The Association – The Complete Warner Bros. & Valiant Singles Collection (@320)

 

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The Complete Warner Bros. & Valiant Singles Collection Review by James Allen.

While there are plenty of amazing moments on the Association's albums that never came anywhere near a single, the group was first and foremost a singles-oriented act, just as L.A. sunshine pop contemporaries like the Beach Boys (Pet Sounds notwithstanding) and the Mamas & the Papas were. That's part of what makes this anthology such an effective encapsulation of the group's gestalt. The last major Association anthology, Rhino's 2002 double-disc release Just the Right Sound, took a more expansive approach to organizing its retrospective. But by presenting the A- and B-sides of each Association single from 1965's Bob Dylan cover "One Too Many Mornings" to 1971's "That's Racin'" in chronological order, the Now Sounds collection allows listeners to experience the group's evolution in exactly the same way a fan of 45s would have done during the Association's heyday. And while assembled A-sides like "Along Comes Mary," "Cherish," "Windy," and "Never My Love" lend this two-CD offering a definitive greatest-hits aspect, the B-sides are often non-LP cuts, adding some serious heft to the archival side of the project.

Stylistically speaking, it's fascinating to hear the growth the Association experienced over the course of just a few years. While the succulent vocal harmonies remained a signature throughout the group's career, the arrangements and songwriting underwent some major changes. The band began in a folk-rock mode with tracks like the aforementioned Dylan tune before settling into a lush, heavenly pop paradise all their own on circa 1968 masterpieces like "Everything That Touches You." At the same time, the fuzzed-out guitar lines of another 1968 single, "Six Man Band," showed the Association to be entirely comfortable with psychedelia. By 1969, the hits pretty much stopped coming, but the group didn't hit the pause button on its evolutionary process. 1970 B-sides "I Am Up for Europe" and "Look at Me, Look at You" show that the Association was capable of convincingly shifting toward heavy, blues-based rock and country-rock, respectively, while it's easy to envision "It's Gotta Be Real" hitting the early-‘70s R&B charts if only it had come from an act with a bit less of a squeaky-clean straight pop image. If you let it, The Complete Warner Bros. & Valiant Singles can simultaneously underline the Association's commercial peak and deepen your understanding of the group's true musical personality.

 

Tracklist:

 

Disc 1:

 

1. The Association - One too many mornings

2. The Association - Forty times

3. The Association - Along Comes Mary

4. The Association - Your Own Love

5. The Association - Cherish

6. The Association - Don't blame it on me

7. The Association - Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies

8. The Association - Standing Still

9. The Association - No Fair At All

10. The Association - Looking glass

11. The Association - Windy

12. The Association - Sometime

13. The Association - Never my love

14. The Association - Requiem for the masses

15. The Association - Everything That Touches You

16. The Association - We Love Us

17. The Association - Time For Livin'

18. The Association - Birthday Morning

 

Disc 2:

 

1. The Association - Six Man Band

2. The Association - Like Always

3. The Association - Goodbye, Columbus

4. The Association - The time it is today

5. The Association - Under branches

6. The Association - Hear in here

7. The Association - Yes, I will

8. The Association - I am up for Europe

9. The Association - Dubuque Blues

10. The Association - Are You Ready

11. The Association - Just about the same

12. The Association - Look at me, look at you

13. The Association - Along the way

14. The Association - Traveler's guide (Spanish Flyer)

15. The Association - P. F. sloan

16. The Association - Bring yourself home

17. The Association - It's gotta be real

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