''Rock Me Baby'' is the second solo

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

release from

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge, the son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother, Shirley Jones), in t ...

. It was produced by

Wes Farrell Wes Farrell (December 21, 1939 – February 29, 1996) was an American musician, songwriter and record producer, who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Farrell was born in New York, United States. Farrell's catalogue includes close ...

for Bell Records, and released in 1972. The album introduced some

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

and R&B flavors in a calculated move by Cassidy to expand beyond his

teen idol A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups. By region Asia East Asia possess ...

image.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's Al Campbell wrote that the blue-eyed soul album was officially produced by Farrell, but the song selections and styles showed that Cassidy was also making decisions. Cassidy's cover of

the Young Rascals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

song "

How Can I Be Sure "How Can I Be Sure" is a popular song written by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati, and originally recorded by the Young Rascals for their 1967 album ''Groovin with a single release in August 1967 affording the group their fourth Top 10 hit pea ...

" was included in the album, having peaked at number 3 on the US

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart in June 1972 and #25 on the US

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

. It enjoyed greater success in the UK, holding number 1 status for two weeks in September. The album's title track gained US airplay in early September 1972, rising to number 38 in mid-October. It was the album's high-energy opening track, a dip into brash

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

. Following on "Rock Me Baby" heels, the album climbed to number 41 in the US through November–December, and then it entered the UK album charts very strongly at number 2 in late February 1973, starting a 17-week run for a total of 20 weeks on the chart. The album contains one song written by Cassidy called "Two Time Loser", and a song he co-wrote with

Kim Carnes Kim Carnes (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began her career as a songwriter in the 1960s, writing for other artists while performing in local clubs and working as a sess ...

titled "Song for a Rainy Day". The song "Rock Me Baby" was recorded around the same time by UK group

Brotherhood of Man Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with " Save Your Kisses for Me". Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initi ...

, but they shelved their release when Cassidy had a hit with it. The album was reissued on

Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

by Arista Records in 2003.

Track listing

#"Rock Me Baby" (

Johnny Cymbal Johnny Cymbal (born John Hendry Blair; February 3, 1945 – March 16, 1993) was a Scottish-born American songwriter, singer and record producer who had numerous hit records, including his signature song, "Mr. Bass Man". Overview During a 33-ye ...

, Peggy Clinger) 3:31 #"

Lonely Too Long "Lonely Too Long" is a song written by Bill Rice, Sharon Vaughn and Mike Lawler, and recorded by American country music artist Patty Loveless. It was released in August 1996 as the third single from her eight album, '' The Trouble with the Truth' ...

" (

Eddie Brigati Edward Brigati Jr. (born October 22, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was the co-lead vocalist, along with Felix Cavaliere, and percussionist in the rock group The Young Rascals from 1964 to 1970. Prior to his stint with The Young ...

Felix Cavaliere Felix Cavaliere (born November 29, 1942) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and keyboard player for the Young Rascals. Although he was a member of Joey Dee and the Starliters, known for ...

) 3:24 #"Two Time Loser" (Cassidy) 3:18 #"Warm My Soul" (Joerey Ortiz) 3:00 #"Some Kind of a Summer" (Dave Ellingson) 3:42 #"(Oh No) No Way" (Peggy Clinger, Johnny Cymbal,

) 2:38 #"Song for a Rainy Day" (

, Cassidy) 4:05 #"Soft As a Summer Shower" (Adam Miller) 3:24 #"

Go Now "Go Now" is a song composed by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett and first recorded by Bessie Banks, released as a single in January 1964. The best-known version was recorded by the Moody Blues and released the same year. Bessie Banks version The ...

" ( Larry Banks, Milton Bennett) 3:08 #"

" (Eddie Brigati, Felix Cavaliere) 3:10 #"Song of Love" (Adam Miller) 3:34

Production

*Produced By Wes Farrell *Reissue Produced By Rob Santos *Engineer: Bob Kovach *Assistant Engineer: Winston Wong *Digital Transfers: Tim Hunt *Mastering: Elliott Federman

Personnel

*David Cassidy - vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion *

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

, Jim Gordon - drums *Gary Coleman, Alan Estes,

Gene Estes The Wrecking Crew was a loose collective of Los Angeles-based session musicians whose services were employed for a great number of studio recordings in the 1960s and 1970s, including hundreds of top 40 hits. The musicians were not publicly rec ...

- percussion * Max Bennett, Joe Osborn - bass guitar *

Mike Melvoin Mike Melvoin (May 10, 1937February 22, 2012) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He served as chairman and president of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, The Recording Academy and worked as a prolific Session mus ...

- keyboards * Larry Carlton,

Dean Parks Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Albums Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher ...

, Louie Shelton - guitar *

, Dave Ellingson, Gwen Johnson, Marnell McCall, Lisa Roberts, Sally Stevens, Danny Timmes, Jackie Ward, Lorna Willard - additional vocals *Carl Fortina - accordion * Chuck Findley,

Ollie Mitchell Oliver Edward Mitchell (April 8, 1927 – May 11, 2013) was an American musician and bandleader. He was the son of Harold Mitchell, lead trumpeter for MGM Studios, who also taught Ollie to play the trumpet. Career Mitchell would go on to play in ...

- trumpet * Dick Hyde - trombone *Robert Hardaway,

Jim Horn James Ronald Horn (born November 20, 1940) is an American saxophonist, woodwind player, and session musician. Biography Horn was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for f ...

, Tom Scott - woodwind *

John Bahler John Bahler (born November 11, 1940; surname also spelled Bähler) is an American vocalist, arranger, conductor, composer and producer. He is the elder brother of singer Tom Bahler, and the husband of Janet Lennon of the Lennon Sisters. Early c ...

- vocal arrangements *

- string and horn arrangements *

- rhythm arrangements *Strings contracted by James Getzoff ;Technical *

Ed Caraeff Ed Caraeff (born April 18, 1950) is an American photographer, illustrator and graphic designer, who has worked largely in the music industry. He has art directed, photographed and designed more than 400 record album covers from 1967 to 1981 for ...

- photography

Charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock Me Baby (Album) David Cassidy albums 1972 albums Albums arranged by Mike Melvoin Albums produced by Wes Farrell Bell Records albums