Windy - 1982 Re-recorded

This was written by Ruthann Friedman, who was singer/songwriter entrenched in the San Francisco and Los Angeles music scene in the '60s. She became friends with Beach Boys lyricist Van Dyke Parks, who introduced her to The Association, who were the first to record the song. They turned "Windy" into a girl.

Although Ruthann Friedman won't reveal the identity of "Windy," she tells us that he was another singer/songwriter, and not "a freewheeling Haight Ashbury Hippy" as often reported. Friedman says of the song: "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 - 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). The song took about 20 minutes to write."

Bones Howe produced this song, making significant changes to Ruthann Friedman's demo to give the song more pop appeal. The song was written in waltz time, but Howe changed it to a standard 4/4 beat. He also opened the song with the bassline, added the recorder solo, and had the group sing the "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba" backing vocals. The song became Howe's first #1 as a producer. He would top the chart again with two more productions: "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" and "Wedding Bell Blues," both recorded by The 5th Dimension.