Richard Carpenter and John Bettis at Disneyland

Richard Carpenter and John Bettis working at Disneyland's famous Coke Corner on Main Street U.S. A. in full color! The duo wouldn't make their boss, Mr. Guder, very happy. Yet, just a few years later, people all over the world were loving hearing the Carpenters on the radio.  On their career making second album, Close to You, the ode to the old boss makes for one interesting cut.

Being a fan of all things Disney, it must have been a thrill for little sister Karen Carpenter to go hear them play.

Richard and Karen Carpenter at Disneyland 1974

Almost 40 years ago, Richard and Karen Carpenter performed at Disneyland during a special event for, I believe, USC (University of Southern California). 

It was not the only time the duo would be associated with Disney. A few years later, they were filmed for a television segment related to Walt Disney World. If my memory serves me well, Richard was also strongly considering scoring the soundtrack for Disney's film The Rescuers. 

Famously, there's that video for their smash hit Please Mr. Postman. A worldwide favorite song and the videos shows a buoyant Karen riding Dumbo, walking down Main Street U.S.A. with Mickey Mouse, and taking a ride on the now defunct Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland. 

 These in concert shots were posted on the A&M Corner discussion boards. Photographer unknown, but what a find after all this time!

 The Tomorrowland stage would be the performance venue for the evening. The band is mostly in the dark for these photos, but it looks like they are all there.

If you're familiar with the history of Karen and Richard, you might know that he and songwriting partner John Bettis once worked at Disneyland. The shot below was taken in 1967.

A few years later, the duo would write Mr. Guder, a popular album track on their breakthrough album Close to You. The name refers to their manager whom they were not fond of at the time. The lyrics were not complimentary. Much like Bette Midler's reassessment of the duo, time mellowed Richard's view of the man. Time does have a way of making us reflect with more clarity.

To close out this post, here's the video for Postman:  

From Disneyland to the Top of the Pop Charts

Here's an old photo I really like. Richard Carpenter and his friend and songwriting partner John Bettis at Disneyland's Coke Corner. Long ago and oh so far away, years before he and sister Karen Carpenter started Carpenters and their reign at the top of the Billboard charts in the 1970's, Richard and John Bettis played on Main Street U.S.A.

With a little help from Photoshop!

Says John Bettis in a 2011 interview with Press Telegram: 

"We were 20 years old, maybe, and full of ourselves," Bettis said. 
"Disneyland had all these rules, you had to act a certain way, and Richard and I broke all the rules. When we were supposed to be playing `Ain't She Sweet,' we were playing `Penny Lane' and `Light My Fire.' So they rightfully, and deservedly, fired us."

No doubt according to Richard that their boss, Vic Guder, was their inspiration for the song, Mr. Guder, from the Close to You album. Nonetheless, Richard and John would go on to write some classics that would be among the Carps great hits: Top of the World, Yesterday Once More, Only Yesterday, I Need to Be in Love, and the opus Goodbye to Love. So, here's to getting the boot at Disneyland. It can open to doors to a great career!