The Singles: 1969–1973

The Singles 1969–1973
Compilation album by The Carpenters
Released	November 9, 1973
Recorded	1969–1973 at A&M Studios, Los Angeles
Genre	Pop
Length	41:47
Label	A&M
Producer	Richard & Karen Carpenter, Jack Daugherty
The Carpenters chronology
The Singles: 1969–1973 (1973) The Singles: 1974–1978 (1978)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	C+[2]
Džuboks	(favorable)[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

The Singles: 1969–1973 is an album by the brother/sister pop duo The Carpenters. A greatest hits collection, it topped the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom and became one of the best-selling albums of the 1970s. Features of this compilation include a newly recorded version of "Top of the World", "Ticket to Ride" and a number of musical introductions and segues between the songs "Superstar", "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "Goodbye to Love", the latter two were sped up in pitch, much to the regret of Richard in subsequent years.^[5] It has been certified 7× platinum in the US alone. In the UK, the album reached number 1 for 17 (non-consecutive) weeks.

Richard gave the album this title because he doesn't like the term "greatest hits" because he felt it was "an overused thing".^[6] He continues:

Individuals and groups with two or three hits all of a sudden put them on an album, use filler for the rest and title it "greatest hits". This album contains eleven true hits and it just wasn't slapped together. We've remixed a few, re-cut one and joined a couple of others. It's simply something I believe we owe our audience and ourselves.^[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"We've Only Just Begun"	Paul Williams; Roger Nichols	3:04
2.	"Top of the World"	Richard Carpenter; John Bettis	2:56
3.	"Ticket to Ride"	John Lennon; Paul McCartney	4:10
4.	"Superstar"	Bonnie Bramlett; Leon Russell	3:49
5.	"Rainy Days and Mondays"	Paul Williams; Roger Nichols	3:40
6.	"Goodbye to Love"	Richard Carpenter; John Bettis	3:50
7.	"Yesterday Once More"	Richard Carpenter; John Bettis	3:50
8.	"It's Going to Take Some Time"	Carole King; Toni Stern	2:55
9.	"Sing"	Joe Raposo	3:20
10.	"For All We Know"	Fred Karlin, Jimmy Griffin, Robb Royer	2:34
11.	"Hurting Each Other"	Gary Geld; Peter Udell	2:46
12.	"(They Long to Be) Close to You"	Burt Bacharach; Hal David	4:34

EP

US 7" promo (1973); A&M LLP 238

1. "Ticket to Ride" (1973 version)
2. "(They Long to Be) Close to You"
3. "We've Only Just Begun"
4. "Top of the World"
5. "Rainy Days and Mondays"

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
1974	US Pop Albums	1
	UK Albums Chart[7]

References

1. AllMusic review
2. Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
3. Kostić, Borjan. Džuboks (in Serbian) (Belgrade: Karpentersi - Singl ploče od 1969. do 1973.) (1 (second series)): 44. Missing or empty |title= (help);
4. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 140. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
5. http://www.richardandkarencarpenter.com/fans_ask_5-archive.htm
6. Billboard magazine article, written by Frank H Lieberman, 1973.
7. "Number 1 Albums – 1970s". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2011.