The songwriter, Paul Williams, once said, "I wrote this song for a bank commercial. Beyond that, it was going nowhere. Then, an angel sang my song and changed my life forever."
This guy totally knows how to appreciate and review the wonderful talents of the Carpenters Karen and Richard's music, that is, sophisticatedly arranged and produced. Unforgettable performances. timeless, classic.... songs that were perfect for their time.
Every time I watch her sing, it brings me to tears, that such a beautifully talented human being fell to an eating disorder. Where was her circle of friends? ❤😢
The songwriter Paul Williams said that when this song came out hard rock was all that was topping the charts, and the only reason that this song was a hit was because an angel named Karen Carpenter sang it!
I could be wrong, but I believe I read / heard that it was a TV exec of some type who didn't like her outfit for the show they were filming & said it made her look chubby. I am sure when you are in the industry you are bombarded with negative comments all the time & have to develop a very thick skin. Any kind of self doubt will eat away at you (no pun intended here). I wish she could have found the right help, anorexia was not very understood at the time. It would have been wonderful to watch her continue to mature & expand on her talents as she matured over the years.
@@chrisf.7980 I believe it was her brother Richard that originally told her she was fat when they were young. But that’s brothers for you. I should know I have five. He cannot have possibly known it would have had such a lasting effect on her
@@personalcheeses8073 omg no, Richard never told her she was fat. There wasn't a specific incident. It a cumulative effect being in the spot light after moving out from behind the drums.
She sings and delivers with no unnecessary vocal gymnastics (that really have nothing much to do with delivering a song for the most part). Beautiful.... I'm still in love.
I first heard The Carpenters when I was 4 years old. I am now 52, and EVERY SINGLE TIME I hear them feels like the first time!! It will NEVER get old or go out of style. So much talent in this world!! I feel like crying when I hear Karen sing. I wish I could just hug her and make her feel better!! I suffered from Anorexia, and what an unbelievably IMMENSE STRUGGLE it is!!❤
I’m old enough to remember the tv show they had. Was always so enamoured with Karen. Such a sweet, easy and almost hypnotic voice she had. She would just draw you into her world with every word sung. Simply incomparable.
Such an amazing voice. She was also a serious drummer. To think it was her brother who was supposed to be the star. True fact: This song was used in a commercial for a bank in California in the early 70's! Her brother Richard was watching TV saw it and loved the melody. Bless her because she should still be here. Not another voice like hers. 🕊
During the 70's, I was AGAINST this type of music and favored Led Zeppelin, Cream, Humble Pie and you all know the rest... I STILL love my old favorites but I NOW love this too... SOOOO much. *In retrospect, the MESSAGE of the Carpenters were in a very POSITIVE light, a "keep the faith / stay on the straight and narrow" kind of message. I was just TOO FULL of testosterone to UNDERSTAND all the awesome greatness here, wasn't I ???🤔...*
Her brother was a musical genius. This song started life as a jingle for a bank commercial on TV. Peter heard it and called the author up and asked if he had any more verses for it. The guy jumped at the chance and the song ended up as a huge hit.
This song caught Richard's attention when he heard a small segment of it in a TV commercial for a bank. He asked their manager to find out if there was a whole song there or was it just the few bars in the TV advert. The song was written by Paul Williams and when he got the call from his manager explaining Richard's interest in "We've Only Just Begun" Williams said it was already a complete song but if he'd had to, he would have lied through his teeth and said there was. Getting your song recorded by the Carpenters was a major career boost. I suggest "Good-bye To Love". With a full on distortion guitar solo it may be the first "power ballad" ever recorded. LL&P🖖 Rock on🤘 .
Indeed Goodbye To Love was the first power ballad. Richard invented a subgenre on his own. The origin of that song was interesting too and, like We've Only Just Begun, testament to Richard's genius for finding songs in odd places. The title Goodbye To Love originates with an old Bing Crosby movie (Rhythm On The River) that RC saw on TV one night. Just the title appeared in the film, no song, but RC liked that title and he and John Bettis wrote the song around it...
I think the musical phrase to describe the tamborine player is “in the pocket” He’s imitating what a drummer would be doing with the ride and the backbeat. Karen and the rest of the musicians knew the concept of doing your part but not “overplaying.” Karen was more than capable of dazzling you with vocal acrobatics but choose a different approach that made her legandary. She stayed in a sweet spot range that made it sound like she was talking directly to you. That’s why she still gives us chills all these years later.
Many couples took their wedding vows to this song. Beautiful song sung by a beautiful woman with such a beautiful voice. Still gives me goosebumps over 50 years later! RIP KAREN. Miss you. Glad you mentioned the tambourine player. I have always felt the same way but have never heard anyone else mention that till you. Nice reaction!
The wonderful thing about her voice ,is that way it makes you feel never changes. Not to take anything away from Karen’s presence in this band but her brother is the musical genius behind the music! His arrangements are pretty complex!
actually it was ONLY karen and richard doing the harmonizing using a dubbing technique. the others in this video were part of their LIVE band who sang back-up and harmony ONLY doing their life performances NOT on their actual albums...
I commented on that too, I didn't see you comment until after I had made mine. Some times live they used their canned backing vocals with the band members lip syncing, not always but sometimes.
Karen and Richard recorded each note of their harmonies three times to create that unique and lush sound. Richard's arrangements were wonderful. And Karen's voice...well what can you say? Pure as sunlight and totally distinctive. Precise diction and dynamics. An incomparable vocalist.
Chod, any time you want to put a smile on your face just put a Carpenters track on! What happened to her is terrible, but what a gift and a legacy she left us! Peace,
That isn't one of "theirs", it's by Leon Russell...but of course Carpenters made it their own, which is what you mean. Song selection was very much part of Richard's genius...
Chod, their "Hurting Each Other" and "Sing" are next for you! Every human who hears her voice, falls in love with it. edit- This was the 'wedding song' of the 1970's.
Those harmonies are so faultless because (at least this early in their career) they are all Richard and Karen, multitracked. Richard was inspired by what Les Paul and Mary Ford did a couple decades earlier pioneering that technique. RC was trying to recapture the choral sound of their previous vocal group Spectrum, and also of the Long Beach University choir with which they had performed. (This video of We've Only Just Begun is "TV live", BTW; what is heard is the studio recording...)
I always call this sort of music "Warm bath music". Listening to this song is like lying back in a bath on a cool night, just letting the waves of warmth wash over and through your body. A deeper cut of theirs well worth a listen is "Mr Guder".
That whole album, 1970's "Close To You", perhaps most strongly of all their albums displays the "Carpenters Sound". Multitracking and jazz influences are everywhere...fitting, as Richard and Karen's two previous groups were a vocal choral ensemble (Spectrum) and a jazz combo (the Dick Carpenter Trio)...they just seem so wonderfully true to themselves on "Close To You".
And if she had been allowed to stay back there...she might be with us yet. Just imagine being the premier female pop vocalist of the twentieth century...and wishing you were not! That was Karen...
Karen's last recorded song was called "Now". She looked kinda unhappy and sickly, she died not to long after recording this. You can find it on you tube if you want to listen to it.
That vocal was just a work lead; KC never got to sing the "good" version...! Of course Karen being Karen her first take was perfect. Even in April 1982 when she was deathly ill. Check out "Superstar", for instance. Big hit single...and that lead vocal was not only a first take but the first time Karen sang the song...reading the lyrics off a piece of paper...
Doug Strawn on the tambourine. Also played the clarinet and sang some duets with Karen during live shows (Cinderella Rockafella is my fave, such a fun performance). Later, he became the music director for Disneyland.
From the Fall of 1970-----------this was their 2nd straight #1 single. Written by Paul Williams & Roger Nichols.----I had fallen in love for the 2nd & final time in my life, at now, 24 y/o. -------MJL, 75 y/o
Thank you for bringing The Carpenters back into my music playlist! I grew up listening to them but as you get older you appreciate the music so much more
Man. This was the music with which we danced slow when I was in Jr. High with girls that we were afraid to talk to. We loved the Carpenters then for that. I poo pahed them later when I got into hard rock and played drums in a hard rock band. But now...what great production and talent. Thanks man. I love hearing them again.
Richard Carpenter was watching this commercial from The Crocker Bank - 1970 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-97X9huy7pHQ.html and heard this song. He contacted the writers and the rest is history.