🎶 Album Sides THE ALBUM SIDES [Poll]: "NOW & THEN" (SP-3519)

[Chris May]

“NOW & THEN”

​

Catalogue Number: A&M SP-3519
Date of Release: 05/09/73
Chart Position- U.S.: #2; U.K.: #19; JAPAN: #1
Album Singles: "Sing”/"Druscilla Penny”
"Yesterday Once More"/”Road Ode”
Medium: Reel/Vinyl/8-track/Cassette/CD​

Side 1:
1.) Sing 3:20 (Raposo)
2.) This Masquerade 4:50 (Russell)
3.) Heather 2:47 (Pearson)
4.) Jambalaya (On The Bayou) 3:40 (Williams)
5.) I Can’t Make Music 3:17 (Edelman)

Side 2:
6.) Yesterday Once More 3:50 (Carpenter/Bettis)
7.) Oldies Medley:
a. Fun, Fun, Fun 1:32 (Wilson/Love)
b. The End Of The World 2:25 (Dee/Kent)
c. Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home) 1:43 (Greenwich/Barry/Spector)
d. Deadman’s Curve 1:40 (Berry/Christian/Kornfeld/Wilson)
e. Johnny Angel 1:30 (Duddy/Pockriss)
f. The Night Has A Thousand Eyes 1:45 (Weisman/Wayne/Garrett)
g. Our Day Will Come 2:00 (Hilliard/Garson)
h. One Fine Day 1:40 (King/Goffin)
8.) Yesterday Once More [Reprise] 0:48 (Carpenter/Bettis)

 

[theninjarabbit]

Side Two! I love the tracks on Side one, but I definitely favor the other side (play it all of the time at home). I love the oldies medley, and Yesterday Once More, as they contain some of my personal favorite lead vocals. They put such care into covering these oldies -- highlights are "End of the World", "Johnny Angel" and "Our Day Will Come".

 

[GaryAlan]

Still not a fan of medley's, but, I'll go for Side Two !
Yesterday Once More and End of the World are standouts for me.
And, if Heather had been replaced by an actual vocal , Side One would have been in the running--
on the strength of I Can't Make Music--one of my all-time favorites.

 

[theninjarabbit]

I Can't Make Music--one of my all-time favorites.

Totally agree with you there -- it's definitely one of the strongest tracks on this album. It almost feels like a track that could've made Horizon.

 

[Mark-T]

YOM, Johnny Angel, NHATE, Our Day Will Come and One Fine Day- what a line up!

 

[K.C. Jr]

Easy pick here - side 2! Of course, I'm not biased because it includes my favorite song or anything . I like everything from this album - it's so upbeat compared to some of the others. One of my favorites!

 

[newvillefan]

Side 2, easy choice! Some of Karen's performances should have been fully fledged songs in their own right, especially Our Day Will Come and One Fine Day.

 

[Nancy J. Limauro]

When I first heard the medley I was blown away...never heard anything so creative..when I saw the Carpenters in concert and they did that segment it was amazing. I love that entire album. I also love Drucilla Penny.

 

[CraigGA]

Karen sounds great singing Oldies. This album shows more agility in Karen's voice and one could say she could sing anything.

 

[Harry]

I'm having a tough time with this one. Back in the day, the whole oldies medley thing blew me away. I was enamored of radio and here was my favorite group emulating an oldies radio station. It was brilliant - and even effective in concert. Side One had its charms, but was somewhat underwhelming. "Sing" had already been out as a single and "Jambalaya" was about the best new thing about Side One.

There's no denying "Yesterday Once More" and its brilliance as a standalone song, and as a bookend to frame the oldies medley on Side Two. I can't imagine the song not being in my top ten all-time. But...

The whole NOW & THEN album seems to have worn thin with me. Side One seems somehow limp to me, almost a foretelling of the way things would be from now on. Future albums wouldn't have the zing and appeal of the earlier ones and this Side One seemed to be an as-yet-undiscovered precursor. After forty years of listening, Tony Peluso's DJ patter has certainly worn thin, and as a result, I much prefer listening to the "Oldies Medley" on the READER'S DIGEST set where the songs just flow and aren't interrupted by talking. Of course, there we're missing "Da Doo Ron Ron" and it's interspersed with other oldies.

So I guess, given the power of the framing song, "Yesterday Once More", I can overlook my weariness over the now-unwelcomed Tony Peluso shtick and vote for Side Two, but it's not without trepidation.

 

[GaryAlan]

Harry has struck a chord with me regarding this Album, in as much as I do concur with his sentiments !

This album has not really worn well with me over time.
Enough with the Medleys !
Heather is filler, pretty--yes--but, no Karen Carpenter vocals at a time when she was at her peak.
Thankfully, Karen's skillful drumming is demonstrated on the album.
But, to have End Of The World, Johnny Angel and Our Day Will Come
combined time to only 5 min 55 sec.... when I would have preferred three entire songs,
how much more difficult could this have been to accomplish ?
As much as I like This Masquerade (after all, Karen's delivery is fantastic on the song),
too much of the arrangement spoils the effect for me. It does not "hit" me as does
the other Leon Russell song, A Song For You--great vocal and great arrangement.
It is a good album, but, somehow the entirety of the product has not worn well with me.
(Although, I must say, if I get a chance to "hear" my Quad-LP as a "quad", this attitude might change !).

 

[Harry]

I've often been amazed at the elevation of NOW AND THEN to some kind of iconic status with the Japanese audience. They seem to give it way more attention than I ever did.

 

[A&M Retro]

I still love 'Now And Then' 43 years later. I agree about the DJ patter wearing thin, but the outstanding vocals and arrangements certainly make up for it. I think 'One Fine Day' is my favorite track on the album.

I was lucky enough to finally obtain a rebuilt Sansui quad receiver in 2001, The quad version of 'Now And Then' blew me away. Karen's vocals on Side 2 are stunning.

 

[GaryAlan]

^^....One Fine Day...I do so like that song on the album...!
The beginning of the song grabs me every time, "shooby, dooby" and all that....
but, again, at only 1 min 40 sec, I cry out for more of the song !

 

[JBee]

The whole NOW & THEN album seems to have worn thin with me. Side One seems somehow limp to me, almost a foretelling of the way things would be from now on. Future albums wouldn't have the zing and appeal of the earlier ones and this Side One seemed to be an as-yet-undiscovered precursor. After forty years of listening, Tony Peluso's DJ patter has certainly worn thin, and as a result, I much prefer listening to the "Oldies Medley" on the READER'S DIGEST set where the songs just flow and aren't interrupted by talking. Of course, there we're missing "Da Doo Ron Ron" and it's interspersed with other oldies.

So I guess, given the power of the framing song, "Yesterday Once More", I can overlook my weariness over the now-unwelcomed Tony Peluso shtick and vote for Side Two, but it's not without trepidation.

Yes, I know N&T was a big-seller but it was a very good clue of signs to come - not the least of which was the lack of material (especially new material) which would also be a reason for no 1974 album. As it is, I know I'm in the minority here but Side 1 is packed with some great FULL songs. As much as I love medleys (and "Yesterday Once More" is the cornerstone song of the entire album) the Carpenters seemed to over-rely on it - not just here but in their Weintraub era concerts as well.

 

[Toolman]

Still very much enjoy the oldies medley...agree though that the DJ bit loses its humor after a while. Nice hearing Rich and Karen trade off on the leads and both sound terrific. Except for MIA, side one of Now and Then is probably my least-played Carpenters LP side.

 

[newvillefan]

As it is, I know I'm in the minority here but Side 1 is packed with some great FULL songs.

For me side 1 is mediocre at best. The fact the album features Sing, Jambalaya and Heather means it's an LP I hardly ever listen to. I can pick up Yesterday Once More and This Masquerade on any number of compilations and hits collections.

 

[CraigGA]

I think Side 1 has sone great songs too. I Can't Make Music has always been one of my favorite album songs.
And all the talk about Side 2 makes me want to pull it out and listen to Karen in every speaker!

Craig

 

[Jeff]

Side 1, I CAN'T MAKE MUSIC. My fave album cut.

 

[tomswift2002]

It's to bad that with Side 2 the songs were not longer, but at the same time you have to the were emulating 1960's radio, which from what I've seen on CD's of the Beach Boys, Beatles and other 60's groups, a lot of singles, especially in the early- mid-60's were in the 2:30 or less range. For example, you really didn't see any Beach Boys singles and album tracks go above 2:30 till about 1967 when "Smiley Smile" comes out and you get 'Heroes And Villains' at 3:36. According to the Reader's Digest 2-CD set from 91, the Beach Boys version of 'Fun, Fun, Fun' is listed at 2:17.

 

[Geographer]

Hmmm...I actually LOVE Heather.

 

[A&M Retro]

That makes two of us, Geographer. 'Heather' was my favorite track on Side One one because I would play along with the record on the piano as a kid. I literally played it hundreds of times when it was new. And it still works well today as background for family montages, etc.

 

[K.C. Jr]

I love "Heather", too, because of the nostalgia I associate with it. After all, isn't that the theme of the whole album? Even if I didn't associate the two, it's still a lovely tune that I never considered merely "filler".

 

[natureaker]

I love Heather as well. Though, it may not be a personal favorite off the album, I still feel like it's a very enjoyable song.

 

[GaryAlan]

By the way:
my definition of "filler" probably differs from others' definition of the term.
In any event, in my own opinion --
when it comes to a Carpenters' album, no time should be wasted on any purely instrumental song !
We have Karen Carpenter's voice and the duo's harmonies to contend with--there simply should have been
no reason to include a purely instrumental song on any Carpenters' album--especially in 1973.
Thus, the same as with "Piano Picker" or "Warsaw Concerto," nice to hear, but, ultimately filling time.
I disfavor wasting recording time or effort on a purely instrumental offering.
And, I do agree Heather is a very pretty song. Even so, "filler" to my ears !
Just my two cents.