Windy (The Association song)

"Windy" is a pop song written by Ruthann Friedman and recorded by the Association.[4] The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1967, becoming the group's second U.S. No. 1 hit following "Cherish" in 1966. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 4 song for 1967. The lead vocals were sung primarily by guitarist and new band member Larry Ramos along with vocalist Russ Giguere (both would sing lead together in the band's last Top 40 hit "Time for Livin'").

This article is about the song. For other uses, see Windy (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Wendy (song).
"Windy"
West German picture sleeve
Single by the Association
from the album Insight Out
B-side"Sometime"
ReleasedMay 1, 1967[1]
RecordedMarch 28, April 11 and 13, 1967[2]
GenrePsychedelic pop[3]
Length2:53
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)Ruthann Friedman
Producer(s)Bones Howe
The Association singles chronology
"No Fair at All"
(1967)		 "Windy"
(1967)		 "Never My Love"
(1967)
Audio sample
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Composition

Friedman was introduced to the Association by her friend and Beach Boys lyricist Van Dyke Parks. She wrote "Windy" in waltz time, but the group's producer Bones Howe changed it to the more common 4
4 to ensure the song's commercial appeal.[5][lower-alpha 1]

Friedman had written the song about a man but the Association changed the gender in the lyrics.[6][5][7] In an interview with Songfacts, she said:[5][8]

I have heard so many different permutations of what the song was about. Here is the TRUTH. I was sitting on my bed – the apartment on the first floor of David Crosby’s house in Beverly Glenn [sic] – and there was a fellow who came to visit and was sitting there staring at me as if he was going to suck the life out of me. So I started to fantasize about what kind of a guy I would like to be with, and that was Windy – a guy (fantasy).

However, in another interview with Songfacts in 2014, she explained that the song was about herself:[9]

These days, looking back at myself in my mid to late 20s, I finally realized I was talking about me in that song, and how I wanted to be.

Recording

The process of recording the vocals was exhausting. The session started in the early afternoon and ended at 6:30 a.m. the next day, and the group then took an 8:30 a.m. flight to a live performance in Virginia.[5] The band was so tired of recording that producer Bones Howe gathered everyone in the studio to sing the track's ending, including songwriter Ruthann Friedman.[5][10]

Because of the poor sales of the Association's last album Renaissance, on which the group performed all of the songs, Howe recruited session musicians (later known as the Wrecking Crew) for "Windy" and the rest of the Insight Out album in order to achieve a radio-friendly sound. The identity of the session musicians who played on the final version of the single is uncertain because the song was recorded during several sessions, but it is likely that Hal Blaine played drums, Joe Osborn played bass, Ray Pohlman played guitar and Larry Knechtel played keyboards.[5]

Personnel

According to the AFM contract sheet, the following musicians played on the track.[11]

Chart history

Notable cover versions

See also

Notes
  1. Similar to "Cherish", in that its producer Curt Boettcher sped the tempo of the song to be played on AM radio

References
  1. "Record Details". 45cat. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  2. Stanley, Steve (2011). Insight Out (Liner notes). The Association. Now Sounds. CRNOW 29.
  3. Breihan, Tom (October 15, 2018). "The Number Ones: The Association's "Windy"". Stereogum. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  4. "Show 37 – The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance. [Part 3] : UNT Digital Library" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu. 1969. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
  5. "Windy". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  6. Ramos, Larry (August 2011). "Along Comes Larry: A Conversation with Larry Ramos". Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict (Interview). Interviewed by Sam Tweedle. Retrieved 12 December 2016. Well, the song is not about a girl. It's about a guy. It was written by a gal named Ruthann Friedman, and she wrote it about this guy named Windy. He was a San Francisco/Haight-Ashbury type and if you listen to it with that in mind you can see how it's a totally different type of song than if you think of it being about a girl. It's a happy tune, but if you listen to the lyrics you can see how it's about a guy stoned out of his mind. (Laughs) Windy has stormy eyes / that flash at the sound of lies / and Windy has wings to fly / Up above the clouds. I mean the guy's completely gone! Anyways, the guy died from an O.D. It's sad, but then that's what happens.
  7. "The Number Ones: The Association's "Windy"". Stereogum. 2018-10-15. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
  8. "Who, Exactly, Was the Song "Windy" About?". Entertainment Legends Revealed!. 2015-05-09. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
  9. Songfacts. "Ruthann Friedman - "Windy" : They're Playing My Song". www.songfacts.com. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
  10. Windy - The Association | Song Info | AllMusic, retrieved 2021-03-23
  11. "Windy AFM Contract" (PDF). The Wrecking Crew. American Federation of Musicians. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  12. "Go-Set Australian charts - 30 August 1967". www.poparchives.com.au.
  13. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1967-08-05. Retrieved 2018-01-14.
  14. Flavour of New Zealand, 15 September 1967
  15. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  16. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  17. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 8, 1967
  18. "Record World Singles Chart, July 1, 1967" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 11, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  19. RPM Top 100 Singles of 1967
  20. Musicoutfitters.com
  21. Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 23, 1967
  22. "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  23. Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 587.
  24. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 173.
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