We've Only Just Begun

"We've Only Just Begun"
Single by Carpenters
from the album Close to You
B-side "All of My Life"
Released August 21, 1970
Format 7" single
Recorded 1970
Genre Soft rock, traditional pop
Length 3:05
Label A&M
1217
Writer(s) Paul Williams; Roger Nichols
Producer(s) Jack Daugherty
Certification Gold
Carpenters singles chronology
"(They Long to Be) Close to You"
(1970)		 "We've Only Just Begun"
(1970)		 "Merry Christmas Darling"
(1970)
Close to You track listing
Side one
  1. "We've Only Just Begun"
  2. "Love is Surrender"
  3. "Maybe It's You"
  4. "Reason to Believe"
  5. "Help!"
  6. "(They Long to Be) Close to You"
Side two
  1. "Baby It's You"
  2. "I'll Never Fall in Love Again"
  3. "Crescent Noon"
  4. "Mr. Guder"
  5. "I Kept on Loving You"
  6. "Another Song"

"We've Only Just Begun" is a hit single by Carpenters written by Roger Nichols (music) and Paul Williams (lyrics). Ranked at No. 405 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", it is frequently used as a wedding song.

Song information

The song was originally recorded by Smokey Roberds, a friend of Nichols, under the name "Freddie Allen".[1] It debuted in a wedding-themed television commercial for Crocker National Bank in California in the winter of 1970 with Williams on vocals. Hal Riney, founder of the San Francisco-based advertising agency Hal Riney & Partners, commissioned the song to help Crocker appeal to young people. The song played over footage of a young couple getting married and just starting out. Direct reference to the bank was left out, in part to make the song more marketable. The commercial was very popular and Crocker National's business flourished.

Richard Carpenter saw the commercial and guessed correctly that it was Paul Williams (both of them were under contract to A&M records). Carpenter ran into Williams on the record company's lot and asked if a full-length version was available. Although it had only two verses and no bridge, Williams confirmed that there was a bridge and an additional verse, forming a complete song; he and Nichols went on to write them. Carpenter selected the composition for the duo's third single and included it on the LP Close to You.

Released in the late summer of 1970, the single featured Karen's lead vocals and the overdubbed harmonies of both siblings. Following their hit, "(They Long to Be) Close to You" onto the charts, "We've Only Just Begun" hit No. 1 on the Cash Box singles chart and No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming the pair's second million-selling Gold single. It was considered by both Karen and Richard to be their signature song.[2] According to The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (6th edition), on the U.S. Adult Contemporary singles chart, it was the duo's best-performing tune, lasting seven weeks at No. 1 (beating the six-week stay at the top of "Close to You"). The song also helped them to win two Grammy Awards in 1971. One was for the Best New Artist (The Carpenters) and the other was for Best Contemporary Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus (Close to You).

For Williams, the song was a personal victory; it was his first collaboration with Nichols that had resulted in a hit single, and it opened the door to many more thereafter. In 1998, the recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for recordings "of lasting quality or historical significance".[3]

There was a 1981 cover version by Lee McDonald which has been a modern soul classic for many years. The song was sampled in R&B singer Miguel's song "How Many Drinks?", taken from his Grammy-nominated 2012 album Kaleidoscope Dream. In 2016 the song was used in another commercial; this time for Lowe's Home Improvement.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1970-71) Peak
position
Australia ARIA 6
Canadian Singles Chart 1
Oricon (Japanese) Singles Chart 71
UK 28
US Billboard Hot 100 2
US Billboard Easy Listening 1
US Cash Box Top 100 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1970) Position
Australia 90
US Billboard Hot 100 65
US Cash Box [4] 57
Canada 16

Personnel

Carpenters compilation appearances

Notable cover versions

In cinema

The song was used in an unusual context in 1408, a film adapted from a short story by Stephen King; it marked the onset of the protagonist's horrific ordeal. It also closed the 2000 gay ensemble, The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy, performed by Mary Beth Maziarz. "We've Only Just Begun" was featured at the conclusion of the Australian film, The Castle, where it was sung by Kate Ceberano. It was also part of the score of John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness, where it was heard playing over loudspeakers while the protagonist was committed to a psychiatric hospital. The song was also sung by Carl Weathers in the motion picture, Happy Gilmore, and was featured in the film version of Starsky & Hutch.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pierce, Dave (2008). Riding on the ether express: a memoir of 1960s Los Angeles, the rise of Freeform Underground Radio, and the legendary KPPC-FM. Center for Louisiana Studies, ISBN 9781887366779
  2. ↑ The Singles: 1969–1973
  3. ↑ GRAMMY.com
  4. ↑ http://50.6.195.142/archives/70s_files/1970YESP.html

External links

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