Baby It's You

AM Matt

Forum Undertaker
Did The Carpenters remake of "Baby It's You" inspire The Raspberries (featuring Eric Carmen) song "Don't Want To Say Goodbye" (from their 1972 debut album) at the beginning of those songs?? (audio only) Song went to # 86 (Billboard Hot 100) in May of 1972 & their first song on the charts.
 
Did The Carpenters remake of "Baby It's You" inspire The Raspberries (featuring Eric Carmen) song "Don't Want To Say Goodbye" (from their 1972 debut album) at the beginning of those songs?? (audio only) Song went to # 86 (Billboard Hot 100) in May of 1972 & their first song on the charts.

Not sure but I like Eric Carmen very much, both solo and with The Raspberries. He’s great!! I used to play his ‘Best Of’ album to death, as a teenager. Since then, I think I’ve got all his solo albums and all The Raspberries’ albums. He’s a superb talent!!
 
Eric Carmen has retired from music since late 2014!! His last swan song was "Brand New Year" in June of 2014 (from "The Essential Eric Carmen" 2 CD set). Did NOT charted in Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart.
 
Did The Carpenters remake of "Baby It's You" inspire The Raspberries (featuring Eric Carmen) song "Don't Want To Say Goodbye" (from their 1972 debut album) at the beginning of those songs?? (audio only) Song went to # 86 (Billboard Hot 100) in May of 1972 & their first song on the charts.

AM Matt, I think it’s just likely that the songs both use a very common-in-pop keyboard pattern of notes from one chord in their introductions. I can see what you mean, though. The two intros do sound very similar. Who knows? Maybe Eric WAS inspired by Baby It’s You.

I did happen upon a different, vague, link between Eric Carmen and Carpenters, though.... the use of Tommy Morgan on harmonica. (Then again, Tommy probably played on records by EVERYbody).

It’s interesting to hear Eric’s description of Tommy and his style, below.

 
When I first heard their version in 1971 on the Close To You album, I thought that the song was a pretty album song. I finally heard their concert performances of the tune several years ago when I watched the You Tube video of their 1972 Australia concert and also purchased the Readers Digest CD of their Greatest Performances. I liked their live version better than the original album version. Then along came the RPO project and I really fell in love with the tune. If the RPO version had been around back in 1970, I think that they could have had a 3rd hit single off of the album.
 
When I first heard their version in 1971 on the Close To You album, I thought that the song was a pretty album song. I finally heard their concert performances of the tune several years ago when I watched the You Tube video of their 1972 Australia concert and also purchased the Readers Digest CD of their Greatest Performances. I liked their live version better than the original album version. Then along came the RPO project and I really fell in love with the tune. If the RPO version had been around back in 1970, I think that they could have had a 3rd hit single off of the album.
I just heard another concert performance of this song on You Tube. Someone has recently posted a video of one of their several concerts in Valley Forge from April 1975. I know that Harry has already posted a tape of Only Yesterday from the concert he attended that week.
 
Did The Carpenters remake of "Baby It's You" inspire The Raspberries (featuring Eric Carmen) song "Don't Want To Say Goodbye" (from their 1972 debut album) at the beginning of those songs?? (audio only) Song went to # 86 (Billboard Hot 100) in May of 1972 & their first song on the charts.

Such a great song and also a great band! They were very Beatles-inspired, but the so were Carpenters. It does sound very similar at the beginning to 'Baby It's You'. Good ear!
 
Here's that version of "Baby, It's You" from Valley Forge. I think my original recording is a tiny bit better.


This is so good...the slower tempo really plays into this song so well. It makes you wonder if she had lived if they would have revisited a lot of their back catalog of songs either at live concerts, additional tv shows or in the studio. I wish they had re-recorded this in the studio with the feel of this version which puts more emphasis of the lyrics.
 
Wow, not much to add that hasn't already been said here. Love this - the slower tempo, and feels a bit "jazzier" to me.

This is one of those very rare occasions (for me) where a live Carpenters performance outshines the studio version (another one for me is their live outdoor "Revolver" concert medley of Bacharach hits).
 
Wow, not much to add that hasn't already been said here. Love this - the slower tempo, and feels a bit "jazzier" to me.

This is one of those very rare occasions (for me) where a live Carpenters performance outshines the studio version (another one for me is their live outdoor "Revolver" concert medley of Bacharach hits).
What do you mean by "Revolver"?
 
What do you mean by "Revolver"?
If you do a search in Youtube for "carpenters revolver" you'll see it - that's just what I call it because you see that word ("Revolver TV") during the video. It's their 1970 outdoor performance, I believe, at a hospital.
 
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This is what is written about the video, on youtube:

-Carpenters Live- Recorded at Walter Reed Medical Center for wounded G.I"s from Vietnam Nov. 8
 
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