Ah, the mellow sounds of the Association. They really knew how to sing a love song. This six man group started in 1962 when founding member Jules Alexander, who was serving in the Navy in Hawaii met Terry Kirkman, another founding member, who was a salesman. The two hit it off and promised that when Alexander got out of the Navy, they would get together and form some sort of band. It’s remarkable that that is exactly what happened.

A year later in Los Angeles, the two got together and started playing together. They first played with a group called the Inner Tubes, who had, at one time or another, members like Cass Elliot, later with the Mamas and Papas and David Crosby, who became a third of Crosby, Stills and Nash (and Young). The Inner Tubes weren’t playing the kind of music that Alexander and Kirkman wanted to play, so they joined with eleven other guys and formed a group called the Men (which had a total of thirteen members.) I assume from that name that there were no women in the group. The Men were mainly a folk rock group and only lasted a year or two and then suddenly, seven of the Men decided to go off and do something different. This left six guys, who became the Association.

The six remaining member of the Men where Alexander (vocals and lead guitar,) Kirkman (vocals and a variety of percussion instruments,) Brian Cole (vocals, bass and woodwinds,) Russ Giguere (vocals, percussion and guitar,) Ted Bluechel (vocals, drums and guitar,) and Bob Page (guitar, banjo and vocals.) Page was replaced by Jim Yester and it is Yester that is heard on all of their recordings. You’ll notice that vocals is listed for each of the six men. That’s what gave the Association it’s sound, the harmony of all of them singing, instead of having a lead singer who dominated the group. The name was given to them by Kirkman’s fiancée (later wife), named Judy. They were going to be called the Aristocrats, but Judy liked the Association better, so that’s what they went with.

The Association earned their dues by playing all over Los Angeles, especially a nightclub called the Ice House. It was there that they put together their first single and album, doing so without a label to support them. They peddled their record all over Los Angeles, but no one would take them on. Finally, Valiant Records took a chance and signed them. Their first single was “Along Comes Mary” which was widely believed by the public to be about marijuana (Mary was a nickname for marijuana.) Whether it was or not, no one knows, but it did stunt the growth of the single a little. However, it still reached number seven on the Billboard charts, a hit in anybody’s book. There was at least one group that didn’t think the song was about marijuana, the sisters of Marymount College named it the song of the year, obviously thinking of another Mary.

Their second single was “Cherish,” written by Terry Kirkman. It is said that he wrote “Cherish” in just a half hour and that the leader of the New Christy Minstrels wanted to record it. But, Terry kept it for his own group and I’m sure he is glad he did.

“Cherish” debuted on the pop charts on August 27, 1966 at number 66 and four weeks later, it was number one. It stayed at the top for three weeks, becoming the second biggest selling song of 1966. We’ll see the Association again in 1967.