''The Partridge Family Notebook'' is the sixth studio album by

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...

. Released in November 1972, the album entered ''Billboard'''s Top LP's chart in December, peaking at no. 41 in January 1973 – the same week in which its lead single, a cover of

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early li ...

and

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Life and career Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Wei ...

's "

Looking Through the Eyes of Love "Looking Through the Eyes of Love" is a song written and composed by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. It first became a popular hit in 1965 by Gene Pitney. In 1972, The Partridge Family recorded a hit cover version. Gene Pitney version Gene Pitney w ...

", peaked at 39 on ''Billboard'''s

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 streaming ...

. The album remained in the Top 200 for 16 weeks, and was the first by the Partridge Family not to reach the Top 40. A second US single, "Friend and a Lover", was released in March 1973 but stalled at no. 99 on the Hot 100. The Partridges' version of "Looking Through the Eyes of Love" – originally a hit for

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

in 1965 (US 28/UK 3) – fared better in

the UK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, where it peaked at no. 9 in late February and early March, at the height of both the

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 ...

era and David Cassidy's career as a

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 ...

solo star in Great Britain and Ireland. The single, which shared the Top Ten with glam giants

Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...

the Sweet The Sweet (often shortened to just Sweet), are a British glam rock band that rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mic ...

and

Gary Glitter Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), best known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He achieved success during the glam rock era of the 1970s and 1980s, and his career ended after he w ...

, immediately followed Cassidy's solo hit "Rock Me Baby" in the charts (UK no. 11/US 38) and slightly overlapped with Cassidy's next UK solo hit, the double A-side single "I Am a Clown / Some Kind of A Summer" (UK no. 3), which was not released in the States. ''Notebook'' also featured a cover of " Walking in the Rain" – a 1964 Ronettes classic also by

and

, but co-written with

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

. The Partridges' cover, which was not released as a single in America, reached no. 10 in the UK in June 1973. The album did not chart in the UK despite yielding two hit singles there. The ''Notebook'' album cover was designed to resemble a standard school notebook. The cover of the UK and Europe album releases, as with the CD reissue many years later, featured a picture of the family in their usual red velvet suits.

Track listing

All tracks, except "Take Good Care of Her", "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" and "Something's Wrong", were featured on the TV show (mainly from Season 3)

Personnel

*David Cassidy - lead vocals *

Dennis Budimir Dennis Matthew Budimir (June 20, 1938 – January 2023) was an American jazz and rock guitarist. He was considered to be a member of The Wrecking Crew. Biography Budimir learned to play piano and guitar in his youth and first played profession ...

Larry Carlton Larry Eugene Carlton (born March 2, 1948) is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts such as Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. He has participated in thousands of recording sessions, recorde ...

Louie Shelton William Louis Shelton (born April 6, 1941) is an American guitarist and music producer. Biography During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s Shelton was a session musician working in recording studios around Hollywood. Among his more notable session wo ...

Tommy Tedesco Thomas Joseph Tedesco (July 3, 1930 – November 10, 1997) was an American guitarist and studio musician in Los Angeles and Hollywood. He was part of the loose collective of the area's leading session musicians later popularly known as The Wrec ...

- guitar *

Joe Osborn Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018Max Bennett - bass *

Larry Knechtel Lawrence William Knechtel (August 4, 1940 – August 20, 2009) was an American keyboard player and bassist who was a member of the Wrecking Crew, a collection of Los Angeles-based session musicians who worked with such renowned artists as Simon ...

Mike Melvoin Mike Melvoin (May 10, 1937February 22, 2012) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He served as chairman and president of The Recording Academy and worked as a prolific studio musician, recording with Frank Sinatra, John Lennon, ...

- keyboards *

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. ...

- drums *Bahler Brothers,

Jackie Ward Jackie Ward (born Jacqueline McDonnell, 1941), better known as Robin Ward, is an American singer, regarded as a " one-hit wonder" of 1963 million-selling song "Wonderful Summer". However, using her real name she was highly accomplished and ...

Ron Hicklin The Ron Hicklin Singers were a group of Los Angeles studio singers contracted and organized by Ron Hicklin. They are mostly known as the real singers behind the background vocals on The Partridge Family recordings. In Los Angeles studio circles i ...

, Shirley Jones - background vocals *Jerry Whitman (tracks: A1, A2, A6),

Tom Bahler Thomas Lee Bahler (also spelled Bähler; born June 1, 1943) is an American singer, composer, songwriter, arranger, producer, and author. He is the younger brother of singer, arranger, conductor and composer John Bahler. Bahler is most known for ...

(tracks: A1, A2, A6) - uncredited background vocals

Recording dates

May 1, 1972 *"Take Good Care of Her" *"Together We're Better" *"Looking Through the Eyes of Love" *"We Gotta Get Outta This Place" *"Love Must Be the Answer" *"Something's Wrong" September 4, 1972 *"Storybook Love" *"As Long as You're There" September 22, 1972 *"Friend and a Lover" *"Walking in the Rain" *"Maybe Someday" See recording dates for this and other Partridge Family albums at ''The Partridge Family Recording Sessions''

Charts

Album

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Partridge Family Notebook, The The Partridge Family albums 1972 albums Bell Records albums Albums produced by Wes Farrell