| Close to You | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by The Carpenters | ||||
| Released | August 19, 1970 | |||
| Recorded | 1970 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 38:35 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer | Jack Daugherty | |||
| The Carpenters chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
Close to You was the second album by the Carpenters, released in August 1970. In 2003, the album was ranked number 175 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[2] The album contains the hit singles "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun." "(They Long to Be) Close to You" was the duo's first big hit that gained the Carpenters international reputation for a decade. The album peaked at #2 in the Billboard Albums Charts, but reached #1 on its Canadian counterpart.[3]
Contents |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "We've Only Just Begun" | Roger Nichols, Paul Williams | 3:04 |
| 2. | "Love Is Surrender" | Ralph Carmichael | 1:59 |
| 3. | "Maybe It's You" | John Bettis, Richard Carpenter | 3:04 |
| 4. | "Reason to Believe" | Tim Hardin | 3:03 |
| 5. | "Help!" | John Lennon, Paul McCartney | 3:03 |
| 6. | "(They Long to Be) Close to You" | Burt Bacharach, Hal David | 4:33 |
| 7. | "Baby It's You" | Burt Bacharach, Mack David, Barney Williams | 2:56 |
| 8. | "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" | Burt Bacharach, Hal David | 2:52 |
| 9. | "Crescent Noon" | John Bettis, Richard Carpenter | 4:09 |
| 10. | "Mr. Guder" | John Bettis, Richard Carpenter | 3:15 |
| 11. | "I Kept On Loving You" | Paul Williams, Roger Nichols | 2:17 |
| 12. | "Another Song" | John Bettis, Richard Carpenter | 4:23 |
We've Only Just Begun started out as a commercial for Crocker Citizen's Bank in 1970, composed by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols. The commercial showed a couple getting married and starting their life together. Richard Carpenter decided it was a great tune for their next album, "Close to You." In August 1970, it became the Carpenters' second RIAA Certified Gold Single. Richard regards this as the duo's signature song.
Originally written by Ralph Carmichael for the early contemporary Christian musical "Tell It Like It Is," Love Is Surrender was a song Richard and Karen heard during their teen years. Several of the overtly Christian lyrics were changed for this version, notably from "Without Him, love is not to be found" to "Without love you are not to be found" and "Love is surrender to His will" to "Love is surrender if you care." The arrangement is based on one recorded by Carmichael on his album, "I Looked For Love." The original Carmichael recording was mid-tempo, but Richard recorded it up-tempo with extra percussion.
Maybe It's You is a song written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis for their previous band, Spectrum. It's a very low-key song, with an oboe solo by Doug Strawn.
Reason to Believe is a song composed by Tim Hardin in the 1960s. Rod Stewart made a hit with this song in 1971, although it was the B-side to the even more popular "Maggie May." The Carpenters liked it, and Karen claimed in a live concert that the reason why they love the song is because it was one of the first songs they performed together as a group.[4]
Help! is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in early 1965. Richard has stated that he was inspired by three "B's": The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Burt Bacharach. Carpenters produced three Beatles covers ("Ticket to Ride," "Help," and "Can't Buy Me Love," the last from Your Navy Presents). (They also included a Beach Boys cover "Fun, Fun, Fun" on their Now & Then album, and recorded Burt Bacharach covers.)
(They Long to Be) Close to You was the first composition by Burt Bacharach and Hal David the Carpenters covered. The song was released time and time again during the sixties, but didn't do well at all, until the Carpenters did a cover on it. It ultimately became Richard and Karen Carpenter's first RIAA Certified Gold Single, as well as their first Billboard Hot 100 single that reached the Top 10. It stayed at #1 for 4 weeks, and became the Carpenters' iconic song.
This music was used as a soundtrack in a Hong Kong film, So Close. The story is about a woman who used this tune to hypnotize all of the security officer and get control of the main security.
Baby It's You is a song composed by Burt Bacharach, Barney Williams, and Mack David. It was sung by Richard and Karen in 1970, and performed on their TV show, "Make Your Own Kind of Music."
I'll Never Fall in Love Again is the third consecutive Burt Bacharach composition on this album. It was included on their medley the following year, on the album "Carpenters." According to Tom Riddle of "Your Navy Presents," there was a 29 vocal harmony on the song. Originally part of the score for Bacharach and David's 1968 musical "Promises, Promises," the song had provided a top-ten hit for Dionne Warwick in January 1970.
Originally performed by Karen and Richard in the California State University Long Beach choir in 1969, Crescent Noon is a song composed by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis. The song describes the gloomy months of fall and winter:
"Green September burned to October brown.
Bare November led to December's frozen ground.
The seasons stumble 'round;
our drifting lives are bound to a falling crescent noon."
This song was dedicated to Richard Carpenter and John Bettis's boss at Disneyland, Vic Guder. It was a bit of a last tease to the man who fired the duo. They were hired to play old-time music on piano and banjo at the park's "Coke Corner" on Main Street U.S.A., but they persisted in playing contemporary tunes that the patrons requested. The lyrics say:
You're everything a robot lives for: walk in at nine and roll out the door at five. You reflect the company image; you maintain their rules to live by. Shine your shoes, let's keep a neat haircut now that you're wearing a coat and tie.... Someday soon you may realize you've blown your life just playing a game where no one wins but everyone stays the same.
Many of their later recordings that were composed in the late 1960s were written during their Disneyland career.
A song written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols, it features Richard on lead vocals.
Another Song was another Carpenter/Bettis creation that was very different from the typical Carpenters song and is separated into two halves; a vocal part (0:00-1:45) and an instrumental part (1:45-4:22). The song opens with a short prelude based on the harmony and melodic contour of the accompanied recitative "And, lo! the angel of the Lord came upon them" from Part I of George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah (1742).
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| United States | 2 |
| United Kingdom | 23 |
| Japan | 53 |
| Australia | 16 |
| Canada | 1 |
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