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'"). Ramos, who was of Filipino descent, was a rare Asian-American lead singer to have a number one hit single.[6]
Composition
Friedman was introduced to the Association by her friend and Beach Boys lyricist Van Dyke Parks. She wrote "Windy" in waltztime, but the group's producer Bones Howe changed it to the more common 4 4 to ensure the song's commercial appeal.[7][a]
Friedman had written the song about a man but the Association changed the gender in the lyrics.[8][7][9] In an interview with Songfacts, she said:[7][10]
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:[11]
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.[7] 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.[7][12]
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.[7]
Personnel
According to the AFM contract sheet, the following musicians played on the track.[13]
Later in 1967, an instrumental version by jazz guitaristWes Montgomery became his highest-charting Hot 100 hit when it peaked at No. 44.[25] It also reached No. 10 on the BillboardEasy Listening chart.[26]
^Billboard Staff (October 19, 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2024. With a breezy effervescence that belies its intricate harmonies and songcraft, "Windy" is a psychedelic pop gem...
^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.
