While not among my favourite Carpenters songs, this is yet another example of Karen's perfect voice and the trademark Carpenters sound, complete with beautifully arranged harmonies .. As you say Dereck, Karen's voice is just so soothing .. And you're right, you could even say it is healing .. When I am really stressed, just listening to her can help me so much .. Great reaction ! .. Wayne
T E A R S!!!!!!!!!! She takes me back to a very special time and place in my childhood! Before I take my last breath, I want to hear her voice as I enter Haven! I will always love you Karen ❤️
No one else sang like Karen. Period. And their arrangements were instantly identifiable. As soon as I hear the opening to this song, I get chills and it hits me the same way after almost fifty years. She was also an insane jazz drummer, which made her timing as a singer even better.
Great reaction. Karen's voice is very special. All these years later. No one has come along that portrays a song the way she can. You should check out The 1971 BBC Concert. It's just under 40 minutes long. Karen is amazing in this performance and alot of it is her behind the drums doing what she loves. Again great reaction.
She is a healer. As sad as it might be, her voice (as well as Eva Cassidy's) have felt more like a mother and soother than any "family member" or "loved one". Something tells me this is more common for others than it should be.
Fun fact: this song came about, Richard seeing/watching a commercial on tv! Definitely the band also doing background vocals and they were always doing a great job, harmonizing. I was only 10, really heard the song when I move to Europe in 73 and remember hearing the song as if it was yesterday!
I remember seeing them live back in 71 when I was 13 in Vegas. She was still behind the drums at that time. She was just phenomenal. So sad she past away at such a young age. One of the best if not the best female vocalist of all time.
Richard Carpenters is a brillant pianist (I hope he's still alive) and Karen had a very beautiful voice. This was a nice song. I recommand you Close to you by the Carpenters (obviously) that is the song which makes me discover this group and I lost my bananas... I'm sure you'll be amazed !
Hi Dereck,that is a really beautiful Song.Karen has a voice with great depth and honesty.She means what she sings and the music has everything they need for it.Karen and Richard!!!I love it!!verry nice!!!!😃😃😃
Richard Carpenter heard that song for the first time in an advertising campaign on TV, where one could hear only the two first verses. He rang the authors and asked if there was a chorus. It had and he loved it. They were having trouble providing the next hit as something as big and astounding as "Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun" became the one.
I remember my older sister listening to this album, Karen's voice was so beautiful... The Partridge family " I think i love you" it would be very interesting if you could react on it.
Probably the biggest wedding song of the 70s. Richard Carpenter heard this on a bank commercial one evening and thought he could make it a hit. This is considered to be the Carpenters signature song
Unreal that she was just 20 years old during this perf. She had her full singing gift since she was 17. Listen to her, "Nowhere Man" work-lead recorded in 1967, one of her first sessions behind the mic.
So I take some credit for the UA-cam popularity of this song: the biggest reaction to it is still by TwinsthenewTrend... they have nearly a million subscribers and their reaction to this song has over a million views. I was a Patreon subscriber of theirs in the early days and suggested this plus a load of other female-led songs. The reactions became their most watched videos and they've since met Barack Obama! So, thank you, Karen (RIP) for spreading your magic.
UA-cam has the original Crocker Bank commercial with the songs lyricist Paul Williams singing We've Only Just Begun, which he and Roger Nichols wrote for Crocker Banks campaign to lure young couples to Crocker. Richard saw the commercial on TV and he knew Paul Williams, so he called him and said please tell me you wrote a second verse.
Karen's voice is so amazing. I love watching the live recordings on Mr Guder in Japan and Tokyo. Karen's on drums and they have such FUN with the song. But they have so many amazing songs, and they're definitely worth listening with a headset to really hear everything. Phenomenally done.
I am instantly transported back to 1970 as an 11 year old boy, when I first heard this song. Listening to this song right now brings tears to my eyes. Karen had the voice of an Angel, and Richard had the musical genius in arrangement and production.
All of those backing vocals are Rochard and Karen herself. She always laid out her own harmonies. I had the honor of singing with The Carpenters when they came to perform in my small hometown.
It was sung by 20 year old Karen and arranged by 23 year old Richard! This was a video lip synced to the studio recording for a television show. The "You" was part of "Close To You." If there are no microphones on the video, it is probably not live.
Yes, this is from the final episode of "Make Your Own Kind of Music" - the summer replacement series that aired on NBC in 1971 and was headlined by the Carpenters. Air date: September 7, 1971.
She was 20 singing this! You can tell her inner drummer self is coming out with her hand movements. She has several videos with her drumming/singing simultaneously. (Find early "Close to you" video for next reaction please!) Been a fan since I was 9!
Dereck, believe it or not, composer Richard Carpenter got this song from a BANK COMMERCIAL, modefied it to their style, and it became their theme song throughout their career.
This was played at every wedding in the 70's. It's a beautiful song. They were not singing live. The background singing was, as always, but Karen and Richard themselves.,
This song was played at graduations as well. Funny, I remember the commercial that featured this song before the Carpenters (i.e. Richard) fleshed it out into what would become this incredible song. This was such a big hit. They were known to experiment with over-dubbed harmonies. Yes, The Partridge Family's hit "I Think I Love You' was big too.
The ABC-TV specials came later, the first in 1976 and the fifth and final one in 1980. This video is from "Make Your Own Kind of Music" - a 1971 summer replacement series on NBC-TV that in effect starred the Carpenters (because they were the hottest act on the series). The juvenile and contrived alphabet-keyed segments on the show and the forced humor in the comedy bits did nothing to help the Carpenters' image, already under scrutiny and attack by the rock press, and the duo recoiled from the experience. Karen later said in an interview that they were "violently mishandled" in this early experience in the TV limelight. They considered their 1976 special on ABC to be their first and billed it as such.
Love all of your reactions from TNT Boys Bang Bang to Sohyang to Morissette Amon. Please, please react to the cover of this song by Tori Holub at Jim MIDI Doctor site. Otherworldly!!!
Stephen King has a lowkey obsession with the carpenters, he loves to namedrop them in his stories. This song is referenced multiple times in his novella "1406" but it has a more sinister meaning in that context :S
THIS, remains one of my favorite Carpenters songs. She was one of the greatest female vocalists. Sure there’s Whitney, Aretha, Celine…but there’s something about her pitch, clarity and depth that separates her from that group.
Hello Dereck. I really like this song I discover in a 2001 smily positive and good American movie about a group of gay friends "The broken hearts club" I invite you to discover. The Best To You and your friend, Dear! 🍀🏆🍀🏆🍀🌈🌠
51 years later this song still stands the test of time. back then being a gay teenager i was expected to like bands like led zeppelin or black sabbath but that was just not my liking.i didnt want my classmates to know i liked the carpenters. i also played piano and was glad to see richard playing keys. throw in karen and the magic was complete. i will never regret buying all their albums over the years and enjoying their music . if you havent realized it by now there will never be anyone like them again
”So much of life ahead..." but Karen is no longer with us. Live life to the hilt, for we know not how much time is left. Be nice to others so you'll have nothing to regret later on.
How ironic that it would take years for her to marry, and that marriage would disintegrate about as quickly as the courtship leading to it. And no doubt that somehow contributed to her demise at such a young age.
No uncredited vocalists. This was the album recording overlaid on a video. Normally the guys would be playing instrucments, not just banging on tambourines, but you have to do something for a video. As a rule, the only singers on any Carpenters cut were Richard and Karen. Sometimes you can find videos on which the music WAS live, and you'll notice the lower quality of the singing...competent, but only because you can't overdub live. You continue to be the only reactor online who notices Karen's flawless and effortless vibrato, which doesn't fade away after a second or so, like many, many less-talented singers. You're a VERY good listener. I'm pretty tired of this song, as I've seen reactions to it by about 7,000 reactors, though may album gems are never requested by what seems like commenters who heard them primarily from the radio, not the records. So what' my point? Well, I've been skipping reactions to this song, but I wanted to hear what you'd say because you just make more incisive and intelligent comments that seem based on real musical experience. I have no idea if I'm right about this, but, if I found out you were in a band, it wouldn't surprise me. Very enjoyable reaction, as all your reactions are.
It did become one of the most used wedding songs to this day. This was lip synched to their studio version. Don't react to ones everyone and their brother does. There are other videos, especially of her drumming. ;)
This song is considered by many to have perfect composition, chorus, and vocals.
This woman’s voice is surreal and amazing.
The best, IMO
@@artistbrindle agree!
One of my favourite song in the world !!
While not among my favourite Carpenters songs, this is yet another example of Karen's perfect voice and the trademark Carpenters sound, complete with beautifully arranged harmonies .. As you say Dereck, Karen's voice is just so soothing .. And you're right, you could even say it is healing .. When I am really stressed, just listening to her can help me so much .. Great reaction ! .. Wayne
T E A R S!!!!!!!!!! She takes me back to a very special time and place in my childhood!
Before I take my last breath, I want to hear her voice as I enter Haven! I will always love you Karen ❤️
This song was a bank commercial Richard heard and he turned into this magic.
Written by Paul Williams, of all people.
No one else sang like Karen. Period. And their arrangements were instantly identifiable.
As soon as I hear the opening to this song, I get chills and it hits me the same way after almost fifty years. She was also an insane jazz drummer, which made her timing as a singer even better.
Amazing. A 51 year old song that still moves people of younger generations. Good music is memorable and timeless.
Everything about the Carpenters is flawless. Timeless
Karen Carpenter had a great voice.
Clear and soft.
Very classy compositions.
Great reaction. Karen's voice is very special. All these years later. No one has come along that portrays a song the way she can. You should check out The 1971 BBC Concert. It's just under 40 minutes long. Karen is amazing in this performance and alot of it is her behind the drums doing what she loves. Again great reaction.
My all time favourite artists, i first heard them when i was 11 years old been hooked ever since, goose bumps ALWAYS….you heard and felt every word.
She is a healer. As sad as it might be, her voice (as well as Eva Cassidy's) have felt more like a mother and soother than any "family member" or "loved one". Something tells me this is more common for others than it should be.
The #1 wedding song for nearly 20 years. You will never hear a better singer. Her contralto voice is pretty rare.
Fun fact: this song came about, Richard seeing/watching a commercial on tv!
Definitely the band also doing background vocals and they were always doing a great job, harmonizing. I was only 10, really heard the song when I move to Europe in 73 and remember hearing the song as if it was yesterday!
I remember seeing them live back in 71 when I was 13 in Vegas. She was still behind the drums at that time. She was just phenomenal. So sad she past away at such a young age. One of the best if not the best female vocalist of all time.
Karen Carpenter was the best female vocalist ever! Hands down!
Richard Carpenters is a brillant pianist (I hope he's still alive) and Karen had a very beautiful voice. This was a nice song. I recommand you Close to you by the Carpenters (obviously) that is the song which makes me discover this group and I lost my bananas... I'm sure you'll be amazed !
Yes, Richard's still alive thankfully
This was played at my wedding back in 1994 I love this song
Hi Dereck,that is a really beautiful Song.Karen has a voice with great depth and honesty.She means what she sings and the music has everything they need for it.Karen and Richard!!!I love it!!verry nice!!!!😃😃😃
Richard and Karen did all the background harmonies...amazing!
Richard Carpenter heard that song for the first time in an advertising campaign on TV, where one could hear only the two first verses. He rang the authors and asked if there was a chorus. It had and he loved it. They were having trouble providing the next hit as something as big and astounding as "Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun" became the one.
I remember my older sister listening to this album, Karen's voice was so beautiful...
The Partridge family " I think i love you" it would be very interesting if you could react on it.
Love them
I think it's my favorite American band. I love all of their songs even if sometimes it's a little honeyed, it's still very good.
You. can't beat the Carpenters. Rainy Days and Mondays is another great one Dereck.
Love your reactions to this dynamic duo.
Probably the biggest wedding song of the 70s. Richard Carpenter heard this on a bank commercial one evening and thought he could make it a hit. This is considered to be the Carpenters signature song
This was our class song at my high school graduation. 1979.
Unreal that she was just 20 years old during this perf. She had her full singing gift since she was 17. Listen to her, "Nowhere Man" work-lead recorded in 1967, one of her first sessions behind the mic.
Wonderful !! just wonderful !!
Just started to watch.. Hope you like it. You are doing a great job entertains us.
Remarkable voice 🤩🤩this music was originally an ad for Crocker bank late 60s and then richard carpenter got hold of it
Perfect Voice of Karen Carpenter
Fun to watch your face as the song builds its way to the chorus.
So I take some credit for the UA-cam popularity of this song: the biggest reaction to it is still by TwinsthenewTrend... they have nearly a million subscribers and their reaction to this song has over a million views. I was a Patreon subscriber of theirs in the early days and suggested this plus a load of other female-led songs. The reactions became their most watched videos and they've since met Barack Obama! So, thank you, Karen (RIP) for spreading your magic.
UA-cam has the original Crocker Bank commercial with the songs lyricist Paul Williams singing We've Only Just Begun, which he and Roger Nichols wrote for Crocker Banks campaign to lure young couples to Crocker. Richard saw the commercial on TV and he knew Paul Williams, so he called him and said please tell me you wrote a second verse.
The Carpenters were so big in Britain! I have loved their songs throughout my life. Their best song was 'Those good ol' dreams.' 😄
Just beautiful, knowing what we know now i find it hard not to see her illness. If only. Just an amazing sister/brother powerhouse.
Karen's voice is so amazing. I love watching the live recordings on Mr Guder in Japan and Tokyo. Karen's on drums and they have such FUN with the song. But they have so many amazing songs, and they're definitely worth listening with a headset to really hear everything. Phenomenally done.
Karen had such a beautiful voice
This was a HUGE wedding song in the 70's
I am instantly transported back to 1970 as an 11 year old boy, when I first heard this song. Listening to this song right now brings tears to my eyes. Karen had the voice of an Angel, and Richard had the musical genius in arrangement and production.
Yes, the memories. Time flies. I was also 11
This was THE wedding song in the early 70s.
All of those backing vocals are Rochard and Karen herself. She always laid out her own harmonies. I had the honor of singing with The Carpenters when they came to perform in my small hometown.
It was sung by 20 year old Karen and arranged by 23 year old Richard! This was a video lip synced to the studio recording for a television show. The "You" was part of "Close To You." If there are no microphones on the video, it is probably not live.
Yes, this is from the final episode of "Make Your Own Kind of Music" - the summer replacement series that aired on NBC in 1971 and was headlined by the Carpenters. Air date: September 7, 1971.
She was 20 singing this! You can tell her inner drummer self is coming out with her hand movements. She has several videos with her drumming/singing simultaneously. (Find early "Close to you" video for next reaction please!) Been a fan since I was 9!
Dereck, believe it or not, composer Richard Carpenter got this song from a BANK COMMERCIAL, modefied it to their style, and it became their theme song throughout their career.
This was played at every wedding in the 70's. It's a beautiful song. They were not singing live. The background singing was, as always, but Karen and Richard themselves.,
I absolutely love you. You’re so passionate about music. 😘
Thank you love ya right back!✌🏽
Not only did Karen have an beautiful voice, she was an awesome drummer. Her first passion was drums. She considered herself a drummer who could sing.
This song was played at graduations as well. Funny, I remember the commercial that featured this song before the Carpenters (i.e. Richard) fleshed it out into what would become this incredible song. This was such a big hit. They were known to experiment with over-dubbed harmonies. Yes, The Partridge Family's hit "I Think I Love You' was big too.
The video largely came from one of their ABC tv specials from the ‘70s.
The ABC-TV specials came later, the first in 1976 and the fifth and final one in 1980. This video is from "Make Your Own Kind of Music" - a 1971 summer replacement series on NBC-TV that in effect starred the Carpenters (because they were the hottest act on the series). The juvenile and contrived alphabet-keyed segments on the show and the forced humor in the comedy bits did nothing to help the Carpenters' image, already under scrutiny and attack by the rock press, and the duo recoiled from the experience. Karen later said in an interview that they were "violently mishandled" in this early experience in the TV limelight. They considered their 1976 special on ABC to be their first and billed it as such.
I dont see you having done rainy days and mondays. Another classic.
Two of my faves are Goodbye To Love and Rainy Days and Mondays.
Listen to desperado , sandy and two side , Karen is the most gifted vocalist ever.
Beautiful voice, tragic needless death.
Karen is the standard by which all others are measured. Richard is no slouch either. The harmonies are the two of them with overdubbing.
Love all of your reactions from TNT Boys Bang Bang to Sohyang to Morissette Amon. Please, please react to the cover of this song by Tori Holub at Jim MIDI Doctor site. Otherworldly!!!
when you think iconic American female singers ,Allison Krauss, Cher,Mama Cass. Karen is certainly up there with them.
Close to You next 😁
Carpenters/Solitaire
Stephen King has a lowkey obsession with the carpenters, he loves to namedrop them in his stories. This song is referenced multiple times in his novella "1406" but it has a more sinister meaning in that context :S
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Please do SING Live in Japan by the Carpenters !!
Did you react to "I Need to be in Love" - which was Karen's favorite single they recorded?
Not yet, maybe soon! : )
@@DereckReacts Can't wait!! You will FLIP!! Your bananas will go wild! :)
Unfortunately 💐 Karen Carpenter 💐 died because of an horrible illness. You sing very well Dereck lol!
Yes, beautiful, magical song.
The best female vocalist of all time was Karen Carpenter
If you like The Carpenters you’re gonna like The Manas and The Papas (California Dreamin’, Monday Monday)
Every time I hear Karen's voice, I wonder what could have been...Gone too soon.
THIS, remains one of my favorite Carpenters songs. She was one of the greatest female vocalists. Sure there’s Whitney, Aretha, Celine…but there’s something about her pitch, clarity and depth that separates her from that group.
Karen is the only one that makes me tear up. Every. Freakin. Time.
@@b1bmsgt Same. Rainy days always gets me reaching for a tissue
Karen's voice is hypnotic & mesmerizing! She injected feelings into us that no one else could! 👏👍
Hello Dereck. I really like this song I discover in a 2001 smily positive and good American movie about a group of gay friends "The broken hearts club" I invite you to discover.
The Best To You and your friend, Dear! 🍀🏆🍀🏆🍀🌈🌠
51 years later this song still stands the test of time. back then being a gay teenager i was expected to like bands like led zeppelin or black sabbath but that was just not my liking.i didnt want my classmates to know i liked the carpenters. i also played piano and was glad to see richard playing keys. throw in karen and the magic was complete. i will never regret buying all their albums over the years and enjoying their music . if you havent realized it by now there will never be anyone like them again
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
It's a clarinet... no flutes on this one. Yes, trumpets at the chorus.
”So much of life ahead..." but Karen is no longer with us. Live life to the hilt, for we know not how much time is left. Be nice to others so you'll have nothing to regret later on.
I think I heard that in some elevator 😀.
Bonjour,
Good vidéo, thanks
My french recommandation :
Julien clerc - cœur de rocker
Vanessa Paradis - divine idylle
Renan Luce - la lettre
Merci 🙏🏻👍🏻
How ironic that it would take years for her to marry, and that marriage would disintegrate about as quickly as the courtship leading to it. And no doubt that somehow contributed to her demise at such a young age.
my god the Karen’s voice is so pure! the best female voice in the 70’s
Who's Helen
Please Dereck !!! React to Gregory Lemarchal live performance Et maintenant 🙏❤️🙋🏻♀️💙
There is MUCH BETTER from him!
It is just Carpenters, not The Carpenters.
Hi,please react to Benny B
Hi PLUS du a reaction on the masker singer 🤗😄😊😂🤣😀😱😌☺️🤩🥰😍❤️👍👋
All vocals were done by Karen & Richard. In their early videos, for some reason, their band members would lip synch to these vocals.
No uncredited vocalists. This was the album recording overlaid on a video. Normally the guys would be playing instrucments, not just banging on tambourines, but you have to do something for a video. As a rule, the only singers on any Carpenters cut were Richard and Karen. Sometimes you can find videos on which the music WAS live, and you'll notice the lower quality of the singing...competent, but only because you can't overdub live. You continue to be the only reactor online who notices Karen's flawless and effortless vibrato, which doesn't fade away after a second or so, like many, many less-talented singers. You're a VERY good listener. I'm pretty tired of this song, as I've seen reactions to it by about 7,000 reactors, though may album gems are never requested by what seems like commenters who heard them primarily from the radio, not the records. So what' my point? Well, I've been skipping reactions to this song, but I wanted to hear what you'd say because you just make more incisive and intelligent comments that seem based on real musical experience. I have no idea if I'm right about this, but, if I found out you were in a band, it wouldn't surprise me. Very enjoyable reaction, as all your reactions are.
You have vocal potential man ........just sayin .
The new generation of autotune and mumble rap singers should take a lesson from Karen.
It did become one of the most used wedding songs to this day. This was lip synched to their studio version. Don't react to ones everyone and their brother does. There are other videos, especially of her drumming. ;)