David Cassidy on the Web
David Cassidy: The Higher They Climb the Harder They Fall
Pop idol flies free and becomes an artist
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
www.hyperbolium.com
The genuine artistry of this album is a lot more clear thirty-six years distance from its 1975 release. With the bright lights of Cassidy's teen idolatry having faded, the album can be viewed on its merits, and is left to stand on its own as a truly terrific pop statement. Still, part of what makes it so interesting is the relief of Cassidy's earlier work and the infusion of his hard-won artistic freedom. These are the sounds of an artist finally charting his own musical course, rather than a pawn buffeted by the demands of his young fans and the needs of his record company. Freed from his post-Partridge Family contract with Bell, Cassidy moved to RCA where he was paired with Beach Boy Bruce Johnston as producer. Johnston delivered Cassidy first crack at "I Write the Songs," and though the single was a chart-topper in the UK, it was withheld in the US in favor of Barry Manilow's subsequent hit.
The failure to market "I Write the Songs" is only one of the label's misfires, as the album's superb take on the Beach Boys' late-60s hit "Darlin'" was also allowed to flounder without a proper push. Cassidy's originals – he wrote or co-wrote half the album's songs – are more mature than the things he'd written for his earlier albums, and the demise of his teen idol fame provides introspective grist for the songwriter's mill. Johnston provides sophisticated, varied and dramatic arrangements that are substantially more soulful than Cassidy had been previously afforded, and the singer rises to the challenge with strong vocals that shed the bubblegum style he'd adopted for the Partridge Family. Among the album's most startling moments is a take on Gene Vincent's "Be-Bop-A-Lula" that's surprisingly fresh and original.
The album's loosely structured concept has Cassidy dreaming of rock 'n' roll stardom, reveling in the music's roots, contemplating himself as a songwriter and the possibilities of success, and facing the fall. Cassidy must have known that the tide of his former success was more likely to pull him back under than swell into a successful adult recording career, but he remains hell-bent on proving that he's more than a television show's fabrication. Much like Ricky Nelson two decades earlier, Cassidy's innate talents as a singer and songwriter had been thrown into question by his media-fueled success, but with this album he proved that he was more than a prefabricated star. The listening public may not have been ready for that revelation, but thirty-five years later, the proof of his talent is still here to be heard.
