C/D: The Association

were they produced by curt boettcher? i haven't liked much of that rare stuff by him and his (pun not intended) associates that's been trickling out of various us and uk reissue labels. i bought that "magic time" set, found it gave me horrible sugar shock, and sold it back to twisted village in a month's time. it actually marked the end of a long and usually ambivalent flirtation with obscure pop-pysch for me.

it seems that all the harmony groups had to get a bit psych ca. 1968/69, if they weren't to become an immediate anachronism.

My favourite="Along Comes Mary", with its insane internal rhymes.

Classic tracks: the above mentioned, for sure, but also their absolutely bizarre take on Jimmy Webb's "P.F. Sloan", "Come On In", "Wantin' Ain't Gettin'", "Requiem for the Masses", and the oh-so-exquisitely-titled "Rose Petals, Incense and a Kitten".

Definitely underrated, too...

The thing is, real cheap copies of those albums are readily available. You have piqued my interest in the two you mentioned (to the extent that I am willing to shell out a dollar for each as long as they are in decent condition).

Wonderful productions in Come The Fall, Indian Wells Woman, Little Road And A Stone To Roll and a decent cover of the Lovin' Spooful's Darlin Be Home Soon. This album wasn't laden with typical filler songs that I seem to remember from their earlier recordings.

Most unfortunately, I purchased it on 8-track back in the day and have long since discarded that daft format. I've tried ordering the CD at different music shops, but to no avail.

Not a band I'd look to when I want to rock, but still very classic.

You've obviously never heard "Goodbye Forever" from the s/t album. Now, that's some ROCK, man!

Def. worth it, Tim. As a curiosity: they also do Millennium's "Just About the Same" on their live album. And it's pretty good!

I like that version of "Baby Please Don't Go" by Ballroom, too.

*ouch*

xpost.

Didn't Madonna lean into that number?

As for "Broccoli", that's on the s/t record where they got "hep." And it sucks -- the track, that is. And, no, I don't know if Dana Carvey was hip to it or not. But he pretty much nailed it regardless.

Moreover, the earnestness of their lyrics & glee-club harmonies make them the perfect vehicle for dirty-version singalongs:
When all they wanted was to touch your face, your hands
And C upon your T's

Classic all the way dudes, at least until the patchy, semi-official reunion recordings that started in the mid 70s. Never My Love rules the universe, but much more in their catalog, the 2cd comp is a must for any sunshine/harmony/light psych consumer, and I'd make a strong case for Birthday as a really interesting example of how "square" pop stars tried to get all psychedelic in the late 60s, at equal turns inspired and ridiculous. Also, regarding Goodbye Columbus - when they worked on the soundtrack, they submitted several songs, the one deemed strongest was eventually chosen as the title track and it is so insanely catchy and vocally dynamic it's painful. But one of the runner ups was just slightly modified lyrically to become Goodbye Forever, and that was released on their next album - and it's just as great!

some of it is weird
classic wanna-be psych pop,
some of it is square,

on their live album
they make corny osmonds-ish
jokes, then RIP SHIT UP

parse it out closely,
and it defines the meme "so
not gonna happen"

there's a Zombies vibe
running through most of their songs:
unrequited pain

No idea how the hell THAT got there! Some kinda bizarre cut-and-paste mishap obviously, but I'll never know the original context.

I've got "Insight Out", which critical consensus tells us it isn't good because hip people like Jerry Yester and Curt Boettcher aren't involved but which is in fact tremendously entertaining. It's not a work of genius, it's just a good listen

-- Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, September 21, 2004 6:23 AM (3 years ago) Bookmark Link

OTM, these are my exact sentiments, having just heard this album for the first time. What's not to like? It's like a more vanilla version of the Zombies!

Yes, and "Birthday" and "The Association" are great too

I find it quite staggering that in Britain the Association only had the one hit - "Time For Livin'" in '68 - since their records were regularly played on radio over here in my childhood. Although it may be that "Time For Livin'" was the only one they came over here to promote, as I don't think they bothered with Britain much.

this party fears two is a great song

I grew up in the era of "Windy" and "Mary" bombarding me from the ol' AM radio and never gave them much thought, more like some king of frilly aural flocked wallpaper.

I'll have to admit that the version of "Mary" on disc 3 of the Monterey Pop Fest set pretty much blew me away though. Actually that disk is pretty much a must-see IMO as it's chock fulla stuff like the Butterfield band wailing away with Mike Bloomfield screaming from the side of the stage and an outrageous Electric Flag number etc etc (sorry for the digression).

i LOVE "Wanting Ain't Getting" from "Insight Out". totally funky track

Ah, another thread revival, another chance for me to furrow my brow and puzzle over that "Chumba" remark upthread. And to note that the more familiar version of "Enter The Young" (from the Greatest Hits) is completely different from the version on the debut - even a different lead singer, I think. Strange...

I heard "Never My Love" on the way home tonight, first time in years. I once included it in a radio countdown of my favourite songs ever, and it hasn't lost anything--I was especially struck by the arrangement tonight. It might be one of the first songs I'd point to if I wanted to see if someone's conception of pop genius extends in some of the same directions mine does. Lots of nice stuff said about it above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyQBQjKrGEg&feature=fvst

Great interview with Terry Kirkman. Guy's a mensch.

"Dubuque Blues" from the 1969 self-titled album is such an amazing song. One of Gary Alexander's.

Russ Giguere's book coming out next month - Along Comes The Association: Beyond Folk Rock and Three-Piece Suits

The ebook of this is pretty cheap right now