South of the Border was Alpert's fifth gold record, and continued the progression of the Tijuana Brass from its mostly-Mexican sound to a more easy-listening style, with a collection of cover versions of popular songs.

Included were "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face", originally featured in the Broadway musical My Fair Lady and The Beatles' 1963 hit "All My Loving".

It also featured an instrumental cover of its title song, "South of the Border", which was most famously done as a vocal by Frank Sinatra.

[2] The number called "El Presidente", was a reorchestration of Sol Lake's "Winds of Barcelona", which had appeared on Volume 2.

[5] In a retrospective review for Allmusic, music critic Lindsay Planer praised the album's variety and described the ballads as "never seeming maudlin or unnecessarily over the top.