Misplaced Pages

#677322

65-465: 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 (including " Windy ", " Cherish ", " Never My Love " and " Along Comes Mary ") 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

130-605: A heroin overdose. For the rest of the 1970s, the Association was in a state of flux, releasing singles intermittently along with sporadic touring. In September 1972 Kirkman departed, as did Melz and Berkowitz later on that fall. The group was then moved over to the CBS distributed Mums label and put out a new single, Albert Hammond 's "Names, Tags, Numbers & Labels", in February 1973. It failed to make much of an impression, though, and

195-551: A filmed performance at Danmarks Radio , Gladsaxe , Denmark, on March 17, 1969, is included on the Led Zeppelin DVD (2003). For their 1994-98 project, Page and Plant performed a 9-minute version of the song, which included the opening notes of Stairway to Heaven in the outro. Plant has performed the song as a solo artist and with his bands Strange Sensation and the Sensational Space Shifters . As of 2002,

260-468: A little more track than vocal." Sunshine pop and the California Sound's influence expanded to other countries. In Spain, it initially was pioneered by groups like Pic-Nic , Granada Los Ángeles and Los Iberos in 1968. Between 1969 and the 1970s there was a boom of "soft pop" acts in the country, among them Los Yetis, Solera, Módulos, Nuevos Horizontes and Vainica Doble. After its peak in the 1960s,

325-559: A live folk-music show on radio station KPFA in Berkeley, California, where she performed "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You". Janet Smith heard the performance and later Joan Baez learned the song from Smith at Oberlin College . The 1962 album Joan Baez in Concert includes a solo performance with her vocal and acoustic guitar picking. Vanguard Records co-owner/producer Maynard Solomon commented in

390-674: A member of the Lopez Beatles, who later played in the first lineup of Roger McGuinn 's Thunderbyrd in 1976 and who died on March 20, 2013, from pancreatic cancer) and continued touring. Jim Yester left in the late summer of 1973 and was briefly replaced by his brother Jerry (who, like Vaught, had just played in Rosebud ). Jim Yester returned a short time later when Alexander left in late 1973, eventually to join Giguere and former Honey Ltd. female vocalists Alex Sliwin, Joan Sliwin and Marsha Temmer in

455-480: A multi-bill of 1960s acts produced by David Fishof (who had taken over the band's management from Pat Colecchio in 1981; Colecchio died of colon cancer on June 3, 2008), headlined by the Turtles , and also including Gary Puckett and Spanky McFarlane of Spanky & Our Gang . Gary's brother, Brian Puckett, played drums in the show for Gary and McFarlane and likewise joined the Association for their set as well. During

520-456: A new outfit, Bijou. Jerry Yester stayed with the Association until the end of 1974 and pianist Thompson also left at that time. Dwayne Smith (vocals, keyboards) was then brought in. In 1975 the band signed with RCA Records where they released two singles, "One Sunday Morning" (produced in Canada by Jack Richardson ) and "Sleepy Eyes". An album called The Association Bites Back was to follow but

585-427: A session guitarist. He played the song for singer Robert Plant during their first meeting at Page's riverside home at Pangbourne in late July 1968. In his book Stairway to Heaven , Zeppelin tour manager Richard Cole claims that the arrangement evolved when Plant played Page the guitar part that eventually appeared on the album; however, this has been refuted by Page. In an interview, Page commented, "I used to do

650-460: A short-lived deal with Elektra Records resulting in a few singles (one of which, "Dreamer", reunited them with producer Bones Howe and made the Hot 100 with virtually no promotion) and more touring. In 1980 the surviving originals (with Ulsky returning in place of Thompson, Levine back on drums subbing for an ill Bluechel and Alexander taking over the bass) went back on the road for a concert tour, putting

715-457: A single of the Lovin' Spoonful 's " Darlin' Be Home Soon " failed to break the Hot 100. For their 1972 tour, the group expanded, bringing in first session bass player Wolfgang Melz, and then Mike Berkowitz on drums, to add more musical versatility on stage and free up Brian Cole and Ted Bluechel to concentrate on singing. But on August 2, 1972, 29-year-old Cole was found dead in his Los Angeles home of

SECTION 10

#1732869633678

780-418: A single of " Babe I'm Gonna Leave You ", a song originally recorded by Joan Baez and later popularized by Led Zeppelin , but nothing happened. Finally, Valiant Records offered them a contract, with the first result being a version of Bob Dylan 's " One Too Many Mornings ", which was produced by Valiant's owner, Barry De Vorzon , at Gold Star Studios . The Men were first managed by Doug Weston , owner of

845-405: A stint with Three Dog Night , and then by David Morgan (who later joined Three Dog Night himself) in mid-1976. In 1977 Bluechel, Jim Yester, and the current lineup recorded new versions of "Windy", "Cherish", "Never My Love", "Along Comes Mary" and "Everything That Touches You" with session players for K-tel Records that later ended up on a 1983 album collection, Back to Back , where one half of

910-413: A stint with another band called Joshua Fox, returned to the group, which now made the Association a seven-man band. The larger band's first project was to contribute to the soundtrack for Goodbye, Columbus (1969), the film version of Philip Roth 's best-selling novel. The title track, written by Yester, peaked at No. 80. John Boylan , one third of the little-known group Hamilton Streetcar, worked with

975-551: The Happy Together Again show band) and Bruce Pictor (vocals, drums, percussion, who had played alongside Beach in Puckett's group in the early 1980s). Gougeon was replaced in early 1987 by Chris Urmston but was himself succeeded by Paul Holland later the same year. In 1989, when Beach quit, Holland switched over to bass as Gougeon then rejoined for a ten-year stint from 1989 to 1999 before illness in his family called him away. He

1040-532: The Modern Folk Quartet and later, a member of the Lovin' Spoonful ). The album did not spawn any major hits (the highest-charting single, "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies", stalled at No. 35), and the album only reached No. 34, compared with the No. 5 showing for And Then... Along Comes the Association . In late 1966, Warner Bros. Records , which had been distributing Valiant, bought the smaller label and, with it,

1105-728: The Association (July 1966), produced by Curt Boettcher and begun in Gary S. Paxton 's garage, with vocals done separately at Columbia. Another song from the album, " Cherish ", written by Kirkman, became the Association's first No. 1 hit in September 1966 and one of a handful of the Sixties' most popular "slow dance" ballads. The group followed with their second album, Renaissance , released in November 1966. The band changed producers, dropping Boettcher in favor of Jerry Yester (brother of Jim and formerly of

1170-724: The Association and Renaissance (both 1966) before Larry Ramos replaced Alexander in early 1967. With Ramos, the group recorded their third and fourth albums, Insight Out and Birthday . Alexander re-joined in late 1968, and the group released their fifth album The Association in 1969. Keyboardist Richard Thompson replaced Giguere in 1970, with whom the band recorded their final two albums Stop Your Motor (1971) and Waterbeds in Trinidad! (1972). The group has since been through several lineup changes. The current lineup includes Alexander, Yester and longtime members Jordan Cole, Del Ramos, Bruce Pictor and Paul Holland. Jules Alexander

1235-708: The Association at the Ambassador Hotel 's Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles for an HBO special called Then and Now (Kirkman was working for HBO at the time). The following year the reunited group also appeared at a charity show hosted in Dallas by Ed McMahon called Ed McMahon and Company that ran on the Showtime cable network in August 1980. This led, in the early 1980s, to the band recording some self-financed demos and then

1300-457: The Association's contract. In 1966, a collection of poems penned by the six members was released as Crank Your Spreaders ; the book was reprinted in August 1969. In April 1967, Alexander left the band to study meditation in India and was replaced by Larry Ramos (born Hilario Ramos) on vocals and guitar. Ramos joined the band while Alexander was still performing with them after bassist Cole's hand

1365-552: The Beach Boys , the Mamas & the Papas , and the 5th Dimension . In some ways, the genre is similar to baroque pop through being elaborate and melancholic, but it crossed into folk-pop and Brill Building styles. It may be seen as a form of escapism from the turmoil of the times. The A.V. Club ' s Noel Murray writes: "sunshine pop acts expressed an appreciation for the beauty of

SECTION 20

#1732869633678

1430-541: The Guess Who and the Drifters , sponsored by VH1 . Alexander turned in his notice in early 1989. Larry Ramos's brother Del, who had started audio mixing for the group in the 1970s, and then again in the early 1980s, and had begun adding his voice to the mix from the sound board from 1985 on, also assumed bass duties in 1999 after Holland left to tend to his light and sound company. Bob Werner (vocals, guitar, bass), who had been

1495-603: The Millennium . This too failed to catch on. Despite all this, the band remained a popular concert draw, and on April 3, 1970, a Salt Lake City performance was recorded for The Association Live . In June 1970, Giguere left the band; he released a solo album, Hexagram 16 , the following year. The Association replaced him with keyboardist Richard Thompson (not to be confused with the English singer-songwriter/guitarist), who had contributed to previous albums and began playing live with

1560-530: The New Four Preps ) sat in for Pictor until he was able to rejoin his bandmates that November. Sunshine pop Sunshine pop enjoyed mainstream success in the latter half of the decade, with many of its top 40 hits peaking in the spring and summer of 1967, especially just before the Summer of Love . Popular acts include the Turtles and the Association . Other groups, like the Millennium , Sagittarius , and

1625-526: The Troubador, before switching to actor Dean Fredericks , who remained on board when the Association was formed and helped get them the Valiant deal. In 1966 Fredericks turned the reins over to Pat Colecchio, who managed the group for the next eight years, then on and off during the two years after that. Fredericks later sued the band for breach of contract and was awarded a settlement. Their national break came with

1690-662: The United States. Compilations and box-sets by groups such as Spanky and Our Gang , the Association , the Arbors and the Love Generation have been released on CD. Among the record labels which issue sunshine pop re-releases are Revola Records in Britain and the US label Sundazed . Babe I%27m Gonna Leave You " Babe I'm Gonna Leave You " is a folk song written by Anne Bredon in

1755-544: The Yellow Balloon were less successful but gained a cult following years later with albums like Begin (Millennium, 1968) and Present Tense (Sagittarius, 1968) being sought on the collectors’ market. Music identified under the sunshine pop banner initially was called "soft pop". Record collectors coined and popularized the term "sunshine pop" many decades after the fact. Sunshine pop originated in California in

1820-423: The album liner notes: "The strange quality [and power] of the song is that the narrator inwardly desires exactly the opposite of what he [ sic ] will do, and is torn by the prospect of his self-imposed departure." He also describes the song as a "white blues", but does not identify the songwriter. When CD versions of Baez' album were later issued, Anne L. Bredon appears as the sole songwriter. Due to

1885-506: The band's light man and road manager in 1974–75 and fill-in member as needed from 1994 on, was also a member of the group from 1999 to 2008. During the 1980s and 1990s, the group's recorded output was minimal. They recorded a few new tracks and some covers of popular 1960s songs for a few compilation albums on the Hitbound label made through RadioShack 's Tandy Corporation in the mid-1980s, including their first cover of " Walk Away Renée " that

1950-406: The band's multiple singers. Their best-known lineup included Terry Kirkman (vocals, woodwind instruments, percussion), Russ Giguere (vocals, guitar), Jim Yester (vocals, rhythm and lead guitar), Jules Alexander (vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, bass), Brian Cole (vocals, bass) and Ted Bluechel Jr. (vocals, drums, percussion). This lineup recorded their first two albums, And Then... Along Comes

2015-409: The controls. This album spawned " Everything That Touches You ", the group's last Hot 100 Top 10 hit, and "Time for Livin'", the group's final Hot 100 Top 40 hit. Later that year, the group released a self-produced single, the harder-edged "Six Man Band". This song also appeared on Greatest Hits , released in November 1968. At the close of 1968, Alexander, who had returned from India and had done

The Association - Misplaced Pages Continue

2080-503: The credit read "Traditional, arr. by Jimmy Page" following the unspecified (at the time) authorship of the track on Baez's album. In the 1980s, Bredon was made aware of Led Zeppelin's version of the song; since 1990, the Led Zeppelin version has been credited to Anne Bredon, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant. Bredon received a substantial back-payment of royalties. The band played this song at Led Zeppelin concerts on its 1969 concert tours ;

2145-472: The fall of 1964, to the forming of the Men, a 13-piece folk rock band. This group had a brief spell as the house band at The Troubadour. After a short time, however, the Men disbanded, with six of the members electing to go out on their own in February 1965. At the suggestion of Kirkman's then-fiancée, Judy, they took the name the Association. The original lineup consisted of Alexander (using his middle name, Gary, on

2210-679: The festival includes their performance of "Along Comes Mary" on disc 3.) The group's success continued with its next single, " Never My Love ", written by Dick and Don Addrisi ; it went to No. 2 in Billboard and No. 1 in Cash Box in October 1967. It became the group's only double-sided charted record, as its B-side, "Requiem for the Masses", made a brief showing on the Billboard chart. Like "Cherish" and "One Too Many Mornings", "Never My Love"'s vocal arrangement

2275-474: The first two albums) on vocals and lead guitar; Kirkman on vocals and a variety of wind, brass and percussion instruments; Brian Cole on vocals, bass and woodwinds; Russ Giguere on vocals, percussion and guitar; Ted Bluechel Jr. from the Cherry Hill Singers on drums, guitar, bass and vocals; and Brian Cole's friend and bandmate from the group Gnu Fokes, Bob Page on guitar, banjo and vocals. However, Page

2340-589: The genre lingered in near-obscurity, although it enjoyed some interest among collectors of rare vinyl singles and LPs. Select albums would occasionally fetch hefty prices at online auctions or in record stores. A name was eventually given to the music, "sunshine pop", although it was rarely deployed outside of record collecting circles. In the early 1990s, a renewed interest began in Japan, where record companies started publishing compilations of long-forgotten, obscure 1960s music. This revival subsequently spread to Europe and

2405-730: The group for some July 4 & 5 appearances in Atlantic City . Thompson had previously been known primarily in jazz circles. The album Stop Your Motor was released in July 1971. It was the group's least popular up to that date, reaching only No. 158 on the Billboard chart. Stop Your Motor marked the end of the Association's tenure at Warner Brothers. In early 1972, they resurfaced on Columbia with Waterbeds in Trinidad! (April 1972), produced by Lewis Merenstein (best known for producing Van Morrison 's Astral Weeks ). The album fared even less well than Stop Your Motor , reaching No. 194, while

2470-798: The group had two keyboardists for a short time in 1977–78, Ulsky and David Morgan, before Morgan was succeeded by guitarist/singer John William Tuttle (son of makeup artist William Tuttle; John died on August 17, 1991, at age 41 of a perforated ulcer in Van Nuys, California ). Russ Levine (who had played with Bobby Womack , Donna Summer and Ultimate Spinach ) also arrived in 1978 to take over drums from Maurice Miller (who went on to play with Lena Horne , and died of complications from diabetes October 10, 2005, in Burbank, California , at age 73) on drums. A short time after that, guitarist Jack Harris took over from Woolley. Jerry Yester also returned for several gigs with

2535-440: The group in the fall of 1978. The band dissolved shortly afterward, leaving Bluechel with a huge debt. To help clear away some of it, in November 1978, he leased the group's name to a company that put a fake "Association" out on the road. In September 1979 the surviving key members Kirkman, Alexander, Giguere, Bluechel, Yester and Ramos combined with Richard Thompson and seasoned studio bassist and arranger Ray Pohlman to reunite

2600-448: The group on the soundtrack and stayed on board for its next album, The Association (August 1969). Many of the tracks on this album have a country-rock sound but none of the singles released made any impact, so the group re-teamed with Curt Boettcher in late 1969 for a one-off single, "Just About the Same" (released in February 1970), a reworking of a song Boettcher had recorded with his group,

2665-509: The induction ceremony at Cafaro Field in Niles, Ohio . Yester, Alexander, Kirkman and Bluechel again rejoined the others for the taping of a PBS 1960s rock music special 60s Experience on December 9, 2004, at Dover Downs Showroom in Dover, Delaware . In 2007 David Jackson (bass, guitar, formerly of Hearts & Flowers and Dillard & Clark ) came into the group for a brief stint when Del Ramos

The Association - Misplaced Pages Continue

2730-463: The label's funding for a hoped for album by the group never materialized. Mums folded by the end of 1974. In late 1972, the remaining quintet of Alexander, Bluechel, Yester, Ramos and Thompson brought in new members Maurice Miller (vocals, drums, percussion, formerly of Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band ) and David Vaught (vocals, bass, fresh from a stint in the band Rosebud and later

2795-598: The late 1950s. Joan Baez , who learned the song from a student at Oberlin College , recorded the first published version for her 1962 album Joan Baez in Concert and a variety of musicians subsequently adapted it to a variety of styles, including the Association (1965), Quicksilver Messenger Service (1968), and Led Zeppelin (1969). Following the credit on Baez's 1962 release as "traditional, arranged by Baez", subsequent releases did not name Bredon until 1990 when, following Bredon's approach to Led Zeppelin, she received credit and royalties. In 1960, Anne Bredon appeared on

2860-547: The latter part of the tour, Mike Peed joined on keyboards in place of Ulsky but left himself in November 1984, turning it over to Donni Gougeon (from Joshua Perahia 's band ). But by the end of the year, there was a mass exodus as Kirkman (who had already turned in his notice in September), Bluechel, LaManno and Brian Puckett all departed. In February 1985 the band carried on as Alexander, Giguere, Ramos and Gougeon recruited new members: Paul Beach (vocals, bass, who had also played in

2925-460: The mid to late-1960s, beginning as an outgrowth of the California Sound and folk rock movements. Rooted in easy-listening , advertising jingles , and the growing drug culture, the music was characterized by lush vocals and light arrangements similar to samba music. Most of the acts were lesser-known bands named after fruits, colors, or cosmic concepts that imitated popular groups like

2990-716: The popularity of her album, Baez' rendition was adapted by the Plebs (with members of the Nashville Teens ) (1964 single), the Association (1965 single), Mark Wynter (1965 single), Quicksilver Messenger Service (1968 Revolution soundtrack), and Led Zeppelin (1969 Led Zeppelin ). The songwriters originally listed for these early versions include " trad. arr. Dennis", Anne H. Bredon, Janet Smith, Paul Bennett, Erik Darling , and "Traditional arr. by Jimmy Page ". Guitarist Jimmy Page heard Baez' version and began developing "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" early in his career as

3055-445: The record was the Association songs and the other half tunes by the Turtles . During the spring of 1977, Brown left to concentrate on session work and keyboardist Ric Ulsky joined, leaving Jim Yester as sole guitarist in the lineup. But by the summer of that same year, with the prime gigs proving to be fewer and far between, Yester left, leaving Bluechel as the only original member. Yester was replaced by lead guitarist Cliff Woolley and

3120-574: The same time, Kirkman played in groups with Frank Zappa for a short period before Zappa went on to form the Mothers of Invention . Eventually, at a Monday night hootenanny at the Los Angeles nightclub The Troubadour in 1964, an ad hoc group called the Inner Tubes was formed by Kirkman, Alexander and Doug Dillard , whose rotating membership contained, at one time or another, Cass Elliot , David Crosby and many others who drifted in and out. This led, in

3185-446: The short-lived bogus band out of business. Jim Yester left again in June 1983 and the group added Keith Moret (bass, backing vocals) as Alexander went back to playing guitar. Moret stayed only briefly until Joe LaManno (who had once done a brief fill-in stint with the group back in late 1972) joined during July 1983. In 1984 the group was invited to appear on the Happy Together Again tour,

3250-443: The song " Along Comes Mary ", written by Tandyn Almer . Alexander first heard the song when he was hired to play on a demo version and persuaded Almer to give the Association first dibs on it, with Jim Yester on lead vocals. The song was controversial with some media observers noting that "Mary" was street slang for marijuana , but it went to No. 7 on the Billboard charts and led to the group's first album, And Then... Along Comes

3315-451: The song in the days of sitting in the darkness playing my six-string behind Marianne Faithfull ." Although based on the Baez version, Led Zeppelin came up with a very different approach. They incorporate hard rock sections with electric guitar that are performed by the whole group, thus more than doubling the length of Baez' original. When the recording appeared on their 1969 debut album ,

SECTION 50

#1732869633678

3380-467: The songs reminds me more of soft samba music." Murray says that "John Phillips, on the other hand, practically created the blueprint for sunshine pop, with little of Wilson's uncommercial weirdness." Brian Wilson commented that "you can turn the Beach Boys upside down ... just the track or whatever, and I think they [the Mamas & the Papas] have as much vocal as we do track ... whereas, I think, we emphasize

3445-569: The studio, this time with Bones Howe in the producer's chair. The first fruits of this pairing were the single " Windy ", written by Ruthann Friedman , topping the Billboard Hot 100 on July 1, 1967, and staying there for four consecutive weeks, preceded by the album Insight Out , which reached No. 8 in June. On June 16, 1967, the Association was the first act to perform at the Monterey Pop Festival . ( The Criterion Collection DVD of

3510-425: The sunshine pop acts that followed, [their] music was rarely in step with the genre." The Suburban ' s Joel Goldenburg believes the closest the group ever came to the genre was the lightly produced album Friends (1968): "the vocals of sunshine pop songs are a little more anonymous and not as lushly featured as that of The Beach Boys. And I don't see the [Phil] Spector connection. The light touch applied to

3575-528: The world mixed with a sense of anxiety that the good ol' days were gone for good." Some of the artists who influenced the style include Curt Boettcher , the Mamas & the Papas' John Phillips , and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson . Concerning the Beach Boys' involvement with sunshine pop, the orchestral style of Pet Sounds (1966) was imitated by many Los Angeles record producers, but The A.V. Club notes: "Though [the Beach Boys] ... were hugely influential on

3640-411: Was ill, then Jim Yester returned to sub for Werner. After which, Werner and Yester alternated in the group until late 2008 when Werner left altogether. Also in 2007, they joined Barry Manilow on a remake combining their two biggest hits, "Cherish" and "Windy", that was released on his Greatest Hits of the '60s album. In 2008 drummer Pictor underwent back surgery. Blair Anderson (Yester's friend from

3705-511: Was in Hawaii in 1962 serving a stint in the Navy when he met Terry Kirkman , a visiting salesman. The two young musicians jammed together and promised to get together once Alexander was discharged. That happened a year later; the two eventually moved to Los Angeles and began exploring the city's music scene in the mid-1960s, often working behind the scenes as directors and arrangers for other music acts. At

3770-464: Was injured by a firecracker; Alexander subbed on bass while Ramos played lead guitar. Ramos had previously performed with the New Christy Minstrels and had even recorded solo singles for Columbia Records . He went on to sing co-lead (along with Giguere and Kirkman) on two of the Association's biggest hit singles, " Windy " and " Never My Love ". With the lineup settled, the group returned to

3835-472: Was never released. During this period, the band was offered a production deal with Mike Curb , who wanted them to record a disco version of the prior hits, "Cherish", "No Fair At All" and an original song which Larry Brown wrote and sang entitled "It's High Time To Get High". The deal did not go through. Membership was fluid in 1975–1976. Smith had joined in December 1974 and appeared on "One Sunday Morning" but

3900-578: Was provided by Clark Burroughs, former member of the Hi-Lo's . "Never My Love" has since been certified the second-most-frequently-played song in America during the 20th century (the group placed two other songs, "Cherish" and "Windy", on BMI's list of the 100 most played). In 1968, after turning down a cantata composed by Jimmy Webb that included the now-classic " MacArthur Park ", the group produced its fourth album, Birthday (March 1968), with Bones Howe again at

3965-818: Was recorded in collaboration with their original producer, Curt Boettcher , for the Mike Love and Dean Torrence 1983 cassette tape Rock 'n' Roll City , two Christmas covers contributed to another Radio Shack album, Scrooge's Rock 'n' Roll Christmas (that was also a 1984 TV special), and an album of 1960s tunes called New Memories (1983). They also re-recorded some of their older material and even more cover songs for another album, Vintage , for CBS in 1983 and put out yet another album full of covers, The Association 95: A Little Bit More , in 1995 from On Track Records (based in New York City), produced by John Allen Orofino and Stan Vincent. A Little Bit More 's featured single

SECTION 60

#1732869633678

4030-426: Was replaced by Andy Chapin by the end of 1975. Ramos departed as well in mid-1975 and was replaced by Art Johnson, then the aforementioned Larry Brown (vocals, guitar). The increased tour schedule led to Chapin's departure in 1976 (he later played for artist Ricky Nelson and perished along with Nelson and his band when his plane crashed on December 31, 1985). Chapin was replaced, first by Jay Gruska, who then left for

4095-503: Was replaced by Jim Yester on vocals, guitar and keyboards before any of the group's public performances. The new band spent about five months rehearsing before they began performing around the Los Angeles area, most notably a regular stint at The Ice House in Pasadena (where Giguere had worked as lighting director) and its sister club in Glendale . Eventually, the small Jubilee label issued

4160-590: Was replaced by Jordan Cole, son of the band's original bassist, Brian Cole; Jordan first played with the band on a Caribbean Christmas cruise in December 1998, when he was asked to fill in for Holland on bass. Besides the Happy Together tour, the group became mainstays on many other 1960s package tours, including the 1988 Super 60s Tour with Gary Puckett, the Grass Roots , and the Turtles; and Dick Clark 's American Bandstand Tour in 1989, alongside The Spinners ,

4225-522: Was their second remake of the Left Banke 's "Walk Away Renée". Over the years the group were sometimes visited by former members: Bluechel and Alexander sat in on a few of their 2001 shows, while Paul Holland guested on their DVD, Pop Legends Live! , which came out in 2005. And in September 2003, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame , joined by Yester, Alexander, Kirkman and Bluechel at

#677322