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With a great "Carpenters-template" song like "I Need to Be In Love" tanking, they were quite obviously grabbing at straws from that point on in search of something that might stick. "Goofus" and "Beechwood" were both attempts at making the "Postman" lightning strike again, but with no success.
I've said it before but it bears repeating - it's too bad the Carpenters didn't venture more into country material. They had a couple hits in that genre and could have done it quite well. A few other '70s and '80s pop stars went that route (Bellamy Brothers, Exile, Kim Carnes, Debby Boone) with varying degrees of success.
That's why I said "varying degrees of success." Kim Carnes did one country album, View from the House, which had a killer tune "Gypsy Honeymoon" that should have been a hit single.Kim Carnes only had country success when pairing with an existing country legend, Kenny Rogers. And Debby Boone didn't sell anywhere near the records the Carpenters sold in the 80's when she went country.
Kim Carnes did one country album, View from the House, which had a killer tune "Gypsy Honeymoon" that should have been a hit single.
..."Gypsy Honeymoon" is one of my favorite songs MB. I totally agree with your comment.That's why I said "varying degrees of success." Kim Carnes did one country album, View from the House, which had a killer tune "Gypsy Honeymoon" that should have been a hit single.
The Carpenters never really did anything full-on country; they just put a steel guitar in a couple of songs and country radio picked up on those. If they'd really gone in and done a full-on country album, they could have had some great success. It would have meant altering their trademark sound somewhat -- maybe a little less orchestration on the ballads -- so who knows, it may not have worked. But nobody knew Exile was a country act until they put out a country album.
It's all speculation after all, but it's fun to think about what could have happened.
In retrospect, I have started to like "Goofus" a lot. I thought it was horrible back in 1977 and wondered why it was selected as a single. The cleverness of the song and performance escaped me as a teenager. Still, it was not good single material.
As a big Motown fan, I never really liked "Beechwood....", not even The Marvelettes' original. I thought it was a bad choice for a cover, though I really liked the cover of "Please Mr. Postman."
I have to think that Richard especially was a bit out of touch with the direction of popular music at the time, but was true to his own musical vision.
I can't recall where (perhaps the commentary track on the 40th-box version of the "Gold" DVD), but Richard said something to the effect of remaking "Beechwood" was Karen's idea. It really made her happy, and, though he was against it in every way, he just didn't have the heart to talk her out of it.
That's why I said "varying degrees of success." Kim Carnes did one country album, View from the House, which had a killer tune "Gypsy Honeymoon" that should have been a hit single.
The Carpenters never really did anything full-on country; they just put a steel guitar in a couple of songs and country radio picked up on those. If they'd really gone in and done a full-on country album, they could have had some great success. It would have meant altering their trademark sound somewhat -- maybe a little less orchestration on the ballads -- so who knows, it may not have worked. But nobody knew Exile was a country act until they put out a country album.
It's all speculation after all, but it's fun to think about what could have happened.