“Birthday” was the fourth album by the Association, released in May, 1968. It was only modestly successful compared to “And Then…Along Comes the Association” or “Insight Out”, both of which reached the top ten, were on the charts over a year and earned gold records. But it has picked up a big following by fans of the group over the years. I’d say that it was probably more subtle than their earlier albums and took more time to get into. It’s worth it for the intricately worked out harmonies and beautiful overall production of its tracks. If the first album was folk-rock, the second a commercial misfire and the third sunshine pop, “Birthday” is a deep dive into pure sound and what the group could do vocally. Producer Bones Howe did as good a job for them as he had on “Insight Out”. For many people this is the last album by the group, though Warner Brothers, a label that tended to stand by their artists, put out three more original albums by 1971, none of which fared well. They made a mint, however, releasing the “Greatest Hits” around the holidays in 1968, the Association’s biggest album ever going double platinum.The band was one of the biggest of the mid sixties, a time when the only outlet was AM radio and the only way to stay alive and relevant was by having hit singles. This they did quite well, so their hits record was full of recognizable songs including two of the biggest love songs of the decade. But all that was about to change. 1968 was a strange year which began with elaborate psychedelic pop and paisley finery with lace cuffs and Nehru jackets and ended with hard rock and jeans and T-shirts. By the end of the year most of the big pop acts of the mid sixties vanished from the radio, even ones as big as the Mamas & the Papas and Lovin’ Spoonful, and the Association as well.At least they started off the year with the love song, “Everything That Touches You”, a spectacularly realized harmony extravaganza with intricate parts that ended in a burst of exhilarating chants of the word “love” over and over creating a sound like some sort of glorious Renaissance pageantry. It is perhaps the best song in their entire catalog and certainly showed what this group could do. To their credit, the Association could perform all their songs live, and though mostly studio musicians were used on the recordings, they were adequate musicians on stage as well. Eight of the album’s eleven songs are by group members, and each member except bass player Brian Cole contributed at least one song. Tensions in groups often arose over whose songs were being recorded and they seem to have solved this fairly equitably.The album seems to have a vague theme of new beginnings and starting over, beginning with the uptempo first track, “Come On In”, by folk singer Jo Mapes, which welcomes back a lost friend or lover who has been gone for a time, ending with, “I knew if I waited I would win”. Rose Petals, Incense and a Kitten” - to me a terrible title that sounds like a parody - is Jim Yester at his sweetest, with strings even - and doesn’t really work for me. The lyrics are rather unintelligible and even Tommy Tedesco’s guitar embellishments seem a bit too much. I’m sure it has its fans, but for this type of song I prefer Tim Hardin’s “Misty Roses”. “Like Always”by Larry Ramos, breaks the syrupy mood with the thunk of a guitar introducing a jazzy excursion into many keys and time signatures and a more cynical take on love when the singer loses the girl, “like always”. The song, full of inventive vocal work shows what the group could do in a different than usual style.Toymaker” by Jeffrey Comanor (known for two tracks on the “Midnight Cowboy” has a soft contemporary sound and enough shifts in tempo and key to keep it interesting.The original side two begins with Jim Yesters “Barefoot Gentleman,” one of the high points of the album sonically. There’s so much going on here that it doesn’t matter that the lyrics, a kind of fairy tale, are oblique to say the least. It’s simply a marvel to hear, especially a sudden departure into an unexpected new theme that seems to announce some impending event. It’s very dramatic and I always thought it was the group singing wordless vocals but as the booklet explains its the sound made by flugelhorns, Mozart era horns called tubans and french horns. “It sounds like male voices. It’s a mind blower, “ says Terry Kirkman. I wish they had used more of it, at least in this song. “Time for Livin’” was by the Addrisi brothers who had written “ Never My Love” and became the group’s second single in ‘68. It just was bouncy, light pop and not special enough for the Association and did not do well for them. Ted’s “Hear in Here’ is one of the band’s most rocking tracks and includes a strong electric guitar part. The song is good but Ted’s voice isn’t strong enough to carry it.“The Time It Is” is by Russ Giguere and is another very strong song and is well carried by Russ’ always expressive tenor. The lyrics are very much of its time, a call for a more peaceful existence but it isn’t smug about it and ends a bit cynically. “The Bus Song” is an experimental Kirkman piece a bit reminiscent of “Insight Out’s” “Wasn’t It a Bit Like Now”; the barbershop quartet and applause in the middle I’ve never quite understood. “Birthday,” another Jim Yester composition, has always been considered one of their better songs and ends the album well with its theme of a new day.Now Sounds has done their usual superb job with this disc as they did with the Association’s other catalog albums. Like them it’s in mono, which is how most people were still listening to music. It was written to be heard this way. You have to remember that this was still Top 40 for an AM audience of mostly teens and kids; mom and dad might have the big stereo console but most kids still had mono players. The transition had already begun however, with ”Sergeant Pepper” and would be near complete by 1970. The sound is great. They didn’t include all the bonus tracks they did with the first and third albums and this time no tracks with the vocals stripped away. I never did understand that - perhaps it was an acknowledgement of the valuable work of the Wrecking Crew. The 23-page booklet is excellent as usual and contains the full story about Jimmy Webb’s “MacArthur Park” almost becoming an Association song and ending up on this album. There have been many contradicting stories about this and I hope this has settled everything. While working on this album, producer Bones Howe was also working on the Fifth Dimension’s album, “The Magic Garden” which was entirely composed (but one song) for them by Jimmy Webb so that’s how there was a connection. That album, like “Birthday” was not a hit when released but also picked up a cult audience over time and is now considered a pop masterpiece. In any case The Association did turn the song down.