David Cassidy - Could it be Forever? - Oh Yes Indeed! How Can I Be Sure? - I Just Know!

If, like me, you were a teenage girl in the 1970s, then there is every chance that you were a devotee of David Cassidy! (Younger girls tended to like Donny Osmond.)

He was introduced to his fans by a TV series called 'The Partridge Family', in which he starred with his step-mother, Shirley Jones, and a host of TV 'brothers and sisters'.

The music was great! And David Cassidy became a firm favourite with a lot of young girls. He sang well ~ in that gorgeous husky voice ~ and he was very, very attractive! He became an 'icon' in 1970s pop history.

Until I became enamoured of David, my bedroom walls were devoid of pop posters, but, as soon as he came into my life, I collected as many pictures of him as I could find.

The smaller ones I took to school, to discuss with friends; the larger ones went onto the wall.

Strangely enough, I didn't go to his concerts or collect his albums. But, perhaps not so strange ~ pocket money had to be eked out!

That has changed now, though. My friend and I have been to a number of David Cassidy's UK concerts, in recent years ~ and we have bought his albums. It's nice to be able to share this musical obsession with someone else.

David Cassidy was born in 1950 ~ on 12th of April ~ to two stars in the entertainment industry; musical actress Evelyn Ward and her husband, actor / singer Jack Cassidy.

His birth was announced thus: "Evelyn Cassidy, in association with Jack Cassidy, presents David Bruce ~ a new spring production .... World Premiere - April 12th, 1950."

Until he was three, while his parents were busy working, young David spent a lot of time living in New Jersey, with his maternal grandparents, the Wards.

From the age of three until he was five, David continued to live in New Jersey, but with his parents. However, by 1955, the relationship of his parents was disintegrating, and his father was falling in love with his new 'Oklahoma' co-star, Shirley Jones.

His parents separated and they divorced when he was six years old. At first, David went back to live with his grandparents, staying with them until he was ten.

Meanwhile, Jack and Shirley had settled in California ~ and that was where his mother took David to live, when he was ten. He had spent summers with his father and could now visit him at weekends, and they holidayed in Hawaii together when David was 12 ~ but, even so, he didn't see his father as much as he would have liked.

Evelyn Ward, David's mother, married director, Elliot Silverstein, when her son was eleven, having, also, been briefly married to Norman Z. McLeod.

Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones provided David with three half-brothers; Shaun in 1958, Patrick in 1962 and Ryan in 1966.

When he was only nine years old David joined his mother, onstage, in 'summer stock'.

When he was ten, he did a little 'soap-opera' work.

Other than singing in a church choir, that was the limit of his show-biz career, during his childhood.

But, in 1965, when he was 13 years old, he told writer James Gregory: "I want to be an actor!".

In January 1969, David Cassidy debuted on Broadway, in the unsuccessful musical 'The Fig Leaves Are Falling'.

As a result of this work, he was screen-tested, and signed to Universal Studios. He moved to Los Angeles, and took parts in 'Ironside', 'Marcus Welby, M.D.', 'Adam-12' and 'Bonanza'.

By 1970, his dream was being realised, but he could not have guessed at the fame that lay ahead ~ or of the effect that it would have on his life. It is not easy being a teen heart-throb!

In Autumn (Fall) of 1970, a new family show was aired on ABC-TC. It concerned a pop group, made up of a young Mum and her kids ~ the eldest of whom was 'Keith', played by David Cassidy. The 'Mom' was his step-mother, Shirley Jones.

Was this a problem? ~ Apparently not. David said : "I always liked her. We've always had a great rapport."

Musical success was guaranteed. He sang on ten 'Partridge Family ' albums and released five solo albums while working on the show.

Once David became 'Keith', in 'The Partridge Family', stardom loomed.

Records sold well.

Soon, David became a huge star in his own right.

He had a number of huge hits.

Thousand of hysterical girls attended his sell-out concerts ~ in the USA, Britain and Australia. 'Cassidymania' was a force to be reckoned with.

In London, in 1973, there were six sold-out Cassidy concerts in one weekend. Hysteria became so overwhelming that fans were injured. Sadly, one young girl died, after a stampede at the White City Stadium, in London, in which many others were hurt, in 1974. Understandably, this affected David badly

David Cassidy eventually decided to stop touring and also to leave 'The Partridge Family', but he continued to write and record songs.

Cassidy returned to acting in 1978, when he starred in "A Chance To Live" ~ a 'Police Story' episode. He has also been working in the theatre,

David has also continued to be involved in other ventures ~ like working with his brothers, Patrick and Shaun, on the series 'Ruby and the Rockets'.

David Cassidy appeared in 'And So To Bed', at the LA Theater Center, with his mother, Evelyn Ward.

And he has returned to his fans, with a number of tours ~ which are much quieter and calmer, these days, while still being very popular and well-attended.

David Cassidy has been married three times, which may reflect the difficulties that fame can bring:

Kay Lenz from 1977 until 1982
Meryl Tanz from1984 until 1985
Sue Shifrin from 1991 until the present

David Cassidy's children are:
Daughter ~ Katie Cassidy, born November 25, 1986 to Sherry Benedon.
Son ~ Beau Devin Cassidy, born February 8, 1991, to Sue Shifrin

Evelyn Ward, David's mother, was born May 21st, 1923

David Cassidy's father, John Joseph Edward “Jack” Cassidy was born on March 5th, 1927 and died on December 12th, 1976.

Shirley Mae Jones, Jack Cassidy's second wife, and David's co-star in 'The Partridge Family', was born March 31st, 1934.

Cherish ~ 1971
Could It Be Forever ~ 1972
How Can I Be Sure ~ 1972
Rock Me Baby ~ 1972
I Am a Clown / Some Kind of Summer ~ 1973
Daydream ~ 1973
Daydreamer / The Puppy Song ~ 1973
If I Didn't Care ~ 1974
Please Please Me ~ 1974
I Write the Songs / Get It Up for Love ~ 1975
Darlin' ~ 1975
Tomorrow 1976
Breakin' Down Again ~ 1976
Gettin' It in the Streets ~ 1976
Saying Goodbye Ain't Easy / We'll Have to Go Away ~ 1977
Hurt So Bad ~ 1979
The Last Kiss ~ 1985
Romance - Let Your Heart Go 1985
Someone 1985
Live EP 1986
Lyin' to Myself 1990
For All the Lonely 1992
I Think I Love You - new version ~ 1998
No Bridge I Wouldn't Cross ~1998

In the UK, some Cassidy favourites, were 'How Can I Be Sure?', released in 1972, and 'Daydreamer' / 'The Puppy Song ', released in 1973.

These reached the Number 1 spot in the charts.

'How Can I Be Sure?', apparently only reached number 25 in the US charts.

The beautiful 'Could It Be Forever' was a UK number 2 ~ only getting to number 37 in the USA.

'I Am a Clown' / 'Some Kind of Summer' was a UK number 3, in 1973.

'Cherish' was a US number 9 for Cassidy, in 1971.

The delightful 'The Last Kiss' was a UK number 6 in 1985.

The Partridge Family Album (1970)
Up To Date (1971)
Sound Magazine (1971)
Christmas Card (1971)
Shopping Bag (1972)
At Home With Their Greatest Hits (1972)
The Partridge Family Notebook (1972)
Crossword Puzzle (1973)
Bulletin Board (1973)
World of the Partridge Family (1974)
Greatest Hits (1989) (first time on CD)
The Definitive Collection (2001)
Come On Get Happy!: The Very Best of The Partridge Family (2005)

Cherish (1972)
Rock Me Baby (1972)
Dreams are Nuthin' More than Wishes (1973)
Cassidy Live! (1974)
David Cassidy's Greatest Hits (1974)
David Cassidy Forever (1975)
The Higher They Climb (1975)
Home Is Where the Heart Is (1976)
Getting It In The Street (1976)
Romance (1985)
Greatest Hits Live (1986)
David Cassidy (1990)
Didn't You Used to Be? (1992)
Old Trick New Dog (1996)
David Cassidy's Partridge Family Favorites (1998)
When I'm a Rock 'n' Roll Star (1998)
Then and Now (2001)
A Touch of Blue (2003)
David Cassidy Part II - The Remix (2007)

Blood Brothers (1995)
EFX (1997)

Obviously, I like a lot of David Cassidy's songs, but I do have a few favourites!

I love 'Could it be Forever?'; 'Daydreamer' is beautiful!; How Can I Be Sure?' and 'I Think I Love You' are also firm favourites; 'The Last Kiss' is another beautiful song!; And 'Rock Me Baby' is great to dance to!

I don't have all of David's albums, just these (and a couple of DVDs):

'Cherish' (1972); 'Rock Me Baby' (1972); 'David Cassidy's Greatest Hits' (1974); 'Then and Now' (2001); 'A Touch of Blue' (2003); 'The Partridge Family Album' (1970); 'Christmas Card' (1971); 'The Partridge Family Notebook' (1972)

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My work ~ Copyright Tricia Mason.

All Rights Reserved

Images etc have been credited accordingly. Thanks to Wikimedia Commons!

Thanks also to James Gregory. His books was very helpful to me, while I was writing this item.

'The David Cassidy Story' by James Gregory