201 Hello Carpenters - ( They Long To Be ) Close To You

Chart  entered : 5  September  1970

Chart  peak : 6

Number  of  hits : 19

One  of  the  decade's  defining  acts  now  make  their  appearance; all  the  songs  people  remember them  for  were  released  in  the  1970s.

The  Carpenter  siblings  were  born  in  Connecticut , Richard in  1946, Karen  in  1950. In  1963  the  family  moved  to  California. The  following  year  Richard  enrolled  at  California  State  College  where  he , already  an  accomplished  pianist, started  hanging  around  with  other  musicians. At  the  same  time  Karen  was  learning  to  play  the  drums  whilst  at  school. Towards  the  end  of  1965  they  started  a  jazz  trio  with  bassist  Wes  Jacobs  , the  Richard  Carpenter  Trio. The  following  year  they  won  the  Hollywood  Bowl  Battle  of  the  Bands  as  an  instrumental  act  and  were  signed  by  RCA  although  their  recordings  were  not  released  until  1991. Later  in  1966  Karen  was  heard  singing  by  producer  Joe  Osborn  who  immediately  signed  her  to  his  Magic  Lamp  label  for  the  single " I'll  Be  Yours"  

Although it's  credited  to  Karen  it  is  effectively  the  first  Carpenters  single  as  Richard  wrote  the song  and  plays the  keyboards  on  it. It's  very  much  in  the  girl  group  mode  with  Karen  pitching  somewhere  between  Lesley  Gore  and  Mary  Weiss  of  The  Shangri-las  although  the  melody  veers  off  in  some  strange  directions, aided  by  Karen's  irregular  timekeeping  on  the  skins. Osborn  only  had  the  funds  for  500  copies, making  it  an  expensive  item  to  purchase  today  and  his  label  soon  collapsed  but  his  studio  continued  to  be  available  to  them  for  making  demos.

While  continuing  with  the  Trio, in  1967  Karen  and  Richard  also  formed  a  six  piece  vocal  group Spectrum  with  some  other  students  including  their  long-term  collaborator  John  Bettis. They touted  demos  around  and  performed  live  but  no  one  was  interested  and  Spectrum  only  lasted  a  year. The  Trio  lasted  long  enough  to  make  a  TV  appearance  on  Your  All  American  College  Show  talent  contest   although  they  had  to  find  a  substitute  bassist  for  Wes  who'd  already  left  for  the  Detroit  Symphony  Orchestra. They  performed  a  pretty  horrible  jazz  version  of  "Dancing  In  The  Streets"  out  of  time  with  each  other. Karen's  drum  solo  is  actually  more  impressive  than  her  singing.

They  actually  won  the  prize  on  offer  but  it  didn't  "break" them. The  turning  point  was  Herb  Alpert  hearing  their  demo  and  signing  them  to  A & M  in  April  1969.  Their  debut  album  "Offering"  was  released  in  October  1969. It  was  largely  made  up  of  songs  Richard  had  written  during  the Spectrum  period  and  has  its  moments  although  it's  irredeemably  blighted  by  Richard's  decision  to  sing  lead  on  half  the  tracks. Whatever  his  talents  as  a  musician  and  composer  he's  an  abysmal  singer  ; "Get  Together"  is  the  worst  offender where  he  sounds  like  he's  got  a  peg  on  his  nose. Karen's  talent   isn't  yet  fully  formed  and  some  of  the  arrangements  are  over-florid. Their  cover  of  "Ticket  To  Ride"  which  replaces  Lennon's  sneaking  admiration  for  the  girl's  pluck  with  Karen's  utter  desolation  at  being  deserted  was  chosen  as  a  single  and  reached  number  54  in the  US. Despite  this  the  album  failed; a  year  later  it  was  reissued  as  "Ticket To  Ride" and  made  a   relatively  modest  showing   ( 150 in  the  US; 20  in  the  UK ). Since  2007  it  has  been  out  of  print. making  it  hard  to  get  hold  of  for  anyone  wanting  the  complete  set; I  don't  know  if  Richard  has  some  involvement  in  that.

Rather  than  release  another  single  from  the  LP   they  pressed  on  with  a  new  recording.  Herb  Alpert  had  been  recording  another  Bacharach-David  song  "They  Long To Be Close  To  You"  after  his  success  with  This  Guy's  In  Love  With  You  but  wasn't  happy  with  the  results  and  suggested  to  Richard  they  might  be  able  to  do  something  with  it. It  had  been  recorded  before  by  singing  actor  Richard  Chamberlain, Dionne  Warwick  and  Bacharach  himself  but  never  to  the  latter's  satisfaction.

Bacharach  has  always  said  that  Richard  nailed  the  arrangement  with  that  simple  jazz  piano hook before  Karen  pours  aural  honey  on  Hal  David's  ode  to  a  golden  Adonis. Then  you  have the  wistful  trumpet  solo  ( not  played  by  Alpert )  and  that   glorious  pause   before  the "Waaahhh"  chorus  lays  waste  to  any  resistance  to  its  easy  charms .  It  got  to  number  one  in  the  US  and  broke  them  all  over  the  world.