December 12, 2020

Carpenters Band Offers Their Tribute

At the end of 1973, Karen and Richard Carpenter were so hot in the music business that Billboard magazine published a twenty something pages long supplement to celebrate their accomplishments. Both Yesterday Once More and the Now & Then album peaked just short of the summit at Number Two. The next releases by Carpenters would bring them to Number One. Soon to be gold Top of the World had just been released as a new single, and The Singles 1969 - 1973 would come out a few weeks later. It'd top the charts in January 1974.  

Along with the expected industry congratulations and an interview based story with the duo, the Carpenters band took out their own ad. It's this one that is most touching. Doug Strawn, Bob Messenger, Danny Woodhams, Tony Peluso, and Cubby O'Brien signed luggage tags representing different places they'd traveled together. The opening line, "Superstars? Don't ask us." testify to the oft told story that even though Karen and Richard were the clear bosses, the whole team comprised a single family. The ad is a pretty sweet message, a time capsule of sorts of an era long ago and far away.

I'm revisiting each of the Carpenters albums and the impact of their music one at a time. I've finished The Singles 1669 - 1973.  (You can find it here.) The next one I'm working on is  Live in Japan.  In addition to the many articles on Karen and Richard on the blog, the list of original and new reviews appears below.
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My Initial Reviews of the albums:

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