Cherish (The Association song)
"Cherish" is a pop song written by Terry Kirkman and recorded by The Association.[2] Released in 1966, the song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in September of that year and remained in the top position for three weeks. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 7 song of 1966. In Canada, the song also reached number one.
| "Cherish" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Association | ||||
| from the album And Then... Along Comes the Association | ||||
| B-side | "Don't Blame It on Me" | |||
| Released | August 1966[1] | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 3:25 (album) 3:13 (single) | |||
| Label | Valiant | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Terry Kirkman | |||
| Producer(s) | Curt Boettcher | |||
| The Association singles chronology | ||||
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Session musician Doug Rhodes, also member of The Music Machine, played the celesta on the recording. Studio player Ben Benay played guitar on the recording. Curt Boettcher added some vocals, most notably the high-pitched "told you" and "hold you" on the final verse. The track was recorded at a converted garage studio owned by Gary S. Paxton, who engineered the sessions along with Pete Romano.
The single release of the song was slightly edited by removing one of the two "And I do cherish you" lines near the end of the song. This edit was done as a means of keeping the track from exceeding the three-minute mark, as radio programmers of the era frowned upon songs that went beyond three minutes. However, even with the edit, the song still ran over. Instead of editing further, producer Curt Boettcher intentionally listed "3:00" on the label as the song's running time.
In 2012, original Association member Jim Yester said the record label claimed the song sounded "too old and archaic", but quipped that the song's success "just showed we can have archaic and eat it, too."[3]
David Cassidy version
| "Cherish" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by David Cassidy | ||||
| from the album Cherish | ||||
| B-side | "All I Wanna Do Is Touch You" | |||
| Released | October 1971 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 3:46 (album) | |||
| Label | Bell | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Terry Kirkman | |||
| Producer(s) | Wes Farrell | |||
| David Cassidy singles chronology | ||||
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David Cassidy recorded his own version as a single in October 1971 which later appeared on his album Cherish (1972). His version reached number nine on the Hot 100 chart, and spent one week at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.[4] and peaked at number three in Canada and hit number one in both Australia and New Zealand. In the UK, it was issued as a double A-side with "Could It Be Forever", and peaked at number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. It was his debut hit(s) in that country. The recording sold over one million copies in the US.[5]
Other versions
Other artists to have covered the song include Dizzy Gillespie (The Melody Lingers On album), The Lettermen, Nina Simone, Ed Ames, Petula Clark (Colour My World album), Rita Wilson (AM/FM album), The Four Tops (Reach Out album), Carla Thomas (Love Means... album), Jodeci, Barry Manilow, Pat Metheny, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, and Glee which incorporates elements from the Madonna song with the same title.
See also
- List of RPM number-one singles of 1966
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1966 (U.S.)
- List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1972 (U.S.)
References
- "The Association - Cherish". 45cat.com. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- "Show 37 - The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance. [Part 3] : UNT Digital Library" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu. 1969. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
- Steve Palisin, "The Association teams up with Long Bay Symphony," The Sun News, October 19, 2012.
- Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 50.
- Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 97. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.