A bright, effortless smile of a song—friendship flipping into joy, the TV family’s first hello before the theme song found its words.
Essentials up top. Song: “Together (Havin’ A Ball)”. Artist: The Partridge Family. Writers: Shorty Rogers & Kelly Gordon. First appearance: used in the pilot episode’s opening (Season 1, Episode 1, aired September 25, 1970)—the only episode that doesn’t open with the series theme. Release history: not on the original 1970–73 studio LPs; first issued officially decades later on Come On, Get Happy! The Very Best of The Partridge Family (May 3, 2005) as a previously unreleased (“new release”) track, 2:22. Lead vocal (compilation/TV version): Ron Hicklin; production credit on the compilation tracks to Al Schmitt & Steve Douglas; Shorty Rogers credited as leader.
For many fans of a certain age, “Together (Havin’ A Ball)” is the very first musical breath of the Partridge world. Before “When We’re Singin’” (and later “C’mon Get Happy”) settled in as the show’s theme, the pilot rolled its opening credits over this sunny Rogers/Gordon tune—brisk guitars, handclaps that feel like neighbors on a front stoop, and harmonies that slide into place like a well-worn jacket. It’s television doing what it did best in 1970: inviting you to sit down, meet the family, and hum along to something simple and kind. The series page spells out that singular pilot choice—the only time the show skips its theme and uses “Together (Havin’ A Ball)” instead.
There’s a small but telling studio story here, too. The 2005 liner notes (tracked on the compilation’s page) identify Ron Hicklin—mainstay of the Ron Hicklin Singers, the vocal team behind so much Partridge polish—as the lead voice on “Together (Havin’ A Ball).” That lines up with the show’s early production reality: in the very first weeks, the plan was to rely on seasoned studio singers; only after producers heard David Cassidy’s demos did they shift the lead mic his way after the first couple of episodes. Which is why, when you revisit the pilot, you’re hearing Hicklin’s easy glide while you’re seeing Cassidy on screen—a neat snapshot of the show finding itself in real time.
Musically, the track is a lesson in economy. No psychedelic swirl, no studio pyrotechnics—just that tidy L.A. session craft that made the early records feel unhurried and friendly. On the 2005 release, the musician roll calls read like a who’s-who: Hal Blaine on drums and Max Bennett/Joe Osborn on bass across the set, Mike Melvoin/Larry Knechtel at the keys, and guitars from the usual A-team (the exact lineup varies cut by cut), with Shorty Rogers credited as leader on the “lost” pilot songs. The arrangement keeps everything close to the singer, like a conversation in a bright room—television-room intimacy translated to hi-fi.
What does it mean? Not much on paper—three breezy minutes about going places and doing things together—but a great deal in the body. The lyric’s modesty is the point. This isn’t a love-song declaration or a world-saving anthem; it’s the promise that company is enough to make the ordinary feel like a celebration. Place that sentiment at the start of a series about a family band, and you have a thesis in miniature: music as togetherness, togetherness as music.
That’s likely why older listeners still feel a tug the second the handclaps start. You can see the walnut console TV, hear the clink of dishes in the kitchen, and feel a room settle into the week’s story. The chorus doesn’t aim for goosebumps; it aims for welcome. The melody takes exactly the space it needs and leaves air for your own memory to walk in.
The song’s afterlife has its own gentle logic. For years, fans remembered it from the pilot and the occasional rerun. Then the 2005 set Come On, Get Happy! treated it as one of the show’s “lost songs,” finally giving it a proper stereo release and paper trail—complete with credits that clarify who’s singing and who steered the session. If you’re catalog-minded, that’s where timing and names settle: new-to-CD in 2005, 2:22, Hicklin on lead, Rogers & Gordon on the byline, with Schmitt/Douglas producing those unearthed tracks.
Heard now, “Together (Havin’ A Ball)” plays like a friendly doorway: step through and the Partridge universe is there—late-afternoon light, polite jokes, and a chorus you can carry into the rest of your evening. It doesn’t try to be more than it is, and that’s the charm. For a generation that learned to trust TV to bring a little warmth into Friday night, this small song still does its job the moment it starts: it makes the room feel shared.
Verified highlights: Song “Together (Havin’ A Ball)” (Shorty Rogers/Kelly Gordon); pilot opening use (Season 1, Episode 1, Sept 25, 1970); first official audio release on Come On, Get Happy! The Very Best of The Partridge Family (May 3, 2005), 2:22, credited lead vocal Ron Hicklin; compilation credits include Al Schmitt & Steve Douglas (production) and Shorty Rogers (leader).