Magic Man

Personnel: Herb Alpert (vocals, trumpet, flugelhorn, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Clavinet, background vocals); Steven L. Lukather (guitar); Gayle Levant (harp); Michael Stokes (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Clavinet, background vocals); Michel Colombier (piano, Fender Rhodes piano); David Foster (keyboards, synthesizer); Steve Porcaro (synthesizer); Julius Wechter (vibraphone, marimba); John F. Robinson (drums); Eddie "Bongo" Brown (congas, bongos); Paulinho Da Costa, Steve Forman (percussion).
Audio Remasterer: Bernie Grundman.
Audio Remixer: Dan Hahn.
Recording information: A&M Recording Studios; Studio D, Hollywood, CA.
Illustrator: Taki Ono.
Photographer: Lisa Powers.
The high-flying confidence of Rise and the experimental bent of Beyond began to wear off by 1981, giving way to the more relaxed but musically weaker ministrations of Magic Man. With Michael Stokes, then A&M's director of Black Product/A&R, co-producing, Alpert came up with a pleasant collection of mostly forgettable, mild-mannered R&B/pop-slanted tunes, plus a fairly uneventful rendition-at-length of "Besame Mucho" and a redundant cha-cha/disco remake of his own "You Smile, The Song Begins." Alpert's haunting trumpet still reflects his post-"Rise" sense of command, but he doesn't have much to say this time; the material holds him back. ~ Richard S. Ginell