The Association

Artist: The Association
Label: Warne
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 4943674002191
ASIN: B00000ILLU

Release Date: 1999-02-24

Related Categories:

General

| Pop | Styles | Music

Baroque Pop

| Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music

Rock

| Imports | Stores | Music

Pop

| Imports | Stores | Music

Tracks:

Look at Me, Look at You
Yes, I Will
Love Affair
Nest
What Were the Words
Are You Ready?
Dubuque Blues
Under Branches
I Am up for Europe
Broccoli
Goodbye Forever
Boy on the Mountain
Under Branches [*]
Yes, I Will [*]
Dubuque Blues [*]

Customer Reviews:

"The Association" just might surprise you!.......2003-10-11

The Association's self-titled 1969 album represents the group at a curious turning point in their career where they were able to progress in a musical direction beyond the familiar pop-hits such as "Cherish" and "Never My Love" but still not be taken seriously by the counterculture. If their "AM radio" reputation preceded them among the "too hip for the square" crowd, the absence of a bonafide hit single from this album ensured that their pop following would have a hard time finding them in a sea of new acts and trends in the rock arena. Despite the new musical biases working against the Association, this album charted at a respectable #32 on Billboard's Album chart but today is relatively unknown, having been released in the year following their million-selling Greatest Hits package.

Comprised of nearly all original material and co-produced by the group and John Boylan, the Association seemed eager to wipe clean the slick, canned sound of the previous two albums produced by Bones Howe. This resulted in what is considered by many as their best album vocally, with painstaking care being given to vocal arrangements and harmonies, always an Association trademark. Vocals on "Love Affair" and "Under Branches" are soaring and clean with the band singing at its most confidant. Jim Yester's smooth lead vocals and Jules Alexander lyrics are backed by sparse instrumentation giving the spotlight to the layers of backing vocals. Unfortunately, choosing "Under Branches" for single release in May, proved to be perhaps an over-confidant move as its complex time changes and over-mellowness caused the song to reach a dismal #117 on the Billboard Bubbling Under chart.

The group is clearly having fun with Terry Kirkman's inspiring "Look At Me, Look At You" and Russ Giguere's comical "Broccoli." The CSN-like "Dubuque Blues" and "What Were The Words" may be the best evidence that the Association could be taken as a serious late-sixties band but they falter with hard-rock ("I Am Up For Europe") and topical themes ("Boy On The Mountain") as these excursions would have been best replaced in favor of outside material.

"Yes I Will" was the next single released but it surprisingly bombed (#120 Billboard Bubbling Under chart) despite being a catchy tune with everything you could ask for in a two minute and thirty second pop song. The excellent Jules Alexander composition "Dubuque Blues" was the final single released in support of the album, but it offered very little support, even missing Billboard's Bubbling Under chart.

Although "The Association" has been sadly overshadowed by the group's earlier hits, many diehard fans rate this as one of their best albums. Years later many of the songs still sound fresh and vibrant and is considered an essential part of their catalog.

I love this album. Love it. Love it love it........2001-10-17

Ahh, The Association. Apparently known as "Stonehenge" to people who bought it when it actually came out. If you go by Association Greatest Hits collections... this album doesn't exist; NONE of its tracks are ever comped, it seems. Which is, in my humble opinion, completely and utterly bizarre, because *this*, my friends, is the best piece of wax put out....

Lemme explain myself. I've heard this album called both "Easy-listening" and "Country-rock." Neither are very accurate; Sweetheart of the Rodeo this ain't, for example. Yet it does have a bit of a "country" sound to it, as the banjo that opens the album and "Look At Me, Look at You" conveys. But this album has a sound all its own, or more precisely, all the Association's. I don't know if they played all/most of the instruments on this record, and frankly, I don't care. The songcraft is just...

...well, let me give an example. Love Affair. What an EXCELLENT tune! The Nest! Dubuque Blues! Under Branches! Goodbye Forever! Heck, even the obligatory joke song (Broccoli) is excellently done. The vocal arrangements are impeccable--these guys can SING-...

OK, I'm gushing by this point. To summarize: the Association are, of course, quite a bit better than they tend to be given credit for, but that always comes off sounding like a euphemism for something. But while even their best previous albums had their week spots (*coughNofairatall*cough*), this just beats the rest into tar insofar as great Association *albums* are concerned. Go sample the album and see; startlingly good doesn't even begin to cover it.

An Association Appreciation!.......2001-02-25

The Association are one of the most underacknowledged brilliant bands from the late 60's/early 70's. Oh sure, these guys had several big hit singles through 1968 ("Windy" being the best-known of the lot), but come 1969, the public's interest in The Association was waning, which is a total shame if you ask me. After all, these guys from Los Angeles have created some of the most beautiful pop/rock that has ever been done. (There's also a marvelous art-rock feel to some of their material---"Requiem For The Masses" is a perfect example.) Their tight musical chops & intelligent songwriting alone is worth the price of admission, but then, there's also their heavenly choir voices....aaaah. Pure vocal magic. The Association may be best known for their early ballads, but these Japanese re-issues of their catalog, as pricey as they are, prove that there is SO much more to this band than just their "Greatest Hits" collection.I can't believe the whole world totally missed the boat on the group's fabulous self-titled album from 1969. "The Association" marked the beginning of the downward arc for the band commercially: there were no hit singles, and record sales weren't too hot, either. But *creatively*, the band had never been better. I love all of their earlier albums, but "The Association" is the group's finest work. By this time, the band had branched out into creating songs that were a bit more sophisticated and arty. In fact, the group sound on this album like a cross between The Moody Blues & The Alan Parsons Project! Even the album cover, with it's striking "Stonehenge in outer space" painting, signaled that The Association were doing something very different indeed with this record. And it's magnificent.Gorgeous songs abound everywhere: "Love Affair," "The Nest," "Under Branches," and the brilliant album-closer, "Boy On The Mountain," which almost brings me to tears whenever I hear it. "Yes I Will" & "Are You Ready" are really catchy songs that *should* have been big hits. And then there's "Broccoli"---it is what it is, folks. If this wonderfully silly song doesn't put a smile to your face, then you must not have a sense of humor!The door may have been closing on The Association by the time 1969 rolled around, but the band were still at the top of their game musically. "The Association" is a fabulous album by this equally fabulous band, and is a true buried musical treasure. It's worth every penny of the import price, and is highly recommended. There IS more to The Association than just "Windy."

More silliness than groove. . ........2000-05-09

. . but worth a listen. . . . then again, art the import (read ripoff) pricing. . I recommend you wait. There really is quite a bit of good stuff on this album.. . Certainly broccoli is just silly, but. . .

Love Affair and Dubuque Blues are particularly good examples of what the band can do when they're at their best.

At last! "Broccoli" on CD........1999-09-24

I will never understand why "Yes I Will" wasn't a huge hit. Great song, right?

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

Y La Charanga Vallenata ~ Roberto Torres

Tierra Mala ~ Los Liricos de Teran

Sing-a-Long-Vol. 2 ~ Hits of '92

Embrace Yourself ~ Ariyana Ki'mah

Gumbo in My Blood ~ Kenny Ard

Hot Blue and Saxy ~ Plas Johnson

Dos Palabras ~ Roberto Moron y Su Atentado Internacional

Los 19 Hits Gruperos ~ Various Artists

Pa' Los Rumberos ~ Various Artists

Exitos Que Hicieron Epoca ~ Various Artists