⭐ Official Review [Single]: 21. "GOOFUS"/"BOAT TO SAIL" (1859-S)

Which side is your favorite?

  • Side A: "Goofus"

    Votes: 15 32.6%
  • Side B: "Boat To Sail"

    Votes: 31 67.4%

  • Total voters
    46
We've gotten some great analysis from many commentators ! Keep rolling....
Billboard Magazine, May 17, 1975:
"
The Carpenters have more top 10 Singles to their credit than any other act in the 1970s.
Only Yesterday has brought their total to 12."
 
Returning to Goofus:
CashBox, September 25, 1976:
Carpenters' Goofus was #91 after one week, then , #87 after three weeks.
Captain & Tennille, Muskrat Love was #60 (after one week), then, #21 after three weeks.

Draw your own conclusion.
 
I know many people consider Horizon their collective peak, but I still maintain that her voice was at its richest, purest and best in 1973. The resonance is better than in any other year and this is best heard on tracks like Our Day Will Come and One Fine Day. It’s also very prevalent on the track we’re all discussing, Sing.

I totally here that richness peak theoughout 1973. Did you think those qualities weren't in equal measure by 1975, that her vocal style was already changing? 1975 can be critiqued for being languid, dreamy, draggy sometimes, but that could be the songs themselves. For example, Karen sounds more compelling on I Can't Make Music than on Love Me for What I Am; she sounds "tighter" and more controlled on the former.
 
Returning to Goofus:
CashBox, September 25, 1976:
Carpenters' Goofus was #91 after one week, then , #87 after three weeks.
Captain & Tennille, Muskrat Love was #60 (after one week), then, #21 after three weeks.

Draw your own conclusion.

'Muskrat Love' is as bad a song as 'Goofus' in my opinion, but the Captain & Tennille could get away with it as they were in the midst of their hot streak on the charts when it was released. Richard and Karen most definitely weren't and the results speak for themselves.
 
I totally here that richness peak theoughout 1973. Did you think those qualities weren't in equal measure by 1975, that her vocal style was already changing?

I've thought hard how to describe the difference I hear between Karen’s vocal in 1973 and 1975. Karen's Horizon sound is softer, her vocal chords sound more relaxed and her voice is not as strident as on the 1973 album. It’s occured to me literally as I write this that another big change I hear is the vocal fry effect, which was starting to come to the fore by 1975. To produce that, you have to sing very, very softly and quietly. It was never really present on many tracks pre-1975, because Karen had a louder, more strident singing style which makes it almost impossible to produce the effect, but it’s definitely there on Horizon.
 
I'm humming Goofus right now. I love Goofus. Someone should put it out as single, for the 5th time, at least.:wave::magoo:
 
Muskrat Love, terrible song. I skip it when listening to C&T. Boat to Sail was a great album cut that grew on me. Just like One More Time. I didn’t care for either one at first. The best part is Karen singing DeShannon’s Back.... at the end. A stab at The C&T’s silly ending to LWKUT, and their spat with Neil Sedaka. Classy all the way.
 
Was listening to 'Boat to Sail' again this morining and I have to say it's really quite a nice track. It's a bit like a pretty precious stone set in an ugly ring on the A Kind of Hush album - had it have been the sole mellow track on a more dynamic album tracklisting, it may well have stood out better.
 
Was listening to 'Boat to Sail' again this morining and I have to say it's really quite a nice track. It's a bit like a pretty precious stone set in an ugly ring on the A Kind of Hush album - had it have been the sole mellow track on a more dynamic album tracklisting, it may well have stood out better.

That's a very apt - albeit controversial - description of the track :laugh:. It's my favourite from the whole album, I've always loved it. It's so relaxing to sit and listen to it on a balmy summer's day. Karen's backing vocals in the instrumental section are just sublime, I remember the first time I heard that part, I replayed it over and over again.
 
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That's a very apt - albeit controversial - description of the track :laugh:. It's my favourite from the whole album, I've always loved it. It's so relaxing to sit and listen to it on a balmy summer's day. Karen's backing vocals in the instrumental section are just sublime, I remember the first time I heard that part, I replayed it over and over again.

It isn't my favourite track on A Kind of Hush - 'One More Time' I think is better - but I think 'Boat to Sail' suffers more than 'One More Time' in terms of the context of the other songs on the album. With so much mellow on there, it really gets lost in the mix, whereas really it's mellow good, not mellow mediocre, like most of the other songs on there.
 
Could there be a more apt title for the album than
A Kind of Hush ?
That is why I feel the album is exactly where it needs to be: full of mellow songs !
They are all representative of different "...kinds of hushes...."
One More Time is simply incredibly moving. Boat To Sail is awesome in other ways.
You and I Have You are always favorites with me.
I Need To Be In Love is a softer ballad, too.
Sandy and Can't Smile Without You, softer songs, too.
That is 70 % of the album.
The title track, Goofus and Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
are the pattern-breakers (not as 'hushed.'), comprising the remainder.

Obviously, the duo were aiming for a rather
hushed
album.
And, they succeeded.
 
Could there be a more apt title for the album than
A Kind of Hush ?
That is why I feel the album is exactly where it needs to be: full of mellow songs !
They are all representative of different "...kinds of hushes...."
One More Time is simply incredibly moving. Boat To Sail is awesome in other ways.
You and I Have You are always favorites with me.
I Need To Be In Love is a softer ballad, too.
Sandy and Can't Smile Without You, softer songs, too.
That is 70 % of the album.
The title track, Goofus and Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
are the pattern-breakers (not as 'hushed.'), comprising the remainder.

Obviously, the duo were aiming for a rather
hushed
album.
And, they succeeded.
This period on the American charts was also very easy listening. Most of the big songs had a definite soft pop sound, even if some of the hits were more repetitive and insistent in their hooks than ‘I Need to Be In Love’ and ‘A Kind of Hush’. Some of the huge smashes of the year were Wings - Silly Love Songs,
Paul Simon - 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, Starland Vocal Band - Afternoon Delight, Barry Manilow - I Write The Songs, Dorothy Moore - Misty Blue, England Dan and John Ford Coley - I'd Really Love To See You Tonight, Eagles - Take It To The Limit, Starbuck - Moonlight Feels Right, Dr. Hook - Only Sixteen, Eric Carmen - All By Myself, Donny and Marie Osmond - Deep Purple, Dr. Hook - A Little Bit More, Henry Gross - Shannon
and Chicago - If You Leave Me Now. Some of these were very light and poppy. Even though a fair number of the big hits of the year were disco, easy listening and adult contemporary were definitely ‘in’. Even some of the big soul hits had a very laid back and soft pop sound. And some of the ‘hard rock’ of the day now doesn’t sound very hard at all.
 
I took another listen to that 2006 interview with Richard (post #138).
In contradistinction to Richard, I must say, I still love Postman, Hush and even Goofus !
And, part of the reason stems from the arrangements which seem to highlight Bob Messenger,
here is Bob on Goofus (okay, one of my favorite Carpenters' recordings !):
 
An interesting interview with Richard Carpenter (2006):
(14:52) "we never should have done Goofus...it's a cute, old tune...never should have done Beechwood...."
"I regret doing Sing...."


He's totally right, IMHO. In essence, they're all just nothing. They only get over for me because of Richard's vocal arrangements. Beyond that, I don't need any of them. "Beechwood" was the most major of the errors because a throwback was the last thing they needed at this point. "Touch Me..." got people's attention and they had nothing to follow it up with. "Back in My Life Again" was a disaster and "Beechwood..." was no better (though it wasn't worse).

Ed
 
An interesting interview with Richard Carpenter (2006):
(14:52) "we never should have done Goofus...it's a cute, old tune...never should have done Beechwood...."
"I regret doing Sing...."

Loved hearing his take on shows like "American Idol" too…..never thought he would have paid much attention to them.
 
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