Only Yesterday: The Carpenters' Story Page #3

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And so we were very excited, and we didn't really have proper equipment.

So Joe allowed us to borrow The Mamas & Papas' equipment.

It had white-stencilled on it "Mamas & Papas"!

Mamas & Papas! Mamas & Papas!

So we were on stage doing our best to stand in front of it!

And who walked in, but Cass Elliot?!

HE LAUGHS:

We were so busted!

# California dreamin'... #

By mid-1968, a string of rejections had taken their toll on Spectrum.

And tensions started to build.

I mean, the guys quit because we couldn't get a recording contract.

We went around for about a year trying to get someplace.

And zero, so everybody went their own way.

So Richard formed The Carpenters with sister Karen.

# Don't be afraid to love and get loved... #

In mid-'68 we made this demo. It ended up on Herb Alpert's desk.

And he heard the potential and that was it. We signed with A&M in April 1969.

# It knows how to make you sing... #

Usually I just close my eyes when listening to a new tape,

and I did on this occasion,

and all of a sudden this amazing voice came out of my speakers.

And it seemed like it was sitting next to me on the couch.

It was a real special...

God-given, you know, instrument that I had never heard quite like that before.

# You need cooling, baby I'm not fooling... #

You have to understand that at that time, the world was turning into serious rock'n'roll.

And here were these amazing kids

doing this incredible pop material.

Some say, "I think you kids are out of sync with your time, with the soft sound..."

Oh, sure.

- "..the rock noises were at their highest."

- Yeah, yeah.

We were in the era of Stones, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, whatever.

That was the problem. We had a whole bunch of people who were hairy rock fans.

And if their mum liked The Carpenters, then you weren't going to like them.

Most of the people at A&M didn't want us there.

And they were trying to talk Herb into cutting his losses and just letting them go.

But I always felt that they had that special ingredient,

because they were so unique in what they were doing.

They were so honest about what they were doing.

I thought it was just a matter of time before before the audience would catch up to them.

I was 22 and Karen was 19.

And we were given carte blanche.

# I think I'm gonna be sad

# I think it's today... #

The first album yielded the ballad version of Ticket To Ride

which is mighty good and got on the charts at least.

A&M was going through a rough period in 1969,

probably the worst year in their history.

# He's got a ticket to ride... #

It sold substantially enough and got enough airplay,

that it definitely deserved another shot.

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