Don_Krider's Full Review: Greatest Hits by The Association
The Association created the soundtrack of many a 1960s' romance with such million-selling hits as "Cherish" and "Never My Love."
They also won a huge pop audience with uptempo pop tunes such as "Windy" (another million-selling single), "Along Comes Mary" and "Everything That Touches You." All five tunes were Top 10 hits.
Those songs were among the band's 12 Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart hits in 1966 to 1973 (the band scored a 13th Hot 100 hit in 1981 with "Dreamer," which is not included in this collection).
The band was known for its classic folk-rock harmonies and a well-orchestrated pop sound, kind of The Beach Boys' production meets The Mamas and The Papas' harmonies.
The biography:
Jules Alexander (identified as "Gary" in the CD liner notes for some reason), a native of Chatanooga, Tennesee, formed the group with a cross-section of personnel from around the United States.
The founding lineup in 1965, besides Alexander, included guitarist Terry Kirkman (from Salina, Kansas, a veteran of several acts including Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention), bassist Brian Cole (from Tacoma, Washington, who passed away in 1972), guitarist/drummer Ted Buechel, Jr. (from San Pedro, California), guitarist Jim Yester (from Birmingham, Alabama; his brother, Jerry, was a member of The Lovin' Spoonful of "Summer In The City" fame) and guitarist Russ Giguere.
The group initially gained attention with their first single (not a national hit and not in this collection) which was a cover of Bob Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings."
Lead guitarist Larry Ramos joined the "six man band" in 1967 after four years with The New Christy Minstrels (a group whose lineup included Kenny Rogers and Barry McGuire, The New Christy Minstrels scored six Hot 100 hits, including "Green, Green," "Today" and "Chim, Chim, Cheree").
Ramos was brought in to replace Alexander, who briefly left the group. When Alexander returned, Ramos remained and the group grew to seven members.
Giguere left the band in 1970 and was replaced by jazz musician Richard Thompson.
Over the years, the band has endured numerous personnel changes. Today's touring lineup includes Giguere and Ramos.
At their peak, the band did the soundtrack to the 1969 film "Goodbye, Columbus" starring Ali McGraw and Richard Benjamin (winning a Golden Globe for the title song), appeared at the legendary Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and appeared on numerous television shows worldwide (including "Ed Sullivan" and "Top Of The Pops").
They also scored a half-dozen Grammy nominations in 1967-68 along the way to selling 30 million records.
Not content with seven Top 40 singles (including five Top 10 hits and two # 1 singles), the band hit the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart with 10 albums, including three that reached the Top 10 and earned Gold Record Awards for selling in excess of 500,000 units each ("And Then...Along Comes The Association" hit # 5 in 1966 with 59 weeks on the chart; "Insight Out" hit # 8 in 1967 with 68 weeks charted, and this album, "Greatest Hits!", which reached # 4 in 1968 during a 75-week chart run).
This album:
Besides reaching # 4 on the charts in 1968, "Greatest Hits!" has become one of the biggest-selling albums in the history of Warner Brothers Records.
By 1969, "Greatest Hits!" had been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as a Gold Record Award-winner for selling 500,000 units. It was certified Platinum in 1986 for selling one-million units. In 1989, it was certified as Multi-Platinum with sales of two million copies.
The album contains 13 tracks, including nine of their Hot 100 hits (it features all seven of the band's Top 40 hits).
The tracks:
"The Time It Is Today," "Everything That Touches You" (# 10 in 1968), "Like Always," "Never My Love" (# 2, 1967), "Requiem For The Masses" (# 100 in 1967), "Along Comes Mary" (# 7 in 1966), ""Enter The Young," "No Fair At All" (# 51 in 1967), "Time For Livin'" (# 39), "We Love," "Cherish" (# 1 in 1966), "Windy" (# 1 in 1967) and "Six Man Band" (# 47 in 1968).
The best songs:
"Along Comes Mary":
Written by band member Russ Giguere, "Along Comes Mary" propelled the band to # 7 during an 11-week chart run in the summer of 1966. Featuring a wild, uptempo mix of guitar (both a clean-sounding guitar and a fuzz guitar), bass (both electric and acoustic bass are in the mix), drums, a recorder solo, percussion, hand claps. multi-part vocal harmonies and a rapid-fire lead vocal, songs don't get much catchier than this pop classic.
The lyrics are a brilliant commentary on dating:
"Everytime I think that I'm the only one who's lonely someone calls on me / and every now and then I spend my time at rhyme and verse and curse those faults in me / and then along comes Mary / and does she wanna give me kicks and be my steady chick / and give me pick of memories / or maybe rather gather tales from all the fails and tribulations no one ever sees / when we met I was sure out to lunch / now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch..."
"Cherish":
One of the greatest love ballads of all-time (later a # 9 hit for David Cassidy in 1971), "Cherish" carried The Association to # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks of a 14-week chart run beginning on August 27, 1968. The tune went on to sell a million copies and earned a Gold Record Award (the award at the time was given to singles that sold one million copies and to albums that sold 500,000 copies).
The sweet keyboards and orchestration that float the harmonies on this ballad could melt anyone's heart and the lyrics offer a hope for anyone in love.
Written by the band's Terry Kirkman (the kind of musician who can play any instrument that you put in front of him), the words have been sung by many a romantic soul to his or her soulmate:
"Cherish is the word that I use to describe / all the feeling that I have hiding here for you inside / you don't know how many times I've wished that I had told you / you don't know how many times I've wished that I could hold you / you don't know how many times that I've wished I could mold you / into someone who could cherish me as much as I cherish you..."
"Windy":
From it's catchy-as-heck guitar hook intro, to the steady backbeat and the throbbing bass that buoy the chorus above any waves of discontent, I challenge you not to smile, tap your feet to the melody and nod your head to the beat of "Windy."
Written by Ruthann Friedman, "Windy" also rose to # 1, this time for four weeks straight during its 14 week chart run in 1967. It's the story of a girl with a free spirit, somehow the perfect image of a '60s flower child that dominated the charts in that Summer Of Love of 1967:
"Who's peeking out from under s stairway / calling a name that's lighter than air / who's bending down to give me a rainbow / everyone know's it's Windy / who's tripping down the streets of the city / smiling at everybody she sees / who's reaching out to capture a moment / everyone know's it's Windy / and Windy has stormy eyes / that flash at the sound of lies / and Windy has wings to fly / above the clouds..."
"Never My Love":
Rising to # 2 for two weeks during a 14-week run immediately following "Windy" was the ballad "Never My Love" in 1967 (Blue Swede later covered the tune in 1974 for a # 7 hit). It was written by Don and Dick Addrisi of The Addrisi Brothers.
The Addrisi Brothers had their own string of hits from 1959 to 1979 as performers with six Billboard Hot 100 hits, including their # 25 hit "We've Got To Get It On Again" in 1972 and their # 20 hit "Slow Dancing Don't Turn Me On" in 1977. Their own version of "Never My Love" hit # 80 in 1977.
The Association's version of "Never My Love" (according to Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI), this is the third most aired song in broadcast music history) contains some lovely, understated guitar as it begins, which is supplemented by a lovely organ solo after the first two verses.
The lyrics, again, are intelligent and memorable, and the harmonies are almost Turtles-inspired here:
"You ask me if there'll come a time / when I grow tired of you / never my love / never my love / you wonder if this heart of mine / will lose its desire for you / never my love / never my love / what makes you think love will end / when you know my whole life depends on you / you say you fear I'll change my mind / I won't require you / never my love / never my love / how can you think love will end / when I've asked you to spend your whole life with me / never my love / never my love..."
If "Cherish" christened a million romances, "Never My Love," another million-seller, launched a million marriages.
"Everything That Touches You":
The band's final Top 10 hit, "Everything That Touches You," peaked at # 10 in 1968 (written by band member Kirkman).
Another gorgeous, heavily-orchestrated ballad, the uptempo, happy feel may be enough to make even the most jaded soul believe in the wonderous beauty of true love. The lyrics are to be treasured:
"In my most secure moments, I still can't believe / I'm spending those moments with you / and the ground I am walking, the air that I breathe / are shared at those moments with you / you love for real, you show the feel / of everything that touches you / in the songs I've been singing, quite often a phrase comes close to the feeling of you / but I never suspected that one of those days / the wish of a song would come true / ... / love, love, love, love..."
This CD:
The 13 tracks on "Greatest Hits!" are presented on a single CD. The CD booklet is 8-pages with only a short biography of the band and one photo. The sound on the CD is clean and without any distortion.
Recommendation:
Hopeless romantics, fans of vocal harmonies (The Mamas & The Papas, The Beach Boys, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Turtles) and pop music "wall of sound" production will love this album. It's a must for anyone with fond memories of 1960s' Top 40 AM radio playlists.
On the web:
Official site for the current touring band (which includes some 1960s' band members): http://www.theoriginalassociation.com
Tour schedule: http://www.theoriginalassociation.com/concert_info.html
Unofficial site (very informative, but refuses to acknowledge the "official" site until more original band members are brought into the current lineup): The Association Admiration Aggregation --- http://www.theassociation.net
You might also enjoy:
Capitol/EMI's 20-track 24-bit digitally remastered CD "Greatest" by Raspberries (the original lineup --- Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti --- who sang the million-seller "Go All The Way" reunited in 2004-2005) was released in May of 2005 in the U. S. and Europe. It features all 7 of Raspberries Hot 100 singles, has 20 tracks and runs 78:53 minutes: http://www.epinions.com/content_186044681860
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