And Then... Along Comes the Association

And Then... Along Comes the Association is the debut studio album by the American sunshine pop band the Association and was released on Valiant Records, in July 1966 (see 1966 in music).[2] It became one of the top-selling LPs in America, peaking at number five, and remains the Association's most successful album release, except for their Greatest Hits compilation.[3] The album's success was primarily credited to the inclusion of their two U.S. hits "Along Comes Mary" and "Cherish", which peaked at number seven and number one respectively on the Billboard Hot 100; "Cherish" was number one on Billboard's Top 40 list for three weeks starting in September 24, 1966.[4]

And Then... Along Comes the Association
Studio album by The Association
Released	July 1966
Recorded	March 1966, Homewood Studios, Hollywood, CA May 16 & 17, 1966, GSP Studios, Hollywood, CA May 1966, Columbia Studios, Hollywood, CA[1]
Genre	Sunshine pop
Length	29:40
Label	Valiant, Warner Bros.
Producer	Curt Boettcher
The Association chronology
And Then... Along Comes the Association (1966) Renaissance (1966)
Singles from And Then... Along Comes the Association
"Along Comes Mary" Released: 1966 "Cherish" Released: 1966

The album was preceded by a few non-LP singles as the Association struggled to establish themselves a commercial presence. Moving from the Jubilee record label to Valiant Records, the group released a cover version of Bob Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings", which received attention from Curt Boettcher.[5] Boettcher, who had previously worked with the folk-rock group The GoldeBriars, and demoed "Along Comes Mary" with lead guitarist Jules Alexander, was brought in by the group to steer the Association in a pop-rock musical direction. Aside from "Along Comes Mary", the sessions with Boettcher provided the band with the song's B-side, "Your Own Love", and two other tracks that are featured on the album "Remember" and "I'll Be Your Man". The Association yielded some of the instrumental playing on And Then... Along Comes the Association to top L.A. session musicians, including guitarist Mike Deasy (who would continue to play on other Association albums), bassist Jerry Scheff, and percussionists Jim Troxel and Toxey French.[6][5]

And Then... Along Comes the Association saw the group experiment with luscious vocal harmonies that anticipated the musical textures of Boettcher's later groups The Millennium and Sagittarius.[7] In addition, the album incorporated a wide-assortment of influences, including folk-rock, psychedelia, Baroque pop, and remains a cornerstone of sunshine pop. Along with the hit singles "Along Comes Mary" and "Cherish", notable tracks on the album include the reflective "Enter the Young" and the Addrissi brothers' "Don't Blame It on Me".[6] The partnership between the Association and Boettcher—while innovative and commercially successful—was cut short after Boettcher began to overreach his authority in the group's musical direction. For their sophomore effort, Renaissance, the Association recruited Jerry Yester to replace Boettcher as a producer.[8]

Original Valiant album covers feature the byline "singing...along comes mary" at the bottom of the cover; this was later replaced with "featuring CHERISH & ALONG COMES MARY". In 1967, Warner Bros. bought the Valiant label and reissued the album, altering the cover by replacing all Valiant references with the Warner Bros. logo and new catalog number of 1702. On the back cover, the monaural and stereo catalog numbers of the Valiant issues at the bottom center were replaced by a "MORE BY THE ASSOCIATION" byline with the Renaissance and Insight Out album covers shown underneath. Copies exist with the gold WB label as well as the green Warner Bros. Seven Arts label.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[9]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Enter the Young" (Terry Kirkman)	Kirkman	2:45
2.	"Your Own Love" (Jules Alexander, Jim Yester)	Giguere	2:19
3.	"Don't Blame It on Me" (Don Addrisi, Dick Addrisi)	Giguere	2:30
4.	"Blistered" (Billy Edd Wheeler)	Giguere	1:52
5.	"I'll Be Your Man" (Russ Giguere)	Giguere	2:48
6.	"Along Comes Mary" (Tandyn Almer)	Yester	2:46

Side two

No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Cherish" (Kirkman)	Kirkman and Giguere	3:27
2.	"Standing Still" (Ted Bluechel)	Yester and Bluechel	2:47
3.	"Message of Our Love" (Almer, Curt Boettcher)	Kirkman	4:06
4.	"Round Again" (Alexander)	Kirkman and Giguere	1:49
5.	"Remember" (Alexander)	Yester	2:36
6.	"Changes" (Alexander)	Alexander	2:32

Credits

• Produced by Curt Boettcher for Our Productions
• Engineered by Gary Paxton and Pete Romano

Bass Jerry Scheff

References

1. "And Then... Along Comes the Association". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-01-01. Recording dates are given in liner notes of CD release--see 12th image.
2. "And Then...Along Comes the Association product information". shop.cherryred.co.uk. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
3. Eder, Bruce. "And Then...Along Comes the Association - Review". allmusic.com. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
4. Joel Whitburn. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. 5th edition. Billboard Books, 1992, page 657. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
5. Marchese, Joe. "And Now…Along Comes The Association, Expanded and Remastered!". theseconddisc.com. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
6. Unterberger, Richie. "LINER NOTES FOR THE ASSOCIATION'S AND THEN...ALONG COMES THE ASSOCIATION". richieunterberger.com. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
7. Howard, David (2004). "Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings". Hal Leonard. p. 69. ISBN 0634055607.
8. Eder, Bruce. "Renaissance - Review". allmusic.com. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
9. "And Then... Along Comes the Association > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 15, 2011.