She makes me feel like sunshine when she says my name
October 10, 2019 8:39 PM   Subscribe

If you don't already know The Association, perhaps a good introduction to them is their stellar third album Insight Out. The band grew out of the improbable music scene in LA centered around The Troubadour. Their blend of 60s "California Sound" rock and folk with light touches of psychedelia finally achieved chart success with this release in 1967. Side A: Wasn't It A Bit Like Now (Parallel '23), On A Quiet Night, We Love Us, When Love Comes To Me, Windy, Reputation posted by hippybear (49 comments total) 23 users marked this as a favorite
 
Windy was my favorite song for years when I was little. I've always really loved this group and the music from this album but haven't listened to them in a long time. Thanks for the post!
posted by phunniemee at 8:49 PM on October 10, 2019 [4 favorites]


Haha this brings back memories of childhood in the 70s.  Being the youngest of three, I inherited all my older siblings' leftover 45s.  And now I'm having flashbacks to the 45 of "Windy," playing on my Mickey Mouse turntable with 6 year old me happily singing along to it—and that scratchy single of the Shirelles "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" that also inexplicably ended up mixed into my collection of Disney records along with it.

So strange, the memories that get dredged up
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 8:53 PM on October 10, 2019 [6 favorites]


Heh - it was my favorite too! Apparently there's something about that song that particularly appeals to youngsters. Dredged up memories indeed...
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:57 PM on October 10, 2019


The Association perform Requiem For The Masses on the Smothers Brothers Show in 1967. And from the same stage, their first hit: Along Comes Mary (with intro).
posted by Rash at 9:12 PM on October 10, 2019 [2 favorites]


My childhood introduction to Windy.
posted by mwhybark at 10:12 PM on October 10, 2019 [1 favorite]


I can't let a post about The Association pass without mentioning Curt Boettcher's other band The Millenium, and their incredible only album Begin.
posted by riddley at 12:13 AM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


They look so tame and mom-approved that you expect them to start with "Welcome! Welcome! All chaperones can now take a 45-minute break. We've got you covered."

A little like 'los pantalones del muerte', I would play my big sister's stacks of abandoned 45s on a tiny plastic record player, and 'Windy' was in there. Fifty-something years later, when I go out to ride my bicycle on a blustery day, I still find myself singing 'Windy'.
posted by pracowity at 12:32 AM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


Sorry I will never take seriously the band that recorded “Broccoli.”
posted by spitbull at 1:03 AM on October 11, 2019


They look so tame and mom-approved ...

And to me, that's how they sounded, too. Sort of The Lettermen of rock.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:37 AM on October 11, 2019 [2 favorites]


Yeah that was my childhood response to hearing The Association, that it was parent-approved “rock” safe for kids, and therefore uninteresting to me, although to be fair I had already discovered Pink Floyd.
posted by spitbull at 4:31 AM on October 11, 2019


I love the song "Windy", but it reminds me of being 5 years old in the waiting room at the dentist in the 70s. The receptionist, either by preference or direction, kept the radio on the Lite FM station, so I'd hear "Windy", "Never My Love", and "Along Comes Mary".

It wasn't until I was 15 in the 80s that I realized that "Along Comes Mary" might not exactly be about a woman.
posted by droplet at 4:45 AM on October 11, 2019 [2 favorites]


If you want to know how I feel about The Association, I got married two months ago, and our first dance was to "Never My Love".

It was one of the first decisions we made about the entire wedding. There was a list of other songs we listened to, but more as a formality of "Are any of these a better choice? Nope, we were right the first time."
posted by cardioid at 5:32 AM on October 11, 2019 [8 favorites]


"Along comes Mary" was written by one Tandyn Almer -- start searching out what else he wrote and you'll rediscover or discover all kinds of great stuff.
posted by thefool at 5:33 AM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


Also coolest record in my house growing up that was originally my moms (well maybe Joan Baez?) So pretty common but I still totally loved the sound. (My dad's record collection was 1/4 Beehoven, 1/4 Dylan, 1/4 Frank Zappa and 1/4 free jazz and Eric Satie and stuff, so interesting but not exactly "cool" either)
posted by thefool at 5:34 AM on October 11, 2019


Being a Wendy, I used to have "Windy" sung at me all the time. I hated it, but it was way better than the Beach Boys whining "Wendy what went wrong", so I'll take it.

("Born to Run" is my favourite song.)
posted by wellred at 5:50 AM on October 11, 2019 [8 favorites]


Safe, middle-of-the-road pop that manages to stick with you 50 years later. If that was their goal, they’ve more than succeeded.
posted by tommasz at 6:35 AM on October 11, 2019


Oh, dear. Look at the audience.
posted by pracowity at 6:47 AM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


Never My Love is in my piano rotation. Played it at my daughter's wedding. It hits nostalgia buttons for olds like me, and also for the youngs because it was on a popular movie soundtrack about 10 or 15 years ago.
posted by hypnogogue at 6:54 AM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


Wikipedia says it's "the second most-played song on radio and television of the 20th century."
posted by pracowity at 6:57 AM on October 11, 2019


I'm happy to stan The Association, but mostly I'm waiting for the world to reevaluate the Dave Clark Five as obviously the superior alternative to the Beatles. #tottenhamsound
posted by tobascodagama at 7:08 AM on October 11, 2019


I can't believe nobody's mentioned Cherish yet!
posted by vitout at 7:23 AM on October 11, 2019 [8 favorites]


i bought the self-titled album based on the cover art. I was hoping for prog rock. I was wrong.
posted by rebent at 7:30 AM on October 11, 2019


By coincidence, I am just in the middle of watching the film Goodbye, Columbus. Without their soundtrack, the movie would have a completely different tone — possibly more like Roth's intentions, but definitely less fun.
posted by ubiquity at 7:37 AM on October 11, 2019


I knew Ruthann's kids growing up and the gold record for Windy was on the wall in the parent's study like nbd whatever. She remains a cool, down to earth lady.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:54 AM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


From the comments on a related site:

I was an usher at Indiana University in 1967. Each spring the University would stage an extravaganza with a variety of entertainers. That year the Association was on the bill with Bob Hope. Cherish had been released and was hugely popular. Hours prior to the show in the IU football stadium the performers were conducting sound checks. I noticed someone sitting in the stands that looked familiar. It was Jim Yester. I struck up a conversation with him and quickly discovered him to be a friendly guy. During our conversation he confided that his group would be premiering a song that evening and was curious if the crowd would realize the meaning of this particular line of lyric, "Who's bending down to give me a rainbow everyone knows it's Windy." From my lack of reaction it was obvious to him that I had no idea what that meant. Fortunately, he told me what Windy was actually doing.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 7:59 AM on October 11, 2019 [2 favorites]


They look so tame and mom-approved ...

And to me, that's how they sounded, too. Sort of The Lettermen of rock.


This has long been my take, more or less. Like evidence of what would've happened to American pop culture if vast amounts of LSD hadn't got dumped into the proverbial water system. Things would've gone quirky as opposed to outright STRANGE.

But that said, they did nail it at Monterrey Pop - 1967. The intro's cool (as noted above) but it's the tightness of the live vocal delivery that blows me away.
posted by philip-random at 8:28 AM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


"Along Comes Mary" is the song that made me assert that "There is no quality rock song that contains a flute solo."

I have yet to be disproven and don't say "Tull" because you're wrong.
posted by donpardo at 8:59 AM on October 11, 2019


My dad had one of the members of The Association as a coworker at a microfilm/microfiche service place in the San Fernando Valley around 1979/1980.

This guy said he had $3M (like $25M these days) in his bank account after their hits. But, after years of dumb shit like flying private to NYC and back just for dinner, he had a regular job making $18/hr (which wasn’t bad by any stretch for around 1980) where he hung out with my 27 year old father in the break room, imploring to everyone that “I’ll just write another hit” is a terrible way of thinking when it comes to spending your money.
posted by sideshow at 9:13 AM on October 11, 2019 [7 favorites]


...made me assert that "There is no quality rock song that contains a flute solo."

Which means that you don't like "Nights in White Satin."
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:20 AM on October 11, 2019 [2 favorites]


Or "California Dreamin'"
posted by briank at 9:46 AM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]




Surely these ...
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:51 AM on October 11, 2019


"There is no quality rock song that contains a flute solo."

defense rests
posted by philip-random at 10:13 AM on October 11, 2019 [3 favorites]


The flute turned up all the time in folk and psych rock. Traffic (OK, not exactly a rock song but still), Procul Harum, yadda yadda
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:40 AM on October 11, 2019


Rare Earth - Born to Wander.
Flute throughout, but solo at 2:07.
posted by rocket88 at 11:20 AM on October 11, 2019 [2 favorites]


Statements about Rock Orthodoxy kind of miss the point.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:37 AM on October 11, 2019 [2 favorites]


Just now on Facebook, Puddles' Pity Party posted a cover of "Never My Love"
posted by briank at 11:45 AM on October 11, 2019 [2 favorites]


I'll stop my hijack after this, but note that there are several parts to the assertion:
1) It has to be a flute. No recorders, no ocarinas and no god-damn penny whistles.
2) It has to be an actual solo. Accents and backgrounds instrumentation don't count.
3) It has to be rock. I don't know what Traffic is, but it ain't rock. Neither is Rare Earth or The Left Banke or, frankly, The Association.
4) It has to be quality.

If condition 1 is discarded, the answer is "Wild Thing" by the Troggs which contains an ocarina solo.
If condition 2 is discarded, the assertion is pointless. Lots of great songs have a flute in the background.
If condition 3 is discarded then the answer is something like Debussy's "Prelude A L'apres-midi D'un Faun".

And condition 4? Condition 4 is what I say it is. That's why Tull and Marshall Tucker are specifically excluded.

Also, your favorite flute solo sucks.
posted by donpardo at 11:46 AM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


I don't know what Traffic is, but it ain't rock.

Maybe you don't know what rock is.

Dear Mr. Fantasy

Empty Pages


The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys


Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave

Gimmie Some Lovin
(Traffic was Winwood's band after Spencer Davis)

I coud go on, but this is a weird derail in a thread about "Windy."
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:33 PM on October 11, 2019 [8 favorites]


We can't talk about "Windy" because it's girl music, and this is a boy zone for big butch boys only!
posted by tobascodagama at 1:39 PM on October 11, 2019 [3 favorites]


Focus disproves this theorem, not only for the flute, but for whistling, yodeling, and weird teeth scatting. An unalloyed marvel.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:52 PM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


One of his biggest fans was composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. 6 Facts About "Along Comes Mary" and Its Composer, Tandyn Almer. Previously.
posted by How the runs scored at 2:31 PM on October 11, 2019


also on the flute solo tip ...

Love + Rockets - no new tale to tell
posted by philip-random at 3:41 PM on October 11, 2019


Everyone Knows Its I Talk To The Windy
posted by hal9k at 4:57 PM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


Lots of Gabriel-era Genesis had flute, actual solos too. I think most people consider Genesis to be a rock band, but I don't have a copy of donpardo's rubric so I don't know if he would agree.
posted by hippybear at 5:42 PM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


I dislike Windy because while in elementary school I was somehow drafted into the chorus, which I hated, and one of the songs was Windy. Also the 59th Street Bridge song. Forever tainted.

Conversely, I recently watched the wonderful mindfuck movie Under the Silver Lake, which starts with “Never My Love” playing during a strange and languorous mood-setting scene, and that song suddenly rocketed up from the depths of my memory to become an obsession. Thanks for this post, which has reminded me I’ve been slacking on playing it over and over.
posted by ejs at 6:29 PM on October 11, 2019


Dang. I forgot how many tracks they had on the soundtrack of my youth.
posted by lhauser at 7:32 PM on October 11, 2019


Their wikipedia article linked in the FPP is pretty astounding. Band members playing with Zappa and Cass Elliot and David Crosby and at one point being in the house band at The Troubadour...

Oddly, their very first very tiny label single was Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, which you might possibly recognize from Joan Baez. The Associations' interpretation of the song was adventurous, right up until Led Zeppelin.

I quite like what Paul Oakenfold does when he plays with this song... this has long been a favorite LZ remix of mine

Their second single was on Valiant and was Bob Dylan's One Too Many Mornings, which had been sung by many others previously. Very much a part of the folk canon in the crowd they were hanging out with. (This video is a fake stereo mix of a lip-synch performance of the 1965 single.

Also astounding on the wikipedia page is the list of current and former members. They didn't even bother to try to bar-chart this one out like they have with a lot of bands. Holy wow! It makes you think about the name of the band and how they were involved in open mic group nights at The Troubadour and people moved in and out over the years, and back in again repeatedly, and they were all Associates, but maybe not always part of The Association.

Anyway, they're an interesting group, I think. They're a bit white bread but they're also interesting enough to all be truly excellent musicians and singers and songwriters and arrangers, and the under 3 minute full journey pop/rock song is a bit of a lost craft these days.
posted by hippybear at 8:45 PM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


Maybe the most prominent use of "Windy" lately. (Somewhat NSFW.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:49 PM on October 11, 2019


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