I'M ON THE ROAD (stereo remix w David Cassidy), THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Collectors of Partridge Family rarities know that 'On The Road' appeared on the Partridge Family’s first album, along with a handful of other songs, without David Cassidy’s voice. Vocal arranger and singer Tom Bahler once said in an interview that there were half a dozen early songs that Cassidy wasn’t included on. The original vision for the Partridge band had been a choral sound more like the Cowsills, so when David was eventually hired as the lead singer (weeks after he was hired as an actor) producer Wes Farrell already had a few songs completed. Rather than go back and add David to the mix he decided to just use them as they were. David simply lip-synced to Ron Hicklin’s voice when those songs were played on an episode. On The Road appeared on both the album and the TV episode without David’s voice.
But as it turns out, there actually WAS a rare early vinyl demo of Cassidy singing On The Road which was never used. It was mixed very differently than the released version. We managed to acquire a copy of it, which was old and worn. The quality was so poor it was not very listenable as it was. But using a full spectrum analysis and a number of recording tools to clean up the distortion, we were able to isolate David's voice and blend it with the album version - and in the process turn it from mono recording into a full stereo song. (On The Road was the only track on the first album recorded in mono.)
This was one of the earliest songs David sang for the Partridge Family, weeks before the show even premiered. It remains a mystery why they never used this version. Though his vocal part is sparse I think you’ll agree, David shined from the very beginning. So for the first time in many years here is a clean, stereo recording of David Cassidy singing On The Road.
Love this! People say the ‘80’s was the best decade..No, the ‘70’s was the best!
I totally agree. 70's were the best.
speaking from a male perspective, the late 60's and 70's had the prettiest girls of all generations.. if it wasnt for me being drafted, the Vietnam war and my mothers passing the decade would had been perfect
They were both great.
I really like The Partridge family but the one thing I didn't like is that they made Danny all about him that's what I did in life
The most beautiful voice! And obviously most beautiful man!
GREAT JOB. THEY WERE A GREAT GROUP. THEM WERE SOME GOOD OLE DAYS. THEY WERE THE BEST. LOOK AT US NOW 2023
What an incredible journey into the musical history of the Partridge Family! The story behind "On the Road" and its evolution from a track without David Cassidy's vocals to this newly remixed stereo version is fascinating. It is incredible to think about the initial vision for the Partridge Family's sound and how it changed over time.
The dedication to obtaining and restoring that rare early demo of David Cassidy singing "On the Road" is impressive. The painstaking efforts to clean up the recording and create a complete stereo rendition have undoubtedly paid off. It is a testament to David Cassidy's talent that his star quality was evident right from the beginning, even in a limited vocal role.
Thank you, PARTRIDGE FAMILY BUS, for sharing this incredible music history. It is a joy to finally hear this pristine stereo recording of "On the Road" with David Cassidy's voice. It is a true gem for Partridge Family enthusiasts and music lovers alike.
Thanks Athena!
David's voice is outstanding but how can you not mention Shirley Jones's voice as well.🤘
Great to hear Davids voice. He should have been singing on this. He sings it fine. It is amazing what technology can do now.
In actuality, he did in fact sing. He and Shirley Jones were the only ones who sang. All the others were lip syncing to the "Wrecking Crew"
Thank you for your work. I love hearing David’s voice in this. It’s a beautiful song, but without his voice it just doesn’t sound like the Partridge Family.
SO AWESOME WITH DAVID'S VOCALS MIXED IN...I FLIPPING LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!! I CRANK IT SO LOUD, MY NEIGHBORS HATE ME...TFB!!!!!!!!!!!!
Isn't it great visiting our yesteryears?
Wow, what a fantastic amazing television show! Thanks for the wonderful memories of the good times.
This is absolutely amazing! Thank you for the immense amount of time and patience this must have taken. Your hard work is very much appreciated!
Shirley’s high soprano really shines in this song, well overtaking the female background singer. 😊
The 70’s awesome time to grow up in this show was on Friday nights ABC the show was amazing music spectacular still sounds great today.
Partridge family is simply awesome and terrific 😊
Well done! Good job! Sweet old good times..! Sweet good old 70"s...gone, but never forgotten...the partridge family tv show will be forever in my mind...
Wow! I never heard this version before! I love it!
When music was exceptional !.🎵🎵🎵
Mis mas sinceras felicitaciones, un increhible trabajo, tienes razón no se porque no utilizaron , pero mis felicitaciones, saludos desde Argentina
Very cool. I never ever thought I'd hear David's voice on this one!
Yeah! It's ABSOLUTELY GREAT to hear Dave count up "THE WRECKING CREW"...!
BolsaChicaRadio
@@BolsaChicaRadio Well the countup was from the set of the TV show, but yes it SOUNDED good.
@@partridgefamilybus2021 Yes indeed, you are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT on that, it's just me, 'BolsaChicaRadio' being a wise guy! Glad you called me out on that; not so much informing me that his faux count-up was actually Dave's voice coming from the boom microphone on the TV stage production set, that's obviously "hiding" out of frame, catching everybody's lines & dialog, before the recorded song's dub-in during post-production. I also liked the fact that one can hear Gelbwaks SMACK to one of the drum toms and that came through that boom mic LOUD & CLEAR!
If I am correct, on another PFB thread on your channel, I believe you spoke more in depth about this cut, "I'M ON THE ROAD", noting that of ALL the cuts on the "PARTRIDGE FAMILY - ALBUM", that this was the ONLY piece that was "recorded in mono". If that quote was indeed on one of your channel's threads, you're "kinda/basically" right about that! (There goes Mr. 'BolsaChicaRadio' being a MISTER-KNOW-IT-ALL-AUDIO-MAN again!!! HA!)
Actually, basically, especially during the production of this album in 1969 I believe, this was probably recorded by a couple of Wes Farrell's sound engineers on 16 track, 1" tape spools, OR POSSIBLY, even 8 track 1/2" spools. (By '69 "most" studios had already installed 16 track analog tape recording machines, yet still, even the infamous 5TH DIMENSION album, "THE AGE OF AQUARIUS" was recorded on an 8 track machine by infamous studio & remote concert engineer, Wally Heider, under the supervision of renown producer, Bones Howe.)
ALL TO SAY, while momentarily getting off the point, back since the basically the beginning of audio album recordings, ALL TRACKS, were "recorded" in mono; it was impossible to actually record a source signal onto a multi-track recording machine in "stereo", HOWEVER, during the subsequent mixdown session (either handled by the original recording engineer...OR...a well sought out "mixdown" engineer, with LOTS of tenure of mixing down songs that were gold or platinum #1 hits, was brought in to perform intricate mixing duties) is when mono tracks were separated by the "the panning effect", i.e., guitars mostly moved over to one channel, keybaords moved over mainly to the other channel, or in the case of multi-part harmonies, GREAT attention to detail was given on just how to lay those intricate vocals down into the stereo spatial & spectral domain.
(NOTE: In the EARLY DAYS of "mixing to stereo", as in The Beatles & Beach Boys recordings, there was NO "sliding pan potentiometers or attenuators", hence all stereo mixed signals were either 100% mixed to the RIGHT, or 100% mixed to the LEFT, hence leaving a "HOLE" of sound in the middle, THAT'S WHY, Martin & Wilson spent MUCH MORE TIME mixing to Mono, instead of Stereo. But that that almost changed overnight with "LET IT BE" & "ABBEY ROAD" which were mixed in more of a modern "spread-out" fashion of stereo signals. Spector was one of the last figures to INSIST in mixing to Mono, however, his "Re-Production" duties to the final Beatles album release of "LET IT BE", authorized by both Lennon & Harrison, was given proper, up to date, stereo treatment.)
Returning back to the point of Partridge Family recordings; by & large, the "secret" has been out for decades now, that the acting cast of The Partridge Family did NOT perform any vocals or instrumentation on the many albums released under that franchise, except of course, Jones who was contracted to dub-in her almost "operatic soprano" vocal (which I "personally believe" was purposely somewhat "buried" in the final mixes) and then when it was discovered that Cassidy "could actually sing" Farrell QUICKLY gave him many lead vocal duty parts, however, it was the great Ron Hicklin and his cast of vocal harmonists (The Bahler Brothers, Jackie Ward & possibly other female vocalists from Hicklin's arsenal of voice talent) that rounded up the incredible "Pitch-Perfect" sound of "THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY".
Wrapping up to the cut in question, "I'M ON THE ROAD"; the reason it appears on EVERY single release; including vinyl album, later CD issues by both Buddha and Razor & Tie in MONO FORM (almost distortion in some areas of the mix) is TOTALLY unclear and may forever remain a head-scratching mystery. My take on that, is "maybe" because it was used in the pilot episode and television early promotional ads, hence the song was QUICKLY recorded & QUICKLY mixed down, not given ample time for a proper, somewhat time-consuming "FULL DIMENSION STEREO MIX"; this is DEFINITELY NOT the first time this has happened in television production history, especially as recording studio techniques of the 1960s were transitioning into the very early stages of 1970 technologies, with the advent of 24 track machines, using 2" spools becoming the norm, by the mid 70s.
Is there a "proper" STEREO mixdown of "I'M ON THE ROAD" buried somewhere in an east coast reel-to-reel vault, oxidizing away into dust? Only Wes Farrell or the now VERY defunct Bell Records "might"..."JUST MIGHT"...be able to answer that eluding question.
Oh, in closing, indeed...I am a retired multi-track audio engineer, studio mix down technician & primarily, radio broadcast & concert producer, from 1979 to 2019.
BolsaChicaRadio
@@BolsaChicaRadio Interesting theory. I do remember On The Road being used in commercials before the show premiered. That and the 2 pilot songs represented the choral sound which was their original vision for the band. Didn't last long, Cassidy stepped in and history was written.
Shirley and David were the only 2 that actually had their vocals added to the songs. Well done
One of the most Beautiful Songs ever Written and Sung. !!!!
I love this with David's voice added. There were other places in season one where we didn't hear Davids voice.
Thank you Michael!
AWESOME!!! What an incredible effort. Thank you so much!
How come there isn't a cover version of I'm On the Road sung by The Wrecking Crew? I LOVE this version with David's vocals.
i dont think they ever cut songs as a group..just in the studio.
This song was recorded before they knew he could sing.
Definitely always loved this song but David's version makes it that much better,great job 🤘
GOOD JOB!
Wow I'm really surprised to hear a version of this with David on it it sounds terrific! I wish this was on the album version, which doesn't include David on the vocals that I know of except for a few parts
I need to find my PF DVD set and binge the entire series!
I dont know haw you did this but thanyou
This is a great mix! Thanks so much!
So well done I was Amazed how you got Davids vocals pulled out and in front to be heard like that !
@MatthewM.-it3yu
0 seconds ago
This is the episode Danny gets drafted in Vietnam war in 1970. Classic.
One of the greatest Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil songs that they did. I wish The Brady kids would do a cover version of I'm On The Road.
Or The Cowsills. Their version might be better than The Partridge Family's.
Hi
Chris!
This song is one of a few written by the late Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. God bless them.
Hi Susan!
Whatever happened to Mr partridge 😇
I wanted to ride the bus so bad. breaks my heart it was rotting in a taco stand and taken to a junk yard.. 😢
The bus at Lucy's Tacos was a replica.
This sounds like a Carpenters song than a Partridge Family song.
I know it's NOT, but if you didn't see the guy's face in the booth and just listened to his voice....doesn't he sound like Chevy Chase???
Oh god you made me laugh 😍
I am wondering why they never added David's vocals to the original recording I'd like to know the reason for that?
Read the liner notes! : )