First Time Hearing | Carpenters - We've Only Just Begun | Reaction 

I grew up 2 streets behind the Carpenters in Downey and me and everyone else used to ride by the house on our schwinns all the time trying to catch a glimpse of Karen. Two things: Karen always looked exactly like she did on TV, and her family gave out full size candy bars at Halloween.

Its not multiple men - it is multiple tracks from Richard and Karen. The production was genius.

This became THE wedding song back in the day ❤

Karen and Richard did all the background vocals, something Richard perfected in all their songs.

This is the studio version put to video to promote the Close to You album. Believe it or not, the only vocals you hear are done by Richard and Karen. The vocals are multi tracked. All the female harmoniies are done by Karen and all the male vocals harmonies are done by Richard.

My mom said when the Carpenters would come on i would sit down in front of the radio and look at the speaker and smile . I only stopped when I started kindergarten .. I still get a feeling of calm when I hear her voice.

Rainy Days and Monday’s is a great song of theirs too. She plays the drums and sings in that video. Love the Carpenters ❤

I love your heartfelt feelings towards Carpenters especially Karen. There are not enough words to describe Karen Carpenter. She was wholesome, kind, caring, gorgeous and real. As far as backing vocals the studio overdubbing recordings were just Richard and Karen. Richard Carpenter is a genius arranger. The tour band when live sang backup. The tour band were very talented musicians. This is a 1971 video. They succeeded even when rock critics were bashing them for being to clean cut. History shows Carpenters won that battle with 150 million in record sells and growing.

Richard was talented at arranging and a first class pianist. His vocals may not have the quality of Karen's but, still pleasant and perfect as a backing vocal. He did a little composing as well. Karen was also a fine drummer and if it wasn't for the fact her vocals were just so special, she would have happily stayed behind the drums but, the powers that be after hearing her voice had other ideas. There are some videos of Karen playing the drums. You should seek them out.

This was my parents wedding song 😍 I've grown up with The Carpenters!

The very first "record" I ever purchased was the "Close To You" album, their very first album, in 1970, and "We've Only Just Begun" was the first track on the album (sorry, I'm probably using jargon most don't understand anymore), and is why I bought the album. I was privileged to see the Carpenters in concert while a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy in 1976--they performed in Arnold Hall, the Academy's Social Center. The late, great Ms. Karen Carpenter was once quoted as saying she wished she were as good a singer as she was a drummer--imagine that.

Yep, her voice and loss STILL brings a tear to my eyes at 63 (I have one NOW)!! Such a TERRIBLE loss, a BEAUTIFUL voice SILENCED by Anorexia. When she was the groups drummer, she didn't have a problem (because she sat comfortably BEHIND the drums), but after becoming a "front line" singer in the group her "body image" was destroyed when she saw a promotional picture that she THOUGHT she looked fat in. Once that happened, her anorexia took over and she started "purging" to lose weight. That's what led to the loss of one of the most beautiful voices this planet ever had the PRIVILEGE of hearing. R.I.P. Karen. We still miss you!!

Multitrack recording...they did it a lot.......to perfection. ❤

What I loved about the Carpenters is that they seemed to be absolutely normal and down to earth people. She sang in her natural voice and her natural voice was as good as they come. No falsetto or anything that was out of the natural. She and her brother are American icons.

The genius of Richard's recording abilities. Richard was very gifted ... Richard multi-tracked (stacked) Karen's and his vocals for that "full" Carpenters sound. Utilizing the "Wrecking Crew" for all of their session projects. Check out The Wrecking Crew documentaries ... Absolutely brilliant .

Richard would record himself and Karen singing the background vocals, then double the track several times. So you end up with the equivalent of something like 11 Richards and 11 Karen’s singing together. He explained it in detail on a video I saw one time.

they did all of the background vocals karen and Richard, by dubbing their voices in different octaves/tones....

Karen started out as the drummer...she's an amazing drummer. I think there are videos of her doing it and she rocks it.

This is the epitome of 60’ 70’s am easy listening. Paul Williams was a superstar writer producer who wrote for everyone. He probably looped the background. That was the studio style of the time. It was the wall of sound that made the Motown sound.

My dad is a drummer and he always said that girls can't play them because we aren't strong enough. I saw Karen behind them and OMG was she good. She's the reason I started playing them and my dad is proud to say now that I have surpassed his talent.

The magic was Richard's song choices, arrangements, keyboard skills and recording the two of them as backing vocals and stacking them, and that let Karen's magnificent voice and her world class drumming skills shine through.

Finally someone else mentioning the sets. I often think about that when watching these variety show clips on youtube. I grew up watching the Jackson Five, the Osmond's, Dean Martin, Laugh In, The Monkeys, HR Puff n Stuff. All the special effects where physical. All the sets had the sixties vibrant colors, and geometric shapes. Color TV was new and they probably wanted everything to pop.

Wonderful reaction sir. I feel fortunate to have grown up in a marvelous musical age! The arrangements, composing, stacking and harmony are a testament to Richards tremendous talents. What he did by adding the Philharmonic Orchestra to " Superstar " created a masterpiece! I'm sure you received comments about Karen's drum playing. Hope you check out some of her works behind a kit. Impressive, and she is always so happy!

just an fyi - they had access to a 16 track recording studio, which means they could go back and add extra vocal tracks to the song. That's why it sounds like so many guys on the backing vocals - he put down a few vocal tracks, and a few were used in the final mix. They were a fine group! And yes this song shows up at a lot of weddings, but for good reason!

She was Awesome. I saw them in London UK in 1976 and the show was amazing. Another unique voice that is greatly missed.

Paul Williams was a prolific song writer in the 60s and 70s. He wrote several hits for Bobby Goldsboro among others. He was also a pretty good actor. He played Little Enis in the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies and 'Swan' in "Phantom of the Paradise". (a lesser-known movie. A modern, (early 70s) mash-up and take of "The Picture of Dorian Grey" and "The Phantom of the Opera".)

Ya, this brought back tears too. Took me right back to high and an impossible relationship. But at the time, we Had only just begun. Oh to be that young and healthy again.

I performed this song at my 8th grade graduation in 1978. I'm not crying, you're crying! Note: Woodwinds are a family of instruments including flutes, clarinet, oboe, saxophone, and bassoon... There are brass, strings, and percussion families (for orchestra) and keyboards, guitars, and electronic are the others. More than you wanted to know I'm sure. 🙂

I suggest these Carpenters songs: Rainy Days and Mondays, Yesterday Once More & This Masquerade

I was born and raised in So. Cal, and clearly remember the Crocker Bank commercial that featured this song (I was about 12 at the time). Then sometime later the Carpenters' version was filling the airwaves. I didn't really listen to them or their style of music at the time, but as with others from that era have really come to appreciate them.

I have to break it to you. ALL the background singers were Karen and Richard. Stacked and layered. Richard did all that stuff based on his love of Les Paul and Mary Ford. Richard orchestrated, composed and is a genius. That YOU set was used a bunch by Carpenters. I’m going to try and link a young lady who demonstrates her trying to replicate the We’ve Only… harmonies. She did good. Very good demo. I will return to her later. This video is 2 years old now. Her name is Tori Holub. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vaqOlvQOkzA.htmlsi=S6H9FfJcYPtzqCvG As for Carpenters, here’s live performance from November 1970. They did this on The Ed Sullivan Show where they introduced The Bacharach/David Medley. Burt Bacharach seeing what Richard was doing to his Close To You song asked him to take some of his hits and make a Medley, Richard, did. Karen is live drumming and singing simultaneously here. The bamnd and K & R do all the harmonies live. It’s so magical. Generally you don’t have to fade Carpenters songs but I’ve heard some are trouble. This Medley isn’t, I’ve recommended it many times all are up and uncovered. You WANT to clearly see Karen doing her thing. No one puts Karen under a mask. ❤️ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yrsuLCF9FtI.htmlsi=ZvsV8Bk3pR29DtSk I hope my links work. Joe

Great Reaction!!!!’ Love the Carpenters!!!

It was overdubbing their own voices more. Richard carpenter's voice Karen Carpenter had a god-given gift. And I believe that's why she left this earth comma if you know what I mean🤔❤️🙏🕊

I sang this song many times at weddings back in the day. Lovely Paul Williams song sung by the incomparable Karen Carpenter. Wonderful. Have a listen to their version of the Leon Russell masterpiece - A Song For You.

You should do "Rainy Days and Mondays" next.

Those harmony vocals you like so much are multitracked Karen and Richard alone. Richard got the idea from the late 1940s recordings of Les Paul (of guitar fame) and Mary Ford, who pioneered the technique. Particularly in the early part of their career Carpenters did loads of that, and it's marvelous. Check out some of the other tracks from Close To You, especially Mr Guder, Another Song, and Crescent Noon. After Karen's passing Richard revisited the technique on his 1987 solo album Time. On the song When Time Was All We Had, he multitracks himself into an a cappella choir...in one chord of the arrangement you would swear Karen was there too...

They did a beautiful cover of the Beatles' " Ticket to Ride" off their first album ( released before they became really well known ). It has a completely different 'vibe' from the original ; pretty sure you'd like the hell out of it.

I would recommend Carpenters Solitaire for you. It 's hauntingly beautifuil and really shows off her voice.

The guy playing the flute and tambourine is a background singer also... in some of their other videos you'll see him harmonizing...

The perfect wedding song about a young couple starting married life together.

This song was in every wedding in the 70s lol. She had such a rich, velvety tone. No one like her.

Thanks! Karen was an angelic voice.. and this song was great.. I always get a laugh out of the tambourine player in the foreground... lol... very "cheesy" video.. but so much fun! (Richard was key background.. don't know about others.. could have been "dubbed")

Have you seen Karen play the drums? She was a good drummer. Here’s a video where moves around to different drum sets: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sdHyzGXAJPg.htmlsi=RvFyISFFFmHmd_pc

Great reaction. Paul Williams and Roger Nichols wrote it. As you said, from a bank commercial. Here is the link to a clip from Paul Williams interview with David Pomeranz on how “We’ve Only Just Began” became a hit. Enjoy! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-F11_WATtnog.htmlsi=YxcEkzpGeB42_1dZ

Acording to the Book "Carpenters The Musical Legacy" Karen played the tamborine on the studio track.

The backing vocals are all Richard and Karen Over dubbed multiple times.

A lot of people used this as their wedding song!

I always liked the song - YESTERDAY ONCE MORE from the Carpenters in 1973 as another great that went to #2. For a upbeat more early Rock N Roll 50s early 60s happy song - Please Mr Postman from the Carpenters is one that DID go to #1 in 1975 for them....

Now you should check out one of the greatest singers ever who was over-looked in the great Phyllis Hyman singing "Living All Alone"

That's so funny. I had a Crocker Bank teddy bear (part of some promotion) when I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade, and their commercials used to be ubiquitous. Yes, she was great, and she died way too young. Some a-hole magazine (I can't remember which one) made comments about her being chubby and it made her so insecure (she really was a clean, sweet, of middle-class antecedents kind of girl) that she contracted an eating disorder and got soooo skinny. People commented on it, but no one really addressed it. she ended up dying of heart failure. It was really, really sad. She was the drummer too.

You need to watch a documentary on the carpenters, and that will explain so much to you A. Bout Richard carpenter and his brilliance but even more so. His sister's natural gift which I believe comes from god

Good artist do this; they record their own voices in different octaves. Those multiple men’s voices are Richard’s and any multiple females voices are Karen’s.

You found it man, the Carpenters best. Well done. Studio session members. They probably changed between most songs. This song was sung during the beginning of my life. It's extra special to me. Thank you for validating my life. Yep, the song was from a commercial! Amazing. Richard the arranger. He was the "brains" if you want to put it like that. Karen was the soul. They were quite a team.

I've read that, though uncredited, the tambourine player was... Karen Carpenter.

Wood winds are a group of musicians instruments thar use either a single or double Reed to produce the sound These include flutes. Files, recorders. Basson, oboe, and Saxaphone. Some are made out of metal but the sound is generated by a wooden Reed. Other horned instruments like trumpet are called brass instruments and the sound is generated by the players lips vibrating then amplified by thr instrument.

They did backtrack layering on their voice to make it sound like several singers. Fun fact. This was actually a jingle for a bank commercial. They bought the rights to it, and made a complete song out of it.

The tambourine player on the floor is the clarinet player. He plays it in the beginning and end. It is setting on the floor beside him while he plays the tambourine. The Carpenters spent more time on the background singing then on the solo part (which as often as not was done in one take). They would sing the background from 3 to 30 times and then stack the tracks. On tour they often used a band and background vocals track and only Karens mic was live.

Someone's probably already said it, she was a great drummer. She plays in a few clips/songs. Also, check out the song Superstar by them, but find the version where she's wearing a long sleeved white top with a multi colored pastel wrap/dress.....that version is a true live version. It's a great version

Growing up in the 70's we would make fun of the Carpenters because non of us would admit we really did love them. We have no problem admitting it now.

This was the number one wedding song throughout the 1970s and early 80s. Everyone I knew who got married during that time had this song at their wedding.

My cousin had this song in her wedding. I had For All We Know.

I believe that the backing vocals are Richard and Karen only, but several layers of them dubbed together.

There is a channel here on YT called Wings of Pegasus, and on it he does a fantastic job of illustrating the vocal capabilities of various artists. He does one showing that Karen's vocals live are even more pitch perfect than her vocals on the recorded version. She and Richard were legendary!!

Leon Russell wrote Superstar (Groupie) Paul Williams wrote Close To You, Rainy Days & Mondays, & this

This one is special. It was played at my mom and dad’s wedding.

Most songs these days are covers or samples of songs that were written & recorded by other artists decades ago. It might be a complete cover, or they use sound bites of melodies and/or old lyrics. Very few recording artists, especially in pop music today, actually compose their own original songs. I've lost count on how many "new songs" I've heard that contain the same words or music from stuff I listened to back in the 70's, 80's, 90's, & early 2000's... Similar to Patsy Cline, Karen Carpenter's voice is iconic, sliky smooth, & like no other. Patsy is my #1 favorite, followed closely by Karen in the #2 spot. No one else can compare or compete and both taken away from the world far too soon. Just imagine the vast library of wonderful music we would have received from these two naturally talented ladies, had life not been so cruel. Please check out Karen's last recording titled "Now" (1983). It makes me cry every time I hear it as her voice is so hauntingly beautiful...

Her brother is a genius arranger

Backing vocal credits in the record version is different than the live version. You can do things in the studio that you cannot do live.

Back in this time, there was an organized group of session players, called The Wrecking Crew. It was a group of 'musicians for hire', that either hadn't gotten their big break yet, or couldn't commit to going on the road for long periods of time. Karen and Richard utilized them to fill out their needs at specific times. Many big names got there start in The Wrecking Crew.

Carpenters/Desperado (Deep album cut : Eagles cover)😮😊!

Lots of musicians and singers didn't get credited in songs until the 70s. For example, the Funk Brothers (Motown) were never credited until 1970. I think the first might have been What's Going On by Marvin Gaye. In the 60s & 70s there were groups of session musicians associated with the studios. Richard did the arrangements but if he needed an instrument he could get one from the studio. "The Wrecking Crew" in Los Angeles are who the Carpenters would have called on for extra musicians. The Wrecking Crew included Leon Russell, Glen Campbell became successful artists in their own right. Leon Russell was also a great song writer and his songs have been covered by many artists

Karen’s voice was spectacular. Lovely reaction! ❤

That guy is her brother, Richard.

Great song and Richard figured a way to use multiple tracks to make Karen and Richard’s voice sound bigger!Yes Richard was a force behind the scenes!

Karen was a great drummer. John Bonam of Zeppelin he knew she was great.😊😊 Her brother back singer of her. Richard Carpenter.

The Carpenters is a deep rabbit hole just like The Bee Gees. Richard and Karen stacked their vocals, I think that Richard said they stacked them 4 times. Richard arranged most of the songs.

This was THE wedding song back in the day.

So many excellent Carpenters' song suggestions in these comments. Most of their songs are covers but they did have some hits written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis you might check out: Goodbye to Love, Top of the World, Only Yesterday and Yesterday Once More.

She a drummer as well. Very very Great😊

Karen had the voice of an Angel. One of the greatest female singers of all time.

This was the top wedding song at the time!

I actually remembered the commercial before the Carpenters got involved with the song. Maybe that's why this piece has always seemed more interesting and a bit more special to me.

Please react to Minie Riperton Loving You And The Three Degrees When Will I See you Again I think you'd love these 70s songs. And here is one you should also check out it's way newer 2010s and it's in Japanese so don't worry about the lyrics. It's just for the vocals and music. Aldious I Don't Like Me I have a feeling you'll love it. They are a heavy metal band but this is a powerful ballad.

There's members in the group that are singing backup too.

This was my senior class song, she's amazing, but a pretty sappy song for 1972. heh

I believe they had background singers, but I also believe Richard would do like 16 layers of their voices, I think he really went crazy with that

Richard and Karen would do multiple overdubs on their backing vocals, it really is just the two of them. Richard was actually a genuis with arrangements.

Underrated Carpenters song: Only Yesterday

Karen never lip synced her music. Also it’s been proven her studio track were never as good as her live performances. We was actually more pitch perfect during her live performances than her studio sets.❤ She was definitely ahead of her time and a true loss to the world when she passed away. This is my first of your videos I’ve watched. So I’m not sure if you know she also played the drums! 😊👍❤️❤️❤️ You also need to research Paul Williams! He wrote and sang many great hits of the 60’s and 70’s. Check out some of his RU-vid videos. I think you’ll enjoy him too.

You need to hear Delaney & Bonnie - Groupie (Superstar) ,it is great and Luther did a great cover of it ,I agree .. The Carpenters "Rainy Days and Mondays" check it out

They were famous for doing the voice over dubbing. Another one that did it successfully is Freddie mercury in the beginning of bohemian rhaspody. Everyone thinks it's the full band - but it's only Freddie

Watch out. Carpenters are a wonderful rabbit hold.

What Richard was and is, is one of the best song arrangers of all time.

Saw Karen sing and drum in 1972 .She was a fantastic drummer/singer .To see her drum and sing ,watch her tear thru a cover of Help on drums and singing at the same time on you tube .Check out Karen Carpenter kick ass drummer on RU-vid .Her very best songs --Solitaire and Trying to Get the Feeling Again(recorded in 1975-lost for years -then found and released in 1994 19 yrs after it was recorded and 11 yrs after Karen died )

❤❤

Ditto. Me too. You need to watch some Andy Williams Christmas specials and just drink it up old music from the 70s is just the best music in the world the way they dress the way they sing the way they are just so pure and honest.

Richard was playing the tambourine in the video too. They used special effects because all the men in the video were him. Camera tricks.

Those other vocals you are hearing comes from a technique known back then as "Ping-Ponging". Where they can make several voices out of one singer. If you watch the movie The Karen Carpenter Story, Richard mentions that technique to Karen.

If you want to know who Paul Williams is, just watch Smokey and the Bandit. He's the little short man. He wrote a lot of good songs.

You must hear goodbye to love