The Association to play the hits in Everett

EVERETT — The Association was one of the most popular bands of the late 1960s.

Baby boomers remember summers listening to their transistor radios blaring the hit songs “Windy,” “Cherish,” “Never my Love” and “Along Comes Mary.”

People can hear those and many other tunes when the Association performs Saturday night at the Historic Everett Theatre.

Though the group had come out of the folk music scene, it became a pop band, and its tight vocals and electric folk-rock instrumentation continue to influence musicians of today.

And the Association isn’t limited to its older fans.

In 2011, “Windy” was featured in its entirety (rarely done) during the third season of the hit AMC television show “Breaking Bad,” earning the song and the band a new generation of fans. Previously, the song had airplay on the TV shows “Life on Mars,” “Malcom in the Middle” and the “Drew Carey Show.” “Cherish” was heard on “Six Feet Under,” “Gilmore Girls” and in the movie “Pretty in Pink.”

The Association’s hits have by now achieved “standard” status and receive nearly as much airplay today as they ever did, said the band’s manager John Castonia. The Los Angeles Times includes the band in its list of L.A.’s best 50 bands. BMI’s list of the top 100 most-played songs of all time includes three by the Association.

In 1970, the group was nominated for a Gold Globe Award for the music they wrote for the movie “Goodbye, Columbus,” which starred Richard Benjamin and Ali MacGraw.

Jim Yester remembers.

At the peak of their popularity band members were flown to New York to watch the “rushes,” the daily, unedited film clips of “Goodbye, Columbus.”

“They commissioned four songs, including the introduction, the love montage and the finale,” Yester recalled by phone. “They put us up in the Warwick Hotel at Sixth and 54th. By the time I had walked downtown to Greenwich Village to see friends, I had written the theme in my head. It happened so quick and was great fun.”

Yester also remembered the band opening the first Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Also playing the festival were Simon &Garfunkel, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Eric Burdon and the Animals, and The Mamas &The Papas.

“It was something else indeed. We had been working so hard that we rarely got to see other people play,” Yester said. “After we played, we took front row seats, just 15 feet away from all those great performers.”

Another highlight of the early years was appearing on TV, he said, and especially on the Smothers Brothers variety show.

“We were pretty close with them. We all came out of the folk scene and we enjoyed comedy skits on their show. Some of us even dated their younger sister,” Yester said. “That’s were we met Mason Williams, who borrowed my acoustic 12-string guitar to record ‘Classical Gas’ and that was cool, too.”

Everett audiences are going to hear the band’s hits at the concert Saturday, Yester said. “And we’ll also do some of our favorite songs, including some that were never commercial hits. We also do a medley of covers from the 1960s and ’70s. When we first started out, it was uncool to do covers. But now we appreciate the work of so many. If we are having fun, the audience has fun, too. And we can actually feel the reaction of the audience.”

Another of the original band members, Jules Alexander, who went by his middle name, Gary, in the band’s early days, also spoke by phone last week.

Alexander and Yester, who both sing tenor and play guitar, agree that they are having a great time playing with the current band lineup, which includes keyboardist Jordan Cole, the son of the late Brian Cole, and bass player Del Ramos, brother of the late Larry Ramos. They and drummer Bruce Pictor and wind instrumentalist Paul Holland have been with the group for decades.

“It feels like family, like it did when we were first starting out. I look forward to going on the road,” Alexander said.

“We hope all the young musicians in Everett will come out to hear the Association’s signature sound,” he added. “We want to encourage young musicians not to go with the herd and to keep making their own music.”

Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.

If you go

The Association performs at 7 p.m. April 18 at the Historic Everett Theatre, 2911 Colby Ave. Tickets are $25 to $45. Call 425-258-6766.