Track Listing

1. We've Only Just Begun
2. Love Is Surrender
3. Maybe It's You
4. Reason To Believe
5. Help
6. (They Long To Be) Close To You
7. Baby It's You
8. I'll Never Fall In Love Again
9. Crescent Noon
10. Mr Guder
11. I Kept On Loving You
12. Another Song

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4946 in Music
• Released on: 2007-12-03
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 39 minutes

CD Description
Karen and Richard Carpenter's third album, released in 1970, includes two of their signature songs, Bacharach/David's "(They Long To Be) Close To You" and Paul Williams' "We've Only Just Begun", a tune originally written as a commercial jingle for California's Crocker Banks. The rest of the album continues the siblings' exquisite taste in outside material, returning to Williams for "I Kept On Loving You" and to Bacharach for the Shirelles' "Baby It's You". Also featured hereis an appealing version of the classic "I'll Never Fall In Love Again".
Other fine covers include Tim Hardin's "Reason To Believe" and an arrestingly mournful version of Lennon/McCartney's "Help". The album also includes four Richard Carpenter originals, with "Another Song" and the girl-groupish "Maybe It's You" the highlights. CLOSE TO YOU is one of the Carpenters' most commercially and artistically successful albums.

Customer Reviews

A true classic
For all the people in the beginning that said that the Carpenters were no good, this album said a huge "WE ARE BRILLIANT MUSICIANS" with lights around it. From start to finish, no tracks are repetitive, headache-inducing or elevator background music. The Carpenters were (and still are) the best in easy listening/AOR. This album is usually listed in books of "must own albums" and is for countless good reasons. This album is everything that most popular music lacks nowadays. 10/10

Brilliant Superb
I Have to admit I'm Reviewing this from the Vinyl Version Of This album Its Still superp. We've only Just Begun what a blindindingly great start to this tranquil journey honestly this is A truly great album Shame about Mr Guder thought. But if you don't buy you'll maybe not hear the stupendous Maybe Its You, I have Owned this album since The Mid Seventies I still Play it. Also this album is one that Does'nt Duplicate tracks from the other albums.

The breakthrough album
With the title track, a Bacharach-David song first recorded by Dionne Warwick but hitherto not released as a single, and another classic (We've only just begun, which evolved from a TV jingle), the Carpenters established themselves in the pop charts around the world.

The album contains several other fine songs including Crescent moon, Mr Guder, Maybe it's you and Another song. A cover of Help! (Beatles) was originally considered for single release, but having already released another Beatles song (Ticket to ride) as a single from their debut album, the decision was probably wise. Three other excellent covers are Reason to believe (Tim Hardin), I'll never fall in love again (a Bacharach-David song that provided Bobbie Gentry with a British number one hit) and Baby it's you (one of the less famous songs from the Bacharach-David catalog).

Following the modest start to their career provided by their debut album (Offering, also known as Ticket to ride), this follow-up hit the big time. It's not difficult to understand why.