Genre
Soft pop and adult contemporary. The album builds on the orchestral pop aesthetic of the Carpenters' debut, with Richard Carpenter's lush arrangements deployed across a diverse programme spanning Burt Bacharach, the Beatles, Tim Hardin, and Paul Williams, all centred on Karen's extraordinarily pure contralto. Richard's multi-tracked vocal harmonies - in some tracks blended into twelve-part stacks - are among the most technically refined in the history of popular recording.
Release
Released on August 19, 1970, by A&M Records. It was the duo's second studio album. At Herb Alpert's suggestion, Richard Carpenter arranged the previously overlooked Bacharach-David song "(They Long to Be) Close to You," which became the album's centrepiece and breakthrough single.
Production
Produced by Jack Daugherty; all arrangements and orchestrations by Richard Carpenter. The session musicians included Hal Blaine on drums, Joe Osborn and Danny Woodhams on bass, and Jim Horn, Bob Messenger, and Doug Strawn on woodwinds. Engineers were Ray Gerhardt and Dick Bogert. Karen Carpenter played drums on several tracks alongside Blaine. Recorded at A&M Recording Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
Reception
The album peaked at number 2 on the US Billboard 200, topped the Canadian Albums Chart, and spent 76 weeks in the UK top 50. It was certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA and Gold by the BPI. It earned eight Grammy nominations, with the Carpenters winning Best New Artist and Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus.
Carpenters
The Carpenters were an American pop duo from New Haven, Connecticut - siblings Karen Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) and Richard Carpenter (born October 15, 1946) - who relocated to California in 1963 and signed to A&M Records in 1969. "Close to You" was the album that transformed them from a promising act into a global phenomenon, establishing them as the dominant adult contemporary duo of the early 1970s. Their subsequent run of hit albums - including "Carpenters" (1971), "A Song for You" (1972), and "Now & Then" (1973) - solidified their commercial pre-eminence. They sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide. They won three Grammy Awards in total and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Karen's death at 32 from cardiac arrest brought on by anorexia nervosa raised widespread public awareness of eating disorders.
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