Now & Then is the fifth studio album by American music duo Carpenters, released on May 1, 1973. It reached No. 2 on the BillboardTop 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.
Background
As an outgrowth of the Rick Nelson Garden Party incident, an oldies revival occurred in pop music around 1973, and Side B of the album features an oldies medley. The medley starts with the Carpenters' original song "Yesterday Once More". Tony Peluso, the Carpenters' guitarist who made his debut on the 1972 album A Song for You, is heard as a radio DJ throughout the medley, which includes such songs as "The End of the World", "Dead Man's Curve", "Johnny Angel" and "One Fine Day". Peluso would also be heard as a DJ on the Carpenters' "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" recording in 1977. The medley also features Mark Rudolph, a cousin of the Carpenters, as the listener who calls in during "Guess the Golden Goodies Group Contest". Now & Then is one of only two albums for which Karen Carpenter performed all or most of the drumming, the other being Offering. She plays all of the drum tracks with the exception of "Jambalaya ", for which session drummer Hal Blaine played drums. The album was released on May 1, 1973, the same day on which the Carpenters performed at the White House following a state dinner for West German chancellor Willy Brandt.
Singles
The album's lead track, "Sing", was written by Sesame Street's frequent composer Joe Raposo. Karen and Richard had first heard the song while on the set of a Robert Young television special. A&M Records did not wish to release it as a single, but Richard insisted, confident it would be a hit. "Sing" reached No. 3 on the BillboardHot 100 on April 21, 1973. Richard wrote "Yesterday Once More" after hearing the melody in his head while driving one day. The temporary lyrics for the chorus, which he intended to change later, were kept after lyricist and former bandmate John Bettis told Richard, "This 'Sha-la-la-wo-wo-wo' stuff sounds pretty good!" The single peaked at No. 2 on July 28, 1973 and became the duo's biggest worldwide hit.
Cover
The LP album features a three-panel cover that folds out, showing a panoramic view of Karen and Richard Carpenter driving past the Carpenter family home on Newville Avenue in Downey, California. Karen and Richard had bought the five-bedroom house for their parents in 1970. Karen collapsed in the upstairs bedroom of the house while suffering the heart attack that ultimately claimed her life in 1983. The property also contained an annex, now destroyed, that served as Richard and Karen's home studio and housed their awards and certification plaques. In February 2008, fans created a worldwide awareness campaign about the impending demolition of the Carpenter family house that appears on the album cover, which had became a tourist attraction. The home's owners, who had purchased it in 1997 from Richard Carpenter after his mother's death in 1996, were frustrated with fans coming to house and asking to be shown around, and they wanted to raze it. The car pictured on the cover is Richard's 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4. He later sold the car, but bought another of the same type in 1995.
Track listing
Personnel
Richard Carpenter – keyboards, lead and backing vocals, arranger, orchestration, producer
Karen Carpenter – drums, lead and backing vocals, producer
Hal Blaine – drums on "Jambalaya"
Joe Osborn – bass
Bob Messenger – flute, tenor saxophone
Doug Strawn – baritone saxophone
Tom Scott – recorder
Tony Peluso – lead and rhythm guitars, spoken word on "Yesterday Once More"
