⭐ Official Review [Single]: 25. "SWEET, SWEET SMILE"/"I HAVE YOU" (2008-S)

Which side is your favorite?

  • Side A: "Sweet, Sweet Smile"

    Votes: 40 81.6%
  • Side B: "I Have You"

    Votes: 9 18.4%

  • Total voters
    49
So here are the 13 tunes I'd put out there. Not necessarily in this order; however, I think it demonstrates that there is enough material to complete a "country" compilation album.

Sweet Sweet Smile

Top Of The World
Jambalaya
Reason To Believe
The Uninvited Guest
Two Lives
Those Good Old Dreams
All Because of You
Desperado
One More Time
When It's Gone
And When He Smiles


I think you mean Two Sides, not Two Lives!
 
I have to admit an official Country Collection CD of the Carpenters is not something I had ever thought possible. That rare 45 has really sparked some interest and with this list above...I could see a CD with this country theme working. Now all we need is to find a pic of Karen and Richard in cowboy hats maybe sitting on a bail of hay...for the cover and we are set. :laugh: Yee Haw!!
 
We should start a permanent thread that is just for suggested playlists.

(Fantasy)
Carpenters Country Sides: (I'm going to compile it in this order and see how it "flows!")

Side One:
Sweet Sweet Smile
Desperado
Still Crazy After All These Years
Top Of The World
One More Time
Those Good Old Dreams

Side Two:
Two Sides
Reason To Believe
And When He Smiles
The Uninvited Guest
Jambalaya
All Because Of You

Of course if it was on CD it could have 3 additional tracks: [At Least]

The End of The World
And I Love You So
Something's Missing (the "new" country version)
 
(Fantasy)
Carpenters Country Sides: (I'm going to compile it in this order and see how it "flows!")

Side One:
Sweet Sweet Smile
Desperado
Still Crazy After All These Years
Top Of The World
One More Time
Those Good Old Dreams

Side Two:
Two Sides
Reason To Believe
And When He Smiles
The Uninvited Guest
Jambalaya
All Because Of You

Of course if it was on CD it could have 3 additional tracks: [At Least]

The End of The World
And I Love You So
Something's Missing (the "new" country version)

The only song that really doesn't work for me, is the one I suggested, which shows you how much I know (lol). I'd pull "Still Crazy."
Any suggestions? I thought about the solo version of "Make Believe It's Your First Time" reworked as a country ballad. What do you think?

P.S. I'm not really a country music fan, but I can't ignore a good song or performance!
 
This song is a reminder to me that had they chosen to, I think the Carpenters could have moved into country music in a big way in the 1980's. Image issues are (or were, anyway) less of an issue in that genre, in fact their "wholesome" image was probably a benefit at that time.
 
A country album from the carpenters would have been a real treat because of how good some of their songs are with a country feel. For example, im caught between goodbye and I love you or reason to believe. Imagine karen singing love me by jeanne pruett.
 
CASHBOX Single Review, January 1, 1978, page 42:
"CARPENTERS (A&M 2008-S) Sweet, Sweet Smile (2:54) (Sterling Music/Addison
Street - ASCAP) (J. Newton/O. Young) . This second single off the "Passage" LP has an
intriguing country feel mixed with an obviously pop approach. Present are the snappy bass,
country twang violin and boogie piano. Karen's singing has an effective edge.
Pop and country chart potential."



December 30, 1978, CASHBOX:
Country Singles Poll Winners

New Duos - Longest Charted
1 Kenny Rogers And Dottie West - Every Time Two Fools Collide
2 Carpenters - Sweet Sweet Smile
3 Jack Ward And Reba McEntire - Three Sheets In The
4 Kenny Rogers And Dottie West - Anyone Who Isn't Me Tonight
5 Waylon Jennings And Johnny Cash - Ain't No Good Chain
 
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That’s funny that it says 2nd single from Passage. I guess AYGFLIALS doesn’t count since it preceded the albums release?
 
Billboard April 1, 1978:
Carpenters Cracking Country Chart Without Nashville Push
Excerpts:
"We've assembled a mailing and tracking list of 500 country stations.
And less than 5% of them said flat - out there's no way they'd play the Carpenters record.
That's much better than we'd hoped for."
---
According to Bronstein, the single was picked up the first week by about a dozen country stations, including KIKK, KENR and KNUZ in Houston.
In fact, the top 20 country numbers on "Sweet Sweet Smile" in Houston have forced KRBE, a pop station in that market, to add it.
This reverse crossover has also oc curred in Dallas and Kansas City. Another irony with the record is that it built a strong base of familiarity prior to its release as a single, in part because many adult contemporary stations played it instead of the Carpenters last single, the galactic rocker "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft," which some of them deemed inappropriate for heavy MOR play."
--
"Richard Carpenter admits to being surprised by the country success of "Sweet Sweet Smile,"
claiming he neither gave it its playful fiddle and banjo arrangement nor picked it as the single with the thought of its crossing over. "
---
"As a result of this hit, Carpenter is considering making an all- country album as the duo's 10th LP for A &M.
"It should be released this summer; followed by a double -disk Christmas album toward the end of the year."
---
Here:
 
Billboard April 1, 1978:
Carpenters Cracking Country Chart Without Nashville Push
Excerpts:
[SNIP]
--
"Richard Carpenter admits to being surprised by the country success of "Sweet Sweet Smile,"
claiming he neither gave it its playful fiddle and banjo arrangement nor picked it as the single with the thought of its crossing over. "
---
"As a result of this hit, Carpenter is considering making an all- country album as the duo's 10th LP for A &M.
"It should be released this summer; followed by a double -disk Christmas album toward the end of the year."
[/SNIP]

Interesting...I wonder how seriously Richard considered a full Country album...was it given serious thought and any planning, or just a flitting idea. Given the state of Carpenters in 1978 I suspect more the latter.

I also wonder how Karen may have felt about doing a Country album. I don't have a strong sense of her level of interest in Country music, nor whether she had publicly commented on the idea of such a project.
 
It resulted in a 4 track promo single sent to radio stations, then there was no more mention of it that I can remember. It was a fun and novel idea for sure. Passage album sales were really poor, and over pressed. It was the first Carpenters album I saw in the budget bins at chain stores. There were thousands on promo lps sent out too. It looked the same as the regular album, no gold stamp, but a sticker instead saying it. The label the same, but PROMOTIONAL COPY NOT FOR SALE in the musical note part of it, and sticker. I bought a couple at $2 each, just to have them.
I think that might have killed the idea of recording a country album, plus they had a Christmas record to work on. I would have loved anything they chose to put out, but Christmas Portrait is a gem in their crown. We sold a lot of it because of in store play.
 
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