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/ News

Cherish Is The Word: David Cassidy Reissues Arrive From 7Ts

July 19, 2012 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Everyone remembers David Cassidy, the bubblegum pop king and teen idol supreme.  But Cassidy - still an active entertainer, singer, and actor today - was also a persuasive and versatile vocalist who stepped out of, and prospered beyond, the shadow of the fictional Partridge Family. Far from being simple fodder for the teenybopper crowd, the records he released as a solo artist were in many ways a continuation of the sophisticated pop sounds of the 1960.  Cassidy enlisted top-tier songwriters, arrangers and musicians, including Los Angeles' fabled Wrecking Crew.  Cherry Red's 7Ts label is letting everyone in on this secret with the reissue of the singer's first two albums for Bell Records, both recorded in 1972: Cherish and Rock Me Baby.  This marks the second bit of Cassidy news to arrive this week; across the Atlantic, in the U.S., Real Gone Music is planning its own Cassidy campaign.

If David Cassidy was seeking to establish an identity of his own removed from television's Partridge Family, one would have been hard-pressed to tell, based on his solo debut Cherish.  Cassidy, the son of Tony Award-winning actor Jack Cassidy and actress Evelyn Ward, teamed with Partridge producer Wes Farrell and the same crème of the L.A. session corps from the Partridge records for Cherish.  Wrecking Crew stalwarts like Hal Blaine (drums) and Tommy Tedesco (guitar) contributed musically, while Farrell joined Bobby Hart (sans Tommy Boyce), Tony Romeo, Danny Janssen and Cassidy himself in penning the songs.  Although Cassidy considered himself an actor first, The Partridge Family revealed a strong voice ready-made for the pop charts; his real-life stepmother and television co-star Shirley Jones was the other bona fide singer cast in the onscreen musical group.  But Cassidy sang lead on the Partridges' No. 1 hit "I Think I Love You" plus other successful chart entries like "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted" and "I Woke Up in Love This Morning."  A solo record seemed inevitable, and it didn't disappoint.

You might just cherish what we have after the jump, including the track listing for the new two-fer, and an order link!

The title track of Cherish, a cover of The Association's 1966 chart-topper, hit pole position on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart and No. 9 Pop.  In the U.K., "Cherish" did even better, reaching No. 2 on a double A-side single with the album's "Could It Be Forever."  The album hit No. 15 in the U.S. and an impressive No. 2 in the U.K., and remained on the British chart for a staggering 43 weeks!  All the while, he was still racking up successes on both sides of the pond with The Partridge Family.

Cherish offered a strong array of material tailored to Cassidy's strengths, with both ballads and big, hook-laden up-tempo confections.  Tony ("I Think I Love You") Romeo's "I Am a Clown" was saved from maudlin territory by its attractive, Classics IV-recalling melody, and Cassidy's own "Ricky's Tune," reportedly written for a beloved pet, was an oddly affecting track.  "Could It Be Forever," written by Wes Farrell and Danny Janssen, and Adam Miller's "Blind Hope," were built with all the dynamics of classic AM soft-pop songs.  The teaming of Bobby Hart and Farrell yielded "I Just Wanna Make You Happy," with its joyful Partridge Family overtones.  "Cherish," of course, reminded the record-buying public of Terry Kirkman's great song.

Rock Me Baby took Cassidy in a more rock-oriented, blue-eyed soul direction.  There were a few more familiar songs in the mix (The Rascals' "Lonely Too Long" and "How Can I Be Sure," The Moody Blues' "Go Now") along with originals from Farrell and Miller.  Cassidy again contributed some material of his own, including the driving "Song for a Rainy Day," co-composed with Kim Carnes!  The album's funky title song, written by Johnny ("Mr. Bass Man") Cymbal and Peggy Clinger, had already been recorded in the U.K. by Brotherhood of Man, but Tony Hiller's group shelved its version when faced with Cassidy's competing track.  Miller's "Soft as a Summer Shower" would have fit nicely on Cherish, and the covers of the Rascals and Moody Blues tunes were a little too faithful to those groups' recordings, but most of Rock Me Baby showed Cassidy evolving as a singer and exerting more of his own maturing tastes.

Cassidy recorded two more albums for Bell Records (1973's Dreams Are Nothin' More Than Wishes and 1974's Cassidy Live) before moving to RCA where he recorded, among other significant songs, one of the earliest versions of Bruce Johnston's "I Write the Songs," later a smash for Barry Manilow.  Johnston produced it himself, and Carl Wilson provided majestic, memorable vocals on it.  The Beach Boys connection also provided Cassidy with another hit, a cover of the band's "Darlin'," written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love.  Since the late seventies, the onetime idol has continued to make music, act on the musical theatre stage and perform live.

Rock Me Baby/Cherish is available now in the U.K. and on July 24 in the U.S. from 7Ts.  Tim Turan has remastered both albums, and Phil Hendriks supplies an essay in the full-color booklet.  You can order below!

David Cassidy, Cherish/Rock Me Baby (7Ts GLAMCD 134, 2012)

  1. Being Together
  2. I Just Wanna Make You Happy
  3. Could It Be Forever
  4. Blind Hope
  5. I Lost My Chance
  6. My First Night Alone Without You
  7. We Could Never Be Friends ('Cause We've Been Lovers Too Long)
  8. Where is the Morning
  9. I Am a Clown
  10. Cherish
  11. Ricky's Tune
  12. Rock Me Baby
  13. Lonely Too Long
  14. Two Time Loser
  15. Warm My Soul
  16. Some Kind of a Summer
  17. (Oh No) No Way
  18. Song for a Rainy Day
  19. Soft as a Summer Shower
  20. Go Now
  21. How Can I Be Sure
  22. Song of Love

Tracks 1-11 from Cherish, Bell LP 210, 1972
Tracks 12-22 from Rock Me Baby, Bell LP 218, 1972

Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Pop Tags: David Cassidy, The Partridge Family

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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Comments

  1. John says

    July 21, 2012 at 4:15 am

    "Go Now," while admirably covered by the Moodies, is actually a Bessie Banks hit from a few years earlier.

    Reply
    • Joe Marchese says

      July 21, 2012 at 9:53 am

      Indeed. Though I'm a big fan of that original recording and Leiber & Stoller's soulful production, Cassidy's version was likely modelled after the Moodies' hit and Denny Laine's vocal, hence the attribution for expediency's sake. Thanks for reading, John!

      Reply

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