Bless the Beasts and Children (song)

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For other uses, see Bless the Beasts and Children.
“Bless The Beasts And Children”
“Bless The Beasts And Children” cover
The original "Bless The Beasts and Children" U.S. single picture sleeve.
Single by The Carpenters
from the album "A Song for You"
A-side "Superstar"
Released August 12, 1971
Format 7" single
Recorded Summer 1971
Genre Pop
Length 03:09
Label A&M Records
1289
Writer(s) Barry De Vorzon; Perry Botkin, Jr.
Producer Jack Daugherty
The Carpenters singles chronology
"Superstar" (1971) "Bless the Beasts and Children" (1971) "Hurting Each Other" (1971)
A Song for You track listing
Side one
  1. "A Song for You"
  2. "Top of the World"
  3. "Hurting Each Other"
  4. "It's Going to Take Some Time"
  5. "Goodbye to Love"
  6. "Intermission"
Side two
  1. "Bless the Beasts and Children"
  2. "Flat Baroque"
  3. "Piano Picker"
  4. "I Won't Last a Day Without You"
  5. "Crystal Lullaby"
  6. "Road Ode"
  7. "A Song for You (Reprise)"

The theme song to the 1971 film Bless the Beasts and Children was performed by The Carpenters, and was featured on the B-side to their then-recent hit, "Superstar". The B-side charted on the Billboard Hot 100, eventually topping out at #67.[1][2] In order to promote it, The Carpenters performed it on their television series, Make Your Own Kind Of Music as "F" for "Film Music"[3].

The original soundtrack included two different versions of "Bless The Beasts And Children", the other being an orchestral instrumental arrangement by composers Barry DeVorzon and Perry Botkin, Jr., and the original "Nadia's Theme", which was listed as "Cotton's Dream". "Cotton's Dream" was also used as the theme song to the 1973 soap opera, "The Young and the Restless"[4][5][6].

The song was originally released on the original soundtrack, and a slightly different version was released on the Carpenters' 1972 LP, A Song for You on June 13, 1972[7]. The original soundtrack had a vibraphone playing the melody in the introduction, while the "A Song for You" version, released on the single, contained an oboe stating the melody. The two versions (soundtrack and album versions) faded out toward the end, but in 1985, Richard Carpenter re-mixed the song so it does not fade out in the end. He also added a harder bass-line.

Chart Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 67
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 28
Oricon (Japanese) Singles Chart 85

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Carpenters/
  2. ^ The Carpenters Summary
  3. ^ http://thecarpenters.tv/
  4. ^ The Young and the Restless theme lyrics
  5. ^ Bless the Beasts & Children (1971) - Soundtracks
  6. ^ The Young and the Restless
  7. ^ Comparison between original soundtrack and the "A Song for You" LP
v • d • e
The Carpenters
Karen Carpenter · Richard Carpenter
Discography
Ticket to Ride (1969) · Close to You (1970) · Carpenters (1971) · A Song for You (1972) · Now & Then (1973) · The Singles: 1969-1973 (1973) · Horizon (1975) · A Kind of Hush (1976) · Live at the Palladium (1976) · Passage (1977) · The Singles: 1974-1978 (1978) · Made in America (1981) · Voice of the Heart (1983) · Lovelines (1989) · As Time Goes By (2004)
Videography
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