Insight Out | ||||
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Studio album by The Association | ||||
Released | June 1967 | |||
Recorded | April – May 1967 | |||
Genre | Pop, Baroque pop, sunshine pop, folk rock, psychedelic pop, garage punk | |||
Length | 32:05 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Producer | Bones Howe | |||
The Association chronology | ||||
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Singles from Insight Out | ||||
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Insight Out is the third album by the American pop band The Association and was released in June 1967 on Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first album release for the Warner Brothers label and it became one of the top selling LPs of the year in America, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in December 1967. The album's success was largely attributable to the inclusion of the U.S. hits "Windy" and "Never My Love", which reached number 1 and number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart respectively and were among the most-played records on AM radio during the late 1960s. However, the album was less successful outside of North America and failed to chart in the United Kingdom.
Insight Out was the first Association album to feature guitarist and vocalist Larry Ramos, who joined the band just prior to the album recording sessions, as a replacement for departed lead guitarist Jules Alexander. The album also saw The Association working with record producer and recording engineer Bones Howe for the first time. Howe, who had previously worked with The Mamas & the Papas and The Turtles, was brought in by the band's manager and Warner Bros. Records in an attempt to steer the group in a more commercial direction. As a result of Howe's focus on obtaining a radio-friendly sound, The Association ceded much of the instrumental playing on Insight Out to a team of top L.A. session musicians, including drummer Hal Blaine, bassist Joe Osborn, keyboardist Larry Knechtel, guitarist Al Casey, and guitarist/sitarist Mike Deasy. The group also elected to record some songs written by non-band members for Insight Out, in stark contrast to their previous album Renaissance, on which the band had written and performed all of their own music.