Cherish (The Association song)

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"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	Sunshine pop
Length	3:25 (album) 3:13 (single)
Label	Valiant
Songwriter(s)	Terry Kirkman
Producer(s)	Curt Boettcher
The Association singles chronology
"Along Comes Mary" (1966) "Cherish" (1966) "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies" (1966)

"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, and later as No. 2, after a revision of the year-end charts. In Canada, the song also reached number one.

Original version[]

Songwriting[]

Terry Kirkman wrote it in half an hour and put it into the live act of his group, the Association. He was looking for an emotional, slow tempo song in the same vein as the Rightenous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Mike Whelan, from the New Christy Minstrels, liked it so much that he convinced the Minstrels to record a version of the song, and in fact their recording was almost released before the Association's.^[3]

In the lyrics, the protagonist tells his love interest that he "cherishes" her, though he isn't sure if he actually loves her or only wants her. At the same time he's unsure the love interest is interested in him, because she is being courted by "a thousand other guys".^[4][5]

Recording[]

The instrumentation of their debut, which includes this song, was recorded at a converted garage studio owned by Gary S. Paxton, who engineered the sessions along with Pete Romano, while the vocals of the group were recorded at Columbia studios.^[6] Like most of Association hits, session musicians were called to do the instrumental track, including Mike Deasy on guitar, Jerry Scheff on bass and Jim Troxel on drums, with only Kirkman and , as members of the band, participating on it.^[7] Curt Boettcher added some vocals, most notably the high-pitched "told you" and "hold you" on the final verse.^{[citation needed]}

The song is notable for having two bridge sections, the second leading to a modulation in which the key rises a whole step. The song ends with the words "cherish is the word," over a sustained vibrato electric guitar chord.

Editing[]

The single release was edited by speeding up the song and removing one of the two "And I do cherish you" lines near the end. This was done to hold the track to the three-minute mark, as AM radio programmers frowned on songs that went longer than that. 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.^[3][8]

Aftermath[]

"Cherish" has become a staple in wedding ceremonies and slow dances, and is considered the 22nd most played song of the 20th Century by the BMI.^[4]

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."^[9]

Personnel[]

The Association[]

• Terry Kirkman – lead vocals
• Russ Giguere – harmony vocals
• Jules Alexander – backing vocals; possible lead guitar
• Jim Yester – backing vocals
• Brian Cole – backing vocals
• Ted Bluechel – backing vocals

Session musicians and production staff[]

• Mike Deasy, Lee Mallory, Ben Benay – guitars
• Jerry Scheff – bass guitar
• Doug Rhodes or Butch Parker – celesta
• Jim Henderson – piano
• Toxey French – vibraphone
• Jim Troxel – drums
• Curt Boettcher – backing vocals; producer
• Gary S. Paxton, Pete Romano – engineers

Critical reception[]

In a contemporary review to Stereogum, author Tom Breihan said that "There are things about “Cherish” that should be good — things that look nice on paper. The Association were singing in lush, Beach Boys-esque harmonies, and they were doing it over intricately layered guitars and banjos and horns. But he states that "Cherish" is a bloodless affair, a sickly-sweet melody backing up a somewhat creepy lyric about fixating too hard on a girl." Breihan concludes "songs like this — vaguely queasy pop songs with lush and lightly orchestral arrangements — would pretty much dominate pop music for a few years in the early ’70s. The Association got there first, but they don’t get any points for it."^[5]

David Cassidy version[]

David Cassidy recorded his own version as a single in October 1971 which later appeared on his album Cherish (1972). His version ended on the repeated phrase in the code: "And I do Cherish You", which fades out. His version reached number nine on the Hot 100 chart, and spent one week at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.^[10] 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.^[11]

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[]