Artist: Album (label, release date) 1-5 stars
The Association: Windy & Other Hits (Collectables, December 27, 2005) **
Ambrosia: How Much I Feel and Other Hits (Collectables, December 27, 2005) **
The Spinners: I'll Be Around & Other Hits (Collectables, December 27, 2005) ***
Average White Band: Pick Up the Pieces (Collectables, December 27, 2005) ***
The lack of Weekend Reissue Roundups this month haven't been due to laziness; there have been far fewer reissues this month than usual, including this week. However, the sometimes-good, sometimes-lousy reissue label Collectables have dusted off four 10-song budget-priced Rhino Flashback titles this week; while none are satisfactory compilations, they may come in handy for those filling gaps in their collections. The caveats are described below.
The Association: Windy & Other Hits
This Association compilation is a perfect example of what's wrong with these releases. While it does have the #1 1967 hit "Windy", it manages to leave out "Never My Love" (the second most played song on the radio in history), a #2 hit from 1967 and perhaps their most sublime moment of pop brilliance. Also absent is the familiar lush pop standard "Cherish", which reached #1 in 1966. Not here too, is their psychedelic stab at acid rock, "Six Man Band" which charted in 1969. That's their three best songs missing; the best of the lot here is "Windy", "Everything That Touches You", a 1969 top-10 that sounds like a re-write of "Cherish", and the band's 1966 debut hit "Along Comes Mary". The Association weren't a heavy 60's band; their sound had more in common with the Four Freshman than Jefferson Airplane. But they did play at the Monterey Pop Festival, and managed to chart albums until 1972. Formed in Los Angeles in 1964 as a 13-member group called the Men, they originally pursued a folk-rock sound, but by the time of their debut they had been trimmed to a six-member group and pretty much gone strictly pop. Their best hits, especially "Never My Love", are pretty good, and their occasional forays into rock weren't embarrassments. Most noteworthy was the lush production, done by Curt Boettcher. The Association's Greatest Hits on Warners is still the best introduction.
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