(They Long to Be) Close to You

"(They Long to Be) Close to You"
A-side label of U.S. 7-inch single
Single by Carpenters
from the album Close to You
B-side "I Kept on Lovin' You"
Released May 15, 1970
Format 7" single
Recorded 1970
Genre Pop, soft rock
Length
  • 4:33 (LP version)
  • 3:40 (7" single)
Label A&M 1183
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Jack Daugherty
Carpenters singles chronology
"Ticket to Ride"
(1969)		 "(They Long to Be) Close to You"
(1970)		 "We've Only Just Begun"
(1970)

"Ticket to Ride"
(1969)		 "(They Long to Be) Close to You"
(1970)		 "We've Only Just Begun"
(1970)
Close to You track listing
Side one
  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"
Side two
  1. "Baby It's You"
  2. "I'll Never Fall in Love Again"
  3. "Crescent Noon"
  4. "Mr. Guder"
  5. "I Kept on Loving You"
  6. "Another Song"

"(They Long to Be) Close to You" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, most notably recorded and performed by the Carpenters.

Background

The song was first recorded by Richard Chamberlain and released as a single in 1963 as "They Long to Be Close to You", without parentheses. However, only that single's flip side, "Blue Guitar", became a hit. The tune was also recorded as a demo by Dionne Warwick in 1963 and re-recorded with a Burt Bacharach arrangement for her 1964 album Make Way for Dionne Warwick, and was released as the B-side of her 1965 single "Here I Am". Bacharach released his own version in 1971. But the version recorded by Carpenters with instrumental backing by L.A. studio musicians from the Wrecking Crew,[1] which became a hit in 1970, is the best known.

Carpenters version

Karen and Richard Carpenter recorded the most commercially successful version of the song

In 1970, it was released by the Carpenters on their album Close to You, and it became their breakthrough hit. The song stayed at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. This song was originally given to Herb Alpert as a follow up to his number one hit, "This Guy's in Love with You", another Bacharach-David composition. Alpert was not thrilled with his version and shelved the recording. Looking for a follow-up to their first A&M Records/Billboard number 54 recording "Ticket to Ride", in 1969 Alpert decided to give it to the Carpenters (Alpert's version was released in 2005 on the Tijuana Brass album Lost Treasures 1963–1974). Richard had stated that when Alpert introduced the song to him back in early 1970, he was a bit apprehensive about the song.[2] He and Alpert collaborated on the song, and the finished product was a 4-minute, 36-second long song. When A&M Records decided to remove the extended coda and release it as a 3-minute, 40-second long single in May 1970, it became A&M's biggest hit since Alpert's "This Guy's in Love with You" from 1968. Billboard ranked it as the number 2 song for 1970.[3]

With "(They Long to Be) Close to You", Carpenters earned a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus in 1971. It became the first of three Grammy Awards they would win during their careers.

Richard had originally written the flugelhorn solo part for Herb Alpert, but when he was unavailable, Chuck Findley was brought in. Richard later commented: "Chuck didn't play it that way at first, but I worked with him and he nailed it. A lot of people thought it was Herb – Bacharach thought so, too. But it's the way Findley is playing it."[4]

Personnel

Chart performance

Other cover versions

References

  1. ↑ Hartman, Kent (2012). The Wrecking Crew. St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 261–263. ISBN 978-1-250-03046-7.
  2. ↑ "Carpenters Close To You (Album 1970) Karen Carpenter". leadsister.com. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  3. ↑ Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1970
  4. ↑ Randy L. Schmidt (2012). Yesterday Once More: The Carpenters Reader. Chicago Review Press. p. 303.
  5. ↑ Schmidt, Randy L. (13 August 2017). "Yesterday Once More: The Carpenters Reader". Chicago Review Press. Retrieved 13 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1970-08-15. Retrieved 2018-03-25.
  7. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – (They Long to Be) Close to You". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Carpenters: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Carpenters Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Carpenters Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 8/08/70". Tropicalglen.com. 1970-08-08. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  12. ↑ "Australian Chart Book". Austchartbook.com.au. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  13. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  14. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1970/Top 100 Songs of 1970". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  15. ↑ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1970". Tropicalglen.com. 1970-12-26. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  16. ↑ B.J. Thomas, Most of All, AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
  17. ↑ Harry Connick Jr. Announces New Album Produced by Clive Davis, Vintageguitar.com, July 30, 2009. Accessed 2009-08-13. Archived 2009-08-15.
  18. ↑ Collier, Jacob. "Close to You - Jacob Collier". YouTube. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  19. ↑ Hadi, Eddino Abdul. "Ill, but still so entertaining". The Straits Times. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  20. ↑ "She Was Pretty: Episode 1 » Dramabeans Korean drama recaps". Dramabeans. 2015-09-16. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.