"Goodbye, Columbus" was a surprisingly good soundtrack. The album contains four overlooked songs by The Association - and six swinging instrumental tracks by Charles Fox. 29-year-old Fox co-authored the "Love, American Style" theme, and won an Emmy for his upbeat music on the show. Together they both created a hip, "mod" sound for a movie about young romance.

Philip Roth's novella was written ten years earlier, but it had become even more relevant in 1969. The "generation gap" was already creating real conflict between young adults and their parents, and the movie adaptation offered a comedy-drama about those pressures affecting a young couple. The Association's earnest songs capture the optimism of their new love. And with a laid-back, natural sound, Fox's jazzy instrumentals are anything but square.

The Association didn't know it, but their career had reached its peak. They'd just recorded the last single that would ever appear in the top 40, and it had been two years since their appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Jules Alexander has rejoined the band (after leaving the band two years earlier to study meditation in India). They all turn in another pair of tender love songs - "It's Gotta Be Real" and "So Kind To Me." And together they dove into the movie's theme song enthusiastically, contributing their trademark sound of lush vocal harmonies.

It's an exhilarating song, in which Jim Yester riffs on the movie's title in his exuberant lyrics. ("Kiss the moon goodbye, and be on our way.") But the instrumental version on the album is just as compelling, featuring an improvised flute solo reminiscent of their hit "Wendy." The band contributes some soaring backing vocals, and there's trumpets and some complicated drumming. But most of all it's a chance to savor the songs rich chords one more time.

Fox favored a soft Herb Alpert sound, so trumpets appear throughout the album,
suggesting various moments in the relationship's progression. The album's second-to-last track switches to an urgent electric guitar and some ominous drums, hinting at the movie's final showdown with the couple's parents. ("Every father's daughter is a virgin," the album's cover teased, showing Ali McGraw closing her eyes as her face is stroked with a rose.) The song (and the movie) both end on a note of despair, so the album treats its listeners to one last love ballad by the Association.

"Surprise of surprises.
You were so kind to me..."

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