The Foundations, as described in the Joel Whitburn books about the US Billboard charts, was an “interracial R&B-pop group formed in England.” The group had two US Top 20 hits before it disbanded in 1970.
Build Me Up Buttercup was a “gold” single in 1969, getting to #3 in 1969. Their earlier hit was Baby, Now That I’ve Found You, which charted in late 1967, reaching #11 in 1968; it also reached #33 on the R&B charts.
Alison Krauss, a country singer/songwriter/bluegrass fiddler born in 1971, had enough albums in her early twenties to put out a retrospective of the first part of her career, including songs from her solo albums, albums by Alison Krauss & Union Station, and Alison Krauss & the Cox Family. She also added a few new songs.
The first song on the album was essentially the title song, a very different take of Baby, Now That I’ve Found You, which reached only #49 on the country charts in 1995. But it won the Grammy for Country Female Vocal.
The final song was the hit country single (#3 country, #53 pop) When You Say Nothing at All, which sold over two million copies, and was named the Single of the Year by the Country Music Association.
Alison Krauss is one of my wife’s favorite artists; we saw her play with Union Station in 2003. She’s one of my wife’s “K girls,” as she puts it, next to jazz singer/pianist Diana Krall in our record collection. Her rendition of Baby, Now That I’ve Found You is one of my favorite covers, ever.
LISTEN
Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations HERE or HERE
Baby, Now That I’ve Found You – the Foundations HERE or HERE