Richard and Karen had decided to sign as "Carpenters", without the definite article. Karen said they had been influenced in the name by the pop music group Bread.
During their 14-year career, The Carpenters recorded 11 albums, 31 singles, five television specials, and a short-lived television series.
Their career ended in 1983 by Karen's death from heart failure brought on by complications of anorexia. Extensive news coverage surrounding the circumstances of her death increased public awareness of eating disorders.
The duo's brand of melodic pop produced a record-breaking run of hit recordings on the American Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts, and they became leading sellers in the soft rock, easy listening and adult contemporary genres.
Richard Carpenter was the creative force behind the Carpenter sound. An accomplished keyboard player, composer and arranger, music critic Daniel Levitin called Richard Carpenter "one of the most gifted arrangers to emerge in popular music." In a period when contemporary music was dominated by heavy rock, their smooth harmonies were not in step with the trends of the day.
The sound the Carpenters were going for was rich and melodic, along the same vein as the harmonies found in their contemporaries The Beach Boys and the The Mamas & the Papas, but with greater fullness and orchestration. Most of Richard's arrangements were classical in style, with frequent use of strings and occasional brass and woodwind instruments as well.
Richard's work with Karen was heavily influenced by the music of Les Paul, whose overdubbing of the voice of partner Mary Ford allowed her to be used as both the lead and harmonizing vocals. By use of multi-tracked recordings, Richard was able to use Karen and himself for the harmonies to back Karen's lead.
The overdubbed background harmonies were distinctive to the Carpenters, but it was the soulful, engaging sound of Karen's lead voice that made them so recognizable.
Karen did not possess a powerful singing voice, but when miked closely she conveyed a great deal of feeling. Tight miking required perfect pitch, which came easily to her. Richard Coles, a musician and broadcaster, commented: "No singer is so closely miked up so unforgivingly as Karen Carpenter. That is frightening for singers because the closer the microphone the more unforgiving it is in exposing the weaknesses in a singer's voice."
Karen's contralto voice was warm and distinctive. Though her vocal range spanned three octaves, Richard arranged their music to take advantage of the rich quality of Karen's lower range.
The Carpenters did not record a new album in 1974. The group had been touring extensively and the principals were exhausted. In Richard's words, "there was simply no time to make one. Nor was I in the mood." During this period, the pair released just one Hot 100 single, a Paul Williams/Roger Nichols composition called "I Won't Last a Day Without You".
Taken from their 1972 LP A Song for You, the Carpenters finally decided to release their original two years after its original LP release and some months after Maureen McGovern's 1973 cover. In March 1974, the single version became the fifth and final selection from that album project to chart in the Top 20, reaching No. 11 on the Hot 100 on May 25, 1974. Since "Top of the World" was at No. 11 and falling in 1974's first week and "Please Mr. Postman" was at No. 11 and rising in 1974's last week, the Carpenters failed all three times, by one position each time, that year to reach the top 10.
In place of the new album for 1974, their first greatest hits package was released, featuring new remixes of their prior hit singles, some with a newly recorded lead, and including newly recorded bridges and transition material so that each side of the album would play through with no breaks, something that Richard would come to regret. This compilation was entitled The Singles: 1969–1973, and topped the charts in the U.S. for one week, on January 5, 1974. It also topped the United Kingdom chart for 17 weeks (non-consecutive) and became one of the best-selling albums of the decade, ultimately selling more than 7 million copies in the U.S. alone.
Side A
A1. We’ve Only Just Begun (3:04)
A2. Top Of The World (2:56)
A3. Ticket To Ride (4:10)
A4. Superstar (3:49)
A5. Rainy Days And Mondays (3:40)
A6. Goodbye To Love (3:50)
Side B
B1. Yesterday Once More (3:50)
B2. It’s Going To Take Some Time (2:55)
B3. Sing (3:20)
B4. For All We Know (2:34)
B5. Hurting Each Other (2:46)
B6. (They Long To Be) Close To You (4:34)
Credits
- Arranged By, Orchestrated By, Keyboards – Richard Carpenter
- Art Direction – Roland Young
- Bass – Joe Osborn
- Drums – Hal Blaine, Karen Carpenter
- Engineer – Ray Gerhardt
- Flute, Tenor Saxophone [Tenor Sax] – Bob Messenger
- Guitar – Tony Peluso
- Harp – Gayle Levant
- Liner Notes – Digby Diehl
- Photography By – Neal Brisker
- Producer – Jack Daugherty (tracks: A1 to A6, B2, B4 to B6), Karen Carpenter (tracks: A2, B1, B3), Richard Carpenter (tracks: A2, B1, B3)
- Steel Guitar – Buddy Emmons
- Vocals [All Vocals] – Karen Carpenter, Richard Carpenter
- Woodwind – Doug Strawn, Earl Dumler, Jim Horn
Release: 1973
Genre: Pop, SoftRock
Style: Easy Listening
Label: A&M Records
Catalog# 87336 IT
Vinyl: Good
Cover: Slightly Damaged
€ 7,00
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