… No, what you really are is…dead…Today in rock history, “Windy” by The Association hit number 1 in the U.S. at the beginning of the Summer of Love in 1967. It stayed there for 4 weeks, making it their biggest hit. The song was written by a friend of the band, while still in her teens, and was included as one of the 22 songs on a demo tape she submitted to producer Bones Howe. Ruthann Friedman also got to contribute some vocals to the successful track in an all night recording session. But tragedy struck on August 2, 1972, when Brian Cole, one of the founding members of the band, was found dead in his Los Angeles home of an overdose of heroin. Geez – what happened to him? Wasn’t the Association that squeaky-clean bunch who appeared in three-piece suits as the lead-off band at Monterey Pop? Kind of like a button-down version of the Beach Boys…Currently, the band includes Russ Giguere, Larry Ramos, Jim Yester, Del Ramos, Bruce Pictor, and most interestingly, Jordan Cole (son of Brian) on keyboards who joined in 1999. The Association still tours, playing up to 70 dates a year, mostly on bills with other similar styled acts of that era, like the Grass Roots, the Buckinghams, Tommy James, Gary Puckett, etc. In 2003, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. Here they are with a live version of the tune from 1967 (no lip-syncing here!). Thanks to www.garylessard.com and www.wikipedia.org for the info, and keep on rockin’!
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I remember really liking Along Comes Mary, which I thought (& still think despite their disclaimers) was about marijuana. At least the lyrics certainly work well with that interpretation in mind, & in any event the song rocks. But other songs like Cherish got old on me fast, although I certainly appreciated the skill & craftmanship.
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