insight out

The Association reinvented themselves with a new label, a new guitarist, a new producer, and a handful of songs written by outside composers for their hugely successful third album. 'Insight Out' was their first album on Warner Brothers Records, which had bought out their old label Valiant.   Jules Alexander had left the band to go to India for meditative studies and was replaced by Larry Ramos from the New Christy Minstrels.  Their new lineup of Ramos on vocals and guitar; Terry Kirkman on vocals and a variety of wind, brass and percussion instruments; Brian Cole on vocals, bass and woodwinds; Russ Giguere on vocals, percussion and guitar; Ted Bluechel, Jr. on drums, guitar, bass and vocals; and Jim Yester on vocals, guitar, and keyboards, went into the studio with Bones Howe at the helm as producer and engineer.  After the disappointing sales of their sophomore release 'Renaissance', the band was pushed in a more commercial direction which manifested in more than half of the songs being written by non-band members and many of the instruments being played by professional session musicians like Larry Knechtel on keyboards, Al Casey on guitar, Hal Blaine on drums, Joe Osborn on bass, and  Mike Deasy on guitar and sitar.  The result was an ambitious amalgamation of California pop, baroque balladry, folk, soul, vaudeville, heavy rock, and psychedelia.  Their shimmering soulful harmonies were arranged by Clark Burroughs.  The slick sound of 'Insight Out' returned the Association to the top of the charts with two of the biggest singles of the decade.  It peaked at number eight on the US album chart.  

www.theassociationwebsite.com





'Windy' was written by Ruthann Friedman who says:  "I have heard so many different permutations of what the song was about. Here is the truth. I was sitting on my bed - the apartment on the first floor of David Crosby's house in Beverly Glenn - and there was a fellow who came to visit and was sitting there staring at me as if he was going to suck the life out of me. So I started to fantasize about what kind of a guy I would like to be with, and that was Windy - a guy fantasy. The song took about twenty minutes to write."  The Association changed 'Windy' to a she and took the song to the top of the charts for four weeks in July of 1967.  Giguere and Ramos sang lead vocals.  




Who's peeking out from under a stairway
Calling a name that's lighter than air
Who's bending down to give me a rainbow
Everyone knows it's Windy
Who's tripping down the streets of the city
Smiling at everybody she sees
Who's reaching out to capture a moment
Everyone knows it's Windy

And Windy has stormy eyes
That flash at the sound of lies
And Windy has wings to fly
Above the clouds, above the clouds
Who's tripping down the streets of the city
Smiling at everybody she sees
Who's reaching out to capture a moment
Everyone knows it's Windy








'Never My Love' was written by siblings Donald and Richard Addrisi.  The single peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and hit number one on the Cash Box charts in October 1967.  Kirkman and Ramos sang lead. 'Never My Love' is the second most played song on the radio of all time.




You ask me if there'll come a time
When I grow tired of you
Never my love
Never my love

You wonder if this heart of mine
Will lose it's desire for you
Never my love
Never my love

What makes you think love will end
When you know that my whole life depends
On you
(On you)

Never my love
Never my love

You say you fear I'll change my mind
And I won't require you

Never my love
(Never my love)
Never my love
(Never my love)

How can you think love will end
When I've asked you to spend your whole life
With me
(With me)
(With me)

Never my love
(Never my love)
Never my love
(Never my)
(My love)










'Insight Out' 
full album:




Lead vocals listed

Side one
1. "Wasn't It a Bit Like Now?" (Terry Kirkman) Kirkman and Ramos 3:33
2. "On a Quiet Night" (P. F. Sloan) Yester 3:21
3. "We Love Us" (Ted Bluechel) Bluechel and Ramos 2:25
4. "When Love Comes to Me" (Jim Yester) Yester 2:45
5. "Windy" (Ruthann Friedman) Giguere and Ramos 2:56
6. "Reputation" (Tim Hardin) Cole 2:38
Side two
1. "Never My Love" (Don Addrisi, Dick Addrisi) Kirkman and Ramos 3:10
2. "Happiness Is" (Don Addrisi, Dick Addrisi) Ramos and Bluechel 2:13
3. "Sometime" (Russ Giguere) Giguere 2:38
4. "Wantin' Ain't Gettin'" (Mike Deasy) Cole and Giguere 2:20
5. "Requiem for the Masses" (Terry Kirkman) Kirkman 4:06