"Goodbye to Love" | ||||
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Single by Carpenters | ||||
from the album A Song for You | ||||
B-side | "Crystal Lullaby" | |||
Released | June 19, 1972 | |||
Recorded | 1972 | |||
Genre | Soft rock [1] | |||
Length | 3:58 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Jack Daugherty | |||
Carpenters singles chronology | ||||
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A Song for You track listing | ||||
13 tracks
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Official audio | ||||
"Goodbye To Love" on YouTube |
"Goodbye to Love" is a song composed by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis. It was released by the Carpenters in 1972. On the Close to You:Remembering The Carpenters documentary,Tony Peluso stated that this was one of the first power ballads,if not the first,to have a fuzz guitar solo. "Goodbye to Love" was the first Carpenters hit written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis.
While visiting London,Richard Carpenter watched a 1940 Bing Crosby film on The Late Movie called Rhythm on the River . The Carpenters noticed that the characters kept referring to the struggling songwriter's greatest composition,"Goodbye to Love". Carpenter said,"You never hear it in the movie,they just keep referring to it",and he thought it was a good title for a song. He immediately envisioned the tune and lyrics,starting with:
He said that while the melody in his head kept going,the lyrics stopped "because I'm not a lyricist". He completed the rest of his arrangement upon his return to the United States,while his writing partner John Bettis completed the rest of the lyrics. [2]
While the Carpenters were working on the song,The Carpenters decided that a fuzz guitar solo should be included. Karen Carpenter called guitarist Tony Peluso and asked him to play on the record. Tony remembers:"At first I didn't believe that it was actually Karen Carpenter on the phone but she repeated her name again. ... It was at this point that I realized it was really her and that I was speaking to one of my idols." She told him that she and Richard were working on a song called "Goodbye to Love",that they were familiar with Tony's work with a band called Instant Joy,and that he would be perfect for the sound they were looking for. [3] Peluso first played something soft and sweet,but then Richard Carpenter said:
"No,no,no! Play the melody for five bars and then burn it up! Soar off into the stratosphere! Go ahead! It'll be great!" [4]
John Bettis has said that Richard Carpenter kept calling him,raving about the guitar solo. He was wondering why Richard was going on about the solo until he heard it. The lyricist said he cried when he first heard the song because he had never heard an electric guitar sound like that. He said Tony Peluso "had a certain almost cello sounding guitar growl that worked against the wonderful melancholia of that song". He went on to say the "way it growls at you,especially at the end" was unbelievable. [5]
The finished product was released on June 19,1972,and reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the first song written by the songwriting team of Carpenter/Bettis to reach the US top ten. The Carpenters received hate mail (claiming that the Carpenters had sold out and gone hard rock) because of Richard's idea for a fuzz guitar solo in a love ballad. [6]
"Goodbye to Love" has been described as the prototypical power ballad. [3] Cash Box said that the "funky guitar adds spice to the most notable Jack Dougherty [ sic] production." [7]
In the UK,the song was originally released in 1972 as the B-side to "I Won't Last a Day Without You". The sides were switched shortly after the record's release,and it reached No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart,becoming the duo's second top ten hit there (the first being "(They Long to Be) Close to You").
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Close to You is the second studio album by the American music duo the Carpenters,released on August 19,1970. In 2003,the album was ranked No. 175 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list. The album contains the hit singles "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun". The success of the title track earned Carpenters an international reputation. The album topped the Canadian Albums Chart and peaked at #2 on the U.S. Billboard albums chart. It was also successful in the United Kingdom,entering the top 50 of the official chart for 76 weeks during the first half of the 1970s.
"Top of the World" is a 1972 song written and composed by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis and first recorded by American pop duo Carpenters. It was a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit for the duo for two consecutive weeks in 1973.
Richard Lynn Carpenter is an American musician,singer,songwriter,and record producer,who formed half of the sibling duo the Carpenters alongside his younger sister Karen. He had numerous roles in the Carpenters,including record producer,arranger,pianist,keyboardist,and songwriter,as well as joining with Karen on harmony vocals.
A Song for You is the fourth studio album by the American music duo the Carpenters,released on June 22,1972. According to Richard Carpenter,A Song for You was intended to be a concept album with the title tune opening and closing the set and the bookended selections comprising the 'song'. "A Song for You" was written by songwriter Leon Russell.
"Yesterday Once More",written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis,is a hit song by the Carpenters from their 1973 album Now &Then. Thematically the song concerns reminiscing about songs of a generation gone by. It segues into a long medley,consisting of eight covers of 1960s tunes incorporated into a faux oldies radio program. The work takes up the entire B-side of the album.
Now &Then is the fifth studio album by the American music duo the Carpenters,released on May 1,1973. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard Top LPs &Tape chart on July 21,1973,and ranked No. 20 on the Cash Box year-end pop albums chart. The title,suggested by Karen and Richard's mother Agnes,was taken from a leftover song that did not appear on the album.
"Solitaire" is a ballad written by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody. Cody employs playing the card game of solitaire as a metaphor for a man "who lost his love through his indifference"—"while life goes on around him everywhere he's playing solitaire". The song is perhaps best known via its rendition by the Carpenters. Another version by Andy Williams reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in 1973.
"I Won't Last a Day Without You" is a song by The Carpenters with lyrics written by Paul Williams and music composed by Roger Nichols. It was released in the U.K. in September 1972,paired with "Goodbye to Love" as a double-A side. The single reached No. 9 and spent 14 weeks on the chart. It was later released in the U.S. and became a hit single for them in 1974,reaching No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number one on the easy listening chart. It was the Carpenters' ninth No. 1 on the easy listening chart.
Horizon is the sixth studio album by the American musical duo the Carpenters. It was recorded at A&M Studios. The Carpenters spent many hours experimenting with different sounds,techniques and effects.
A Kind of Hush is the seventh studio album by the American music duo Carpenters. It was released on June 11,1976.
"Bless the Beasts and Children" is the theme song to the 1971 eponymous film and was performed by the Carpenters. It was featured on the B-side to their hit,"Superstar". The song received enough of its own airplay that Billboard listed the single as "Superstar"/"Bless the Beasts and Children" on the Hot 100,charting first at number 16 for the week of 11/20/71,and then number 21 for the week of 11/27/71. Then "Bless The Beasts and Children" had its own run as an A-side charting on the Billboard Hot 100,eventually topping out at number 67. In order to promote it,the Carpenters performed it on their television series,Make Your Own Kind of Music,as "F" for "Film Music". It was nominated for a 1972 Academy Award for Best Song,but it lost to Isaac Hayes's "Theme from Shaft".
Pianist,Arranger,Composer,Conductor is the second solo album by American musician Richard Carpenter,released in 1998. It includes instrumental versions of popular songs of the Carpenters,and is dedicated to their deceased mother,Agnes Carpenter. The album contains two new songs,"All Those Years Ago" and "Karen's Theme",which was released as a single.
"Only Yesterday" is a song recorded by the Carpenters. Released on March 14,1975,the song was composed by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis. "Only Yesterday" peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary (AC) charts,The Carpenters' eleventh number one on that chart.
"I Need to Be in Love" is a song written by Richard Carpenter,Albert Hammond and John Bettis. It was released as a single on May 21,1976. It was featured on the A Kind of Hush album,which was released on June 11 of the same year.
"All You Get from Love Is a Love Song" is a song composed by Steve Eaton. Previously recorded by The Righteous Brothers in 1975,it was popularized by the Carpenters in 1977. It was released to the public on May 21,1977. Its B-side was "I Have You",a song released on the A Kind of Hush album in 1976. The song was also included on their 1977 album,Passage.
"Touch Me When We're Dancing" is a song written by Terry Skinner,J. L. Wallace and Ken Bell. Skinner and Wallace headed the Muscle Shoals,Alabama session group Bama,who first recorded this song and released it as a single in 1979 reaching number 42 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart and number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was later recorded by The Carpenters in 1981 for their Made in America album. In 1984,it was recorded by country music artists Mickey Gilley and Charly McClain for their 1984 duet album It Takes Believers and in 1986 by the country music group Alabama.
John Gregory Bettis is an American lyricist,best known for his long-term songwriting partnership with Richard Carpenter of The Carpenters. He wrote the lyrics for "Top of the World",a hit for both Lynn Anderson and The Carpenters. He wrote several more hits for The Carpenters,including "Only Yesterday","Goodbye to Love" and "Yesterday Once More". He later wrote hits for other artists including Madonna,Michael Jackson,The Pointer Sisters,Conway Twitty,Diana Ross,Jennifer Warnes,Peabo Bryson,George Strait ("Heartland"),Juice Newton,Ronnie Milsap,Barbara Mandrell,38 Special,New Kids on the Block,Donna Summer,Barbra Streisand,Whitney Houston
"I Just Fall in Love Again" is a song written by Larry Herbstritt,with co-writers Steve Dorff,Harry Lloyd,and Gloria Sklerov. Herbstritt had composed the melody and chords for the chorus and a chord progression for the verse,which he took to his friend Steve Dorff. Harry Lloyd and Gloria Sklerov completed the lyrics. The song was originally recorded by the Carpenters and later covered by Dusty Springfield,and Anne Murray,who was unaware Springfield had recorded it just 6 months prior.
The Carpenters,officially known as Carpenters,were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter. They produced a distinctive soft musical style,combining Karen's contralto vocals with Richard's harmonizing,arranging,and composition skills. During their 14-year career,the Carpenters recorded 10 albums along with many singles and several television specials.
Anthony F. Peluso was an American guitarist and record producer. He was lead guitarist for pop duo Carpenters from 1972 to 1983.