This article is about the song. For other uses, see Windy (disambiguation).
"Windy"
, 1967 German picture sleeve
Single by The Association
from the album Insight Out
B-side
"Sometime"
Released
1967
Recorded
1967
Genre
Sunshine pop
Length
2:53
Label
Warner Bros.
Writer(s)
Ruthann Friedman
Producer
Bones Howe
The Association singles chronology
"No Fair At All",
(1967)
"Windy",
(1967)
"Never My Love",
(1967)
Audio sample
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"Windy"
Single by Wes Montgomery
from the album A Day in the Life
B-side
"Watch What Happens"
Released
1967
Format
7" single
Genre
Jazz instrumental
Length
2:20
Label
A&M, CTI
Writer(s)
Ruthann Friedman
Wes Montgomery singles chronology
Windy,
(1967)
Wind Song,
(1968)
"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. 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. number-one, following "Cherish" in 1966.
According to rumor, the original lyrics by Ruthann Friedman were about a man and The Association changed them to be about a woman.
"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 song writer, 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 was brought in to play drums.
Covers edit:
Gary Lewis and the Playboys released the song in 1968 on their album, Gary Lewis Now!
The band Betty covered the song on their 1996 album Limboland.
Barry Manilow and The Association covered this song as a medley with "Cherish" on the 2006 album The Greatest Songs of the Sixties. This song was also recorded by Astrud Gilberto on her album Windy.
The band Go Kart Mozart recorded an instrumental version of the song under the title "Today" for their debut album Instant Wigwam and Igloo Mixture
In popular culture edit:
A version of the song was used as the theme tune on the nightly Today program broadcast on Thames Television from 1968 to 1977. This included the edition of the show featuring the Bill Grundy/Sex Pistols incident, after which the band danced to the song as the end credits rolled. Footage of this - complete with the song - has been included on punk documentaries such as BBC2's Arena: Punk and the Pistols.
On March 25, 2009, Life on Mars featured this song in the episode "Everyone Knows It's Windy."
On June 6, 2010, television show Breaking Bad, at the start of the episode "Half Measures" (season 3, episode 12), has Wendy the prostitute giving oral sex at the Crossroads Motel to the sounds of "Windy."
Brad Garrett sang a version of the song (replacing 'Windy' with 'Brad') in a commercial for 7-Up.
