July 5th, 2011
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Author: Although Larry Ramos is a grandfather, he claims he still hasn’t grown up yet. In fact, he said he didn’t realize he was an “old man” until he went to his grandson’s graduation.
Ramos, along with original members Russ Giguere and Jim Yester, still tour today as the Association, who hit it big in the late 1960s with such enduring hits as “Windy,” “Never My Love” and “Cherish.”
And more than 40 years later, the Association — which has been called “one of the most popular of the pop-psychedelic harmony units” of the 1960s — continues to remain ageless, having fun making music and singing those songs from a classic era of rock ’n’ roll to aging baby boomers, their kids and their grandkids.
“Here we are, grandfathers, but we’re still having a great time; we’re still kids,” said Ramos. “It’s kinda far out. Jules [Jules Alexander, another original member of the Association who no longer tours with the group] used to say, ‘You know, this is a lot more fun as adults.’ And he was absolutely right.”
Local fans will get to hear the Association in all its 1960s harmony as the group joins the 2011 version of the “Happy Together Tour” at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside.
Other ’60s musical icons on the bill include the Turtles, featuring Flo and Eddie; the Grass Roots; Mark Lindsay, former lead singer for Paul Revere & the Raiders; and the Buckinghams.
The Association burst onto the charts in 1966 with its first No. 1 song, “Cherish.” The group — which opened the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 — followed it up that same year with another No. 1, “Windy,” and “Never My Love,” which peaked at No. 2.
“We were very careful back then with the music we selected because we wanted the music to endure,” said Ramos in a recent telephone interview from his home in Idaho. “We didn’t care about where the music came from as long as it was good.
“I think that’s one of the reasons why we’re still around. We were so careful in selecting the material that we recorded and the quality of the material that we recorded. ‘Never My Love’ is a classic. I love that song and I loved it the first time I ever heard it,” said Ramos.
Although the Association has broken up and re-formed several times with different lineups over the past 40 years, this isn’t its first time on the “Happy Together Tour.” The band appeared in the 1984 “Happy Together Tour,” which also featured the Turtles, among others.
Still, Ramos said he and the other members enjoy performing more now than they did in the group’s heyday.
“In the ’60s, it was work, man. We were cranking out a couple of hundred days a year on the road,” said Ramos. “Now, when we sing our love songs, the boomers are kids again. They hold each other’s hands and sing along. It’s very, very touching.
“The music is the whole thing. Certain things in music trigger those emotions. I’m so happy that our music has sustained the ability to do that and has become part of the fabric of American music,” he said. Continued…
Ramos, who has been performing since the age of 5, describes himself as “a Filipino kid from West Kauai, Hawaii.” As a youngster who played the ukulele, he appeared in the 1950 film “Pagan Love Song” starring Esther Williams, Howard Keel and Rita Moreno. He eventually went on to perform with the New Christy Minstrels before joining the Association.
And he’s grateful to have been doing what he loves for as long as he’s been doing it.
“I honestly didn’t think my career would be this long,” he said. “I only planned my life until I was 65. I’m a little past that now and I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. I’m just enjoying it now. Being able to be in this business at this age, it’s just terrific.
“Our music affected people in a way that’s stayed with them all these years. That’s probably the biggest reward that any recording artist or any entertainer can have.”
With the Buckinghams, The ’60s sound never dies
By Mike Morsch
Executive Editor
There was a time when Carl Giammarese wondered how closely the Beatles were paying attention to what was going on with their songs in the mid- to late-1960s.
It was early 1967 and the Buckinghams had just soared to the top of the Billboard charts with their first No. 1 hit, “Kind of a Drag.” Giammarese, lead guitarist and vocalist for The Buckinghams, remembers it as a crazy time for a bunch of young guys from Chicago.
“We kind of got caught up in it because it’s a real whirlwind once it starts happening for you,” said Giammarese in a recent interview from his home outside of Chicago. “You reflect on it years later a lot more because at the time it’s pretty crazy. To see your record on the national charts above the Beatles, to jump over their songs, was pretty incredible. I was kind of in awe of it. I started to think, ‘Are the Beatles looking at the same [Billboard] chart?’”
Although the Beatles were still going strong and charting several singles at the time, it wasn’t actually the boys from Liverpool whom the Buckinghams supplanted from the No. 1 spot on the charts: It was the Monkees and their song, “I’m A Believer.”
“Wow, the Monkees were . . . the Monkees,” said Giammarese, his voice still reflecting a hint of awe more than 40 years later. “They were just so big and so hot at the time.”
The Buckinghams formed in Chicago in 1966 and took an English-sounding name to capitalize on the British Invasion, lasted only about four years dissolving in 1970, only to regroup 10 years later. The group wasn’t a horn band at the time, but eventually became known for the horn sound, which was a precursor to 1970s bands like Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago. In fact, the Buckinghams’ early manager and producer, Jim Guercio, went on to explore the “brass rock” sound further with both those groups. Continued…
Giammarese and original bassist Nick Fortuna still tour today as the Buckinghams, along with bandmates Dave Zane, Bruce Soboroff and Bruce “Rocky” Penn. They are once again a part of the “Happy Together Tour” — along with the Turtles, featuring Flo and Eddie; the Association; the Grass Roots; and Mark Lindsay, former lead singer for Paul Revere & The Raiders — that will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside.
Giammarese said that he had no idea that he’d still be singing and performing now and didn’t learn to appreciate the magnitude of the music from the Buckinghams’ early success until years later.
“If I would have thought really hard about it back then, I probably would have thought the songs would have outlasted us,” said Giammarese. “Fortunately, our audience has stuck with us, still embrace the music and want to hear it. And that’s what is still keeping us out here and allowing us to play our music.”
And it’s those same faithful fans who have continued to play a role in the longevity of the Buckinghams.
“I had fans saying to me a lot of times in recent years, ‘We’d love some new music by you guys, but we’d love to hear that sound that you had in the ’60s,’” said Giammarese.
Although he wondered how he could re-create that ’60s sound and translate that into today’s music, the more he thought about it, the more doable the project seemed.
“I found myself writing songs that worked with that. Then I found myself revisiting our records from the ’60s, the albums. Pretty soon I started laying down some tracks and getting the band together and working up these tunes and arrangements. Then all of a sudden it started coming together and it was like the Buckinghams’ arrangements and sounds from the ’60s but with some new tunes,” said Giammarese.
The end result was the 2007 release of the album “Reaching Back,” which sold well on iTunes and gave longtime fans of the Buckinghams an updated piece of the past.
These days, the Buckinghams play 60 to 70 dates a year, including the 2011 version of the “Happy Together Tour.”
“Last year’s tour was so successful, that’s why we’re doing it again this year,” said Giammarese. “People came out and packed the house. It really is something special.
“We are totally blessed for what we’ve been able to do and accomplish,” he said. “One of my favorite things, when we’re done with the show, I get to the autograph table and meet people and they tell you stories about what your songs meant to them of what was going on in their lives when ‘Kind of a Drag’ was out. Just knowing that you’re a part of their lives and that it meant something to them is really special.”
IF YOU GO
“Happy Together Tour” Continued…
Although Larry Ramos is a grandfather, he claims he still hasn’t grown up yet. In fact, he said he didn’t realize he was an “old man” until he went to his grandson’s graduation.
Ramos, along with original members Russ Giguere and Jim Yester, still tour today as the Association, who hit it big in the late 1960s with such enduring hits as “Windy,” “Never My Love” and “Cherish.”
And more than 40 years later, the Association — which has been called “one of the most popular of the pop-psychedelic harmony units” of the 1960s — continues to remain ageless, having fun making music and singing those songs from a classic era of rock ’n’ roll to aging baby boomers, their kids and their grandkids.
“Here we are, grandfathers, but we’re still having a great time; we’re still kids,” said Ramos. “It’s kinda far out. Jules [Jules Alexander, another original member of the Association who no longer tours with the group] used to say, ‘You know, this is a lot more fun as adults.’ And he was absolutely right.”
Local fans will get to hear the Association in all its 1960s harmony as the group joins the 2011 version of the “Happy Together Tour” at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside.
Other ’60s musical icons on the bill include the Turtles, featuring Flo and Eddie; the Grass Roots; Mark Lindsay, former lead singer for Paul Revere & the Raiders; and the Buckinghams.
The Association burst onto the charts in 1966 with its first No. 1 song, “Cherish.” The group — which opened the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 — followed it up that same year with another No. 1, “Windy,” and “Never My Love,” which peaked at No. 2.
“We were very careful back then with the music we selected because we wanted the music to endure,” said Ramos in a recent telephone interview from his home in Idaho. “We didn’t care about where the music came from as long as it was good.
“I think that’s one of the reasons why we’re still around. We were so careful in selecting the material that we recorded and the quality of the material that we recorded. ‘Never My Love’ is a classic. I love that song and I loved it the first time I ever heard it,” said Ramos.
Although the Association has broken up and re-formed several times with different lineups over the past 40 years, this isn’t its first time on the “Happy Together Tour.” The band appeared in the 1984 “Happy Together Tour,” which also featured the Turtles, among others.
Still, Ramos said he and the other members enjoy performing more now than they did in the group’s heyday.
“In the ’60s, it was work, man. We were cranking out a couple of hundred days a year on the road,” said Ramos. “Now, when we sing our love songs, the boomers are kids again. They hold each other’s hands and sing along. It’s very, very touching.
“The music is the whole thing. Certain things in music trigger those emotions. I’m so happy that our music has sustained the ability to do that and has become part of the fabric of American music,” he said.
Ramos, who has been performing since the age of 5, describes himself as “a Filipino kid from West Kauai, Hawaii.” As a youngster who played the ukulele, he appeared in the 1950 film “Pagan Love Song” starring Esther Williams, Howard Keel and Rita Moreno. He eventually went on to perform with the New Christy Minstrels before joining the Association.
And he’s grateful to have been doing what he loves for as long as he’s been doing it.
“I honestly didn’t think my career would be this long,” he said. “I only planned my life until I was 65. I’m a little past that now and I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. I’m just enjoying it now. Being able to be in this business at this age, it’s just terrific.
“Our music affected people in a way that’s stayed with them all these years. That’s probably the biggest reward that any recording artist or any entertainer can have.”
With the Buckinghams, The ’60s sound never dies
By Mike Morsch
Executive Editor
There was a time when Carl Giammarese wondered how closely the Beatles were paying attention to what was going on with their songs in the mid- to late-1960s.
It was early 1967 and the Buckinghams had just soared to the top of the Billboard charts with their first No. 1 hit, “Kind of a Drag.” Giammarese, lead guitarist and vocalist for The Buckinghams, remembers it as a crazy time for a bunch of young guys from Chicago.
“We kind of got caught up in it because it’s a real whirlwind once it starts happening for you,” said Giammarese in a recent interview from his home outside of Chicago. “You reflect on it years later a lot more because at the time it’s pretty crazy. To see your record on the national charts above the Beatles, to jump over their songs, was pretty incredible. I was kind of in awe of it. I started to think, ‘Are the Beatles looking at the same [Billboard] chart?’”
Although the Beatles were still going strong and charting several singles at the time, it wasn’t actually the boys from Liverpool whom the Buckinghams supplanted from the No. 1 spot on the charts: It was the Monkees and their song, “I’m A Believer.”
“Wow, the Monkees were . . . the Monkees,” said Giammarese, his voice still reflecting a hint of awe more than 40 years later. “They were just so big and so hot at the time.”
The Buckinghams formed in Chicago in 1966 and took an English-sounding name to capitalize on the British Invasion, lasted only about four years dissolving in 1970, only to regroup 10 years later. The group wasn’t a horn band at the time, but eventually became known for the horn sound, which was a precursor to 1970s bands like Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago. In fact, the Buckinghams’ early manager and producer, Jim Guercio, went on to explore the “brass rock” sound further with both those groups.
Giammarese and original bassist Nick Fortuna still tour today as the Buckinghams, along with bandmates Dave Zane, Bruce Soboroff and Bruce “Rocky” Penn. They are once again a part of the “Happy Together Tour” — along with the Turtles, featuring Flo and Eddie; the Association; the Grass Roots; and Mark Lindsay, former lead singer for Paul Revere & The Raiders — that will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside.
Giammarese said that he had no idea that he’d still be singing and performing now and didn’t learn to appreciate the magnitude of the music from the Buckinghams’ early success until years later.
“If I would have thought really hard about it back then, I probably would have thought the songs would have outlasted us,” said Giammarese. “Fortunately, our audience has stuck with us, still embrace the music and want to hear it. And that’s what is still keeping us out here and allowing us to play our music.”
And it’s those same faithful fans who have continued to play a role in the longevity of the Buckinghams.
“I had fans saying to me a lot of times in recent years, ‘We’d love some new music by you guys, but we’d love to hear that sound that you had in the ’60s,’” said Giammarese.
Although he wondered how he could re-create that ’60s sound and translate that into today’s music, the more he thought about it, the more doable the project seemed.
“I found myself writing songs that worked with that. Then I found myself revisiting our records from the ’60s, the albums. Pretty soon I started laying down some tracks and getting the band together and working up these tunes and arrangements. Then all of a sudden it started coming together and it was like the Buckinghams’ arrangements and sounds from the ’60s but with some new tunes,” said Giammarese.
The end result was the 2007 release of the album “Reaching Back,” which sold well on iTunes and gave longtime fans of the Buckinghams an updated piece of the past.
These days, the Buckinghams play 60 to 70 dates a year, including the 2011 version of the “Happy Together Tour.”
“Last year’s tour was so successful, that’s why we’re doing it again this year,” said Giammarese. “People came out and packed the house. It really is something special.
“We are totally blessed for what we’ve been able to do and accomplish,” he said. “One of my favorite things, when we’re done with the show, I get to the autograph table and meet people and they tell you stories about what your songs meant to them of what was going on in their lives when ‘Kind of a Drag’ was out. Just knowing that you’re a part of their lives and that it meant something to them is really special.”
IF YOU GO
“Happy Together Tour”
takes the stage of
The Keswick Theatre,
Easton Rd. & Keswick Ave.,
Glenside, PA 19038,
Wednesday, July 13, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $39.50 – $59.50.
Info: 215-572-7650 or
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