THE ASSOCIATION
Criado em 1965, The Association marcou sua presença no cenário musical da época como o o primeiro conjunto vocal que fugia aos padrões vigentes e utilizava em seus arranjos vocais, efeitos orquestrais. Era assim: o grupo se dividia em naipes de duetos ou trios e pontuava - através de contrapontos, ecos, respostas, "pads", etc - a melodia principal que era conduzida por uma voz ou por um dueto. E lá pelas tantas, tudo isso desaguava em acordes belíssimos, contendo todas as notas de tensão disponíveis na escala de acordes. Sangue novo no cenário "pop". Emplacou vários sucessos: "Windy", "Never my love", "Cherrish", etc. Não havia "estrelas" e a prioridade era o arranjo. Eram todos excelentes vocalistas e instrumentistas. Até agora não falei em nomes dos componentes por uma razão: à semelhança dos conjuntos negros de "doo wop", as idas e vindas, substituições e transformações foram tantas que deixo para serem conferidas no texto original do site do grupo, transcrito aí embaixo. "The Association" não foi um "blockbuster" mas seus elaborados arranjos vocais marcaram época e deixaram seu nome inscrito na história da música pop.
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THE ASSOCIATION
Jules Alexander (born September 25, 1943), was in Hawaii in 1962, serving a stint in the Navy, when he met Terry Kirkman (born 1939), who was visiting. The two young musicians jammed together and promised to get together once Alexander was
discharged. That happened a year later; the two eventually moved to Los Angeles and began exploring LA's early 60s scene. This led, in 1964, to the forming of The Men, a 13 piece folk-rock band. This group had a brief spell as the house band at The
Troubadour, the famed LA nightclub. After a short time, however, The Men disbanded, with 6 of the members electing to continue on their own. At the suggestion of Kirkman's then-fiancée, Judy, they took the name The Association. The original lineup
consisted of Alexander (credited as Gary Alexander on the first 2 albums) on vocals and lead guitar; Kirkman on vocals and a variety of wind and brass instruments; Brian Cole (1942-1972) on vocals and bass; Russ Giguere (born October 18, 1943)
on vocals, percussion and guitar; Ted Bluechel, Jr (born December 2, 1942) on drums and vocals; and Bob Page (born May 13, 1943) on guitar and vocals. Page's time in the band was brief; he was soon replaced by Jim Yester born November 24, 1939) on vocals, guitar, and keyboards. That national break would come with the song "Along Comes Mary", and led to the group's first album, And Then... Along Comes the Association, produced by Curt Boettcher. A song from the album, "Cherish", written by Kirkman, would become The Association's first #1 in September 1966. In 1967, Jules Alexander left the band to study meditation in India; he was replaced by Larry Ramos (born April 19, 1942).With the lineup settled, the group returned to the studio, this time with Bones Howe in the producer's chair. The first fruits of
this pairing would be the single "Windy" written by Ruthann Friedman. It reached #1 on the charts in May of 1967. In early 1969, Jules Alexander returned to the group he had helped found. With Larry Ramos staying, The Association was now a seven man band. . In 1971 Russ Giguere left the band; The Association replaced him with keyboardist/singer Richard Thompson. In 1972 the group expanded to nine members bringing in crack session players Wolfgang Meltz and Mike Berkowitz on bass & drums respectively to add more musical versatility on stage and free up Brian Cole & Ted Bluechel to concentrate on singing only. But on August 2, 1972, Cole was found dead in his Los Angeles home of an overdose of heroin. For the rest of the 1970s, The Association was in a state of flux, releasing singles now and then, along with sporadic touring. At the end of 1972, Kirkman departed, as did Meltz and Berkowitz. The remaining foursome brought in new members: Maurice Miller(vocals, drums,
percussion), Art Johnson (vocals, guitar) and David Vaught(bass) in 1973 and continued touring. Jim Yester was briefly replaced by his brother Jerry later this same year only to return in 1974. When Jules Alexander left soon after to join Russ Giguere in a new vocal outfit, Bijou, Jerry again came in to play with the group until the end of that year. Membership was a bit fluid in 1975-76. Dwayne Smith(vocals, keyboards) joined but was replaced by Andy Chapin by the end of '75. Ramos departed as well, as did Art Johnson. Larry Brown (vocals, guitar) then came in for three years. In 1978 Brown left to concentrate on session work and was replaced by Cliff Woolley. But the prime gigs were fewer and far between by this time and Yester left leaving Bluechel as the only original member. The band dissolved leaving Bluechel with a huge debt. To help clear away some of it, he leased the group's name to another company on November 1st, 1978 who put a fake Association out on the road. In 1979, the surviving key members: Terry Kirkman, Jules Alexander, Russ Giguere, Ted Bluechel, Jim Yester & Larry Ramos reunited for an HBO special (Terry Kirkman was working for HBO at the time.) and a charity show. In 1980, the originals went back on the road for a concert tour. In addition to the classic members, drummer Russ Levine and keyboardist Ric Ulsky were added for extra musical muscle. With the genuine article back out touring, the bogus band was eventually put out of business. Jim Yester left again in 1983 and the group added Keith Moray (bass, backing vocals) who was then replaced by Joe LaManno by 1984. But by the end of the year, there was a mass exodus as Kirkman, Bluechel, Ulsky, LaManno and Brian Puckett all departed.In 1985 the band continued on as Jules, Russ and Larry recruited new members: Paul Beach (vocals, bass) Bruce Pictor (vocals,drums, percussion) and Donni Gougeon (vocals, keyboards). Gougeon was briefly replaced in 1986 by Chris Urmston and Paul Holland took Urmston's place in 1987 before moving over to bass in 1989 when Beach quit. Gougeon then returned to the band in
1989-1999. Jules Alexander turned in his notice in early 1989. Larry Ramos' brother Del who was doing sound for the group then began adding his voice to the mix from that point on. Eventually, he was promoted to full onstage membership. Currently, the band includes Russ Giguere, Larry Ramos, Del Ramos on vocals and bass, Bruce Pictor, Bob Werner (vocals,guitar and bass since 1999) and most interestingly, Jordan Cole (son of Brian) on keyboards and vocals, who also 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. In 2003, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
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MINHA OPINIÃO : The Association foi uma brisa refrescante no cenário "pop", marcado pela mesmice dos arranjos dos grupos habituais. Seu estilo - que descrevi lá em cima - era diferente de tudo o que se fazia na época e colocou "The Association"
num patamar muito superior aos demais.
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THE ASSOCIATION: AND THEN COMES THE ASSOCIATION
Label: Valiant / Warner
Year: 1966
THE ASSOCIATION:
Russ Giguere
Larry Ramos
Bruce Pictor
Bob Werner
Jordan Cole
Some former members - among so many others:
Jules Gary Alexander
Terry Kirkman
Jim Yester
Brian Cole
TRACKS/FAIXAS:
1. Enter the young
2. Your own love
3. Don´t blame it on me
4. Blistered
5. I´ll be your man
6. Along comes Mary
7. Cherish
8. Standing still
9. Message of our love
10. Round again
11. Remember
12. Changes
BONUS TRACKS
13. One too many mornings
14. Forty times
15. Along comes Mary
16. Cherish
17. Enter the young
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