Which cast members could actually sing and play an instrument? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Will · 09-24-2001, 01:15 AM

Okay, the singing and instrument playing was as fake as it gets on the TV show, but who could actually sing well and/or play an instrument well in real life?

09-25-2001, 03:48 PM

David Cassidy could sing and so could Shirley Jones. David and Shirley's vocals were used but Shirley's were used very little. It was mainly David's vocals, some guitar of his and very talented studio musicians.

10-12-2001, 11:21 PM

I believe what you're saying about David and Shirley's performance,but the other Partride kids could do better.Susan's keyboard playing seems real.So does Suzanne's tambourine playing.Danny's bass playing could stand for improvement. Brian's drumming is great,but i'm not so sure about Jeremy's though.

10-12-2001, 11:23 PM

I believe what you're saying about David and Shirley's performance,but the other Partridge kids could do better.Susan's keyboard playing seems real.So does Suzanne's tambourine playing.Danny's bass playing could stand for improvement. Brian's drumming is great,but i'm not so sure about Jeremy's though.

Tiger32 · 01-19-2002, 08:44 PM

Interesting comments, David Cassidy performed concerts during the 70s, so there is little question of his musical and vocal talents. Shirley Jones won a tony award for broadway, so there is no question on whether she could sing. But the rest of the characters, they were simply actors.

TV Guy · 01-20-2002, 04:37 PM

I play the piano and keyboard, and I can tell you that Susan Dey's playing is definitely not real. Also, there was something in the "C'mon Get Happy" book which described how Jeremy and Brian were taught to imitate a real drummer who played next to them, but was off-camera.

richheart · 09-25-2002, 03:32 AM

David, Shirley, and Brian (drummer) were the only real musicians as far as I know.

David was a good guitarist. But you only hear him jam once in the first episode. It's when they are practicing in the garage.

JethroSimpson · 09-25-2002, 11:00 AM

I never realised that was actually Brian playing the drums.

It's quite funny watching them playing the instruments in the early episodes becuase apart from Shirley and David they all looked completely clueless.

richheart · 09-25-2002, 04:25 PM

I don't know whether David played guitar on any PF recordings, or if Brian played drums on any. But they both could play well enough to fake it really well.

I agree that Danny did look like a good bass player, even though he couldn't play. But he said that when he started he used to strum the bass, which was wrong. They taught him to pluck it.

Danny also used a funky looking spiral guitar cable, like on a telephone. No professional musician would use a cable like that.

GrampaSquirrel · 02-18-2004, 01:30 PM

I seen Danny Bonaduce on a rare documentry clip, in which where he was singing and playing his guitar and performed "Blue Suede Shoes" with two other guys in the background. He really sounded like Chuck Berry when he was doing his act on "The Sun Records Story" which was aired on PBS.

darryl · 02-21-2004, 06:28 PM

Danny? Don't you mean DAVID.

m60tankdriver · 08-10-2006, 01:06 AM

David could sing and play guitar, though I've heard he could even play drums fairly well. Yet he's never credited in the albums on guitar, only vocals. Shirley recorded backup vocals, but the producers say her tracks were ramped up for the tv show versions of the song, and downplayed in the record versions. Danny obviously couldn't play a bass guitar, and judging from the only record he released, couldn't sing, either. Whether Susan could play a keyboard at all is a question of debate, but studio musician Mike Melvoin did so in the recording sessions. Studio musician Hal Blaine did all the drumming for both Jeremy and Brian. As for Suzanne's tamborine/triangle playing abilities....well, I guess sometimes she happened to be hitting them in sync with the music, and sometimes not....
Interesting that in the final number of "The Red Woodloe Story", since Red (William Shallert) is on guitar, David picks up the tambourine, and shows how a tambourine is supposed to be played. Poor little Tracy....

jonny velveteen · 08-18-2006, 03:39 PM

Hold on a sec. I remember looking through a book once of the worst celebrity albums, and Danny was in there. His LP came out around the time he was doing TPF, '73 I think. He sang on it. I'm curious about just how bad it actually was. Does anybody have the album?

m60tankdriver · 07-25-2007, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonny velveteen

Hold on a sec. I remember looking through a book once of the worst celebrity albums, and Danny was in there. His LP came out around the time he was doing TPF, '73 I think. He sang on it. I'm curious about just how bad it actually was. Does anybody have the album?

After the album came out in (I believe) 1973 our local DJ played several of the songs as a joke, just to show how bad a singer Danny was! (And to show how desperate Columbia Pictures Industries, owner of Screen Gems and Bell Records, was becoming in trying to keep the franchise going). I've seen it available from time to time on Ebay under the "Partridge Family" category; usually without any bids! So if you really wanted it, I bet if you kept checking Ebay you'd find it sooner or later, and be able to pick it up for a minimum bid ($5 or less!)

Mikado · 07-25-2007, 02:14 AM

i'm surprised that Shirley only did a few BG vocals, after all, she'd been acting in movie musicals since the 1940s

09-24-2001, 01:15 AM	#1
Will Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 23, 2001 Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA Posts: 245	Which cast members could actually sing and play an instrument? Okay, the singing and instrument playing was as fake as it gets on the TV show, but who could actually sing well and/or play an instrument well in real life?

09-25-2001, 03:48 PM	#2
Steph@cassidyland Guest Posts: n/a	David Cassidy could sing and so could Shirley Jones. David and Shirley's vocals were used but Shirley's were used very little. It was mainly David's vocals, some guitar of his and very talented studio musicians.
Steph@cassidyland Guest Posts: n/a

10-12-2001, 11:21 PM	#3
Lamont Holmes Guest Posts: n/a	I believe what you're saying about David and Shirley's performance,but the other Partride kids could do better.Susan's keyboard playing seems real.So does Suzanne's tambourine playing.Danny's bass playing could stand for improvement. Brian's drumming is great,but i'm not so sure about Jeremy's though.
Lamont Holmes Guest Posts: n/a

10-12-2001, 11:23 PM	#4
Lamont Holmes Guest Posts: n/a	I believe what you're saying about David and Shirley's performance,but the other Partridge kids could do better.Susan's keyboard playing seems real.So does Suzanne's tambourine playing.Danny's bass playing could stand for improvement. Brian's drumming is great,but i'm not so sure about Jeremy's though.
Lamont Holmes Guest Posts: n/a

09-25-2002, 11:00 AM	#8
JethroSimpson Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 01, 2001 Location: England,UK Posts: 1,080	I never realised that was actually Brian playing the drums. It's quite funny watching them playing the instruments in the early episodes becuase apart from Shirley and David they all looked completely clueless.
	__________________ My Brand New Diff'rent Strokes site is now at- http://chrisdoyle0.tripod.com/ ________________ _______________ Chris D.

01-19-2002, 08:44 PM	#5
Tiger32 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 14, 2002 Posts: 624	Interesting comments, David Cassidy performed concerts during the 70s, so there is little question of his musical and vocal talents. Shirley Jones won a tony award for broadway, so there is no question on whether she could sing. But the rest of the characters, they were simply actors.

01-20-2002, 04:37 PM	#6
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	I play the piano and keyboard, and I can tell you that Susan Dey's playing is definitely not real. Also, there was something in the "C'mon Get Happy" book which described how Jeremy and Brian were taught to imitate a real drummer who played next to them, but was off-camera.

09-25-2002, 03:32 AM	#7
richheart Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 25, 2002 Posts: 205	David, Shirley, and Brian (drummer) were the only real musicians as far as I know. David was a good guitarist. But you only hear him jam once in the first episode. It's when they are practicing in the garage.

09-25-2002, 04:25 PM	#9
richheart Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 25, 2002 Posts: 205	I don't know whether David played guitar on any PF recordings, or if Brian played drums on any. But they both could play well enough to fake it really well. I agree that Danny did look like a good bass player, even though he couldn't play. But he said that when he started he used to strum the bass, which was wrong. They taught him to pluck it. Danny also used a funky looking spiral guitar cable, like on a telephone. No professional musician would use a cable like that.

02-18-2004, 01:30 PM	#10
GrampaSquirrel Member Forum Hawk Join Date: Feb 18, 2004 Posts: 4	I seen Danny Bonaduce on a rare documentry clip, in which where he was singing and playing his guitar and performed "Blue Suede Shoes" with two other guys in the background. He really sounded like Chuck Berry when he was doing his act on "The Sun Records Story" which was aired on PBS.

02-21-2004, 06:28 PM	#11
darryl Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Feb 01, 2001 Location: dayton, OH U.S.A Posts: 23	Danny? Don't you mean DAVID.

08-10-2006, 01:06 AM	#12
m60tankdriver Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 09, 2006 Location: fresno Posts: 13	David could sing and play guitar, though I've heard he could even play drums fairly well. Yet he's never credited in the albums on guitar, only vocals. Shirley recorded backup vocals, but the producers say her tracks were ramped up for the tv show versions of the song, and downplayed in the record versions. Danny obviously couldn't play a bass guitar, and judging from the only record he released, couldn't sing, either. Whether Susan could play a keyboard at all is a question of debate, but studio musician Mike Melvoin did so in the recording sessions. Studio musician Hal Blaine did all the drumming for both Jeremy and Brian. As for Suzanne's tamborine/triangle playing abilities....well, I guess sometimes she happened to be hitting them in sync with the music, and sometimes not.... Interesting that in the final number of "The Red Woodloe Story", since Red (William Shallert) is on guitar, David picks up the tambourine, and shows how a tambourine is supposed to be played. Poor little Tracy....

08-18-2006, 03:39 PM	#13
jonny velveteen Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 17, 2006 Location: A cantina far, far away... Posts: 32	Hold on a sec. I remember looking through a book once of the worst celebrity albums, and Danny was in there. His LP came out around the time he was doing TPF, '73 I think. He sang on it. I'm curious about just how bad it actually was. Does anybody have the album?
	Last edited by jonny velveteen; 08-19-2006 at 07:59 AM.

07-25-2007, 02:14 AM	#15
Mikado Main st bridge Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 25,880	i'm surprised that Shirley only did a few BG vocals, after all, she'd been acting in movie musicals since the 1940s