A Song For You

Catalogue Number: A&M SP-3511; CD 3511; UCDC 525 (MFSL); 82839 3511 2
Date of Release: 06/13/72
Chart Position- U.S.: #4; U.K.: #13; JAPAN: #5
Album Singles: “Hurting Each Other”/”Maybe It’s You”
“It’s Going To Take Some Time”/”Flat Baroque”
“Goodbye To Love”/”Crystal Lullaby”
“Top Of The World”/”Heather”
“I Won’t Last A Day Without You”/”One Love”
Medium: Reel/Vinyl/8-track/Cassette/CD

Track Listing:

1. A Song For You 4:42 (Russell)
2. Top Of The World 2:56 (Carpenter/Bettis)
3. Hurting Each Other 2:46 (Udell/Geld)
4. It’s Going To Take Some Time 2:54 (King/Stern)
5. Goodbye To Love 3:50 (Carpenter/Bettis)
6. Intermission 0:22 (Carpenter)
7. Bless The Beasts And Children 3:07 (De Vorzon/Botkin, Jr.)
8. Flat Baroque 1:45 (Carpenter)
9. Piano Picker 1:59 (Edelman)
10. I Won’t Last A Day Without You* 3:47 (Williams/Nichols)
11. Crystal Lullaby 3:58 (Carpenter/Bettis)
12. Road Ode 3:50 (Sims/Woodhams)
13. A Song For You [Reprise] 0:53 (Russell)

Album Credits:

Arranged and Orchestrated by: Richard Carpenter
All vocals: Karen and Richard Carpenter
Keyboards: Richard Carpenter
Bass: Joe Osborn
Drums: Hal Blaine and Karen Carpenter
Tenor Sax, Flute and Alto Flute: Bob Messenger
Bass Flute: Tim Weisberg
Guitar: Louie Shelton
Lead Guitar: Tony Peluso
Steel Guitar: Red Rhodes
Oboe and English Horn: Earl Dumler
Bassoon: Norm Herzberg
Engineered by Ray Gerhardt, Assistant: Roger Young
Special Thanks to Ron Gorow
Intermission inspired by Crucifixus – Antonio Lotti ca. 1667-1740
Baldwin Piano, Ludwig Drums, Wurlitzer Electric Piano
Art Direction: Roland Young
Photography: Front Cover, Jim McCrary; Sleeve, Bill Hennigar
Produced by Jack Daugherty Productions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MSFL Track Listing:

1. A Song For You (1985 remix)
2. Top Of The World (1973 version)
3. Hurting Each Other (1973 remix)
4. It’s Going To Take Some Time (1989 remix)
5. Goodbye To Love (1985 remix)
6. Intermission (1989 remix)
7. Bless The Beasts And Children (1985 remix)
8. Flat Baroque (faster)
9. Piano Picker (faster)
10. I Won’t Last A Day Without You (1972 album mix, fast)
11. Crystal Lullaby
12. Road Ode
13. A Song For You [Reprise]

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*”I Won’t Last A Day Without You” first appeared on LP in a sped-up version. The Remastered Classics CD uses the slower-speed iteration.

Chris May says:
Shortly following the release of this album, the cover art was changed ever so slightly, much to the dismay of Richard Carpenter. It was then changed back to the original per his request. It is also notable that this album made the cut for Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s “Original Master Recording” series in 1989, available on 24-karat gold CD format, with the 2-channel mixes having been taken from the original source, thus improving the playback quality. Several of the tracks on that release were actually remixes, however the overall quality on the whole was superior to that of the previous release(s).

The fourth album for Carpenters on A&M was a huge one. This album, A SONG FOR YOU represents the Carpenters at the pinnacle of their career, with six tracks from it ultimately ending up as hit singles. (“Bless The Beasts And Children” had already been released as a double a-side single.) A SONG FOR YOU almost plays like a greatest hits album as even some non-hits like the title track are so well-loved that they could have been hits in their own right.

There are three different releases of the album on CD. A&M released a version in the mid ’80s that featured some remixes and single mixes. The liner notes on the A&M disc were sparse too – basically just track lists.

In the latter ’80s, Mobile Sound Fidelity Labs (MFSL) released a version of A SONG FOR YOU with more remixes in an effort to give it an audiophile reference-sound quality. These are highly sought-after by collectors today. An exact digital clone of the MFSL version appeared on THE COMPACT DISC COLLECTION, a British box set release of the 12 studio albums in 1990.

Finally in 1998, A&M/PolyGram released A SONG FOR YOU as part of its Remastered Classics series, with all recordings returned to their original album remixes, some of them a bit rough-sounding on today’s digital equipment, but faithfully remastered by Bernie Grundman and Richard Carpenter.

An image of the hype sticker originally attached:

Original promotional ad for this album:

Billboard A Song For You Album Jul 8 1972