Visiting With "Sandy" - Again

[JohnFB]

Listening to Carpenter songs at random on an early Sunday morning I came across "Sandy" and ended up putting it on a loop, listening over and over, captivated by the warm-hearted lyrics and the layed-back arrangement - and mostly, of course, by the soft, subtle, sweet vocal by Karen. Her interpretation is warm and wonderful - and totally mesmerizing! I don't think I ever fully appreciated what an excellent song this is! Funny, how this happens with certain songs - songs that don't move you too much for the longest time, until you hear them at the right place and time, and in the right mood. This happened to me before recently with the song "When It's Gone..." and the experience is almost like discovering a brand new song that has been kept hidden in the vaults for decades...

If my memory serves me (always debatable) Sandy was an assistant or secretary of Richard and he wrote the song for her, and Karen sang it sort of as a proxy for him - because he wanted it to sound as good as possible...is this correct?

Here's the song with an appealing visual presentation:

 

[newvillefan]

If my memory serves me (always debatable) Sandy was an assistant or secretary of Richard and he wrote the song for her, and Karen sang it sort of as a proxy for him

‘Sandy’ was Sandy Holland, Karen’s hairdresser and part of the touring group around 1976, whom Richard dated for a while. Richard and John wrote the song as a nod to her.

I’ve always loved the song. One of the best moments on the entire PACC album for me is where it leads up to the segue into ‘Time’ and Richard fades out the entire backing track to leave those sublime harmonies exposed at the end. There’s one bass harmony by Richard that comes out, which had been pretty much buried in the album mix and inaudible up to that point. Just lovely.

 

[cam89]

A Kind of Hush album always has a sweet effect on me and a great memory. It was the second studio album I listened or the third....first being Voice of the Heart, and then A Kind of Hush. I had previously heard The Singles 1969-1973 and loved it. My next album which was the first of theirs I bought was the CLOSE to YOU album....but A Kind of Hush had such lush beautiful songs. I loved YOU, ONE MORE TIME, I HAVE YOU, SANDY. I despised GOOFUS and still to this day. And later on I adored BOAT TO SAIL in my mind part one of the part two of SAILING ON THE TIDE....and of course I enjoyed Breaking Up Is Hard To Do....which almost sounds identical to the one they did at the end of their show in Las Vegas with Neil Sedaka....

 

[Geographer]

I always said "there's something about 'Sandy." I could never quite put my finger on why it is one of my favorite tracks on AKOH. Really, there is nothing too remarkable about it and it is clearly "just an album cut;" BUT, be it Richard's arrangement or Karen's delivery, it is an irresistible song.

 

[JohnFB]

I always said "there's something about 'Sandy." I could never quite put my finger on why it is one of my favorite tracks on AKOH. Really, there is nothing too remarkable about it and it is clearly "just an album cut;" BUT, be it Richard's arrangement or Karen's delivery, it is an irresistible song.

It's John's ever-so-poignant lyrics, Richard's thoughtful arrangement with the gentle orchestration with the just-so-right instrumentation, the sweet background harmony vocals on the choruses, and Karen's subtle, warm, lovely and slightly restrained interpretation, as if she's singing to a boy named Sandy (who is a good friend, but would like to be more) - this reminds me somewhat of the style she used during "Close to You"...

 

[Good Things]

Tasty ear candy….

 

[Richard’s namesake]

I love Richard’s version of this great song on his PACC album. Verses played to perfection than the choruses sung as in the original. Brilliant.

 

[JohnFB]

During the chorus Karen sings "You know how rainy weather gets me down", which vaguely reminds me of another song - but I just can't quite remember what it is...

 

[Mark-T]

^^^ I never put that together!

 

[David A]

Karen's voice is...I really don't know if there are any more adjectives left to describe how incredible it is, and she sounds as amazing as ever with Sandy.

Having said that, this song just feels a bit too "soft" (yes, I know this is the Carpenters we're talking about heh), a bit too smooth, I feel no emotional "edge" to this one.

 

[JohnFB]

Karen's voice is...I really don't know if there are any more adjectives left to describe how incredible it is, and she sounds as amazing as ever with Sandy.

...

I used subtle, warm and lovely above, but I'll take incredible and amazing too...

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Karen's voice is...I really don't know if there are any more adjectives left to describe how incredible it is, and she sounds as amazing as ever with Sandy.

Having said that, this song just feels a bit too "soft" (yes, I know this is the Carpenters we're talking about heh), a bit too smooth, I feel no emotional "edge" to this one.

Agreed. "Sandy"'s fine but for me, that's all it is. Karen sings it beautifully - there's no getting around that. The track itself is just very polite and...soft.

Ed

 

[JohnFB]

^^^ I never put that together!

A coincidence? I think not. John Bettis was far too clever in his lyrics not to be quoting, or making a deliberate allusion here...

 

[JohnFB]

Agreed. "Sandy"'s fine but for me, that's all it is. Karen sings it beautifully - there's no getting around that. The track itself is just very polite and...soft.

Ed

It's fairly obvious to many of us that "Sandy" is not primarily about the story being told in the lyrics. It's a master class in the fine art of singing a personal song in the most tender or gentle way. It has been said that Karen sang "to us and not at us". Here she is sitting on our laps, with her arms around our shoulders, and her lips very close to our ears. "Soft" never sounded so intimate.