New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Icon, musician, record producer, songwriter, and arranger, Richard Carpenter of the Carpenters, reinterprets a number of their biggest hits, and chosen favourites, on solo piano.
Some of the most beloved melodies of all time, including Close to You, Yesterday Once More, Top of the World, We've Only Just Begun, and Rainy Days and Mondays, are expertly performed on this tuneful and relaxing album by Richard, one half of the duo who, to date, have sold over 120 million records worldwide.
On signing to Decca and creating the Piano Songbook Richard says:
"I've not only been into music since I was a kid, but records as well, and everything to do with them. In the late forties and early fifties, the Big Three labels were: Columbia, Victor, and DECCA…..Bing Crosby was on Decca!
When the label asked if I might be interested in recording an album of
Carpenters songs on solo piano, I could only think of my Mom and Dad, and what an enormous compliment this was to their son, who never wanted to practice.
But this was a challenge. For somebody who likes to turn everything into a production, like our records, to adapt them for solo piano was a tall order, but the piano is a remarkable instrument, with a remarkable range, and I believe I've given the songs chosen a fairly good reading."
The
Carpenters are one of the most enduring and loved recording artists in history. After becoming multi-million selling, Grammy award winning superstars with their 1970 breakthrough (They Long To be) Close To You, siblings Richard and
Karen Carpenter would continue to win over fans worldwide with a record-breaking string of hits. The duo produced distinctly gentle songs that combined Karen's unique contralto vocals, with Richard's warm, encompassing harmonies, arrangements and compositions.
RICHARD CARPENTER'S PIANO SONGBOOK TRACKLIST:
Side One
1. Close To You
2. Medley: Sing, Goodbye to Love, Eve, Rainy Days and Mondays
3. I Won't Last a Day Without You
4. For All We Know
Side Two
1. Yesterday Once More
2. I Need to Be In Love
3. The
Rainbow Connection
4. Top of the World
5. We've Only Just Begun
Also released October 19th 2021 - CARPENTERS: The Musical Legacy (Princeton Architectural Press) is the definitive biography of The Carpenters. Told for the first time from the perspective of Richard Carpenter, through more than 100 hours of exclusive interviews and some 200 photographs from Richard's personal archive, many never published, this book chronicles the lives of one of the most popular artists of the 1970s. Readers will delight in the behind-the-scenes look at the trials and triumphs of this iconic brother-sister musical duo.
