Track Listing

1. Rainy Days And Mondays
2. Saturday
3. Let Me Be The One
4. (A Place To) Hideaway
5. For All We Know
6. Superstar
7. Druscilla Penny
8. One Love
9. Bacharach/David Medley: A)Knowing When To Leave B)Make It Easy On Yourself C)(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me D)I'll Never Fall In Love Again E)Walk On By F)Do You Know The Way To San Jose
10. Sometimes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #61537 in Music
• Released on: 1998-12-08
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Customer Reviews

they could make you feel the greatest joy and the deepest sorrow--BRAVO, CARPENTERS !!!
Karen and Richard Carpenter scored a huge goal with their self-titled album, Carpenters. Karen could sing so well that when she sang you truly felt that she was singing only to you and just for you; the vulnerability and passion in her voice made her singing instantly very special to hear. Richard's ability to sing and play the music also enhanced their performance greatly. The quality of the sound is very good; and the artwork recreates the original record album cover when this was released on vinyl all those years ago. This is truly a must-have for fans of Carpenters.

"Rainy Days And Mondays" starts the album off with one of their greatest hits ever. The piano arrangement is extremely pretty; and Karen sings her heart out. Her voice, clear as a bell, makes this ballad shine and Richard does a superb job playing the music to this song. "Rainy Days And Mondays" is also a huge highlight of this CD; and I think you'll like it very much if you haven't heard it before. In addition, there's also "Let Me Be The One;" Karen delivers this with panache; she handles complicated key modulations and tempo changes like the pro she always was! Karen's voice is in excellent form on "Let me Be The One" and I could never tire of this tune! "(A Place To) Hide Away" has a very sensitive arrangement; I really enjoy that piano playing and Karen never sings a superfluous note!

"For All We Know" captures all the emotions people feel when the commit to each other or have a formal wedding ceremony; there is the joy of being united forever mixed with the doubt about the future being perfectly rosy and without any strife. Karen delivers this with heart and soul; and the melody is charming. "Superstar" is a touching, mellow torch song that never ceases to move me greatly when I hear it; just about anyone who has truly loved and lost can identify with this angst in this ballad. "Superstar" is also one of the biggest hits ever for Karen and Richard Carpenter. "Drusilla Penny" seems to have some sort of harpsichord in the arrangement; I haven't heard this in so many years but it comes back to me rather quickly because of the power of this number.

There's a great medley of tunes by Bacharach and David: "Knowing When To Leave/Make It Easy On Yourself/There's Always Something There To Remind Me/I'll Never Fall In Love Again/Walk On By/Do You Know The Way To San Jose." This is a lush medley with lots to enjoy and I always smile when I hear this medley. The CD ends with Richard and Karen performing "Sometimes;" this is yet another sensitive ballad that highlights just how talented this duo really was.

Carpenters is a great album and one of the strongest by Karen and Richard Carpenter. Their fans will love this and it's an excellent starter CD for newcomers to the artistry of Karen and Richard Carpenter.

Carpenters
I received my CD within a few days of ordering and in great condition. Thank you.

The Lightning On The Horizon
As 1971 dawned, the Carpenters continued to enjoy success. In the fall of 1970, they charted for the third time with a song from the play, "Lovers And Other Strangers," entitled "For All We Know" that peaked at number four. They also won two Grammy awards in the spring of 1971, released this album and toured the country.

The critical development, however, in this album was the Memorial Day 1970 medley of Burt Bacharach songs Richard arranged in Iowa. That sequence led to a 16-minute medley that closes out one side of this recording.

This CD is slightly better than "Close To You," but not enough to justify a higher rating. It has THREE top four singles - "Superstar," "Rainy Days And Mondays," and "For All We Know," and another strong recording, "Let Me Be The One." Two of the filler songs are VERY good - "One Love" and "Hideaway." "Saturday" and "Drusilla Penny" were not worth releasing except Richard's harpsichord playing on the latter is excellent.

And the Bacharach-David Medley of Dionne Warwick songs includes some of the best songs she ever released. None of these was ever a Carpenters single, but it showed their ability to do older songs in an original format. That talent would serve them well the next three recordings.