A soft-lit promise about first love and patience—The Partridge Family turning “To Be Lovers” into the sound of two young hearts learning how to say what they mean.
Let’s get the essentials anchored up front. “To Be Lovers” is an album cut—not a single—on The Partridge Family Album (Bell Records, October 1970). Written by Mark Charron, it appears on side two, track two and runs just under three minutes. Because it wasn’t issued as a 45, there’s no standalone chart peak; instead, its parent LP carried the banner, rising to No. 4 on Billboard’s Top LPs in early January 1971 and reaching No. 6 on Canada’s RPM 100, with an RIAA Gold certification following.
A detail that longtime fans love: on the released recording, the lead verses aren’t sung by David Cassidy. They’re handled by the studio vocal team (the Ron Hicklin Singers, including the Bahler brothers), while Cassidy steps forward for the bridge—a snapshot of those first sessions when the show’s studio architects were still deciding how much to put on their new teen idol’s shoulders. The track also sits amid the famed Wrecking Crew rhythm section (Hal Blaine, Joe Osborn, Larry Knechtel, Mike Melvoin and friends), whose unshowy precision keeps the song moving like a well-tuned carousel.
The song didn’t live only on vinyl. In Season 1, Episode 11 (“This Is My Song,” aired December 4, 1970), the family performs “To Be Lovers,” folding it into the show’s weekly rhythm where stories and records braided together in living rooms across America. If you remember the episode beats—Keith and Danny’s tug-of-war over authorship—the title itself becomes a little wink: growing up is as much about learning how to share as it is about learning how to sing.
Sonically, Wes Farrell’s production keeps the frame tidy: bright acoustic strum, a lightly stepping bass, tasteful electric guitar filigree, and stacked harmonies that arrive like sunlight along the curtains. It’s classic 1970 Los Angeles pop craft—clean, efficient, deeply musical—and you can hear how the band leaves air around the melody so those simple phrases land without fuss. The recording logs place “To Be Lovers” at an August 4, 1970 session at United Western in Hollywood; you can feel that late-summer ease in how the groove never hurries the singers.
What does it mean—especially to ears that have logged a few more years since the show’s first run? The lyric reads like a modest pledge. No grand promises, just the soft grammar of early romance: walking before you run, learning the difference between wanting and taking care. For many older listeners, that restraint is what makes the song feel honest. It remembers a time when love was mostly aspiration—notes passed, looks traded across a room, a chorus you hummed on the bus because you didn’t yet have the words. The track carries that gentleness without turning syrupy; it trusts the melody and the moment.
Placed next to the album’s big tent-poles—“I Think I Love You,” “Somebody Wants to Love You,” the instantly familiar “I Can Feel Your Heartbeat”—“To Be Lovers” plays a quiet but important role. It’s the one that reminds you why the project worked beyond the TV gimmick: there was craft in the seams. With pros in the engine room and a young star still finding where his voice fit, the record lets a small song do a big job—teach the listener how to breathe with it. That’s why, even without a chart number to its name, the tune still glows warm in memory.
And if you were there—consoles in the living room, shag carpet underfoot, weeknights that smelled faintly of TV dinners—the feeling comes back quickly. The song turns up and the room brightens a notch. You don’t need fireworks. You need a steady hand on the tempo and a chorus that understands how it feels to be almost brave.
Key facts, neatly filed: Artist: The Partridge Family. Song: “To Be Lovers.” Writer: Mark Charron. Album: The Partridge Family Album (Bell, Oct. 1970), side two, track two. Recording date: Aug. 4, 1970 (United Western, Hollywood). Vocal note: studio ensemble on verses; David Cassidy featured on the bridge. Single? No. Album peaks: Billboard Top LPs No. 4 (Jan. 1971), RPM (Canada) No. 6; RIAA Gold.
Play “To Be Lovers” now and you’ll hear what many of us missed when we were young: how a little song—sung with care, balanced just so—can outlast fashions and headlines. It doesn’t insist. It invites. And sometimes, that invitation is exactly what the heart needs.