A steady, sunlit pledge—The Partridge Family turn “Twenty-Four Hours A Day” into the sound of promising to show up, not just to feel.
Let’s set the anchors right up front. “Twenty-Four Hours A Day” is a deep cut (not a single) on the hit LP Sound Magazine (Bell Records, August 1971), where it appears on side B, track 3. It was written by Wes Farrell and Danny Janssen, produced by Wes Farrell, and recorded at United Western (Hollywood)—session logs place it among the May 5, 1971 dates for the album. While the track itself didn’t chart, it served as the B-side to the Top-13 U.S. single “I Woke Up in Love This Morning,” so its chart story rides with that A-side’s success (Hot 100 #13 U.S.; #4 Canada). The parent album peaked at #9 on Billboard’s Top LPs and earned RIAA Gold in September 1971.
If you first met the song on television, your memory’s spot-on. Season 2, Episode 9, “A Tale of Two Hamsters” (aired Nov 12, 1971) features “Twenty-Four Hours A Day” alongside its flip-side hit; the episode turns the tune into a little slice of family life—takes in the studio, mischief, and all—which is how so many Partridge songs slipped into living rooms before the vinyl wore its first groove.
On paper, the personnel read like a postcard from early-’70s Los Angeles pop craft. The Sound Magazine core team—Hal Blaine (drums), Max Bennett (bass), Dennis Budimir and Louis Shelton (guitars), Larry Knechtel and Mike Melvoin (keys), with the Ron Hicklin Singers around David Cassidy’s lead and Shirley Jones in the blend—gives the record its clean, confident swing. It’s the Partridge studio sound at full warmth: pro players keeping the feel neighborly, not flashy.
Spin the track and notice how unhurried it is. The rhythm section reassures more than it insists; guitars throw tiny glints at phrase-ends like afternoon light on a windshield; the backing voices bloom just long enough to say you’re not alone and then step back. Cassidy doesn’t oversell the lyric—he rides it. That restraint is the generosity here. The song promises attention every hour not by shouting the vow but by behaving like it’s already true: steady tempo, clear melody, no wasted motion.
Lyrically, “Twenty-Four Hours A Day” is one of those Partridge Family miniatures that understands grown feelings in simple words. The title sounds like puppy love; the performance makes it practice. Older ears know the difference. It’s not just I’m crazy about you; it’s I will keep showing up—on the long Tuesday afternoons, in the small corners of ordinary time. That’s why this B-side has such a long half-life: it talks softly about constancy, and then the arrangement models it.
Placed on Sound Magazine, the cut helps explain why so many fans call this the group’s most consistently crafted LP. Side B runs “Summer Days,” “I Would Have Loved You Anyway,” “Twenty-Four Hours A Day,” “I Woke Up in Love This Morning,” and “Love Is All That I Ever Needed”—a sequence that moves from light on the water to a radio-ready crest and back to intimacy. Slotting “Twenty-Four Hours A Day” right before the hit single acts like a hinge: it steadies your pulse so the big chorus of “I Woke Up…” can shine without blowing the room’s gentle temperature.
There’s also the pleasure of memory. Because the song traveled as a B-side and a TV performance rather than as a headline single, it belongs to kitchens and garages more than countdowns—a tune you heard while the episode’s story unfolded, then found again on the LP’s second side. That domestic scale is part of its charm; it’s music for being with, not just playing at.
A few scrapbook pins, neat and true: Artist: The Partridge Family. Song: “Twenty-Four Hours A Day.” Writers: Wes Farrell / Danny Janssen. Album: Sound Magazine (Bell, Aug 1971), B3; recorded May 5, 1971 at United Western (Hollywood); producer: Wes Farrell. B-side to “I Woke Up in Love This Morning” (US #13, Canada #4). Album peaks: Billboard Top LPs #9, RIAA Gold. TV: featured in S2E9 “A Tale of Two Hamsters.”
Play it again and notice what returns. Not a grand confession—a habit of care. The beat walks beside you; the melody keeps your shoulders easy; the promise rings true because it’s given without theatrics. That’s the lasting grace of “Twenty-Four Hours A Day”: a small, steady light left on, exactly where you need it.