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,[ The Association USA chart history], Billboard.com. Retrieved June 2, 2012. 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.
MacArthur Park
The song "MacArthur Park", which was first recorded by Richard Harris, was originally offered to the Association for inclusion on this album. Producer Bones Howes challenged Jimmy Webb to write a pop song that incorporated classical instrumentation and an odd time signature, which he planned to have the Association record. The song was rumored to be intended as a centerpiece for a twenty-four-minute cantata that would occupy one side of the record. This rumor was later debunked by Webb himself, who claimed there was only one composition. Nonetheless, the song was excluded because the group, being able songwriters themselves, were not willing to give up two to three of their songs for the sake of Webb's project.
Terry Kirkman on the Discogropheties podcast (recorded just prior to his death) stated that they were offered MacArthur Park only two or three days before a tour. There was no time to arrange or record it, and the album was mostly completed anyway.
When Harris, who had just performed a slew of musical numbers for the film adaptation of Camelot, contacted Webb for a possible collaboration, this was among the compositions that were in consideration. The Harris recording became lead single for his pop record debut, A Tramp Shining, and made its way onto the Billboard Hot 100 at number 79 on May 11, 1968, peaking at number 2 on June 22, 1968 behind Herb Alpert's "This Guy's in Love with You".
Track listing # Title Writer Lead vocals Recorded TimeSide 11."Come on In"Jo MapesKirkman, GiguereJanuary 26, February 19 & 20, 19683:16 2. "Rose Petals, Incense and a Kitten" Ric McClelland, Jim Yester Yester February 3, 19 & 20, 1968 2:49 3. "Like Always" Tony Ortega, Bob Alcivar, Larry Ramos Ramos December 27, 1967 & February 23, 1968 3:04 4. "Everything That Touches You" Terry Kirkman Kirkman, Yester November 14, 1967, January 4 & February 9, 1968 3:17 5. "Toymaker" Jeff Comanor Yester, Kirkman February 3, 12 & 16, 1968 3:25Side 2 1. "Barefoot Gentleman" Skip Carmel, Jim Yester Yester December 27, 1967, February 16 & 19, 1968 3:23 2. "Time for Livin" Addrisi Brothers Giguere, Ramos February 2, 19, 20 & 23, 1968 2:43 3. "Hear in Here" Ted Bluechel, Jr. Bluechel, Jr. February 2, 16, 19, 20 & 23, 1968 3:13 4. "The Time It Is Today" Russ Giguere Giguere December 27, 1967 2:15 5. "The Bus Song" Terry Kirkman Kirkman February 2 & 20, 1968 3:27 6."Birthday Morning" Skip Carmel, Jim Yester Yester September 12, 1967 & January 4, 1968 2:25
Singles "Everything That Touches You" b/w "We Love Us" (Warner Bros. 7163) January 8, 1968 (US #10) "Time for Livin b/w "Birthday Morning" (Warner Bros. 7195) April 24, 1968 (US #39)
Personnel The Association Terry Kirkman – wind instruments, vocals, percussion Larry Ramos – lead guitar, vocals Russ Giguere – rhythm guitar, vocals, percussion Brian Cole – bass, vocals, woodwinds Ted Bluechel, Jr. – drums, vocals, rhythm guitar, bass Jim Yester – rhythm guitar, vocals, keyboards
Additional musicians According to the 2010 deluxe mono edition:
Hal Blaine – drums Joe Osborn, Ray Pohlman – bass Jim Yester, Tommy Tedesco, Russ Giguere, David Bennett Cohen, Mike Deasy, Dennis Budimir, Al Casey – guitars Larry Knechtel – piano, keyboards Milt Holland, Dale Anderson, Gene Estes, Larry Bunker – vibes, various percussion Red Callender – double bass, tuba James Decker, Arthur Maebe, William Hinshaw, David Duke – French horn Emanuel Klein, Jimmy Zito, Buddy Childers, Tony Terran, Bobby Bryant – trumpet Lew McCreary, David Wells – trombone James Decker, William Hinshaw – French horn John Johnson – saxophone Paulo Alencar, Arnold Belnick, Henry Ferber, Jacques Gasselin, Jerome Reisler, Ralph Schaeffer, Sidney Sharp, William Weiss, Shari Zippert – strings
Technical Bones Howe – producer, engineer Ed Thrasher – art direction Wayne Kimbell – design George Rodriguez – photography Charts
Chart (1968) Peakposition US Billboard Top LPs23 References