The Association is an American sunshine pop band from Los Angeles, California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts and were the lead-off band at 1967's Monterey Pop Festival. Generally consisting of six to eight members, they are known for intricate vocal harmonies by the band's multiple singers.
Portrait is the fifth album by the American pop group the 5th Dimension, released in 1970. This is the group's first album for Bell Records, having switched from the Soul City Records label. The cover features an impressionistic portrait by famous artist LeRoy Neiman.
"MacArthur Park" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb that was recorded first by Irish actor and singer Richard Harris in 1968. Harris's version peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number four on the UK Singles Chart. "MacArthur Park" was subsequently covered by numerous artists, including a 1970 Grammy-winning version by country singer Waylon Jennings and a number one Billboard Hot 100 disco version by Donna Summer in 1978. Webb won the 1969 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for the Richard Harris version.
"Baby I Need Your Loving" is a 1964 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song was the group's first Motown single and their first pop Top 20 hit, making it to number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number four in Canada in the fall of 1964. It was also their first million-selling hit single.
"I Think I Love You" is a song by Tony Romeo, written as the debut single for fictional musical TV family the Partridge Family. It was released in August 1970, a month prior to the debut of the ABC-TV musical sitcom The Partridge Family starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy, both of whom appear on the record, with Cassidy as lead vocalist. The single topped Billboard's Hot 100 for three weeks in November and December 1970 and later was certified by NARM as the best-selling single of 1970.
"Dedicated To The One I Love" is a song written by Lowman Pauling and Ralph Bass that was a hit for the "5" Royales, the Shirelles, the Mamas & the Papas and Bitty McLean. Pauling was the guitarist of the "5" Royales, the group that recorded the original version of the song, produced by Bass, in 1957. Their version was re-released in 1961 and charted at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Cherish" is a pop song written by Terry Kirkman and recorded by the Association. Released in 1966, the song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in September of that year and remained in the top position for three weeks. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 7 song of 1966, and later as No. 2, after a revision of the year-end charts. It was certified Gold by the RIAA in the US in 1966. In Canada, the song also reached number one.
"Another Saturday Night" is a 1963 hit single by Sam Cooke from the album Ain't That Good News. The song was written by Cooke while touring in England when staying in a hotel where no female guests were allowed. It reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was No. 1 on the R&B chart for a single week. In the UK, the song peaked at No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart.
Insight Out is the third album by the American pop band the Association and was released on June 8, 1967 on Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first album release for the Warner Brothers label and it became one of the top selling LPs of the year in America, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Critic Richie Unterberger has attributed much of the album's success to the inclusion of the U.S. hits "Windy" and "Never My Love", which reached number 1 and number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart respectively and were among the most-played records on AM radio during the late 1960s.
Birthday is the fourth studio album by the American band the Association. The album featured two hit singles, "Everything That Touches You", which hit number 10 in the charts, and "Time for Livin'", which reached number 39. This was the last LP by the group that spawned Top 40 hits. It peaked at number 23 in the Billboard charts.
"He's a Rebel" is a song written by Gene Pitney that was originally recorded by Vikki Carr and by the girl group the Blossoms. Produced by Phil Spector, the Blossoms' version was issued as a single credited to the Crystals, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in November 1962. It was Spector's second chart-topper after "To Know Him Is to Love Him" (1958).
"Don't Pull Your Love" is the debut single by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds which became a top ten hit single in 1971. The song was written by Brian Potter and Dennis Lambert.
"Up, Up and Away" is a 1967 song written by Jimmy Webb and recorded by US soul-pop act the 5th Dimension with backing from members of The Wrecking Crew. Their original version reached no. 7 on Billboard's Hot 100 in July 1967 and no. 9 on its Easy Listening chart, and number one in both Canada and Australia. In 1999, Webb's song placed 43 on BMI's "Top 100 Songs of the Century".
"One Less Bell to Answer" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Originally written in 1967 for Keely Smith, the song was rediscovered in late 1969 by Bones Howe, the producer for the 5th Dimension, and the song was included on the group's 1970 debut album for Bell Records, Portrait. Lead vocals on the single were sung by Marilyn McCoo.
"Never My Love" is a pop standard written by American siblings Don and Dick Addrisi, and best known from a hit 1967 recording by the Association. The Addrisi Brothers had two Top 40 hits as recording artists, but their biggest success as songwriters was "Never My Love". Recorded by dozens of notable artists in the decades since, in 1999 the music publishing rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) announced it was the second most-played song on radio and television of the 20th century in the U.S.
"Stoned Soul Picnic" is a 1968 song by Laura Nyro. The best-known version of the song was recorded by the 5th Dimension, and was the first single released from their album of the same title. It was the most successful single from that album, reaching No. 3 on the U.S. Pop chart and No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart. It became a platinum record.
"Mary, Mary" is a song written by Michael Nesmith and first recorded by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band for their 1966 album East-West. Nesmith's band, the Monkees, later recorded it for More of the Monkees (1967). Hip hop group Run–D.M.C. revived the song in the late 1980s, with an adaptation that appeared in the U.S. record charts.
"Midnight Confessions" is a song written by Lou T. Josie and originally performed by the Ever-Green Blues. American rock band The Grass Roots later made it famous when they released it as a single in 1968. Though never released on any of the group's studio albums, it was on their first compilation album, Golden Grass, and has since been included on many of their other compilations.
Helen Reddy is the second studio album by Australian-American pop singer Helen Reddy, released on November 8, 1971, by Capitol Records. Reddy's selections include tracks by singer-songwriters Carole King, John Lennon, Randy Newman, and Donovan. It debuted on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated December 4, 1971, and had a seven-week chart run in which it got as high as number 167. On March 29, 2005, the album was released for the first time on compact disc as one of two albums on one CD, the other album being I Don't Know How to Love Him, Reddy's debut LP that originally came out in the spring of 1971.
Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by American pop group the 5th Dimension, released in 1970 by Soul City. It includes all but two of their charting singles to date: "Go Where You Wanna Go", their first Top 20 record in the USA, would appear on the follow-up compilation, The July 5th Album, released later that year, while "Another Day, Another Heartache" was not included on either compilation. Greatest Hits and The July 5 Album were the final two album releases for Soul City Records' distribution deal with Liberty Records. The 5th Dimension subsequently signed with Bell Records. The album peaked at no. 5 on Billboard's Top LP's chart in the summer of 1970, achieving gold record status.
