"Never My Love" (The Association)

My mother had The Association's Greatest Hits (1968) in her record collection when I was a kid.  While I found a lot of that album supremely cheesy—like some sort of irritatingly peppy, college a cappella group, there was something infectious about the band's six-part harmony vocals...not unlike some irritatingly peppy, college a cappella group.

One track I actually enjoyed on the album was the band's 1967 hit single, "Never My Love": a mellow, heartfelt ballad underpinned by a surprisingly funky drum/bass/rhythm guitar pattern.  

The song's arrangement is purposely spare, spotlighting that famous five-note bass riff and the jazzy keyboards, to draw most of your attention to the nearly whispered lead vocals and sighed backing vocals.

My favorite part of the song (and the part that I'm certain producer Bones Howe knew was going to make it a platinum-selling single) is after the second bridge: the beat stops, the organ hits this dissonant chord, and the band layers on a stack of vocals that would make ice melt.  That's probably why it's still the #2 most-played song on commercial radio behind The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'."