David Cassidy on the Web
“I still listen to their records”: the singer Quentin Tarantino called one of the most underrated in history
August 23, 2014
By Scott Campbell
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk
Music has always been integral to the way Quentin Tarantino composes his movies, with the filmmaker scouring his record collection for the perfect needle-drop to accompany specific scenes.
The sounds and imagery of his work are so intertwined that sometimes the writer and director will have a song in mind and then build a scene around it, with many of his features foregoing a conventional orchestral soundtrack in favour of hand-picked tracks plucked straight from Tarantino’s memory bank.
It’s given rise to an eclectic mix of deep cuts, unsung gems, stone-cold classics, and unexpected interludes, with several songs – Stealer’s Wheel’s ‘Stuck in the Middle with You’ most notably – gaining a second lease of life after taking pride of place in a Tarantino picture.
His musical taste is every bit as wide-ranging as his taste in cinema, with the two-time Academy Award winner favouring obscurity just as much as he does the classics on both fronts. A core memory came when Tarantino purchased his very first album, which might explain why he’s adamant one of the band’s two lead vocalists has never got the credit they’ve deserved for the power of their pipes.
“When I was a little kid, I was mostly involved in top 40 stuff,” he admitted to Rolling Stone. “The first record I bought was The Partridge Family. I still listen to their records. I actually think David Cassidy is one of the most underrated vocal performers in the history of rock and roll.”
Using the titular sitcom as the springboard to musical success, the group’s debut record—The Patridge Family Album—hit shelves in September 1970 to coincide with the TV show’s premiere. Tarantino would have only been seven years old at the time, and it clearly had a huge impact on his musical upbringing and strong opinion of Cassidy.
The Patridge Family would roll out another seven albums in the next three years before Cassidy went solo on a full-time basis following the show’s finale in March 1974, although he’d already fronted three solo records since then. His debut, Cherish, was certified gold in the United States, and his third, Dreams Are Nuthin’ More Than Wishes, went gold in the United Kingdom, but that was about as good as it got in terms of sales.
The combination of the struggles he initially faced in breaking away from teen idol status to establish himself as a performer to be taken seriously, coupled with a personal life plagued by difficulties, would prevent Cassidy from realising his true potential. That being said, Tarantino is an ardent enough supporter that he’s willing to back him to the hilt as one of the most underrated vocalists rock music has ever seen.
