The #94 Album of All-Time in the Rock Era--"A Song For You" by the Carpenters

A Song For You was the fourth album released by the Carpenters, available on June 13, 1972 on A&M Records.  It was recorded in mid-1971.





The album reached a peak of #4, spent 41 weeks on the album chart and sold 3 million copies.  It's Track Rating was 9.18, which puts it about in the middle of the Top 100 albums.  Airplay was strong, putting A Song For You near the top of that factor.  You will find six huge hits on this album--"Hurting Each Other", "It's Going to Take Some Time", "Goodbye to Love", "Top of the World", "I Won't Last a Day Without You" and "Bless the Beasts and Children", which is one of the best on the list.  Those six generated huge airplay numbers from not only Top 40 stations but also Adult Contemporary radio--this album is ranked near the top for radio airplay.  When you combine the radio ratings from all of the stations in those two formats, it's a powerful force for airplay.  Five of the tracks mentioned above were either #1 or #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts.  "Road Ode" and the title track, both which have become all-time favorites with fans, also generated additional airplay from the album.  


The album is ranked near the bottom of the Top 100 because of the chart and sales statistics shown above.  Had the album charted better at the time and sold a few more copies, it would be considerably higher.  Many consumers, however, chose to purchase the greatest hits of the group to get the songs on this album.  In other words, they love the songs on the album but chose to buy a different album to get them.  This is why sales have to be considered in a Top Albums of All-Time list, but aren't the be-all, end-all.  This album also was recognized by the Academy Awards, which nominated "Bless the Beasts and Children" for Best Song From a Motion Picture (of the same name), and by the Grammy Awards, which nominated the song "Flat Baroque" for Best Instrumental Arrangement.




Side One
1.  "A Song for You" (Leon Russell) 4:42
2.  "Top of the World" (John Bettis, Richard Carpenter) 2:56
3.  "Hurting Each Other" (Gary Geld, Peter Udell) 2:46
4.  "It's Going to Take Some Time" (Carole King, Toni Stern) 2:55
5.  "Goodbye to Love" (John Bettis, Richard Carpenter) 3:50
6.  "Intermission" (Richard Carpenter) 0:22


Side Two
1.  "Bless the Beasts and Children" (Perry Botkin, Jr. & Barry DeVorzon) 3:07
2.  "Flat Baroque" (Richard Carpenter) 1:45
3.  "Piano Picker" (Randy Edelman) 1:59
4.  "I Won't Last a Day Without You" (Paul Williams) 3:55
5.  "Crystal Lullaby" (John Bettis, Richard Carpenter) 3:58
6.  "Road Ode" (Gary Sims, Dan Woodhams) 3:50
7.  "A Song for You (Reprise)" (Leon Russell) 0:53




 Jack Daugherty produced this album, engineered by Ray Gerhardt. Tony Peluso contributed the outstanding lead guitar solo on "Goodbye To Love".  All the music was arranged and orchestrated by Richard Carpenter.  Joe Osborn played bass, Hal Blaine and Karen Carpenter played drums, Bob Messenger played some great tenor sax, especially on the title song; he also plays excellent flute and alto flute, Tim Weisberg played bass flute, Louie Shelton played guitar, Red Rhodes contributed steel guitar, the oboe and English horn that you hear is from Earl Dumler and Norm Herzberg played bassoon. Roland Young contributed art for the cover.


A solid #94 from the Carpenters--A Song For You.