"All You Get From Love" (mono 45)

[AM Matt]

 

[Portlander]

After all these years this song has become one of my favorites by the Carpenters. It should have done much better on the charts and would have if radio programmers were not so "anti" anything Karen and Richard put out by 1977. This arrangement also has a "You Don't Have to be a Star" vibe to it which was released 8 months prior and co sung by my second favorite female artist!

 

[goodjeans]

After all these years this song has become one of my favorites by the Carpenters. It should have done much better on the charts and would have if radio programmers were not so "anti" anything Karen and Richard put out by 1977. This arrangement also has a "You Don't Have to be a Star" vibe to it which was released 8 months prior and co sung by my second favorite female artist!

It definitely does.

 

[newvillefan]

After all these years this song has become one of my favorites by the Carpenters. It should have done much better on the charts and would have if radio programmers were not so "anti" anything Karen and Richard put out by 1977. This arrangement also has a "You Don't Have to be a Star" vibe to it which was released 8 months prior and co sung by my second favorite female artist!

Something occurred to me reading your post Jim. Imagine having the God given talent to create a song as wonderful as this one, release it and then have everyone pretty much turn their nose up at your hard work and efforts? It must have been very difficult and heartbreaking for Richard and Karen to take that sort of snub over and over during the late 70s and early 80s, despite their very best efforts. I’ve read a couple of places they really thought this would be the one to turn their fortunes around, but it wasn’t to be. It really is one of their most beautiful singles.

 

[ullalume]

I agree. The two of them must've been sooo nervous releasing Touch Me. Even though it wasn't a smash it must've been a huge relief when it went top 20.

 

[theninjarabbit]

God, this song is so good. This is a pleasant reminder of that. Thanks for sharing.

 

[cam89]

For some reason, I liken this to an Only Yesterday part two....

 

[Chris May]

Definitely a favorite of mine and a piece of “brain candy” as Richard likes to say.

 

[Chris]

Sensational recording. I'll echo you all in saying that it's so good and deserved to do better on the charts. Whenever I hear it lately, I'm impressed all over again and think it really is a sad that it didn't get more attention. To me, it's right up there with the top sounds and productions of that year. The only criticism I can sort of agree with is that the lyric of "dirty old shame" is kind of unfortunate. I get what it means in the song.. just wonder if another lyric would have worked there. How about "It's a rotten stinkin' pain" .. Just joking of course. I have no idea how it could have been altered to a lighter lyric.
I do love the song overall and that Tom Scott sax is perfection.

Thanks for sharing the mono version, AM Matt. Listening to a song in mono is an interesting experience in that it helps isolate the true impact of a song in a way, doesn't it? It's basic and concentrated.

 

[John Adam]

This is pure brain and ear candy! A great song, great production and great vocals. Like "Only Yesterday" it should of been a top 5 pop hit!
To me, this single is the smartest song they did in the later half of their career while Karen was still with us!

 

[newvillefan]

To me, this single is the smartest song they did in the later half of their career while Karen was still with us!

^^^ Nailed it!

 

[Nemily]

I agree with everyone, they must have been mentally exhausted trying to figure out why this one wasn’t better received. There was room for this song in 1977 to be more successful, not a lot of room but there was room. Don’t get me wrong, peaking at 35 and 10 weeks on the Billboard charts is very good, just not their legendary normal.

Rightfully so the song was better received as it aged. Occupants did a little better that same year. For the most part, I saw Passage as a ramp up from AKOH (okay well five songs from Passage). New sounds were dominating air play and radio was just not spinning Carpenters in a regular rotation any more.

Some of what I love about All You Get:

-It is uncharacteristically upbeat and full of energy. Danceable even! All of the rhythm is fantastic. I especially love the conga on this recording. I wish it had been more emphasized in the mono Single mix.

-As usual, Karen’s vocal is very good. Maybe one of her best. It is a strong performance and I hear a lot of confidence in particular coming through the mic. Maybe because this song was recorded around the time when she was moving into her condo and by her own account, she was very excited about that.

-Talk about ear candy, the Tom Scott sax solo is so sweet (of course not taking anything away from Bob Messenger’s early solo works at all). It is no surprise he was one of the most sought after studio musicians.

-It took me a few listens back then to notice, but I finally confirmed it in The Musical Legacy that this is one of those songs when the backup vocals had contributions by someone in addition to Richard or Karen, adding three non-Carpenter voices in the back up. It is not entirely their trademark sound that we were so used to, but it doesn’t stray too far. It’s really nice.

 

[newvillefan]

It took me a few listens back then to notice, but I finally confirmed it in The Musical Legacy that this is one of those songs when the backup vocals had contributions by someone in addition to Richard or Karen, adding three non-Carpenter voices in the back up. It is not entirely their trademark sound that we were so used to, but it doesn’t stray too far. It’s really nice.

I wish they’d done it more often. Karen sounds amazing with those additional backing vocalists supporting her. They should have followed the same strategy in concert. Having men singing those high harmony sounds never sat right with me and is one of the reasons I can’t really listen to any of their live concert recordings.

Speaking of which, this recently surfaced on Spotify, a recording of the 1976 Amsterdam concert (which is basically a waste of time listening to, because it’s a carbon copy of the London recording). How this stuff ends up on streaming platforms puzzles me, it’s hardly an authorised release.

Firefly 2023.

 

[Harry]

Having men singing those high harmony sounds never sat right with me and is one of the reasons I can’t really listen to any of their live concert recordings.

Amen!