Some songs capture the heart so completely, they never lose their shine.
In 1972, David Cassidy topped the charts with a heartfelt cover of “How Can I Be Sure” by the Young Rascals. The track quickly became a No. 1 hit in the United Kingdom and has endured as a timeless classic of the era.
The song was originally written by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati for the Young Rascals’ 1967 album, Groovin’. They released it as a single for their third album in August of that year, and gave the group their fourth Top 10 hit, and it peaked in fourth place on Billboard‘s Hot 100 two months later. “How Can I Be Sure” was one of the many songs Cavaliere wrote that was inspired by his girlfriend at the time, Adrienne Becchuri, and served as his muse while he was writing the Groovin’ album.
“She was very young, much younger than I was, and it was totally crazy. It culminated in ‘How Can I Be Sure.’ I woke up one day and said, ‘What the hell am I doing? I’m going out with a kid.’ It was strange,” Cavaliere admitted to Vinyl Dialogues in 2020. The co-vocalist and keyboard player of the Young Rascals was 24 years old when he met Becchuri, who was in high school at the time. “She ended up marrying a very dear friend of mine and they had [a] couple of children together, then unfortunately she passed. That’s the story.”
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“How Can I Be Sure” was such a popular track that many other artists also covered the song. In 1970, British singer Dusty Springfield released her version of “How Can I Be Sure” after singing it on the Des O’Connor Show that May. She hoped it would be super successful, but the single only spent one week in the UK Top 40 and only four weeks total on the chart.
The most popular cover, sung by American actor and musician David Cassidy, was for his second solo album titled Rock Me Baby. He also covered another Rascals hit, titled “I’ve Been Lonely Too Long” for the same record.
“Eddie Brigati and Felix Cavaliere [were] two of the great musical influences of my teenage years [when] I thought [the Rascals] were just about the best American pop band,” Cassidy wrote in his book Could It Be Forever? My Story in 2007. “[That song] brought back so many memories of that [time] for me.”
Produced by Wes Ferrell, who acquired the rights to the entire Rascals discography, “How Can I Be Sure” was the lead single for Rock Me Baby and peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the top song in the UK and Ireland for two weeks. It also had an impact on various countries around the world, such as Australia, the Netherlands and Germany.
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Born in New York City and raised in West Orange, New Jersey, by actors Jack Cassidy and Evelyn Ward, David Cassidy started acting and singing after graduating from high school. A year after signing with Universal Studios in 1969, he received his big break as Keith Partridge in the musical-sitcom The Partridge Family, which led him to stardom in the 1970s, and he eventually pursued a solo music career after the TV show ended after four seasons.
In addition to acting in many movies and TV shows throughout the 1980s, 1990s and the early 2000s, Cassidy released 12 solo studio albums, three live albums and six compilations.
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He revealed in 2008 at a fundraiser for the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Council of Saratoga County, New York, that he struggled with alcoholism. The actor eventually recovered but dealt with many health issues in 2017. In November of that year, he was hospitalized for kidney and liver failure, and though doctors tried to keep him alive before a transplant was available, he passed away on Nov. 21, 2017, at 67 years old. According to his daughter, Katie Cassidy, who is also an actress, she revealed in a now-deleted tweet that her father’s last words were “so much wasted time.”
“This will be a daily reminder for me to share my gratitude with those I love, as to never waste another minute. Thank you,” she continued.
“How Can I Be Sure” and all of Cassidy’s discography are available to listen to on streaming platforms. In addition, all four seasons of The Partridge Family can be streamed for free on Tubi and The Roku Channel, or rented for $0.99 on Apple TV.
Related: 1970 No. 1 Hit Became a Beloved Breakup Anthem
