⭐ Official Review [Album]: "CLOSE TO YOU" (SP-4271)

HOW WOULD YOU RATE THIS ALBUM?

  • ***** (BEST)

    Votes: 42 47.2%
  • ****

    Votes: 38 42.7%
  • ***

    Votes: 7 7.9%
  • **

    Votes: 2 2.2%
  • *

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    89
I think I recall hearing that shortened version many moons ago and pretty much dismissed it. In fact, when I first read your post, I wasn't even sure I had the 45 - but it turns out I have three of them. So many of the Carpenters 45s that I do have are the promo versions for radio, with only an a-side in stereo and the same song in mono on the b-side. So, there are a number of b-sides that I've never heard, generally assuming that they are pretty much the same as the album versions.

But the first rule of Carpenters recordings is to 'never assume.' I learned that the hard way with the two different Japanese Anthology sets and the different variations for SINGLES 69-73. And, as I said, it will be interesting to see what the new Singles package from PBS does. Will the shortened "Mr. Guder" appear for authenticity? I hope so.

Harry
 
It just hit me! When I tried to assemble my own version of this new set, my first disc came out too long and I had to eliminate the last song, "Heather". But if "Mr. Guder" is the shorter version, then it WOULD all fit. That could be proof that "Mr. Guder" will be shortened on the PBS set.

Harry
 
According to one newspaper article,Carpenters Score Success,
as of December 3rd, 1970:
Single Close To You sales of 2.5 million copies.
Single We've Only Just Begun sales of 1.3 million copies.
Album Close To You sales of 750,000 copies.
Single Ticket To Ride 200,000 copies.

Source(s):
https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&sjid=zAEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7355,3552175&hl=en
https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&sjid=OWcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2253,6530048&hl=en

Amazing to see that at that point, 'Close To You' the single had sold more than three times as many copies as the album.
 
Not really THAT amazing, considering the single was released 3 months ahead of the album. If they had already been majorly popular at that time, it would be more amazing but most of the Carpenters early fans probably discovered them through that single. That's how it happened with me, at least.
 
I actually really liked this version of "Close to You" from the New Men a cappella group at Oxford. Not the usual approach, but quite nice.

 
After a long hiatus from listening to their music, I put this on for a spin on Monday. Its just incredible! After all these years, the album brags me and makes me listen to them afresh. It may be my new favorite album replacing long time fav, Horizon. Maybe...
 
How a Groundbreaking Bank Ad Reached an Elusive Demographic
by JOHN REOSTI
JUN 5, 2015
Bankers scratching their heads about how to attract millennials can take some comfort knowing that generations ago
their predecessors also struggled to connect with America's youth.
Crocker National Bank found a way, though.
At the tail end of the 1960s, Crocker was a venerable, century-old institution with an aging customer base and a reputation for conservatism.
To refresh its decidedly mature brand image, the San Francisco bank hired a young adman named Hal Riney, handing him a mandate:
Produce a spot that would resonate with younger customers.
In an interview he gave shortly before his death in 2008, Riney described Crocker as
"an old-fashioned bank with old-fashioned customers … trying to replace those people with some younger customers."
His solution was simple and — for its time — radical. Riney filmed a 58-second montage of scenes from a young couple's wedding.
The copy, which scrolls across the screen as the bride and groom drive away from the chapel, consisted of two simple sentences. "You've got a long way to go. We want to help you get there."
And the Crocker name? It flashed briefly across the screen for all of two seconds as the commercial faded out.
The ad paid immediate dividends for Crocker, attracting thousands of new young customers.
It also dawned on bank officials that the commercial's simplicity made it an easy vehicle to repurpose.
"What [Crocker] did with the campaign is franchise it to banks around the country," Riney said.
Nearly a half-century later, reaching young people is again a major focus for banks.
They are going to extraordinary lengths to grab the attention of millennial customers, only now they are relying on event marketing and mobile technology. But with the recent "Mad Men" finale reminding America how
"I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" commercialized the counterculture, it's worth reflecting on a bank advertising success story from that era.

The Crocker spot's extreme soft-sell approach was unprecedented.
"We had a really remarkable commercial for the time because it didn't say anything," Riney said.
"All we were doing was reflecting people's lives and doing it in a way that touched that audience."
Crocker sold itself to Wells Fargo in 1986, but the commercial it made in 1970 is still talked about.
To this day, it remains one of the most successful and influential bank advertisements ever made.
"It's a tribute to Hal Riney," said Paul Williams, who co-wrote the background music for the Crocker commercial with Roger Nichols,
his songwriting partner at the time.
"They told us at the beginning it was going to be different. It's essentially the first music video."
The other notable item about the commercial was the Williams-Nichols music that played in the background.
Following the ad's release, Williams said, he and Nichols took the tune and added a bridge and a third verse,
thus turning it into a song, "We've Only Just Begun."
Williams didn't hold out much hope the soft-rock tune would be a hit, though.
Less than a year had passed since the legendary Woodstock music festival,
and the psychedelic proto-metal rock anthem "In-A-Gadda- Da-Vida" was on top of the charts.
"You couldn't get any further away from a hit," Williams said.
"In fact, I would have bet you money quite the opposite was true" of "We've Only Just Begun."
What he couldn't have counted on was the fact Richard Carpenter, who along with his sister Karen
headlined an up-and-coming musical group, had seen the Crocker commercial and been struck by its musical accompaniment.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The Carpenters recorded their version of "We've Only Just Begun" in the summer of 1970 and it became a monster hit.
"Karen sang the song and the entire nation connected," Williams said.
Ironically, Williams said he and Nichols were not Riney's first choice to work on the Crocker commercial.
Lyricist Tony Asher, who had gained fame collaborating with Brian Wilson on the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" album,
had originally been tapped, but he broke his wrist in a skiing accident shortly before production was scheduled to start.
Over the years, "We've Only Just Begun" has become closely associated with weddings and proms, but Williams is still fond of it.
"I like to joke it has all the romantic appeal of a bank commercial," he said.
"People sometimes call it plain vanilla, but I tell them vanilla can be an exquisite flavor."

Source:
http://www.americanbanker.com/news/...hed-an-elusive-demographic-1074723-1.htmlurce:

I found a clip of Hal Riney talking about the ad campaign that spawned "We've Only Just Begun." I thought it was funny that he described the Crocker Bank as an institution where the customers were old and dying and that they needed to attract a younger clientele.

 
I was reading post#152, which has the scan of the December 1970 review for Close To You album,
lovingly presented to us by Rick-AnOrdinary Fool !
That review says (regarding Karen's drumming) :
"....her drumming, on recordings, is not of high enough quality--especially for this album"
(my underlining and boldtype).
Query:
Isn't Hal Blaine drumming on the majority of songs for this album?

I notice in that early review, Karen's placement in the writing is in the second paragraph.
The first paragraph is all about the arranging and song "concept".
Next paragraph, enter Karen Carpenter, drumming ,then her singing.
Well, were I writing the review I would reverse the focus---only because this is the
first thing the record-buying public focuses upon---Karen Carpenter's Voice !
 
Carpenters made the cover of Cashbox on Oct 31, 1970 with an insert article about the cover and 1 additional photo inside.

Cashbox%20Carpenters%20Cover%20Begun%20Oct%2031%201970.jpg~original

Cashbox%20Carpenters%20Cover%20Inside%20Oct%2031%201970.png~original

Cashbox%20Carpenters%20Inside%20Photo%20Oct%2031%201970.png~original
 
"...the Carpenters have finished the foundation and are in the process of building their first story of hits."

Ha ha! I think the writer meant "storey", but "story" in the sense that these years were all part of a wonderful Carpenters legend in the making is equally valid.
 
Listening to this great album this morn,
I am taken once again by the brilliance of
Crescent Noon....

Then, I am astounded at how few times this song appears on
CD compilation releases....just Once....
 
More from 2009 Richard Carpenter Interview:
HuffPost Exclusive: The 40th Anniversary of Carpenters / Interview with Richard Carpenter »

MR
: And now you were recording the second album.

RC: Well, as far as doing another album, Herbie said we could just do a couple tracks here, have a listen, a couple tracks there...
Well, the first ones were “Love Is Surrender” and “Mr. Guder” in Studio C.
We were in a hurry, why, I don’t know, we didn’t have a tight schedule yet.
In the midst of all of that, “Close To You” came out, and it pretty much “happened” overnight.
Then we get the call from Jerry (Moss).
“Album! Need an album!!” From that moment on, the schedule was never relaxed.

MR: What about some of the other tracks on Close To You?

RC: For years, I liked “Reason To Believe,” and we did some version of it previously at Joe Osborn’s studio.
“Maybe It’s You” is something Bettis and I had written in ‘68...that’s one of my favorite ones;
“Crescent Noon” is something else we wrote back in ‘68, and
I Kept On Loving You” was shopped by Roger (Nichols) and Paul (Williams).
Another Song”—very sixties—we came up with that piece of nonsense in ‘67.
It was SO sixties with the wah-wah, the mystical stuff, and the recitative lifted from Handel.
Though they differed in approach and sound from Offering,
there was a little bit from that period of time in “Another Song,” “Crescent Noon,” and all.
“Baby, It’s You,I love—the arrangement, Karen’s vocals, (Bob) Messenger’s sax solo, Osborn’s bass playing, “cheatin’”‘s perfect fifths—
everything about it, even the intentionally hokey major seventh ending."
 
^^
So from the above, it sounds like there could have been another version of "Reason To Believe" not ever released? Richard says we did some version of it previously at Joe Osborn's studio, "some version" makes it sound like they recorded a prior version other than what appears on the album Close To You. Am I reading into this?
 
^^
So from the above, it sounds like there could have been another version of "Reason To Believe" not ever released? Richard says we did some version of it previously at Joe Osborn's studio, "some version" makes it sound like they recorded a prior version other than what appears on the album Close To You. Am I reading into this?

It sounds like there's a version of it that they recorded in the garage studio sessions in 67/68. I'm guessing if that's the case that it went up in flames when Joe Osborne's house caught fire in 1975.
 
To each his own. As the years pass, songs like "Crescent Noon" increase in my favor. Songs that were once the plodding ballads now hold some of the greatest joys. If I were to pull out CLOSE TO YOU right now, I might play "Crescent Noon", "Another Song", and "I Kept On Loving You". The others I've heard a thousand times and their imprints are firmly pressed upon my brain cells. If I never heard them again, I could still play them in my head.

"Crescent Noon" is a gorgeous song - goosebump territory when we get to the fairytale forest!

Harry
Crescent Noon is available for SATB choir in the Walton Catalog. My choir sang it a couple of years Agaon our winter concert. Great piece!! The arrangement sounds just like the album.

Jonathan
 
I think Close to You is easily a 5 star album, myself. Great, timeless classics like "We've Only Just Begun", "Baby It's You" (underrated, I'd say), and "Close to You". I also like the edition of the Carpenter/Bettis songs, "Maybe It's You" (a real summer song), and the haunting "Cresent Noon" and "Another Song". As for "Mr. Guder", well, I can't commend the reason for it, but I do enjoy it quite a bit.

Vocally, they really advanced on Close to You. Richard's vocals really shine on "I Kept On Loving You", and I love Karen's country flair on "Reason to Believe". And who could forget the great trade-off of "Love Is Surrender"? Really showing their talents on that with the overdubbing there and on "I'll Never Fall in Love Again".

Overall, the songs and wonderful crafting of the album are some of Karen and Richard's best. I wish that the production team had shown them a little more respect with the cover, being what the "Close to You" single had done on the charts.
 
I wish that the production team had shown them a little more respect with the cover, being what the "Close to You" single had done on the charts.

Some forty years after the album's release, I think the album's cover has become iconic in a way (same with A Song For You's cover). I like it a lot. Then again, I grew up long after the initial "goody-two shoes" image flak, so I don't associate it with that.

Vocally, they really advanced on Close to You. Richard's vocals really shine on "I Kept On Loving You", and I love Karen's country flair on "Reason to Believe". And who could forget the great trade-off of "Love Is Surrender"? Really showing their talents on that with the overdubbing there and on "I'll Never Fall in Love Again".

Very much in agreement. :)
 
Some forty years after the album's release, I think the album's cover has become iconic in a way (same with A Song For You's cover). I like it a lot. Then again, I grew up long after the initial "goody-two shoes" image flak, so I don't associate it with that.

You are right, it is very iconic. I probably should've mentioned in my above review that I actually like it, as well. :agree: I don't really associate it with that (despite what I have to say below). It's just a typical shot of the duo from that time, and when I first saw it, I honestly didn't even think about it.

Later on and with more information, what I found unsettling was more the fact that Karen and Richard's opinions about it fell on deaf ears, so to speak. Why was more care not given to this? It certainly couldn't have added much value for sales with that photo! :freak: And yet, it still sold over a million, and still selling, soooo.."don't judge an album by it's cover"!
 
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