B-side "Don't Blame It on Me" Format 7" single Label Valiant | Released 1966 Genre Pop | |
Length 3:25 (album)
3:13 (single) | ||
"Cherish" is a pop song written by Terry Kirkman and recorded by The Association. 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. 2 song of 1966. In Canada, the song also reached number one.
Contents
The single release of the song was slightly edited by removing one of the two "And I do cherish you" lines near the end of the song. This edit was done as a means of keeping the track from exceeding the three-minute mark, as radio programmers of the era frowned upon songs that went beyond three minutes. 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.
Session musician Doug Rhodes, also member of The Music Machine, played the Celesta on the recording. Studio player Ben Benay played guitar on the recording. Curt Boettcher added some vocals, most notably the high-pitched "told you" and "hold you" on the final verse. The track was recorded at a converted garage studio owned by Gary S. Paxton, who engineered the sessions along with Pete Romano.
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."
David Cassidy version
David Cassidy recorded his own version on his 1972 album Cherish. His version reached number nine on the Hot 100 chart, spent one week at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart, peaked at number three in Canada and hit number one in both Australia and New Zealand.
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), The Four Tops, Jodeci, Barry Manilow, Pat Metheny, Kenny Rogers & the First Edition, and Glee which incorporates elements from the Madonna song with the same title.
The original Association version of the song appears in the John Hughes film Pretty in Pink and The Nanny season 5 episode, "The Engagement". It also appears in the end title credits for season 1 and 2 finales of HBO's The Comeback and is considered a signature piece of the show.
On Gilmore Girls season 3, episode 22 "Those are Strings, Pinocchio", this song is performed by the character Brad Langford at the Chilton graduation ceremony.