Remembering In May..

-

It looks like I write an entry about May's anniversaries every year. Of course it's a coincidence that so many important people for David Cassidy's life and  career were born in May. Very important. 

Today The Creator, The Producer and The Musical Director. Amazing, very successful and professional men, for a few years so important for David, they were  working with him, teaching him and witnessing how a young unknown actor became a global superstar and  accomplished artist.

Let's start with a song, also connected with May, because it was on May 11th, 1970 when David Cassidy was for the very first time at the recording studio.

His first song performed on TV..This video has 6 million views, more than 3k comments, some of them written this year. David Cassidy's first and the most important song recorded in May, 56 years ago.

Bernard Slade, the creator of The Partridge Family was born in May, 1930, in Canada. His parents were English. and they returned to the UK in 1935. Young Bernard spent WWII as a child evacuee, moving constantly and attending 13 schools in 7 years. 

He returned to Canada when he was 18, struggled to make a living as an actor, and a playwright. He took odd jobs to make ends meet - like handing out leaflets on the streets of Toronto dressed...yes! as a knight in a full suit of armor. In the 60s he moved to Hollywood and was very successful. In the 60s he created some top tv shows of the era, in the 70s wrote some stage hits, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his screen adaptation of  'Some Time, Next Year.'.

When David lost his part in 'Little Johnny Jones' on Broadway, he appeared in 'Tribute', a play by Bernard Slade, in production in Calgary. He played another  son conflicted with a father. What a shame we don't have even a short footage of David's performance as Scottie in 'Tribute'.

David telling how he got the part of Keith Partridge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3HaGIQ3G3g&t=29s

Bernard Slade about David, "He was very good looking and sang very well, so there had to be some sort of fault that gave the other family members reason to interact with him. So we made him a bit vain and egocentric (,,,) and David was very smart to play that" (cmongethappy.com)

Bernard Slade  died on October 30, 2019.

Bob Claver, was born on May 22nd, 1928, the executive producer of 96 The Partridge Family's episodes. All of them. And directed 7, those the most difficult to make, for example "I Left My Heart In Cincinnati" or 'Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex'. He was on the set daily. I really like Bob Claver from what I've read about him, also because it's impossible  to find anything about his private life. Very successful TV producer and TV director.  

Bob Claver about David, "At what time did David become difficult? Never. I don't understand where any of this came from. I never had one moment's trouble with David Cassidy. Because here is a guy who was travelling all over the world on the weekends singing to screaming fans, and then sitting all day long on a dark sound stage to say 5 lines, and play straight man for Danny." (comongethappy.com)

Bob Claver died on December 14, 2017.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jn9Lb-BS2Q&list=RD_Jn9Lb-BS2Q&start_radio=1

Mike Melvoin, born on May 10, 1937. An outstanding jazz pianist, studio musician, composer and arranger. He performed on The Beach Boys' legendary 'Pet Sound' album, Jackson 5 'ABC' or John Lennon's 'Stand By Me'. 

He worked with Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Natalie Cole, Peggy Lee, Quincy Jones, Boz Scags and with great Lalo Shifrin with his soundtrack for such films like Mission Impossible or Bullitt. He was music director and arranger on TPF recordings, he played piano and keyboards, he played on 2 solo David's album. This song is one of his best work for the group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtAv3gY8iLo&list=RDqtAv3gY8iLo&start_radio=1

I love what Mike Melvoin said about DC, "The Partridge Family music was crafted to be very smart. I'm very proud of the music we made.(...) It was a matter of personal pride.(...) We really loved David. David was a joy in the studio. He knew what it meant to be pro and he was a mensch. We all became friends with him and we wanted to make David sound great. David was stage-ready when he was a kid. There was no a hint of amateur about him." (David Cassidy: Could It Be Forever?, 2007, p. 88)

Mike Melvoin died February 22, 2012.

The pic, David Cassidy as Keith Partridge. The Official Website of David Cassidy


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Robyn Millan

-
Image
  I learnt yesterday that Robyn Millan died last year. Someone published a post about the TPF's episode where she'd appeared as a guest star, 'Dora, Dora, Dora', Season 2 episode 1, aired 50 years ago, on September 17, 1971. And there was a comment about that episode that the script was poorly written, sexist etc. Maybe, no one would dare write something like that now, but the world looked different half a century ago.   I was truly sorry and sad yesterday because of Robyn. She started her short career in 1965, 33 credits, mostly tv roles - Mission Impossible, The F.B.I, Hawaii 5.0, Ryan's Hope, The Monkees. But we for ever would remember her as Dora, the girl Keith fell in love with, and Robyn, the girl David dated for a while.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmZnk9RFKm0&t=1s In December 1971 on Photoplay Magazine an interview with Robyn was published, she said about David, "He is just marvellous and really knows how to handle his success.(..) We hit it o...
Read more

Love Is All That I Ever Needed. A David Cassidy Biography. Chapter 1

-
Image
  Chapter 1 The Divorce David Bruce Cassidy was born on April 12, 1950 in New York City. He was born into show business, it was running in his blood. His parents were young and glamorous working actors. Jack Cassidy was 23 years old, Evelyn Ward 3 years older, both very busy with their career, frequently touring and absent. David spent his early years with his maternal grandparents in West Orange, New Jersey, just 20 miles from New York. He felt he was different from other kids, didn’t exactly fit in, his school friends’ parents didn’t look like his, they had ordinary jobs, like his grandfather, Frederic Ward, who all his life worked as a utility meter reader. David was a small child, slightly built, and had to wear glasses. During his life he underwent 5 eye operations. It wasn't easy to be the youngest, and not to have a brother or a sister. Someone to fight with, but also to play with, and to share love, good and bad experiences. He was a lonely child, brought up by honest,...
Read more

Two Weddings In Las Vegas

-
Image
First 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'. The film premiered in the UK 30 years ago, on May 13, 1994.  A low budget film, made in 6 weeks, became unexpected success, all over the world, earned just mountains of money, and made of  Hugh Grant international star. It's also a film with a very strong David Cassidy's connection.  The script was written by Richard Curtis (born in 1956), whose partner (they married after many years in 2023), a popular broadcaster Emma Freud, was (and still is) a DC fan. She gave some interviews about her love for DC and meeting him in person. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogl0mA_15ys 163 000 views, this one scene. Someone wrote 6 years ago, 'RIP David Cassidy. We know we loved you'. We still do. Two weddings in Las Vegas. Beau Cassidy and his fiance, Stephanie, just got married there. Something different was planned, in Europe, in September. And according to Sue Shifrin, Las Vegas was the last minute decision and that's the reason Dav...
Read more