⭐ Official Review [Album]: "A SONG FOR YOU" (SP-3511)

HOW WOULD YOU RATE THIS ALBUM?

  • ***** (BEST)

    Votes: 56 70.0%
  • ****

    Votes: 20 25.0%
  • ***

    Votes: 3 3.8%
  • **

    Votes: 1 1.3%
  • *

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    80
Billboard album review for A Song For You July 01, 1972

Billboard%20Carpenters%20ASFY%20Album%20Review%20July%2001%201972.png~original

Not sure if anyone realised, but this is the very review that caused Jack Daugherty's demise. Richard flipped when he read the words "Superb Jack Daugherty production"...and the rest is history. Very cool to see this, I'd never seen the actual review before!
 
14th Grammy Awards was telecast on March 14, 1972.
Karen Carpenter first thanks Jack Daugherty, "..our producer..", almost immediately at the podium.
(Eligibility October 16,1970-October 15,1971.)
Richard Carpenter is quick to mention him, first and approvingly, the previous year on the 13th Grammy Awards telecast (March 16,1971).
This album released 6/13/72, the Billboard Review July 1972, and Jack Daugherty was fired sometime afterward?
(The previous Close To You and Carpenters Albums were Nominated for Album of The Year.)
No other albums were ever Nominated?

The rest, as Stephen points out, is History.

But, what am I missing?
 
I think Richard and Karen played along with the public spin that Jack Daugherty was their producer, even though Richard really did all the production work starting with their very first album, because they didn't want to cause problems. But I given all the production work Richard put into A Song for You, and then to see Jack Daugherty's name at the top of that review, as if he were the one who did it all ... well, I can understand why that would infuriate Richard.
 
I think Richard and Karen played along with the public spin that Jack Daugherty was their producer, even though Richard really did all the production work starting with their very first album, because they didn't want to cause problems. But I given all the production work Richard put into A Song for You, and then to see Jack Daugherty's name at the top of that review, as if he were the one who did it all ... well, I can understand why that would infuriate Richard.

The problem in Richard's eyes was probably also that the production credit to Jack Daugherty, once a record was released, would be there forever more. It's still there today on all the CD covers etc. So he probably wanted to put a stop to that trend as soon as he felt able to.
 
The title Song got me to thinking:
For those privileged to see Carpenters in concert...
was
A Song For You

ever performed 'live' ?
(It was lip-synced on the Bob Hope Television Special --?).
Speaking of this truly a great song, was it on the 'B-' side of any 45-single?
How many Carpenters' compilations was it on--before the 'cd' explosion ?
 
The title Song got me to thinking:
For those privileged to see Carpenters in concert...
was
A Song For You

ever performed 'live' ?
(It was lip-synced on the Bob Hope Television Special --?).
Speaking of this truly a great song, was it on the 'B-' side of any 45-single?
How many Carpenters' compilations was it on--before the 'cd' explosion ?

I don't ever recall any set lists where they performed this song live, it's something I've always wondered. It definitely wasn't ever featured on a single B-side unless there was some obscure single in South America or some other far flung territory.
 
I don't ever recall any set lists where they performed this song live, it's something I've always wondered. It definitely wasn't ever featured on a single B-side unless there was some obscure single in South America or some other far flung territory.

A Song For You is the perfect song for a concert setting, talk about a closing goodbye song...it would be something that would have stuck in my mind had I ever been to a Carpenters concert and this was the last song Karen sang to the audience. It makes no sense why it wasn't performed live in concert, perhaps another good question for Richard.
 
The title Song got me to thinking:
For those privileged to see Carpenters in concert...
was
A Song For You

ever performed 'live' ?
(It was lip-synced on the Bob Hope Television Special --?).
Speaking of this truly a great song, was it on the 'B-' side of any 45-single?
How many Carpenters' compilations was it on--before the 'cd' explosion ?
I saw them in 72 and 74. I don't remember hearing A Song For You performed at either - I think they were focusing mostly on their singles at the 72 show, and Karen was only out front part of that show. At the 74 show they were playing their better known singles and the oldies medley. That's about all I can tell you, except that she absolutely sparkled on stage. I think the reviewer for the local paper even described her in the 74 show that way. :wink:

It's possible that in their Vegas shows they tried it out as was portrayed in the KC Story, or it may have been 'artistic license' in the film to have that song included in the sound track.
 
Thanks for your personal perspective on seeing them perform live, Song4u !
I enjoy reading the descriptions from those who had that unique opportunity !

Here, excerpts from October 25, 1972 Review from Milwaukee (Sentinel) :
Carpenters Build Flawless Music, Stuart Milk....
"Carpenters...purveying their ballads to a crowd of 4774 takers..."
"Their work is predictable, saccharine, plastic, yet virtually flawless in its scoring and delivery."
"The throng at the auditorium, however, found no dilemma to contend with."
"The locals lavished praise on the group with lavish applause and two standing ovations. So Be It."
"Predictable, or not, the group luxuriates in lush, angelic, near perfect harmonies."
"Their stage presence is virtually nil, especially Richard's stiff and wooden banter."

Entire Article Here:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&sjid=WhEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2014,3357649&hl=en
 
I saw them in 72 and 74. I don't remember hearing A Song For You performed at either - I think they were focusing mostly on their singles at the 72 show, and Karen was only out front part of that show.

I know hindsight is a marvelous thing, but if I'd bought the ASFY album and then gone to see them in concert in 1972, I think I'd have been disappointed that they didn't perform A Song For You live. It's my favourite song from the whole album (it even bookends it!) and is just made to either open or close a show like theirs.

I wonder if it was tried out in rehearsals and just didn't work, or whether they simply never considered it for inclusion in their live set for some reason? It would be a great question for Richard as Chris says.
 
I know hindsight is a marvelous thing, but if I'd bought the ASFY album and then gone to see them in concert in 1972, I think I'd have been disappointed that they didn't perform A Song For You live. It's my favourite song from the whole album (it even bookends it!) and is just made to either open or close a show like theirs.

I wonder if it was tried out in rehearsals and just didn't work, or whether they simply never considered it for inclusion in their live set for some reason? It would be a great question for Richard as Chris says.
Well, that's my memory from when I was a 12 year old. So it's possible it was sung and I don't remember it. It does seem logical they would have performed it, but as it wasn't a single, maybe not. I was so in awe of seeing Karen sing live I wasn't keeping track of the songs.
 
Fascinating discussion !
I realized , too, that the piano performance was re-recorded for
A Song For You
(as heard on : Red Anthology, Treasures, Remastered Classics ).
If considered 'classic' at that time (1972), why wasn't the song released as a Single ?
Why wasn't it performed in Concert(s) ?
Did Richard and Karen feel that It's Going To Take Some Time made a better single ?
(Well, it was not performed in concert to my knowledge, either--but, a single.)
And, again, A Song For You is given fantastic Carpenters' interpretation....I simply wonder if the duo felt so at that time.
(And, it is not on the CD Interpretations).
 
If considered 'classic' at that time (1972), why wasn't the song released as a Single ?

I can at least answer this part GaryAlan - Richard considered it too long to be released as a single and couldn't edit it down satisfactorily to make it short enough for radio play. So it suffered the same fate as I Just Fall I Love Again.

The piano was re-recorded in Dolby stereo by Richard in 1985.
 
During this album's heyday they were playing a lot of very large venues so maybe Richard thought "A Song For You" was probably too intimate a tune for that kind of venue. Just a possibility.

I have one of those "Classic Albums" DVDs of Phil Collins' Face Value where he talks about performing soft intimate songs in concerts. He said he loved performing his take on "If Leaving Me Is Easy" but finally gave it up because rowdy audience members kept ruining it with hoots 'n' hollers. (Admittedly, a Carpenters audience might not have been that way!)
 
I used to play this album ASFY on cassette in my little cassette player over and over and over with it's tin sounding speaker and I could still tell that I was listening to a great album with Karen's vocals especially. Now I have it on crystal clear CD ('s) and am still dumbfounded at how good this album was. Regardless of who got credit for producing it.
 
One of my favorites on this album is Bless the Beasts and Children.
That being said, one of my least favorite remixes is Bless the Beasts and Children !
The Soundtrack version is perfect.
The 1972 Album version is great (as in Remastered Classics), but not as great as the Soundtrack.
Finally, every re-mix where the ending does not fade with "....the children..." and just drops off
to a 'fast' cut-off (as in Classics 1987)---well, that really irritates me. It doesn't fade away properly.
Also, I wonder, is the video--as it appears on interpretations--edited for that release to include the animal scenes,
or, is that how the song was presented at the time ( of Make Your Own Kind of Music) ?
 
One of my favorites on this album is Bless the Beasts and Children.
That being said, one of my least favorite remixes is Bless the Beasts and Children !
The Soundtrack version is perfect.
The 1972 Album version is great (as in Remastered Classics), but not as great as the Soundtrack.
Finally, every re-mix where the ending does not fade with "....the children..." and just drops off
to a 'fast' cut-off (as in Classics 1987)---well, that really irritates me. It doesn't fade away properly.
Also, I wonder, is the video--as it appears on interpretations--edited for that release to include the animal scenes,
or, is that how the song was presented at the time ( of Make Your Own Kind of Music) ?

The trivia behind the recording of the lead on this song always fascinated me. If one listens to the original mix from '72, at around the 0:22 mark, you can hear someone open the door to the isolation booth where Karen was recording her lead, hence the soft "squeaking" noise heard on the track. They shuddered in recollection years later, and Richard and engineer Roger Young worked to notch this out on subsequent remixes.
 
Interesting, Chris,
I 'dug' out, and listened to, a 45-single of this song,
the Brazil single which has the soundtrack version,
and,
I do not hear anything resembling a "squeaking noise"
at any juncture of this recording.
In fact, the 45-single sounds fantastic !
 
The door noise occurs at the first "...this world they have no voice."

Here's an interesting experiment I tried. I took the right channel of the soundtrack version (straight from the vinyl), and the left channel of the A SONG FOR YOU album version and tried to sync them up. It took a number of tries, but eventually after I sped up the soundtrack version a little less than half of a percent, I got the two to stay in sync and sound like the same key for most of the song. The difference however is quite dramatic at the opening. In fact, it takes right up to "they have no voice" before Karen's vocals sound like they lock in place.

Album version left -------soundtrack right:


Harry
 
Nice work, Harry.
Still, I am not hearing 'the sound' on any recording I possess.
Then again, could be my aging ears.
But, even so, was there not multiple 'takes' on this recording--at the time--
such that, upon playback, Karen and Richard would have caught the offending noise
before the tape made it to the pressing plant ?
Was there only the One Lead vocal take done for this song?
 
Nice work, Harry.
Still, I am not hearing 'the sound' on any recording I possess.
Then again, could be my aging ears.
But, even so, was there not multiple 'takes' on this recording--at the time--
such that, upon playback, Karen and Richard would have caught the offending noise
before the tape made it to the pressing plant ?
Was there only the One Lead vocal take done for this song?

No, that's just it...they didn't catch it until much later - and it wasn't until '85 that Richard began tweaking. It's definitely there!
 
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