⭐ Official Review [Single]: 8. "HURTING EACH OTHER"/"MAYBE IT'S YOU" (1322-S)

Which side is your favorite?

  • Side A: "HURTING EACH OTHER"

    Votes: 40 87.0%
  • Side B: "MAYBE IT'S YOU"

    Votes: 6 13.0%

  • Total voters
    46

Chris May

Resident ‘Carpenterologist’
Staff member
Moderator
“HURTING EACH OTHER”/"MAYBE IT'S YOU"

HEO.png HurtingEachOtherSINGLE.png MIY.png

Side A: Hurting Each Other 2:46 (Geld/Udell)
Side B: Maybe It's You 3:09 (Carpenter/Bettis)

Catalogue Number: A&M 1322-S
Monarch Δ87132 / Δ87085-X - Label variant from Columbia Records' Pitman, NJ plant
Date of Release: 12/23/71
Format: 7" Single
Speed: 45 RPM
Country: US
Chart Position: #2

Arranged by Richard Carpenter
Produced by Jack Daugherty

Side B Taken from A&M SP-4271 album "Close To You"

For more definitive information regarding each single, you can visit our Carpenters - The Complete Singles page in our Carpenters Resource.
 
being fickle at fave singles THIS was my fave single...upon release, cuz then of course we have the rest.
 
Is it strange that I've already run out of interesting and different ways to say how much I love these singles? :D

"Hurting Each Other" is a welcome addition to the standards. Its momentum is crazy powerful -- the drums, the strings, everything about it is really exciting from beginning to end (for me, especially the end!). This is a great example of Richard's great ear for underappreciated (and often completely undiscovered) song selections, too. These guys were on fire!

I've been playing "Maybe It's You" a lot lately, which is not surprising given my new-found fondness for Carpenter/Bettis compositions. I would've selected it but the A-Side wins today. The two versions of the verse "pass a lucky penny by" confused me for a while -- and on my first listen of the song, for a second, I thought Karen sang "maybe it's you who brought the Karen I forgot" :laugh:
 
I loved this single! The "cold opening" is fantastic, and the entire song is an instant classic.
Side Two is a song I've always loved as well. A great introduction to the soon-to-come A Song For You.
 
This is one of my favorites and it is my favorite video. It has a great message to capitalize on the "Love Is" of the day and Karen sings this song effortlessly and it is rather difficult in interval relationships and phrasing. It sounds like this songs was written for them and it is a great example of Richard taking an existing song and making an arrangement perfect for Karen. Plus, the overdubbed vocals are perfect! I also like the balance of a light semi classical feel in the instrumentation that does not abandon a contemporary feel. It is a perfect Carpenters song.
 
"Hurting Each Other" - the overdubs. Perfectly crafted song, I tell you! The duo sounds spot on and it just blows me away every time I hear it.

"Maybe It's You" will always be special to me because it was one of the first Carpenters songs I heard. It's lovely, and Karen's voice really works wonders for the wistful feel of it.
 
Great record. It always vies for the top spot in my favorites.

One of the early songs to get a tweak from Richard. After the song was released as a single, it got a slight remix for the SINGLES 69-73 album, adding in an opening breath for Karen and shifting the balance slightly to the left.
 
After the song was released as a single, it got a slight remix for the SINGLES 69-73 album, adding in an opening breath for Karen and shifting the balance slightly to the left.

I always thought that was bizarre that the mix was thrown out of balance like that and was never corrected. Oh well, helluva record nonetheless!
 
This was really the song that cemented me as a Carpenters fan. I had liked all the previous hits, but had still "resisted" because, as we all know, it wasn't cool to like the Carpenters if you were a teenage boy in the 70s. I would pay attention when the songs came on the radio, but I wasn't about to, you know, actually buy the records.

But I HAD liked all those hits, so....

Then I head them perform this song on TV, I think it was on The Tonight Show, and that was it. I was like "OK. They're really good, what can I say?" and I then bought the ASFY album, and it's still my favorite of all their albums today. Then I picked up the early albums and found much to like besides the hits.
 
One of the singles that always vies for the top spot on my favorites list. Every time I hear it now I think of Chris's remarks about the importance of contrasts. Between the ultra-soft verses and the Spectorian chorus, this one captivates from start to finish. Terrific contributions from both siblings.
 
This is tied with 'All You Get From Love Is A Love Song' as my favorite Carpenters single. I remember asking my Mom if we could get the 45, and there it was on the front seat of the car after a piano lesson. I was in the 3rd grade, so this was a big deal. :) Cool Mom and great memory.

'Hurting Each Other' is one of my 'go-to' tracks that really emphasizes the talents of both K&R. It's dramatic, melodic and an all around kick ass performance and production. And, most importantly, it still sounds as fresh today as it did in 1972.
 
The A side is one of their best singles but curiously enough I never hear it played these days on radio as an oldie. Great harmonies, delicate lead by Karen and very atmospheric production. The reverb-laden percussion in the verses is what does it for me.

The B side is one I don't think I've listened to more than half a dozen times in 20 years. It just does nothing for me.
 
The A side is one of their best singles but curiously enough I never hear it played these days on radio as an oldie. Great harmonies, delicate lead by Karen and very atmospheric production. The reverb-laden percussion in the verses is what does it for me.

The B side is one I don't think I've listened to more than half a dozen times in 20 years. It just does nothing for me.

It does get some radio play but I would agree that it's definitely somewhat overlooked compared many of their other hit singles - I definitely hear 'I Won't Last a Day Without You' and 'Sing' being played more often, for instance - which is strange, considering what a big hit it was in the US and the fact that it's an excellent production.

Whilst they started to overdo the oldies as their career progressed, songs by Ruby and the Romantics always turned out well for them - their versions of 'Our Day Will Come' and 'Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore' are also superb.
 
A 45 that shows just how powerful a musical force the C's were at their zenith--and I think this is really the zenith of what they had done so effortlessly for three years, as they flowed from the art songs that were the capstone of the Spectrum songwriting project into the flawless stylistic blend on the Close to You LP, along with a string of "found songs" by Richard that he (correctly) projected as hits (as opposed to later, when the C's remade previous hit songs, with declining results).

It's also a beautiful blending of the two key "feeder" paths for superb Carpenters recordings--on one hand, the brilliant reimagining a previously recorded song ("Hurting Each Other"), and the exceptionally productive results of the Carpenter-Bettis songwriting collaboration (the consummately beautiful "Maybe It's You"). As was noted elsewhere, Richard first cut his teeth as an arranger/producer in the trailing edge of the Spector era, and you can hear some of that in the pre-Spectrum material with a very young Karen. "Hurting Each Other" is arguably his homage/testament to that sound and that era, and we can only imagine how excited he must have been when he listened to the "without ever knowing...why-y-ah-y" tag, just knowing how incredible it was going to be when Karen got hold of it.

It was--it is--it always will be.
 
One of my favorite versions of this single is the mono promo version. There's a little bit of extra reverb heard in Karen's lead in the mono version with some compression that sounded great on AM radio stations of the day.



Harry
 
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One of my favorite versions of this single is the mono promo version. There's a little bit of extra reverb heard in Karen's lead in the mono version with some compression that sounded great on AM radio stations of the day.



Harry


Such a great mix - punchy and well balanced. A&M really turned out some nice monos on Carpenters. This one is definitely up there!
 
That is a great mix ! Thanks, Harry.
I am astounded at how great the song sounds.
the lyric "..we are...' seems to be held a bit longer, here on the mono.
Am I imagining that ?
The strings and drums are given exceptional arrangement.
Certainly, one of the duo's best achievements.
 
Here's a testament to the power of this record. I put that mono mix on YouTube just today, so obviously it required my listening to the song a few times. And over the past few days since this thread appeared, I've listened to a number of different iterations of "Hurting Each Other". But here and now, looking at GaryAlan's comments and question, I hit play on the YouTube video and am sitting here with goosebumps. Usually goosebumps aren't that long in duration, but these wouldn't quit. That's a powerful record.
 
Here's a testament to the power of this record. I put that mono mix on YouTube just today, so obviously it required my listening to the song a few times. And over the past few days since this thread appeared, I've listened to a number of different iterations of "Hurting Each Other". But here and now, looking at GaryAlan's comments and question, I hit play on the YouTube video and am sitting here with goosebumps. Usually goosebumps aren't that long in duration, but these wouldn't quit. That's a powerful record.

Funny you should say that. I was listening to this mix driving down the freeway this morning and thought to myself, "This is such an underrated record!" It's one of my favorite productions of theirs, but it doesn't always get as much credit as it deserves!
 
Somebody tell me what the chord is on "...gotta stop". That's the chord that gets me every time.
 
Somebody tell me what the chord is on "...gotta stop". That's the chord that gets me every time.

It's an Emaj7, as Karen adds in an additional overdub on the D#, singing one half-step below the 'E' alongside the 'E' as well. This fills out the chord vocally, creating the harmonic tension with the close harmony in the stack.
 
It's an Emaj7, as Karen adds in an additional overdub on the D#, singing one half-step below the 'E' alongside the 'E' as well. This fills out the chord vocally, creating the harmonic tension with the close harmony in the stack.

How interesting! In Richard's words, "it was pointed out to me not all that long ago by a writer, he said 'you changed the [Ticket To Ride] melody all around and had it end on a major 7th'....I love major 7ths!"
 
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