David Cassidy in the News
I got drunk with my pal Lennon
June 29, 2002
by Joe Riley
Liverpool Echo
WHEN all-American heartthrob David Cassidy steps out on stage for his Summer Pops gig, expect a Scouse greeting.
From him, that is. The New York-born singer knows all about the Liverpool vernacular, having spent more than three of his 51 years starring in Willy Russell's musical Blood Brothers.
David played the working class twin Mickey. His brother Shaun (in real life eight years younger) was posh twin Edward. Petula Clark played the Mum.
By all accounts, it was a happy experience for all three.
They rescued Bill Kenwright's Broadway production from near extinction and toured it around the States.
"It was a turning point in my career," says David, whose personal fortunes had been rooted in American family TV series The Partridge Family in which he played the lead singer of a domestic pop troupe.
"Blood Brothers put me back in the public eye and back into theatre," he insists.
And he adds: "I can honestly say I have never wanted to come and play anywhere as much as I want to play Liverpool.
"Not just because of the Blood Brothers, but also because I became quite good mates with John Lennon.
"He was a very good role model for me.
"He came over to my house on New Year's Eve 1974, and we got drunk together and played Beatles songs, which was pretty fab.
"At the time, John was one of the few people who understood my life. I think because of that, we had a kind of bonding thing going."
For the once preppy-looking Cassidy - in those days the world was divided into David or Donny (Osmond) - life has not all been sweetness and light.
He came from a broken home, and even after celebrity struck, there were the kidnapping and death threats, and even the bogus paternity suits.
But life does seem sunny once more.
I catch the newlook "Butch" Cassidy - short hair, a little stockier and more rugged than in his youth - holidaying in Ireland.
One of his grandfathers came from Cork, the other from County Clare, from where they'd escaped to America from the potato famine.
All of which explains why the brothers Cassidy are named David, Shaun, Patrick and Ryan.
Irish thoroughbreds every one. "Obviously that's why I am so drawn to thoroughbred racing," jokes David.
This Sunday, he and his wife Sue will be at the Irish Derby.
They are also spending their break horse-riding, going to a couple of stud farms, and playing golf.
The race is the icing on the cake: "It's a first time visit," says David. "I am a breeder not a better," he says. "But I do have a go every so often."
But who could have bet that Cassidy and Co could rescue Bill Kenwright's Broadway production of Blood Brothers from wipe-out?
"It was dying a death after being panned by the critics.
"But they it turned around and became a fantastic success," says David. "I didn't have a voice coach to do the Liverpool accent,' he reveals.
"They merely flew me over to London and put me with a bunch of Liverpool people and actors. I hung around with them and just got to hear the music of the Scouse accent. It's like learning to sing in a particular key. I never really rehearsed it and had no problems.
"The only trouble was, when I got back to New York, there were the remnants of the Broadway cast with some really bastardised Liverpool accents that were really naff.
"I had to guard against falling into the trap of copying them instead.
"But it will be good to be back in the thick of it all at the Pops. I have no doubt that my Liverpool accent will re-emerge after a couple of hours at the sound-check."
David found the story of Blood Brothers particularly relevant.
He grew up in Manhattan and moved out to New Jersey. Before his actor father, Jack, met his actress mother, Shirley Jones, in a production of Oklahoma, things had been hard.
"It was very working class," says David. "My grandfather worked for the public services reading meters and the other was an engineer on the railroad."
But David was separated from brother Shaun who was raised in posh Beverly Hills.
This made the twins' class division in Blood Brothers all the more relevant. "Shaun naturally has what Bill Kenwright called a soft public school type accent.
"We didn't really get together properly until we were in our teens, so there are some real parallels with the musical."
There was also the storyline which required David as Mickey to hold a gun to Edward's head as part of the show.
"You do that every night on stage and it's not like you're playing with a water pistol.
"So when you've been through your own personal adversity in life, as I have, a show like Blood Brothers still has such an impact on you, even years later."
David Cassidy says playing Mickey also went against his popularly conceived image as one of the boynextdoor types of 70s pop idols.
Last year he brought out a CD - Then And Now - which tells the story of his entire career, and includes re-workings of old hits as well as new material.
The recording has just gone platinum - proof positive that Cassidy still has pulling power.
So were there two David Cassidys? He's amused by that and laughs: "I think there were a lot more than that.
"But what this CD does, as does my show, is mark out and celebrate the whole of my career.
"It re-embraces the past and brings us right up to the present."
David Cassidy did 10 shows in the UK as recently as April.
Enough to assure him that his fanbase had grown to include the daughters and grand-daughters of his initial knicker- throwing female admirers.
But in the case of the Liverpool gig, it's more than that.
"Liverpool has influenced music so much, particularly for my generation.
"When I was a teenager, Liverpool was the focus for the entire world of culture."
David Cassidy is at the Summer Pops on July 11.
