Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits!

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Over a two-year period in the mid-Sixties the Association were responsible for some of the most memorable pop/soft rock music of the decade. Hits like "Along Comes Mary," "Windy" and "Time for Livin" show the band capable of catchy hooks and tight harmonies, but it was the ballads like "Cherish" and "Never My Love" that the band is most identified with. [Both of these singles sold over a million copies each.] In fact, after four Top Ten singles in little over a year, the Association were voted the No. 1 Group of the Year in the U.S. by the influential Bill Gavin Radio-Record Congress in 1967.

The Association's massive success also seemed to be their undoing. It forced them into a very narrow format which didn't allow for musical growth. When the band tried to broaden their appeal on singles like the hard-rocking "Six Man Band," their audience fled and the single stalled at No. 47. Even when the band returned to their proven hit formula, "Goodbye Columbus" (from the soundtrack that came out a year after this Greatest Hits collection) did no better than No. 80. It was the Association's last chart single, although they did put out three more studio albums through 1972. In 1972, original bass player Brian Cole died, and for the most part so did the group.

It's unforgivable in the CD Age that more than three decades after its first release, this 13-track collection is the best Warner Brothers can do. To make this truly definitive it should have included the experimental "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies" (a minor hit from 1967), the aforementioned "Goodbye Columbus," and some of the progressive rock tracks from their last albums on Warner Brothers and their swan song, Waterbeds in Trinidad, on Columbia.

Until that happens--if ever--this is (sadly) the only domestically available album to demonstrate the greatness of the Association. RECOMMENDED

Yeah... I'm giving this CD a five star rating even though I know that it's missing a lot of The Associations lesser known material. Other titles from Windy and earlier albums weren't included but there's only so much you can (or could) fit onto a vinyl pressing and this is an accurate CD copy of the album that came out in 68. It is too bad everything that a great band puts out can't be in one package but that doesn't make this any less of a fine album. Some people go on about how the music is too sappy, saccharine, sugary yadda yadda yadda... OK, for some people it is (or was) but not everyone who listens to an album is a middle aged man or woman. I mean let's put this in perspective. When this album came out there were a lot of boomers around who were just kids. I was 13 yrs. old when this album came out and thought it was fantastic then. That was when I blew my allowance on my first copy of it. Being 13 in the late sixties it was pretty easy to fall into the illusion of loving everyone, honesty, freedom, flowerpower and all that fantasy stuff. Yes... it was just a dream but it was a beautiful one especially when you're young and naive enough to actually believe the world is that way.

I bought another copy of it somewhere around 78 when I had a real stereo (instead of one where I had to stack nickles on the tonearm so it wouldn't skip). Had to put that copy on audiotape because it was getting worn after a few parties where a lot of people too young to remember the band wanted to hear it. A nice innocent fantasy can make you feel real great and I think a lot of kids can still relate and understand on a very basic emotional level. It's nice to feel good!

Picked up the CD of this a few years ago and still get a rush when I hear Time For Livin, remember my 1st girlfriend and the smell of patchouli incense. I think what this album captures is the magick of being innocent even if it is just a memory once you've become jaded and cynical. Besides that the harmonies are beautiful and very much unique for today or even the time the album was released. It's a pleasant diversion from cussing at the television or looking for something to throw at the neighbor's cat.

It's a nice album and I like it... end of rant.

I'll say what everyone else has been saying-- Why, oh WHY, are this band's first seven studio albums (as well as Russ Giguere's fine solo album) not in print? The Association has clearly been neglected-- not only by their label but also the voting committee for the rock'n'roll hall of fame, who have mysteriously never nominated this group whose recordings have been played OVER TEN MILLION TIMES!

This hits package is adequate, but if you haven't heard "One Too Many Mornings", "Looking Glass", "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies", "Goodbye Forever", "Dubuque Blues" or "Silver Morning" (none of which are included here) you are sadly missing out on some of the GREATEST POP SONGS OF ALL TIME. At the very least, we should demand an updated greatest hits anthology that's AT LEAST 74 minutes long.

This collection for the 60s vocal group contains everything the average Association fan will want and a few extra surprises. The "big 4" hits: "Never my Love","Cherish","Windy" and "Along Comes Mary" are all here, along with lesser charters "Everything that Touches You" and "Requiem for the Masses". Only "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies" appears to be left out hitwise. Most importantly, these are NOT re-recorded versions by the current touring band. (Yes, they still play live..)

Of the other material, "Time for Livin'" is a passable breezy pop ditty. "No Fair at All" is a decent breakup lament, although its melody derives quite a bit too close to "Cherish" for comfort. "Six Man Band" contains some surprisingly acid rock guitar for a band known for mellow sounds.

For those of you who are Association diehards, the Rhino 2CD "Just the Right Sound"(ASIN:B00005Y1Y5) is your best bet, containing all their singles through 1972 save "No Fair at All". It also has obscurities from Russ Giguere and Bijou, though it leaves out my favourite odd Association moment (late period album track "Broccoli", a goofy novelty ode to the oft-lamented vegetable.)

The Association has all but faded into oblivion, but in their day, lest it need be said, they were quite something.

Interestingly, the two hits that they are most remembered for, "Cherish" and "Never My Love", are relatively bland and formulaic compared to some of their other offerings.

When I was in my early teens, I would play "Along Comes Mary" again and again. I could not even discern the lyrics, much less understand what they meant- nor did I care what they meant. As it turns out, they consist of poetic references to marijuana (back when it was somewhat esoteric and outside the experience of most of the public). They could, however, just as easily have referred to (as a nun came forth to assert) the Biblical Mary, or even just a friend. It's too bad that "..Mary" doesn't get much airplay these days- it is a very clever and exciting song.

"Windy" was written by a young woman as an idealization of what she wanted herself to be. As such, it is moving and transcendent.

"Everything That Touches You" is so romantic. Has there ever been a song so adoring and exalting? It is lovely.

Later on (around the time of "Requiem.." and "Six Man Band") things started to get ugly, and the forces that supported the Association in bringing about beautiful music disappeared, but prior to that they'd produced fine examples of the powerful creativity and still-present innocence that was the 60s.

The Association's Greatest Hits was their highest charting album (No. 4) and has remained in print since its release in 1968. By 1967 the Association (with three million-selling singles) were so popular that they were voted the No. 1 Group of the Year in the U.S. by Bill Gavin Radio-Record Congress--ending the Beatles three-year run!

This soft-rock band excelled at lush ballads with tight harmony singing like on the singles "Cherish" and "Never My Love," which went to No. 1 and No. 2 respectively.

They also charted with mid-tempo numbers like their debut single "Along comes Mary" (No. 7) and "Windy" (No. 1). During their brief career they would rarely stray from this formula. However, "Six Man Band" in 1968 showed the band trying to update its sound with a psychedelic approach--the fans weren't buying and it peaked at No. 47.

They returned to the soft ballad formula with the theme from the movie Goodbye Columbus, but interest in the band was lagging and it barely reached Billboard's Hot 100 at No. 99. It was the band's last charting single.

"Goodbye Columbus" was released after this Greatest Hits package was first released, so it is not included here. But that does not explain why "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies (a No. 35 single from the album Renaissance) is not. To get those singles you will have to spring for the $30 import greatest hits album. [And if you're a real fanatic, their individual albums are available with bonus tracks as Japanese imports!]

For most fans, this collection will do nicely. It includes all five Top 10 singles, plus at least one album track from each of their first four releases. Until Warner Brothers decides to add some bonus tracks, this album is still a bargain. RECOMMENDED

I don't understand why, in a world in which one can purchase a reissue of every recording made by groups from Free Design to Vanilla Fudge, one can't find reissues of all this wonderful band's original LPs. By the time they recorded Birthday under the direction of Bones Howe, they had achieved a mastery of vocal arranging, overdubbing & stereo effects. Along with the Fifth Dimension (whose recorded catalogue is also sadly lacking), The Association is a treasure of Sixties pop.

While they may have sounded like lightweights, all of their albums contained thoughtful lyrics that have outlasted the Up Against the Wall histrionics of their hipper peers. They were a very intelligent band, & if sincerity doesn't count for much these days, that only reflects the sad state of the current pop scene.

DJ Rix, WFMU-FM

My title says it all. This is why I don't have pre-Revolver Beatles on CD. The accompanying vocals on the Association CD often sound louder than the leads coming from another place in the speaker. I assume this CD was originally mixed to preserve the 3-track sound world of the 50s and 60s. A sound world which, I believe, sounds lousy in digital media.

Recently, I had the pleasure of listening to the (radically) remastered Yes recordings from WEA. IMHO, they sound great with the vocals in the center, the bass guitar reduced in presence and the cymbals sharpened and brought up in the mastering. The same label's ELP recordings were similarly reworked. WEA should put this (the Association's greatest hits record, and any subsequent Association recording) on the list of future remastering projects.

So, unless you have mono-compatible equipment, this CD can be maddening with the lead vocals jutting back and forth from speaker to speaker.

My parents had this album on 8-track shortly after its 1968 release. I was only 4 or 5 at the time, but even then I remember songs like "The Time It Is Today", "Everything That Touches You", "Enter The Young", "Time For Livin'" and "Six Man Band" coming through on the tape deck in the car during various rides as a kid living in Belvidere, IL at that time (Back then, the haunting drums during the instrumental segments on "Requiem For The Masses" scared the daylights out of me). Later on, while in high school, some friends of my parents owned this album on record, and they were surprised that a 17-year-old was so taken by this album that they let me borrow it for a week. I didn't play any other albums on my turntable that entire week. Needless to say, I have since bought this album on CD, and it remains one of my all-time favorite albums. It's a shame that Brian Cole's death in 1972 might have sealed their fate commercially back then, but I am nonetheless thankful to Russ, Larry, Ted, Terry, Jim, Jules and Brian for inspiring kids like me to get into music, including playing guitar. This album is a must have if you like music from that era.

The Association blends a wonderful sense for soaring harmonies with the sweet and sentimental touch of a series of somewhat sappy ballads to pile up an impressive list of top ten hits. And the songs are all quite good, albeit sugary, ranging from the upbeat "The Time It Is Today" to the dreamy "Everything That Touches You". I always considered the Association a re-morphed and reconstituted version of the Lettermen, a terrific trio that specialized in sappy love songs and looked like college preppies, even though the singers were probably in their mid-thirties. At any rate, their list of credits are quite impressive and even more memorable.

Of course, their biggest hits were with efforts like "Never My Love', "Along Comes Mary", and the whopping mega-hit "Cherish". They also delivered a number of other popular songs such as "Windy", "No Fair At All", and several more minor hits. They still get considerable air play on the oldies stations, and I always like listening to "Windy", "Cherish", and "Never My Love". This may be saccharin sweet music, but it is super sweet music very well done. Enjoy!