Customer Reviews

Crossword Puzzle

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This LP originally came out in the spring/summer of 1973. Most of the songs came from their third season. This was their last charting LP. Bulletin Board, which followed Crossword, was released in the fall of 1973 in conjunction with their fourth season and became their final studio LP.

The songs are light and pop hit drenched. Made for AM airplay were songs like One Day At A Time, Sunshine, It Means I'm In Love With You and It Sounds Like You're Saying Hello. Unfortunately, no singles were released here in the US. Looking For A Good Time b/w Money Money was their official last US 45 released in 1974. Both songs were featured on Bulletin Board. As Long As There's You b/w Come On Love was released in Japan as was Sunshineb/w Now That You Got Me Where You Want Me. It's A Long Way To Heaven, a PF traditional ballad, became a PF favorite from this LP. Let Your Love Go was also good time pop/rock.

This re-issue by Buddha was to be released in Febuary of 2001 along with Shopping Bag (formerly re-issued by Razor & Tie),
and David Cassidy's second solo LP from 1972 called Rock Me Baby.
Buddha was to follow in the summer and fall of 2001 with Bulletin Board and David's solo LP's Dreams Are Nuthin' More Than Wishes... and Cassidy Live! There was also a PF collection of unreleased tracks from the show called Gems that was to follow by the end of 2001. David quickly put an end to the re-issues. There is little hope for their return to CD world. The decline of their popularity will continue without proof of re-issue of original material. There are rumors that this CD may be floating around out there along with Rock Me Baby. It's a shame we have to go underground for such trivial situations.

It's my opinion that all Partridge Family albums live and die by their hooks, and by that standard "Crossword Puzzle" fares very well. It's a given that any PF album has it's share of treacly love songs, but when luck strikes these can be some of the best PF tracks. The sexy-sounding (but utterly safe) "I've Got Your Love All Over Me" is a prime example -- the featherweight lyric about being immersed in love is buoyed by the trademark PF backup ooohs and aaaahs. And under everything else are the Bell sessionmen, like Hal Blaine and Larry Knetchell, providing the toe-tapping rhythms and melodies.
I can't say that all of "Crossword Puzzle" is as catchy as that one track, but there are plenty of memorable moments. I'd keep "One Day At A Time" (upbeat, definitely used in the show), "As Long As There's You" (downbeat, but heartfelt), "Now That You've Got Me..." (yeah, a long-winded title, but I dig that change in dynamic at the chorus), "Come On Love" (a jaunty lite-rocker), and "I've Got Your Love...". Of the remaining five, "Sunshine" seems well-intentioned, and "It's A Long Way To Heaven" has a nice vocal by David.

Though the subsequent PF album, "Bulletin Board," includes three or four audio gems, "Crossword Puzzle" is the last must-have disc, in my opinion. This reissue is quite well done, with excellent remastered sound that's bound to be an improvement on existing analog sources. I'd have given this album five stars, had the label included a bonus track, or been more adventurous when equalizing their digital master. This PFamily album, in particular, had some fairly dynamic moments, rhythmically-speaking, though they were always buried in the original AM-radio-friendly mixdown. Oh well, I guess Arista was more interested in 'preserving' the original sound, which is reasonable.

I think "Crossword Puzzle" is one of the Partridge Family's better albums overall. It's certainly a good selection for new listeners or casual fans, who might wish to expand their PF collection.

This Partridge Album was originally released in 1973 as the Partridge Money making machine was grinding to a halt. Unfortunately, here in the States, once the television show was officially cancelled, DJs and the music industry people truly believed that it was time to call it quits on the whole Partridge scene.....WRONG! Thirty four years later there are still some die-hard baby boomers singing along to these great tunes. Sadly, Crossword Puzzle, although thrown together from leftovers from "Notebook" tracks, had some great, more mature sounds han most of their previous material. But Crossword Puzzle and its successor, Bulletin Board, both great albums were shunned and overlooked by the pre-teens who normally snatched up these products with fevered regularity. Some of the stronger, more noteable tunes such as "As Long As There's You", "It Means I'm In Love With You" and C'mon Love" all had hit potential but like other gems from the previous "Notebook" LP were systematically ignored as the producers also went through the motions of ending the show. The last two LPs were never promoted and some baby boomers have told me that they never knew these existed! Sad but true! This artsy LP is worth it even for the pop stature of the LP cover which is a real crossword puzzle featuring superb liner notes by foremost Partridge researcher Lisa Sutton and a reissue on the back cover of the Japanese cover art (US original back cover art is happily intact on the booklet! Great LP, super 70s sound, wonderfully remastered and worth much more than it's retail price. Hopefully the execs at Arista/BMG will find it worthwhile to put the Bulletin Board and other great Cassidy LPs out on CD before us baby boomers are all dead!!!

Many fans of The Partridge Family often say that CROSSWORD PUZZLE is their least favorite album or the weakest work Wes Farrell ever assembled. I disagree. I thought then and think now that this is a GREAT POP work. Just the warmth and passion of David's voice: LOUDER in the mix than any other Partridge record, moves me like listening to Stevie Wonder's SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE. If you accept the 'nature' of the songs - the brevity of each and the 'sound/PF arrangements' then today you can easily 'hear' what you may have missed as an adolecent fan. All great works need to be re-evaluated in light of a more objective time. Looking back and listening now I think my ears were ahead of the time and, more importantly, the music was ahead of it's time. The song selection, production, outstanding vocal performances by Cassidy, and the dynamic mixes and modern mastering all add up to a classic pop album...to my ears, actually THE BEST, most consistant album of all. If you can set aside the sentimental memories and quit worrying about the lack of a commercial single release then you'll hear the genious of this collection of songs. When were record companies smart, rich with insight or pefect?

David had announced he was leaving at the end of the fourth season...Everyone could see and feel the growing decline in the show's popularity - which lead to a decline in interest in the music...So what does it matter? Wes delivered a GEM...And what boggles my mind is how he masterfully chose these songs and arranged them into an earthy, soulfull, feel-good presentation - with a level of sophistication that still maintained it's broad appeal...CROSSWORD is the most 'acoustic' album ever releaed by the PF..Very 'sunny' for sure. That is not an accident. It's brilliant. God Bless Wes, the musicians, background vocalists, song writers, the engineers and David and Shirley. Thanks for the magic and the endless years of enjoyment....Now for BULLETIN BOARD and all of the unrealeased tracks !!!!!

As one of the later PF albums, I found the music to be richer and more mature. I find the album to be a pleasure to listen to from beginnig to end.

After almost a TWO year wait, this CD is finally here!!! It was worth the time, as the remastering is GREAT, and finally brings us into the musicianship that the old BELL pressings so badly lacked.

Along with the Fifth Dimention's albums on Bell, the PF's albums always looked great, but often sounded like sandpaper upon the very first playing. Many 45 rpms, I remember returning, as they skipped upon the first playing. So here, at last, we have all the fidelity that was intended, and hopefully a release to give credence to one of the best studio groups ever!!

I can't recommend this enough, and only hope that "Bulletin Board" will be next, which will complete ALL the PF albums that were made. I would ALSO like to see a 2CD set of ALL the songs on the TV show, that never made it to an album, most notably "The Whale Song" which I constantly get requests for, however it was never issued!! Let's rectify that, because there are a lot of fans out here who know what talent this group had, and continues to have to this day. "It's a Long Way to Heaven" is certainly a standout ballad on this CD, and hopefully we will hear it a lot.

Highly recommended!

One of the Partridge Family's weakest sellers, "Crossword Puzzle" didn't even have a stateside 45-single release (Bell Records put out "Friend and a Lover" from "Notebook" instead!). Too bad, because the songs (mostly leftovers from the "Notebook" sessions) are terrific and David Cassidy's husky post-teen vocals are charming and warm. Opening with the kicker "One Day at a Time", it's clear that Cassidy knows his way around a hook by now, and he's fully in the bubblegum spirit. A trio of ballads ("As Long As There's You", "It's a Long Way to Heaven" and "Now That You've Got Me...") give the record a kind of AM-radio feel, and, while the songs are lovely, they make the overall tone of "Crossword Puzzle" seem a little staid. But the next few songs are upbeat, especially the album's best track, "It Sounds Like You're Saying Hello", which could've been a hit single. Waiting now for "Bulletin Board"...

This is not PF's greatest, but it's been unavailable for so long, it's a welcome release. You'll recognize most of the songs from the TV show. The next album in the series is Bulletin Board, hopefully BMG will release this as well. With a new PF series coming to VH-1, it would seem logical, especially since BB is one of their best.

Well, we're all feeling a little nostalgic these days, aren't we? I call this Partridge Family album "The Sunshine Album" because it always stuck out in my mind as sunny, happy, and upbeat from it's sunny yellow cover to "Sunshine," the gospelly-sounding song which it deliciously remastered as track number two. As a staunch supporter of The Partridge Family "sound," Crossword Puzzle is not a sentimental favorite from my childhood. I think that the Sound Magazine and Up To Date CD's evoke the memories of the "ba, ba, ba's" of a bygone era and of David Cassidy's funky clothes and beautiful face and the happiness of being young in the 70's. Crossword Puzzle is a completely different and evolved sound, more reminiscent of the mid to late 70's easy-listening music. However, as a 30-something Generation Xer, I'm falling in love with this album as a digitally remastered re-release. Not only is David Cassidy beautiful but he is just so talented! This album had no officially released singles and all reports say that the Notebook and Crossword Puzzzle tracks were recorded simultaneously and then haphazradly thrown onto one album or the other and then released just months apart. However, some gorgeously lush and decadent songs surface on this album: Tony Romeo's "As Long As There's You," is the standout ballad, showcasing the marvelous voice of Mr Cassidy. "Come on Love," written by Cashmen & West, is a rolicking good time pop song as is the gospel-themed "Sunshine," for which all I can say is that if it's the Church of David Cassidy, then I want to be a member! "It's You," a Cymball & Clinger ballad, sounds a little bit like Tom Jones to me, but when David Cassidy warbles, "Hello, Baby, it's me again once more" in that husky, sexy voice of a very "old-soul" 23-year old teen idol, all I can say is "Hello BABY!" This album,to me, should have been part of a two-CD set comprised of Notebook (the sad, easy-listening late 70's-style PF ballads) and Crossword Puzzle (the happy, joyous, "full of love," easy-listening PF)that really appeals much more to me now at 35 than it did in the 1970's as an adolescent. Crossword Puzzle is a very good album, but not in the traditional PF sound of the earlier three albums (Album, Up To Date and Sound Magazine). However, many of the songs on CP were aired in the television show, so many nostalgic viewers will really enjoy this album. Honestly, David Cassidy can sing any song and make it sound fantastic; this album is no exception. Additionally, the remastering of CP is phenomenal; the new liner notes by Lisa Sutton are always insightful. I got this CD with the Rock Me Baby re-release(fantastic!!) over a rainy Memorial Day weekend and it made a very rainy weekend seem "sunny". Get this CD for the fact that it's fun, it's happy and David Cassidy sounds magnificent on it. As my mother put it the other day when she heard the new Crossword Puzzle CD playing in my car, "David Cassidy is really wonderful,isn't he?" Yes, yes he really is.

Of all the PF albums this is the one where the songs haunt me, there's something about the arrangements on this album that is just different to the others. I love to sing all of the songs often and it drives me mad that David has stopped this and later albums being released. Clearly he is not too embarrased to re-release songs on his latest album so he is being a bit hypocrytical. Look at all of the Monkees stuff available, pure fan heaven. C'mon David, get back on the bus and be happy!