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Well, they should have listened to it again (I'll bet they didn't). Karen's solo is superior to "A Kind of Hush" in every way. Yes, it was different, but the bulk of it worked very well. Yeah, "Lovelines" needed to be remixed, and "Still In Love With You" was really a stretch, but I maintain that album overall is very strong.
"Sweet Sweet Smile" easily could have been a single; that countrified "twang" just may have been the gimmick needed to hustle it up the charts.
WOMC was an Adult Contemporary station back in the 70s, so whatever Billboard chart was in place at the time probably listed this song higher than the Top 100 did. WOMC sort of drifted into an oldies format and has been there ever since.
Well, they should have listened to it again (I'll bet they didn't). Karen's solo is superior to "A Kind of Hush" in every way. Yes, it was different, but the bulk of it worked very well. Yeah, "Lovelines" needed to be remixed, and "Still In Love With You" was really a stretch, but I maintain that album overall is very strong.
I think the reason they turned their thumbs down was purely out of deference to Richard. They saw how uncomfortable he was with the whole thing, and they didn't want to screw with the 'tried and true'. The ironic part is it would have reversed their downward spiral. Bad decision.
I think "Jambalaya" would have made a better single than "Goofus"... Wonder why that wasn't even considered...
Pat Boone even did "Jambalaya" on a lone MGM album, a year or two before Carpenters Now And Then was done... (An album of country songs, on which anything but a "Goofus" would have made it!)
-- Dave
"Jambalaya" made number 12 in the UK in 1974
We didn't get "Goofus" as a single in the UK.
Full UK chart history can be seen here: http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/carpenters/
Reading this thread, it seems that there were a few differences in singles releases over in the U.S.
Peter
Did The Blue Ridge Rangers (John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival) version of "Jambalaya" chart in the U.K? It was coming down the charts in the USA as the Now and Then LP was released, no doubt explaining why A&M didn't issue a single here.
The Blue Ridge Rangers never had a hit single OR album in the U.K.
I have to admit - until I read your post I had never heard of them I'm afraid!
Peter
Peter:
"Them" was "him"...John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revivial, playing all the instruments and singing. The album cover showed him in silhouette multiple times to create the illusion of a band.
Here it is. Peaked at #16 in Billboard here in the States: