Windy

Windy

"Windy" is a pop music song written by Ruthann Friedman and recorded by the Association. Released in 1967, the song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July of that year. Overseas, it went to #34 in Australia, and #3 in Yugoslavia. Later in 1967 an instrumental version by jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery became his biggest Hot 100 hit when it peaked at #44. "Windy" was the Association's second U.S. #1, following "Cherish" in 1966. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 4 song for 1967. The lead vocals were sung in unison by Russ Giguere and Larry Ramos. Ramos claimed that Ruthann Friedman had written the song about a man, and that the Association changed the lyrics to make it about a woman. Friedman refuted the rumor on her website: There are many explanations of who Windy actually was in Ruthann's life. She would have you know, she being me, Ruthann Friedman, that none of them are true. Windy was indeed a female and purely a fictitious character who popped into my head one fine day in 1967 ... During the recording session the Association members, sure that they were in the middle of recording a hit, called the songwriter, me again, in to sing on the fade at the end. I can be heard singing a blues harmony as the song fades out. Session musician Hal Blaine played drums.

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