Shaun Cassidy

Certainly one of the biggest Pop sensations of the 1970's was Shaun Cassidy (the step-brother of the late David Cassidy). While they both were teen idols, each of the Cassidys were serious musicians and their tastes were much more Rock- related than the songs which scored them their chart hits. Not to say that their hits were not top quality Pop songs, as they were.

While David Cassidy performed quite often until his passing two years ago, Shaun Cassidy has not toured, in a concert setting, since 1980 (when he played his final concert to a massive crowd at the Houston Astrodome). Though he left his teen-idol days behind decades ago, he has been extremely busy as Cassidy has performed as an actor in many plays (such as "Bus Stop," "Mass Appeal," and "Pass/Fail") and even had a successful Broadway run with David Cassidy in, "Blood Brothers." He has also been a prolific writer and producer for several television shows including, y"American Gothic," "Invasion," "Emerald City," and "Ruby & the Rockits" (among others).

Cassidy brought his long-awaited tour (this was actually the second night of his current short tour) to the City Winery in Boston, Massachusetts (a first-rate venue and, currently, the best concert club in Boston) on July 30, 2019.

Beginning with the energetic "That's Rock and Roll" (originally done by ex-Raspberries leader, Eric Carmen), the sold out audience vocally (and loudly) welcomed the return of their former pin-up dream in the flesh. A guitar-riffed heavy take of The Ronettes' "Be My Baby," followed, seemingly as a nod to the man who was responsible for Cassidy's first hit, "Da Doo Ron Ron," Phil Spector. As the song was written by Spector, along with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, it was Spector's “Wall of Sound” production on the original version by The Crystals that made the song so iconic. Cassidy would have a mind-blowing story to share about Spector later in the evening.

While not a "Storytellers" show, Cassidy dished out several humorous tales of his life, and recounted some of the downsides of being the adulation of millions. Remembering the time his hair was ripped from his scalp by an overzealous fan; limousines he was riding in nearly being tipped over; and people scaling the fence at his home. Cassidy jokingly said these incidents contributed to his "PTSD."

While the teeny-bopper tag has always been associated with his recording days (so much so, that he donned an acoustic guitar for a reworked version of Rick Nelson's "Teenage Idol"), Cassidys personal musical tastes loomed much heavier and worldlier, as he played The Who's "So Sad About Us" and did a shortened version of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" (complete with a high-pitched vocal imitation of Robert Plant).

Showing his musical proficiency, Cassidy went from playing rhythm guitar to piano and even pulled out a couple of songs he had written like, "Taxi Dancer" (solely composed by Cassidy), and "Cool Fire" (from his fifth album "Wasp"), a group venture tune he penned with Todd Rundgren and Roger Powell from Utopia, and drummer John Wilcox.

A very touching moment came when he talked about his memories of David Cassidy (telling about sharing a bunk bed with him and how he taught him to drive - at the age of nine!), and performed an impassioned version of The Partridge Family's, "I'll Meet You Halfway," as a tribute to the departed David.

Still quite proud of his days in musical theater (a natural for Cassidy, being the son of two icons of musicals, Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy) he resurrected "Tell Me It's Not True" from "Blood Brothers."

The set closed with a spirited "Hey Deanie" (another song originally performed by Carmen), which led into an encore of "Da Doo Ron Ron," that was accompanied by a chilling story about Spector. Cassidy said that when he was shooting the video for his monster 1977 smash, he thought it would be great to get Spector to appear in the video, and he and the crew went to Spectors mansion. Unfortunately, Spector only allowed Cassidy into his home and proceeded to hold him at gunpoint for "four hours." Cassidy did eventually escape unharmed, after he was forced to listen to Spector's jukebox of songs (which were all produced by Spector).

During “Da Doo Ron Ron," several crowd members made their way to the stage and were looking at Cassidy with starry eyes, showing that, a mere 40 years away from the Pop scene has not dampened his appeal at all.