Ervan Coleman

Who was Ervan Coleman?

Ervan F. "Bud" Coleman was a guitar and mandolin player, member of Baja Marimba Band, worked with Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass and who famously wrote the hit "Tijuana Taxi."

On the liner notes of Herb Alpert's "Definitive Hits" for the song "Tijuana Taxi" Herb Alpert wrote: " was written by Bud Coleman who also played guitar and mandolin on many Tijuana Brass recordings until his untimely death. Bud wrote some great songs for us, but this one had a fabulous visual image of a Tijuana Taxi moving off a road and taking short cuts through the fields of Tijuana, Mexico."

"Tijuana Taxi" was originally released on the hit album Going Places in 1965.

He died in 1967 due to complications of a minor surgery. The song "Bud" is a tribute song for Coleman. It was released on Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass 1967 album Herb Alpert's Ninth. Coleman's wife Eleanor is given co-writing credits for this song. Julius Wechter's Baja Marimba Band also recorded a tribute song entitled "For Bud" on their 1968 album "Do You Know The Way To San Jose".

Bud's son Gregory Coleman was also an accomplished guitarist and musician himself.