Photo: The Carpenters | By Neil Crosslye, Music Radar | Anyone delving into the rich vein of 60s songwriting will find numerous classic songs that were recorded by other artists before being immortalised in one peerless, definitive version.
Such examples include I Heard It Through The Grapevine, written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966 and released by both Gladys Night & The Pips and The Miracles, before Marvin Gaye transformed it into a soul classic in 1967. Another example is Suspicious Minds, an absolute flop of a single when released by its writer Mark James in 1968, before being handed to Elvis Presley who promptly turned it into one of his biggest ever hits.
Then there is (They Long To Be) Close To You. Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, it was first released as a single by actor Richard Chamberlain in 1963.
One year later, Dionne Warwick released it on her album Make Way For Dionne Warwick. Dusty Springfield also covered the song for her 1967 album Where Am I Going?
But it took the 1970 release of the song by a young sibling duo called the Carpenters for the full potential of the song to be truly realized.
> > > > > > > > >
Go here to read more on this fascinating story of a song’s journey to being a hit:
There is an audio (video format) in the article in case you need a reminder of how the song goes:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/karen-manages-to-get-across-both-sadness-and-silliness-the-carpenters-hit-that-wowed-two-beatles/
Photo: The Carpenters
https://www.facebook.com/LansingCityPulse/photos/t.100044290453553/10152572044580002/?type=3