Cassidy's first solo single, released in October 1971 while recording of the album was still in progress, was the
title track, a cover of
The Association's 1966
Billboard chart topper, said to have been chosen as the lead single by Farrell after a search for a song which would be instantly familiar to audiences, but had not yet been the subject of any widely known cover version. In the United Kingdom, where the Partridge Family was just beginning to catch on (the TV series did not start to air there until December 1971),
Cherish was released in March 1972. It was decided to release "Could It Be Forever" and "Cherish" as a
Double A-side, which quickly rose to No.2, with "Could It Be Forever" receiving the majority of airplay on radio stations. The album also took off. It climbed to No.2 and remained in the Top 40 for 43 weeks. This marked the start of a 3-year period in which Cassidy became one of the biggest record-sellers and a pre-eminent
teen idol in the U.K. and Australia (where "Cherish" hit No.1) at the same time as his sales in the U.S. were falling. In March 1973 (following two successful singles from Cassidy's second album
Rock Me Baby) the UK fan-favorite "I Am a Clown" with its memorable spoken introduction was belatedly issued as a single, and reached No.3.
Cherish was deleted from catalogs in the late 1970s, and for many years remained available only via second-hand markets. The album was finally remastered and issued on CD through
Arista in 2000, and remains in print. The reputation of
Cherish is largely positive, with
Allmusic's Lindsay Planer describing the album as " Overall...an admirable first time out and, above all, [it] continues to display the vocalist's theatrical sensibilities and performance style.". == Track listing ==