Who's GOODBYE TO LOVE was 1st? Jerry Vale's or Carpenters?

[Dave]

Whose version came out first? Did Karen & Richard do theirs on the heels of Jerry Vale's version? Which lacked a guitar solo and was long buried in the sphere of myriad Easy-Listening Sound-Alikes?

Or is Jerry's just a remake of The Carpenter's version? Yes, definitely more MOR! A departure from the "Power Ballad" that Richard and guitarist Tony Peluso helped pioneer?

Should have bought the Jerry Vale LP it's on, but didn't think about it at the time. Besides, I already have versions of "Song Sung Blue", "Speak Softly Love", "Where Is The Love?" and "Alone Again, Naturally".

And I don't need "Daddy, Don't You Walk So Fast" or "The Candy Man"!

Dave

 

[W.B.]

From what I gather, Mr. Vale recorded his version as the Carpenters' was burning up the charts. Remember, cover versions spread like wildfire in those days . . .

Alas, I checked my trusty Columbia discography . . . and could not find any song with that title in the song title index -- by anybody. So Mr. Vale's version apparently was not released as a single -- at least not commercially . . . except possibly as a radio-station-only promo (with an "AE7" prefix).

The other question: What year did Jerry Vale record his version of "Goodbye To Love"? (Being as the Carpenters' was released in mid-'72.)

I can say with certainty, however, that Johnny Mathis also did a cover of "Goodbye To Love" -- on his later '72 album Song Sung Blue (which, besides the aforementioned Neil Diamond number, also featured covers of such tunes as Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)," Bill Withers' "Lean On Me," and the Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway hit "Where Is The Love").