Sunshine and Flowers

Once again I made a discovery from my own CD shelf. It occurred quite some time ago, actually, but I couldn't find time or motivation to publish this post about Eternity's Children - until now. After all, the nightless night has just passed and the hottest days of summer lie ahead...

Eternity's Children were never very succesfull but since the 60s they have definitely gained a status as cult favorites. The group was formed in Cleveland in 1967 by singer-keyboardist Bruce Blackman and drummer Roy Whittaker. Warm vocal harmonies were a major part of the group's sound right from the beginning. In my opinion, the best parts are the ones where Linda Lawley's vocals can be heard – that is especially on the second album Timeless.

Generally speaking, Eternity's Children sound like a very typical sunshine pop group which is no wonder considering their first album (Eternity's Children, 1968) was produced by Curt Boettcher and Keith Olsen. The first album has some excellent moments, such as Mrs. Bluebird, a song that I think might be one of the catchiest ever recorded, and a perfect example of the incredible power of nonsensical baa-baa lyrics. Other cool songs include Sunshine Among Us, and Again, Again - and others.. Nothing here is actually bad.

The second album (Timeless) is a big improvement from the self-titled album. Timeless feels a lot more coherent as a whole. The album becomes more than a sum of its parts and unlike the first album cannot be blamed for sounding like Curt Boettcher's side project (with emphasis on the word 'side'). The album features brilliant organ sounds with horns, and of course the vocal arrangements are magical. With the band sounding more like itself and not Sagittarius or the Millennium, the result sounds (at least to me) in a very good way slightly more down-to-earth. In addition, the band sounds really happy on this album! Pretty much every song is very good and makes a charming collection of summery feel. You can't go wrong with this one! Check out I Wanna Be with You, Nature's Child, Look Away, Till I Hear It From You, or just any other great tune.

Later, Eternity's Children moved on to a different blue-eyed soul style abandoning the tender harmonies and sunshiny sounds. The results are very good, too. Rev-Ola's reissue called Eternity's Children has both the albums as well as great singles from the band's later recoring career. All in all, a fantastic reissue!

Here are a few songs (YouTube):

Mrs. Bluebird

I Wanna Be With You

Look Away

Blue Horizon

New 60s Favorites, Part One

I wish I could write more often... For some reason I can't seem to find time to do it. The important part, however, is that I have three new 60s favorites! I often like to think about the 60s as the best time of music: a decade with charm that hasn't been topped by any other decade and probably never will be. The 60s is therefore kind of a project to me: I hope to familiarize myself with as much good 60s stuff as I can during my lifetime. Even though the huge fragmentation of music hadn't progressed all that much in the 60s, by the end of the decade there were already many different types of pop(ular) music and rock.

The Association, one of the three new favourites of mine, is a band that represens sunshine pop, baroque pop, folk rock, and soft rock. Even though surf music is not on the list the Association is a perfect path to take after the Beach Boys. The vocal arrangements are huge!

The band debuted with And Then... Along Comes the Association in 1966, produced by Curt Boettcher. Windy was the band's first number one hit, selling a million copies. Other million-selling hits followed (Cherish, Never My Love) but the biggest commercial success ended after a couple of years. The Association was the lead-off performer at Monterey Pop Festival and remained a popular live act during the rest of the decade. The group never disbanded for long even though there weren't many new albums or singles produced after the first half of the 1970s. The Association is still around, and the group toured the United States with several original members in the summer of 2011.

One of the Association's secrets of success has definitely been the vocal arrangements that turn soft pop songs into something a lot bigger... There are also recognizable lead vocalists. When it come to the biggest differences between the Association and the Beach Boys, the Association sounds somewhat more adult all the way. Even though the Association applies hooks like any other pop band (such as the Beach Boys) there is a somewhat clear difference in style. Doo wop and r&b influence is not very obvious but instead there are elements of folk rock tradition. However, the Association is certainly not too different from other psych-baroque sunshine pop bands, such as Curt Boettcher's projects. Musically speaking the Association is still probably a bit more down-to-earth than its more psychedelic sunshine pop counterparts. I bet no one would blame the Association for being too psychedelic.

So, the Association likes to focus on the songwriting and effective vocals and not paying too much attention to the fanciest, weirdest new psychedelic sounds and innovations. The Association's music is rewarding to especially those who appreciate traditional soft rock songwriting and the nuances of elegant multipart vocal harmonies.

As far as I know, the Association are quite unknown in Finland. Many people of the younger generation would surely recognize Windy due to a Finnish group Ultra Bra plagiarizing the melody for their song Jäätelöauto back in 1999.

It actually took really long for me to find the essence of this band. It was probably because the Association is not really famous for the cathciest possible songs – you are not going to hear anything like I Get Around here... Instead the music of the Association is about getting into the band's own style and the music as a whole. The band becomes familiar and recognizable and soon you will enjoy everything from the catchier songs (Forty Times, Enter the Young, Time for Livin', Six Man Band, Yes I Will) to the mellowest of mellow ballads (Under Branches, Birthday Morning, Barefoot Gentleman, Along the Way). How could I resist the cheerful sunshine pop of Come on in, the incredible wall of vocals in Just about the Same or the stunningly emotional folk ballads Look at Me, Look at You and What Were the Words?