This week in March of 1968, the LP “Birthday” by The Association was released on Warner Bros. Records. It was produced b…

This week in March of 1968, the LP “Birthday” by The Association was released on Warner Bros. Records. It was produced by Bones Howe, and is the groups’ 4th album. There were two singles released from the album: “Everything That Touches You” US #10 “Time For Livin'” US #39 This was the last LP by the group that spawned Top 40 hits. It peaked at number 23 in the Billboard charts. The song “MacArthur Park”, which was first recorded by Richard Harris, was originally offered to the Association for inclusion on this album. Producer Bones Howes challenged Jimmy Webb to write a pop song that incorporated classical instrumentation and an odd time signature, which he planned to have the Association record. According to rumors, the song was intended as a centerpiece for a twenty-four minute cantata that would occupy one side of the record; but the group rejected the idea and were only interested (reluctantly) in recording the “MacArthur Park” section. Being able songwriters themselves, they were not willing to give up two to three of their songs for the sake of Webb’s project. Personnel on the album included: Hal Blaine – drums Joe Osborn, Ray Pohlman – bass Jim Yester, Tommy Tedesco, Russ Giguere, David Bennett Cohen, Mike Deasy, Dennis Budimir, Al Casey – guitars Larry Knechtel – piano, keyboards Milton Holland, Dale Anderson, Gene Estes, Larry Bunker – vibes, various percussion Red Callender – double bass, tuba James Decker, Arthur Maebe, William Hinshaw, David Duke – french horns Emanuel Klein, Jimmy Zito, Buddy Childers, Tony Terran, Bobby Bryant – trumpets Lew McCreary, David Wells – trombones James Decker, William Hinshaw – french horns John Johnson – saxophone Paulo Alencar, Arnold Belnick, Henry Ferber, Jacques Gasselin, Jerome Reisler, Ralph Schaeffer, Sidney Sharp, William Weiss, Shari Zippert – strings #theassociation #boneshowe #thewreckingcrew #60smusic
Published at Mon, 22 Mar 2021 19:15:00 GMT