Search - The Association :: French '60s EP Collection

Contains the Hits...But This Is Not Definitive

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 03/12/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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"

Not Nearly Enough

Jason Penick | Oakland, CA | 04/21/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Safer than Prozac more legal than pot

Fred Jarvis | Matlock Canada | 04/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."