT NIGHT) / LET THERE BE PEACE
17. LOVE STORY
18. FIVE O’CLOCK WORLD
19. YOU MAKE MY DAY
20. TIME TO GET IT TOGETHER
21. MEXICAN MEDICINE MAN
22. SU-KAL-DE-DON
23. THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN
24. LET’S THINK ABOUT LIVING

Hearing many of these songs for the very first time on CD, the simply divine new collection opens on the joyously buoyant studio version of A-MER-I-CA and the finger-snappin’ LET IT BE KNOWN and backs those up seamlessly with the gently frenzied I’VE LOST MY LOVE FOR YOU, the lushly orchestrated REGRESA A MI (RETURN TO ME), and then we get the rock ’n’ roll of MI FELICIDAD (LITTLE MISS HAPPINESS), the Latin hipsway of MADE IN PARIS and then the beautiful balladry of PRETTY LITTLE GIRL.

Up next is the ‘60s pop bounce of UP TO NOW which is itself followed by an upbeat THE BRAMBLE BUSH (from the MGM Production The Dirty Dozen which Trini starred in), the sterner Western fare of THE BALLAD OF THE DIRTY DOZEN, the foot-tapper TOGETHER, both the free flowing MASTER JACK and the subtle Latin and Western-imbibed guitar work of MALAGUEÑA SALEROSA, and the comes the free wheelin’ rhythms of SOMETHING TELLS ME.

Along next is the mid-tempo balladry of EL NIÑO DEL TAMBOR (THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY) and the ornate holiday mastery of NOCHE DE PAZ (SILENT NIGHT) / LET THERE BE PEACE, which are backed by a rather lovely LOVE STORY (a cover of Randy Newman’s song, produced by Bob Gaudio of The Four Seasons) and then more finger-snappin’ grooves on a cover of the Vogues’ renowned FIVE O’CLOCK WORLD, the upbeat and joyful YOU MAKE MY DAY, the laid back affair of TIME TO GET IT TOGETHER, both the drum-led, guitar rock of MEXICAN MEDICINE MAN and the poppy ambiance of SU-KAL-DE-DON, with the new CD collection rounding out on the piano and guitar, soft AOR embodiment of THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN, closing on the gently rambunctious LET’S THINK ABOUT LIVING.

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