"Rise" is an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

written by Andy Armer and Randy 'Badazz' Alpert, first recorded in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter, pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, conductor, painter, sculptor and theatre producer, who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (sometimes called "Herb Alpe ...

. Released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from Alpert's solo album ''

Rise Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a vide ...

'', the song reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' charts. It is the instrumental sample for

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradi ...

hit " Hypnotize".

Background

"Rise" was written by Herb Alpert's nephew Randy, in collaboration with Andy Armer. The A&R representative at

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

, Chip Cohen, knew Randy Alpert was into funk and disco music. He asked Randy to rework Tijuana Brass hits as funk tracks.Unterberger, Andrew.
Randy ‘Badazz’ Alpert Remembers ‘Rise,’ Sampled in The Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Hypnotize’
, ''Billboard''. March 1, 2017. Herb Alpert recalls, "I think we started by playing ‘

A Taste of Honey ''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was adapted into an award-winning film of the same title in 1961. Set in Salford in North West England, it tells the story of Jo, ...

’ or ‘Tijuana Taxi'. And it just felt like the wrong approach. I didn’t feel comfortable playing that way." As Alpert and Armer were working on Cohen's assignment, they decided to write an original song for Herb as well. The result was "Rise". “Rise” was originally recorded as an uptempo dance number, however, while recording the master at A&M studios, the drummer on the session,

Steve Schaeffer Steve Schaeffer is a Hollywood studio musician who has played on more than 1,000 feature films and original soundtracks. Partial filmography *''Inside Man'' (2006) *''Blade Runner'' (1982) *''Bowfinger'' (1999) *'' The Big Kahuna'' (1999) *''The ...

, strongly suggested that Herb and Randy try slowing the tempo down to 100bpm. As Tom Breihan would write later in ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'', "Maybe that idea — making 'Rise' into something disco-adjacent, rather than straight disco — allowed the song to thrive in the late-1979 days when the disco backlash was taking shape." The song received an unlikely boost from being featured in a notorious episode of the

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

'', in which

Luke Spencer Luke Spencer is a fictional character in the American television soap opera ''General Hospital'', played by Anthony Geary from 1978 until his departure in July 2015. Geary holds the record for most Daytime Emmy wins for Outstanding Lead Actor ...

raped

Laura Webber Laura Spencer may refer to: * Laura Spencer (actress) (born 1986), American actress * Laura Spencer (''General Hospital''), a fictional character in the television series ''General Hospital'' * Laura Horton (formerly Spencer), a fictional charact ...

while "Rise" played on the soundtrack. "Rise" reached number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in October of that year and remained in the top position for two weeks. Herb Alpert thus became the first artist to reach the top of the Hot 100 with a vocal performance ("

This Guy's in Love with You "This Guy's in Love with You" is a hit song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and released by Herb Alpert in May, 1968. Although known primarily for his trumpet playing as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, Alpert sang lead vocals on thi ...

", 1968) as well as an instrumental performance. "Rise" was also successful on other charts, peaking at number four on the R&B chart, number 17 on the disco chart and spending one week atop the

adult contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stati ...

. The recording also received a

Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance was awarded between 1969 and 2011. *In 1969 it was awarded as Best Contemporary-Pop Performance, Instrumental *From 1970 to 1971 it was awarded as Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance ...

. Songwriters Armer and Alpert were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. "Rise" became a club hit in the United Kingdom under unusual circumstances. According to

Fred Bronson Fredric M. "Fred" Bronson (born January 10, 1949) is an American journalist, author and writer. He is the author of books related to number one songs on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and other books related to various music charts as well. He ...

in ''The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits'', "British club DJs failed to notice the imported American 12-inch pressings were recorded at 33 rpm, and played 'Rise' at the wrong speed, making it sound much faster than even Randy had intended. As the song was instrumental, there were no clues to suggest they were wrong and 'Rise' became a U.K. hit in its speeded-up version." "Rise" has been frequently requested as a sample by various artists. Randy Alpert declined most of them. When he heard the tape of Notorious B.I.G. rapping over "Rise" he was wildly enthusiastic about it and immediately approved the sample. He later gave

Bell Biv DeVoe Bell Biv DeVoe, also known as BBD, is an American music group from Boston, Massachusetts, formed from members of New Edition, consisting of Ricky Bell (singer), Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe. The band is best known for their debut ...

permission to sample the song, because he was a fan of the group. He declined to let ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'' use the song during a scene where someone was being beaten. Alpert also refused to let

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

use "Rise" in a campaign for

Viagra Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is also sometimes used off-label for the treatment of certain symptoms in secondary Ray ...

which would have relied on the

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

implied by the song's title. In October 2016 the "Rise Remix EP" was released on the Herb Alpert Presents label. It has seven selections with six remixes as well as the original track.

Personnel

– trumpet *Tim May &

Chris Pinnick Chris Pinnick (born July 23, 1953) is an American guitarist and songwriter, probably best known for his work with the band Chicago from 1980 to 1985. Pinnick was born on July 23, 1953, in Van Nuys, California, and took up the guitar at the age ...

– guitars *

Abe Laboriel Abraham Laboriel López (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the fathe ...

– bass guitar * Mike Lang – acoustic piano *Andy Armer –

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

electric piano *

Julius Wechter Julius Wechter (May 10, 1935 – February 1, 1999) was an American musician and composer who played the marimba and vibraphone. He also played various percussion instruments. He composed the song " Spanish Flea" for Herb Alpert and was leader of t ...

– marimba *

– drums *

Don Hahn Donald Paul Hahn (born November 26, 1955) is an American film producer. He served as a producer for the Disney films '' Beauty and the Beast'' (1991, the first out of three animated films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture) ...

& Don Koldon – engineers

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Covers and samples

* A

sample Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

of "Rise" is the entire musical groove of the 1997 song " Hypnotize", recorded by

and co-produced by

Sean "Puffy" Combs Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, Combs worked as a ...

. *

Bel Biv DeVoe Bell Biv DeVoe, also known as BBD, is an American music group from Boston, Massachusetts, formed from members of New Edition, consisting of Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe. The band is best known for their debut album, the multi-pl ...

sampled "Rise" in their 2016 song "

Run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

". The song's lyrics also quote The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize". * "Rise" was recreated in the style of

nu jazz Nu jazz (also spelt nü jazz or known as jazztronica, or future jazz) is a genre of jazz and electronic music. The music blends jazz elements with other musical styles, such as funk, electronic music, and free improvisation. Nu jazz typically ve ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

producer Jonathan Hay and

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

artist Atlas Jenkins for the album ''Wish You Were Brooklyn: The Electro Jazz House Invasion Soundtrack (Deluxe)''.

References

Bibliography

*''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', Billboard Books; 9th Edition, 2010, {{Authority control 1979 singles Herb Alpert songs American disco songs 1970s instrumentals Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles General Hospital A&M Records singles 1979 songs