Customer Reviews

And Then Along Comes Mary

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Not only does this-- the Association's first record-- contain the mega-hits "Along Comes Mary" and "Cherish" as well as equally good cuts like "Remember", "Standing Still" and "Message of Our Love", but it's also the first album ever produced by a guy who would go on to define Spectro-pop/ Psych-pop... Curt Boettcher produced this Pet Sounds-influenced gem of a record in 1966 at the age of 22! Boettcher would later go on to produce and play with the groups Ballroom, Sagittarius and the Millennium, while the Association would release six more fine albums before calling it quits in 1972. An expensive import, but worth every penny.

I'm absolutely thrilled that the lion's share of albums by the wonderful late-60's group, The Association, from their second album, "Renaissance," to their 2nd-to-last album, "Stop Your Motor," are all available in the U.S. at last. However, the band's 1966 debut disc, "And Then Along Comes The Association," is still only available as a Japanese import CD, probably because the majority of the album is already featured on the group's anthology set, "Just The Right Sound," which includes from this album such Association favorites as "Along Comes Mary," "Cherish," and "Enter The Young," as well as "Your Own Love," "Don't Blame It On Me," "I'll Be Your Man," "Standing Still," "Remember," AND the bonus single, the excellent Bob Dylan cover "One Too Many Mornings," and "Forty Times." So, dear Association fan, you may be asking yourself, why pay import price for tunes you already have?I say you should still buy this CD for (A) the original album cover art, (B) the enclosed lyric sheet, and (C) the four songs that are NOT featured on "Just The Right Sound": the fun of "Blistered," the spacey "Message Of Our Love" (nicely capped off by science-fiction sound effects), the short-but-punchy "Round Again," and the fine melodic pop of "Changes." So, in conclusion, "And Then Along Comes The Association" may indeed be a pricey import purchase for completists only, but really, folks, this IS a classic Association album, and if you happen to love this classic, harmonic pop/rock band as much as I do, then "...Along Comes The Association" is definitely worth seeking out. Happy hunting!

The Association's 1966 debut album is still their best album and captures their smooth harmonies and pop-oriented sound, which sometimes dips towards psychedelia. The album reached #5 on the Billboard album charts and features their first two hits, "Along Came Mary," which topped off at #7 and "Cherish," which made it all the way to the top and deserves to be considered one of the great love songs of all-time (David Cassidy did a more than decent cover of it with the Partridge Family). The album also benefited from the talent of Curt Boettcher, who made "Then...Along Comes the Association" one of the first American rock albums to really use stereo sound to the advantage of the artists. It is Boettcher, as well as the six members of the group, who created the Association's signature sound. The problem was that while the Association refined their sound, the world of music changed and moved beyond them by the end of the Sixties. This Japanese reissue ups the rating for this album by tacking on five bonus tracks, which includes alternate versions of both hits and a trio of B-sides. Of course, if you want just one Association album then you want to pick up the group's greatest hit collection, which will give you their other #1 hit, "Windy," and a #2 with "Never My Love." But if you want a second Association album in your music library, this one is the obvious choice.

I grabbed this Jap pressing with the extra tracks...back when it was available for $25.00 and was a steal....the Japanese took great pride in restoring this awesome album to the way it should sound....dont even waste your money on the domestic version...it is thin and tinny.....this has all the warmth, definition and clarity that Japanese always put into their remasters...even back in the days of vinyl.....I never cared for the stereo version on lp...as I also have the mono lp....but on cd...stereo sounds great

There are few Amazon patrons out there who will even identify with this review, nor one of the 3 or 4 best bands of the 60s and 70s, The Association.

When I heard "Cherish", I was 15 years old and pining away for a beautiful girl that rode my bus to high school. I was one of the biggest geeks in the school, a true nerd, with no common sense, decorum or social comfort.

Terry Kirkman, of the Association, wrote the song "Cherish", and I gotta believe he may have been as geeky as me when he was in school.....he perfectly caught the romance, yearning and intensity of first love.

I cannot emphasize it any harder---"Cherish" is an emotional landslide for a young guy totally lost on a long-haired, achingly gorgeous girl who won't even look at him on the bus or in the halls of the school....

I'm not sure if the famous L.A. "wrecking crew" of studio musicians played on this track, if at all, but I have seen videos, and the Association were all top notch musicians, and had the pulse of a generation of kids facing the gaping maw of widely available birth control......I rate this album in my top 5, which include "Something/Anything" by Todd Rundgren, Beatles '65, Jimmy Webb's back to back Richard Harris L.P.s, and "Notorious Byrd Brothers" by the Byrds. Having written that, I probably need to make in a top 10......Neil Young hovers out there, too.....