The Association: Birthday CD Track Listing

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The Association Birthday (1968)
2003 Collectors' Choice Music\n\nOriginally Released 1968\nCD Edition Released November 11, 2003\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: This is a strong record. Vocally, the intricate harmonies shine, and there is a lyrical depth on some songs that challenge the group's reputation as a mere pop group. Granted, there are some light moments, such as the opening cut, "Come on In" (though the vocals do stand out on this cut). And "Toymaker" and "Hear in Here" show the vocal limitations of the lead singers. But "Like Always" does an excellent job of wryly commenting on the loss of a relationship, with the usual fine vocal interplay. "The Time It Is Today" mixes the political and personal in an effective way. And "Everything That Touches You" (their final Top Ten ) is one of their finest love songs, if not one of their best songs, period. The vocals are as intricate as the arrangement, and the sincerity of the lyrics is very apparent. Production by Bones Howe gives the record a very commercial, clean sound that fits well with the material presented. -- Michael Ofjord\n\nAmazon.com Editorial Review\nReleased in March 1968, Birthday was probably the Association's most pop-sounding album, as producer Bones Howe and the group polished their trademark harmony sound to a brilliant sheen. And, like on Insight Out, studio musicians extraordinaire Hal Blaine and Larry Knechtel lent expert accompaniment. The result was a pair of chart hits, Everything That Touches You and Time for Livin', and another fine, if less ambitious, pop album. Also includes Come On In; Rose Petals, Incense and Kitten; Like Always; Toymaker; Barefoot Gentleman; Hear in Here; Time It Is Today; Bus Song, and Birthday Morning. \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nGood Sunshine Pop, Lacking Diversity, January 18, 2004 \nReviewer: S.J. Dibai from Philadelphia, PA USA \nHere we have another budget-line reissue of an Association album, courtesy of the Collector's Choice label. The sound quality is very good, and Richie Unterberger's liner notes, featuring quotations from Associate Jim Yester, are okay and somewhat interesting. But since specific songwriting credits were not part of the original album artwork, we don't get them here!\n\nBIRTHDAY, the group's fourth LP, once again used session players for the instrumental tracks, but thankfully they have loosened up a bit since the previous LP, INSIGHT OUT. The vocal arrangements remain impressive as usual. The problem with this LP is that the stylistic diversity which characterizes most of the Association's albums is missing here. This is all just good sunshine pop which, when listened to all at once, leaves this reviewer wanting more variety.\n\nThat said, there's nothing bad here, and many of the songs are worth noting. "Everything That Touches You," despite being a rather lame sequel to "Cherish" (written and sung by the same guy, no less), is an excellent record that became the band's final Top Ten hit. The groovy "Time For Livin'" (one of the few outside compositions on the disc) was their final Top 40 entry on the hot 100. Larry Ramos' "Like Always" is a lively R&B-influenced tune with a clever barbershop quartet-style interlude, while Russ Giguere's "The Time It Is Today" is an exceptionally personal and serious piece of social commentary. Ted Bluechel Jr.'s fantastic "Hear In Here" is an introspective piece, his best composition since the first album's "Standing Still." You could argue that his lead vocal on this track is weak, but the delicate naivete in his voice fits the song to a T. Yester and his friend Skip Carmel came up with "Barefoot Gentleman" and "Birthday Morning," two beautiful ballads that are nonetheless out of place here, drawing too heavily from Carl Jung's "Man and His Symbols" for lyrical inspiration. In other words, not even every member of the band understood these songs!\n\nI would definitely recommend this CD to Association fans and sunshine pop collectors. Otherwise, don't go out of your way for it. \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nIt's like doing doob at Disneyland, February 3, 2004 \nReviewer: djrix from Rahway, NJ USA \nClassic California Pop. Perhaps the group's best produced & most coherent - if not strongest - LP, with a few serious songwriting lapses as each of members jockey'd for center stage. The cover art & Bones Howe's production reached out to a potential potheads-with-earphones audience, to no avail. Like a similarly virtuoso vocal group, Free Design, there's some strange goings on beneath even the wimpiest surfaces. Unless you're a fan-atic collector of the Association, skip this & pick up "Just The Right Sound; The Association Anthology," a pricey but worthwhile two-CD set that incorporates the better half of "Birthday". It's like doing doob at Disneyland. -- Bob Rixon \n\nHalf.com Album Credits\nBones Howe, Producer\n\n\nAlbum Notes\nIncludes liner notes by Richie Unterberger.
This rock cd contains 11 tracks and runs 34min 13sec.
Freedb: a508030b
Buy: from Amazon.com

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