⭐ Official Review [Single]: 10. "GOODBYE TO LOVE"/"CRYSTAL LULLABY" (1367-S)

Which side is your favorite?

  • Side A: "GOODBYE TO LOVE"

    Votes: 47 83.9%
  • Side B: "CRYSTAL LULLABY"

    Votes: 9 16.1%

  • Total voters
    56

Chris May

Resident ‘Carpenterologist’
Staff member
Moderator
“GOODBYE TO LOVE"/"CRYSTAL LULLABY"

GoodbyeToLove.jpg GTLSingle.jpg CrystalLullaby.jpg

Side A: Goodbye To Love 3:50 (Carpenter/Bettis)
Side B: Crystal Lullaby 3:58 (Carpenter/Bettis)

Catalogue Number: A&M 1367-S
Date of Release: 6/19/72
Format: 7" Single
Speed: 45 RPM
Country: US
Chart Position: #7

Of the Carpenters' singles from 1969 to 1973 (within A&M's "ochre label" era), this is the only one whereby pressings by Columbia Records' Pitman, NJ plant (alternate B side) imported outside label copy type rather than using its own. In this case, the typesetting came courtesy Alco Research & Engineering of Los Angeles, CA, whose typesetting was also on these Monarch-pressed (see above images).

Arranged by Richard Carpenter
Produced by Jack Daugherty

Taken from A&M SP-3511 album "A Song For You"

For more definitive information regarding each single, you can visit our Carpenters - The Complete Singles page in our Carpenters Resource.
 
This is one of the best songs ever! I always thought Karen sounded amazing and way beyond her years. And with that guitar solo, who could resist? It's a "must hear" tune.

Even though I voted for "Goodbye to Love", I can still say that I love "Crystal Lullaby" very much. Even with the 'young' (yet very poetic!) lyrics, it sounds mature due to the Carpenters' talents, particularly the trade-off in leads and overdubbing. I love the message, and especially the line, "Something deep within me sighs, and wishes for the peaceful skies of long ago".
 
We've already discussed that some radio stations bailed on the guitar solo, fading out the record early to eliminate the "harshness". And I've mentioned that in order to have a better station on the radio in the drug store where I was working, I had to manually turn it down every time this song came on or the older lady would switch it to the beautiful music station.

Of course, I loved this record - not quite as much as some recent Carpenters hits - I still liked "Hurting Each Other" better. Owning the album negated the necessity to buy a single, so I skipped buying this one too.

The version that appears on the single is the regular album version. The cold start of the track is upcut just a little bit as Karen starts to sing. Richard fixed this in subsequent remixes by adding a breath to it, but this initial album version has the slight upcut to it. Some remixes added a breath, some didn't. Richard even added in his countdown to the 1985 remix on ANTHOLOGY, and again to the 1989 remix on FROM THE TOP.

The version of "Crystal Lullaby" used on the b-side is a single mix with a fade-out on the wind-chimes.

Harry
 
I love both songs, one a fuzzy, aggressive rocker and the other a dreamy lullaby to soothe the pain felt on the flip side.

I sometimes feel that Karen's vocal is a bit bland and detached on Goodbye to Love - that she's not putting her heart into it like she does the others. She misses some emotional textures and nuances that I think the lyrics require. I believe this is due to the fact that the song's emotional, human element took a backseat to the tricky, technical breathing requirements. She's concentrating more on when to breathe (as Richard points out this was a song that had a more complex breathing layout then past songs) than investing feeling of despair. But I do get more feeling again after the first solo where she can find her proper emotive rhythm again. The aching pain of the guitar solos convey a depth of feeling she can't convey on her own anymore - like she says, it's *her* song and she uses her song as a whole to get across to the listener how she feels.

Crystal Lullaby is quietly haunting and while the lyrics may seem childish or frivolous, I think they're very visual and Karen handles them with grace. It's atmospheric and even a bit hypnotic, like how you fall asleep to a lullaby and dream. The remix improves the sonic atmosphere so much and doesn't disrupt the structure of the original. #Tumtimes
 
'Goodbye To Love' is CLASSIC all the way. I loved it from 'first hear'. Karen's lead (and amazing breath control) through Tony's ferocious guitar solo to the awesome arrangement. All top-notch. Probably my favorite of all of the Carpenter-Bettis songs after 'Only Yesterday'.

I remember the first time I heard it in the car on the way to the pool, and my sister HATED it! She called it 'hippy sh-t'. LOL>> She turned the station back and Karen was singing again, and then all hell broke lose after the drum break, and here comes the screeching guitar again, and another switch of the station. I was not happy. :)

'Crystal Lullaby' is very nice, but a bit too sweet for me, though I do love the dream-like ending that segues into 'Road Ode'.
 
I would pick "Goodbye" as a favorite, but both songs are top notch.

I remember my family visiting some friends and they had the A Song For You album playing while we were all sitting around the living room visiting. When the guitar solo from "Goodbye to Love" came on, the lady we were visiting said "I like this album but I don't like this song!" and turned down the stereo. Being the polite kid I was, I didn't say anything but it was tough!

On "Crystal Lullaby," I really felt like that was one of Richard's very best arrangements, especially the vocals. The song just keeps on getting better and better and then that wonderful atmospheric segue into "Road Ode" is a great bit of production, I think.

One thought I've often had: I always thought the beginning of "Goodbye" would have been a great place for a nice little one-minute piano interlude, leading into the beginning vocals. It would have been a nice touch and could have been done on the original album or on one of the compilations as a "bonus." Something like the intro on "Ticket to Ride."
 
Lovely compositions on both sides. "Goodbye to Love" is so unusually Carpenters -- beautiful arrangement wedged together with a fuzz guitar. I have much respect for Richard and his idea of a bold guitar solo. Really glad he told Tony Peluso to "burn it up", too -- poor Tony must've been so confused on what to play on "a Carpenters record". :D
I enjoy "Crystal Lullaby" very much. Next to "Road Ode", it's my favorite album cut from A Song For You. It creates such a magical, comfortable atmosphere -- almost like a lullaby itself. I love the overdubs and melody towards the end (Although I have to admit, I chuckle a bit at "tumtimes" myself :laugh:).

Writing this, I listened to the "Goodbye to Love" original master karaoke track. I love the first thirty seconds .... and the piano in the beginning...
 
Lovely compositions on both sides. "Goodbye to Love" is so unusually Carpenters -- beautiful arrangement wedged together with a fuzz guitar. I have much respect for Richard and his idea of a bold guitar solo. Really glad he told Tony Peluso to "burn it up", too -- poor Tony must've been so confused on what to play on "a Carpenters record". :D
I enjoy "Crystal Lullaby" very much. Next to "Road Ode", it's my favorite album cut from A Song For You. It creates such a magical, comfortable atmosphere -- almost like a lullaby itself. I love the overdubs and melody towards the end (Although I have to admit, I chuckle a bit at "tumtimes" myself :laugh:).

Writing this, I listened to the "Goodbye to Love" original master karaoke track. I love the first thirty seconds .... and the piano in the beginning...


That just gave me a great idea. Take the opening chords from Richard's piano on the karaoke track and merge it with the original mix. No time to execute that now, but it should be easy enough to do.
 
That is what makes the Karaoke disc so special, although Karen is mostly absence for me I already have her lines and vocals memorized in my mind so when I hear the songs Karaoke style I get to hear all the instruments...how the song was created before Karen places her vocal lead. It's hard to explain but I can listen to the Karaoke songs and still hear Karen's lead in my head even though I'm not hearing it on the tracks. It makes for an interesting listen and with some of the backing vocals still intact on the Karaoke tracks what appears to be bare (without Karen) it's also full at the same time, a good example of this is the beginning and ending of this Karaoke track, Goodbye To Love.
 
Harry, we may have talked about this before but on the Original Master Karaoke disc, what are the 2 clicks you hear on the first 2 seconds of this track, "Goodbye To Love" they almost sound like 2 drum stick clicking together. I don't hear it on the video posted above so I don't know where that person ripped it from but does your original disc have this sound? It's the very first 2 seconds before the song comes in.
 
Yes, the two clicks are there. Richard included them as a way of cluing the listener in on where the song starts. Since Karen's lead starts all by itself, there are three beats where there is no backing track. "I'll Say Good-" are sung with no instrumental backing at all. Richard's piano enters at "-bye". Without a lead vocal, the listener misses that pick-up measure and if you're actually singing karaoke-style, you need to know where to begin your vocal.
 
One thought I've often had: I always thought the beginning of "Goodbye" would have been a great place for a nice little one-minute piano interlude, leading into the beginning vocals. It would have been a nice touch and could have been done on the original album or on one of the compilations as a "bonus." Something like the intro on "Ticket to Ride."

I like that idea. An extended opening piano piece (like "Sometimes"), leading deceptively to the quiet vocal and then all-hell-breaks-loose guitar solo and closing fade, could turn this into an epic Jim Steinman-ish production number. It's a great song, IMO the Carpenter/Bettis songwriting masterpiece. I don't remember it getting as much airplay as some of their previous singles...whether that was due to the guitar solo or Carpenter fatigue at radio, or I just wasn't paying attention. Deserved to be another gold single. And it still seems incredible that the next one coming was "Sing". Talk about a U-turn.
 
Yes, the two clicks are there. Richard included them as a way of cluing the listener in on where the song starts. Since Karen's lead starts all by itself, there are three beats where there is no backing track. "I'll Say Good-" are sung with no instrumental backing at all. Richard's piano enters at "-bye". Without a lead vocal, the listener misses that pick-up measure and if you're actually singing karaoke-style, you need to know where to begin your vocal.

That makes sense, so the clicks we hear is what Karen heard (on the original) or did he add it just for the Karaoke disc?
 
That makes sense, so the clicks we hear is what Karen heard (on the original) or did he add it just for the Karaoke disc?

The clicks were added in '91 for the Karaoke project to give a clean, electronic cue to the listener. What Karen heard in her headset was the countdown. This leaked into the breath thru her headset into her mic onto the lead track, which is why the cold open was edited so tightly on the original mix, editing out her breath, as the "3" would have overlapped her intake of air as Harry pointed out.
 
Two of my all-time favorite Richard Carpenter Songs,
as A-Side Singles:
11/20/1970, Merry Christmas Darling
and
6/19/1972, Goodbye To Love

So far, Richard's
B- Side compositions have not been as satisfying for me,
as those two, above.
But, I will say All Of My Life and Crystal Lullaby--
as B-Sides, are rather good.
 
I'm in the minority on this one but I went for the B-side. A Song For You was the first Carpenters' studio album I ever heard so it's where I was introduced to both songs, but I wasn't ever that enamoured with the A-side for some reason. It's absolutely solid as a single and groundbreaking for the guitar work but something lacks for me...too ploddy and mournful in equal measure maybe? It just doesn't jump out at me the way Superstar or Rainy Days And Mondays do. The cold opening without the breath always jarred with me as well, I always thought "why don't we hear the intake of breath the way we do on Hurting Each Other?". Of course, the box set gave us the answer to that question! I often wondered why Richard didn't just "fly in" another breath intake from a different song to solve the count-in leakage.

The B-side however I found absolutely charming and magical in its sound, feel, innocence and lyrical content. Just lovely.
 
As much as I know about music (studied piano as a child, taught myself trumpet), the one thing that has always escaped me is the guitar. It seems like magic to me that ANYONE can play a guitar, and yet many do. The fuzz guitar solo on "Goodbye To Love" just blows my mind, yet somehow this Youtube video has made it just a little more "real". (I only watched him play the solo and didn't bother with the full lesson.)



Harry
 
As much as I know about music (studied piano as a child, taught myself trumpet), the one thing that has always escaped me is the guitar. It seems like magic to me that ANYONE can play a guitar, and yet many do. The fuzz guitar solo on "Goodbye To Love" just blows my mind, yet somehow this Youtube video has made it just a little more "real". (I only watched him play the solo and didn't bother with the full lesson.)



Harry


Magical!!!
 
I watched a bit of that solo and tutorial, and he plays it beautifully, but. . .
Tony plays his guitar in an open F tuning. This basically means, if you strum or strike the strings without touching them, an 'F' chord will sound. It just makes the overall sound different.

This also added to Tony's versatility. Pedal steel guitars and slide guitars are often( not always) in an open tuning. So, Tony could play all those different parts because of the way his strings were tuned.

The tutorial is great, and it's in standard tuning, Tony's approach was still different and unique and magical, and not standard at all, ahem.

His tuning btw: FFCFAC.

Standard is: EADGBE.

Quite different.
 
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Searching for clarification, as my hearing is not up to par:
Is the guitar solo heard here identical to--or truncated for--- that heard on Master Karaoke ?
Might be me, but, there seems to be a difference.....but, I need a different set of ears !
Thanks.
 
After listening to both songs thoroughly, I chose "Goodbye To Love". As much as I love "Crystal Lullaby", I feel like "Goodbye" is the strongest out of the two songs, in my opinion.
 
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