THE OFFICIAL REVIEW: "NOW & THEN" (SP-3519)

[Chris May]

“NOW & THEN”​

Catalogue Number: A&M SP-3519
Date of Release: 05/09/73
Chart Position- U.S.: #2; U.K.: #19; JAPAN: #1
Album Singles: "Sing”/"Druscilla Penny”
"Yesterday Once More"/”Road Ode”
Medium: Reel/Vinyl/8-track/Cassette/CD​

Track Listing:

1.) Sing 3:20 (Raposo)
2.) This Masquerade 4:50 (Russell)
3.) Heather 2:47 (Pearson)
4.) Jambalaya (On The Bayou) 3:40 (Williams)
5.) I Can’t Make Music 3:17 (Edelman)
6.) Yesterday Once More 3:50 (Carpenter/Bettis)
7.) Oldies Medley:
a. Fun, Fun, Fun 1:32 (Wilson/Love)
b. The End Of The World 2:25 (Dee/Kent)
c. Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home) 1:43 (Greenwich/Barry/Spector)
d. Deadman’s Curve 1:40 (Berry/Christian/Kornfeld/Wilson)
e. Johnny Angel 1:30 (Duddy/Pockriss)
f. The Night Has A Thousand Eyes 1:45 (Weisman/Wayne/Garrett)
g. Our Day Will Come 2:00 (Hilliard/Garson)
h. One Fine Day 1:40 (King/Goffin)
8.) Yesterday Once More [Reprise] 0:48 (Carpenter/Bettis)

Album Credits:

Produced by: Richard & Karen Carpenter
Arranged & Orchestrated by: Richard Carpenter
All Vocals: Richard & Karen Carpenter
Keyboards: Richard Carpenter
Bass: Joe Osborn
Drums: Karen Carpenter
Flute & Tenor Sax: Bob Messenger
Baritone Saxophone: Doug Strawn
Recorder: Tom Scott
Lead Guitar: Tony Peluso
Guitar: Tony Peluso & Gary Sims
Steel Guitar: Buddy Emmons & Jay Dee Maness
Oboe & Bass Oboe - English Horn: Earl Dumler
Voice of D.J.: Tony Peluso
Engineered by: Ray Gerhardt, Assistant: Roger Young
Mastering Engineer: Bernie Grundman
Art Direction: Roland Young
Photography - Front Cover: Jim McCrary
Illustrations - Front Cover: Design Maru; Inside Cover: Len Freas
Special thanks to: The Jimmy Joyce Children's Chorus on Sing, Ron Gorow, Hal Blaine: Drums on Jambalaya

 

[Dave]

For me, there's the Trip Down Memory Lane--the Nostalgia of the "Oldies Medley"--bookended, fo course, by one of my all-time fav's "Yesterday Once More"... (And Side 2 was actually ALL that I was even playing!)

Found a good "perfect playing" copy and of all the tunes on Side 1, "This Masquerade" has been my favorite (and rather Underground at that!) and "Jambalaya" was its most creative, along with the pleasant instrumental, "Heather"...


Dave

 

[Mark-T]

A consistently great album which sounds very different from each of those before it. "Masquerade" is an instant favorite. All the vocals on "Our Day Will Come" made me wish there was a full length version of this oldie.
In my book, this is Karen and Richard at their most fun, playful selves.
Still great after all these years...

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I thought this was a worthy followup to A SONG FOR YOU. The oldies medley gave it "something different" and the Side 1 tune stack was nicely varied. My favorites today from Side 1 are "I Can't Make Music" and "This Masquerade."

I did not "grow up" with the oldies from Side 2 (I was a little kid in the 60s), and I can see where someone who came of age in those years might think these versions are too slick and sanitized. Still, it's nice to hear the Carpenters rock out for a change, especially on "Da Doo Ron Ron." I can really see the nay-sayers point on this album, what with the oldies medley, "Sing," (too cute) and "Jambalaya" (just doesn't sound like authentic country.)

IOW, the Carpenters probably did not help their "image" with this album, but I like it. It's also my favorite of all their covers.

 

[aaflyer98]

I like this album ...especially side 1 and the first and last cuts on side 2. I'm not crazy about the 'oldies' medley, although I do like Karen's vocals. After knowing what we know now, I wish K&R would have had more studio time to do a complete album, and ditch the oldies medley all together, and have more original Carpenters songs. But...for what it is, it is and I like it.

 

[jfiedler17]

I admittedly don't listen to this album much besides "Yesterday Once More" - quite possibly R&K's all-time greatest A-side, and worth two stars towards the album's grade just by itself! (I gave it three.)

Personally, I've just never found it all that especially coherent of an album; I've never thought that any of the material on Side One [except for possibly "Jambalaya"], however great, really sounded like it fit on this album. [I love "This Masquerade", it could have been a single, but it just does not fit on here, IMO.] You've got half of a potentially dynamite concept-album in Side Two, but Side One, however great the material is, is a really wild, if not odd, mix of material that doesn't quite tie together, let alone blend with Side Two. But this is just my take on it, realize.

Actually, it'd be fun to make a personal mix CD with my own alternate-version-of-the-album, with one side's worth of original material (a "Now" side) all strung together by a nostalgic theme (i.e. "Yesterday Once More," "Those Good Old Dreams," etc.) - and a second side (a "Then" side) all of full-length remakes of '60s classics (i.e. "Please Mr. Postman," "There's a Kind of Hush," etc.) to build on the nostalgia theme of the first side, and then all capped off with the reprise of "YOM." That'd make a neat concept album, I think.

Jeff F.
... signing off to go assemble a tracklist! ...

 

[Dave]

Eh, amidst my praise, I have to point out what I dislike, as well: The sing-song quality of "Sing", is one thing (though I've gotten a certain fondness for it, over the years, and it least it's the FIRST tune, so I can, at least get it out of the way)

Randy Edelman would NOT be my choice of a songwriter; "I Can't Make Music" is a bit of an OXYMORON here...

And while "Fun, Fun, Fun" edges out the Beach Boys' original, "Dead Man's Curve" just sounds like Richard picked up a guitar and shouted it into one those "hands-free headset microphones"--ah, but that's what I like about it, too!

And "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" and "One Fine Day" aren't really what I enjoy hearing over and over again in the medley, either...

I also wonder why the grooves couldn't be "tricked up" to play a different broadcast, each time, too... :goofygrin:


Dave

 

[Harry]

This was the first Carpenters album to which I had a bit of a mixed reaction. My recollection of my first listen was that I got it a short time before me and some friends were going to go see the Carpenters concert at Valley Forge Music Fair. On those early playings I was a bit surprised at the oldies medley eating up an entire side, but it was fun to listen to and definitely different from all that preceded it. Ironically, much of the concert that Karen & Richard were doing that summer was also dedicated to the "Oldies Medley", though the concert edition was much harder edged. In the tape that we made of that concert, Richard refers to the NOW AND THEN album version of the "Oldies Medley" as being a "little softer version for the home system". That concert by the way, was pretty much identical to the one on LIVE IN JAPAN.

Of course, the standout song on this album is "Yesterday Once More". It bookends the "Oldies Medley" nicely, framing it perfectly. Notice that on the original issue LP and the Remastered Classic CD version, that "Yesterday Once More" is in a bit of an unfinished state, missing the little oboe fills toward the end. My understanding is that the album was rushed to the presses and once "Yesterday Once More" was actually finished off as a single, some LPs were issued with the newer version. This was also the last Carpenters album to use the ochre label.

The inclusion of Randy Edelman's "I Can't Make Music" must have been a result of Carpenters having toured with him in prior years. That also resulted in "Piano Picker" being used on the earlier A SONG FOR YOU album. There are many who dislike the remixes, but the remix of "I Can't Make Music" on the Japanese TREASURES set is a keeper. Here, the use of reverb on Karen's voice is very effective as she sings about "sittin' around with an old piano in a vacant room".

"Sing" had been a hit single a few months prior to NOW AND THEN's release, so it wasn't a surprise at all being track one on the album. I'd never thought much of "This Masquerade" back then, but it's become much more of a favorite in latter years.

"Heather" was an unexpected treat - another Carpenters instrumental. But this one was already familiar to TV viewers as having been used in the background to a TV commercial. One can imagine Richard hearing it on TV like he did "We've Only Just Begun" and thinking perhaps that lightning might strike twice.

"Jambalaya (On The Bayou)" was an early favorite, being uptempo and bouncy. I'd never heard the old Hank Williams song before, so to me, Carpenters version is the definitive one.

Like many, I wish that there were full versions of some of the oldies songs on side two. "Our Day Will Come", "The End Of The World", "Johnny Angel" are all sublime - just too short.

To Jeff F., your concept of redoing and expanding the theme has already been done - by Richard on the READERS' DIGEST set. On that set, disc two starts out with a section called ONLY YESTERDAY/DREAMS AND MEMORIES and then goes into the rest of the disc themed as YESTERDAY ONCE MORE/LOOKING BACK. See David Grant's page on this for the track listing: http://www.grantguerrero.com/carpenters/readers.html

The best part about that READERS' DIGEST SET is that it removes Tony Peluso as the "DJ" from the tunes in the "Oldies Medley". Unfortunately they left out "Da Doo Ron Ron", but other than that, with the inclusion of the live "Bacharach Medley", it makes a great listen - expanding on the fun of side two of NOW AND THEN.

I gave the album four stars as I felt it was a notch below what had come before it. The "Oldies Medley", while fun, does not wear well with repeated listens, and side one is a bit of a hodge-podge of tunes, not nearly as cohesive as the earlier albums were.

Harry
NP: NOW AND THEN, Carpenters

 

[enigma]

This album has alot of sentimental value to me because it was the first album I got by the Carpenters back in 1973 and I still have the beat up vinal record today having played it to death. I also gave it 4 stars because it is not quite as solid as the previous and followup much like the Tan Album was. I loved hearing Karen drum on all but one track and I do love the record I just think it was rushed and not alot of thought was given to the material on the record. I do not really care for Sing or Jambalaya. love this Masquarade, Heather, I can't make music and the Then side of the album just not quite as strong as the previous records.

 

[no1kandrfan]

I really enjoyed this album when it first came out, but admit that the medley - at least the DJ portion of it - became dated pretty quickly. Because of this I was quite happy with the Reader's Digest medley remixes - sans the DJ -and wish, like so many others, that there were extended versions of some of these songs - especially "Our Day Will Come".

The non-oldie tunes contain one of my all time favorites "This Masquerade". This song was, to me anyway, way ahead of its time - Karen was around 23, 24 right? "Sing" is great too, but having "This Masquerade" follow it really provided a contrast on Karen's vocal abilities; sophisticated and a bit sultry. Richard's piano, 'vocal', and arrangement are much different then anything else he'd done up to that point.

Now that I think about it, didn't Richard record some of his piano work while wearing a cast? I remember reading that somewhere.

This will always remain one of my all time favorite albums because Karen drummed her way through most of it, plus it was sort of a 'breather' from the excellent ASFY, while paving the way for their masterpiece - Horizon.

Mike

 

[aaflyer98]

I remember hearing that Richard did record some of this album with a cast on his arm or wrist, so you are absolutly right, Mike. Funny how that all comes back to me, but that I do remember reading too!

 

[Chris May]

I remember hearing that Richard did record some of this album with a cast on his arm or wrist, so you are absolutly right, Mike. Funny how that all comes back to me, but that I do remember reading too!

If I recall, Richard was out on a dirt bike with [I think] Tony Peluso and one or two of the other guys and crashed, isn't that right?

I think he broke either his hand or arm, amongst other breaks/injuries. You don't hear too much about this, but you guys *are* correct. I believe the incident (or should I say accident) was mentioned in Ray Coleman's book. -Chris

 

[Harry]

...Deadman's Curve is no place to play...



Harry

 

[close2u]

I have this story on tape somewhere... I interviewed a family friend and former neighbor of the Carpenters and he told me about this... I don't have all the details here with me but can remember the main points, I think...

Their neighbor (who built the Close to You and Only Just Begun Apartments) had recently purchased a new Honda cycle and Richard and Karen went out and bought themselves a pair after seeing his. They took them all out on afternoon and Richard and the neighbor were rounding a corner when someone else came around the corner the WRONG WAY!

Supposedly the Carpenters' management came out and took the bikes away after they got word of the accident! I remember him saying it was like two kids being scolded and getting their toys confiscated!

Randy

 

[AudiophilePhil]

A weak album in my opinion and one of my least favourite.
The choice of songs for this album is not as good as the previous ones such as "Close To You", "Carpenters" and "A Song For You".
I even like "Ticket To Ride" and "Horizon" much better than this one. In my opinion, "Horizon" is the last great album the Carpenters have recorded.

 

[CraigGA]

The Carpenters had fans of all ages, unlike many top pop groups of that time, and I think that this project relects that fact. As I grew older, the magic of This Masquerade became apparent and the oldies medley has always been fun listening. Yesterday Once More still remains my favorite Carpenters hit.

Craig

 

[TallPaulInKy]

As like most of the fans on here I liked this album as one of the best for repeated plays. The Oldies medley did it for me. The individual songs are fine, and unlike some I like "Jambalaya", which was a big hit in Europe about the time the album came out. I don't know if it was issued as a single there before the album came out, or if it broke out of the album, but you heard it everywhere. I was in Germany but traveled to other countires and Jambalaya was there blasting out of PA systems on festival midways, etc. The song was included on the Singles Volume 2 which was a European only release.

The way Richard pulled the quality out of Karens voice with the quality miking job I sometimes wished he had done a couple of songs with Ronnie Spector (formerly of The Ronettes). I have her songs on various labels but her ex husband Phil was the only one to properly mike her to get the texture in her voice.

I am surprised Richard didn't go on to produce other singers, or if he did I haven't heard much discussion on it. Not as an imitiation Carpenters but his work on the Carpenters material proved he understood the techniques used.

 

[Ed Bishop]

It's a very nice album, though "Sing" has always been an irritant, though it's a lovely arrangement, just too sugary for me.

Love the Quad mix of this one, really nicely done, something I really wish Richard would reconsider putting out, along with the other Carpenters Quads, unlikely as that may be. The oldies medley is no great shakes, but I find it easier to take in Quad than in conventional stereo.

 

[Chris_Sydney]

I'm a little biased when it comes to 'Now & Then'. It was the only studio album by the Carpenters that my Dad owned, and I remember playing it over and over again with him when I was about 7 years old. I was always really transfixed by the sleeve and loved the way it folded out (this was back in 1993, and I was just getting used to the idea of vinyl let alone gatefold... haha). I still have great memories of those lazy Sunday afternoons sprawled out in front of the home stereo listening to Karen's voice and pouring over the too-perfect-suburbia presented on the album jacket. For many years 'Now & Then' epitomised my thoughts about white bread America in the seventies - even though I couldn't articulate it at that stage - and in some ways it still does. There's a naivete and charm about this record that I continue to find endearing, moreso than any of the Carpenters' other studio albums.

Personally, I've just never found it all that especially coherent of an album; I've never thought that any of the material on Side One, however great, really sounded like it fit on this album.

Hey Jeff, I'd have to agree with that assessment. To be fair though, all of the Carpenters albums are pretty eclectic. The sequencing on Side A impresses me as it seems like there was a conscious choice to ensure that the cheesier tracks ('Sing', 'Jambalaya (On The Bayou)') were offset by some really mature inclusions. I consider 'This Masquerade' to be one of their finest songs, and it's one track where I look forward to Richard's lines as much as I do Karen's. 'Heather' is a great instrumental and whilst 'I Can't Make Music' isn't a particular favourite of mine it at least gives the listener a chance to recover from sitting through 'Jambalaya'. An American classic it may be but I can't stomach that song! I've never had a problem with 'Sing' though. I think Richard's laidback arrangement and Karen's slightly distanced reading of the lyric lends the song more sensitivity than it could have ended up with.

'Yesterday Once More' is undoubtedly one of Richard's best compositions. Heartwarming and achingly sad at the same time, perfectly suited to the qualities inherent in Karen's vocals. I've always thought the concept of the radio show was a brilliant one and even at such a young age I considered it a really innovative, unique idea. I've heard it so many times over the years but it remains as fun as a listen as it ever was. Some of the covers work better than others; 'The End of The World' sounds like it was written for Karen's voice, and 'Fun Fun Fun' and 'The Night Has A Thousand Eyes' are nice vehicles for Richard to showcase his underrated vocal talents. I could have done without 'Deadman's Curve'. I've never liked the song anyway and it's not melodic enough in comparison to the other inclusions. Overall I think the medley was a roaring success, and you can tell that Richard and Karen probably had a lot of fun with it. They certainly seemed to have a blast with the 'Grease' medley on tour (I've never seen them perform the 'Now & Then' medley, so this is the closest comparison I can find!) Now if only Allan Carr, Robert Stigwood or Randal Kleiser had seen them perform that and asked them to be a part of the movie...

'Now & Then' is a 4/5 for me. A great concept well executed with only a couple of stumbles along the way.


x

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I agree with your assessment of "Sing", Chris. As much as I wish I didn't like it, it really is quite substantial from an arranging perspective. Karen's reading is, as usual, perfect ("make it simple...to last your whole liiiiiiiife loooooooooong" in the first verse is as good as it gets). The magic in that song for me, though, is in the second round after the kids. I absolutely love the vocal arrangement there. Yet again, "make it simple to last your whole life loooooooooong" is just chill-inducing. Richard is the reason I can't hate that song...darn him...LOL!

Ed

 

[Dave]

Sing --I do have fairly fond memories of it when I was a kid, (and am still treated like one--sung the childrens' "La, La, La, La..."-'s, at the ending, to someone at work who told me "I'm 36-years old", to which I replied that I'm not TREATED like I am by "two people", to whom I'm still...) --And, YES, sometimes I DO like it!


--And I had my "La, La, La, La..."-'s (ending verses) Sung so Perfectly Well, too!



Dave

 

[Jeff]

Tho I CANT MAKE MUSIC took some hits I've always felt that it was a soothesome and somewhat desperate interpretation. This I feel is a stand out track and continues to be a fave of mine.

Jeff