Yesterday Once More (song)

"Yesterday Once More"
Single by The Carpenters
from the album Now & Then
B-side	"Road Ode"
Released	May 16, 1973
Format	7" single
Recorded	1973
Genre	Pop
Length	3:56
Label	A&M 1446
Writer(s)	Richard Carpenter, John Bettis
Producer(s)	Jack Daugherty
Certification	Gold
The Carpenters singles chronology
"Sing" (1973) "Yesterday Once More" (1973) "Top of the World" (1973)

"Yesterday Once More", written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis, is a hit song by The Carpenters from their 1973 album Now & Then. Composed in the key of E, "Yesterday Once More" features a long middle section, consisting of eight covers of 1960s tunes incorporated into a faux oldies radio program. The work takes up the entire B-side of the album.

The single version of the song peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart becoming their 5th number two hit and making them the act with the second most number two hits on the chart behind only Madonna. The song also peaked at number 1 on the easy listening chart, becoming their eighth number 1 on that chart in four years.^[1] It is The Carpenters' biggest-selling record worldwide and their best-selling single in the UK, peaking at number 2.^[2] Richard Carpenter admitted, on a Japanese documentary, that it was his favorite of all the songs that he had written. He has performed an instrumental version at concerts.

According to Cash Box, on June 2, 1973, "Yesterday Once More" was the highest-debuting single at No. 71. By August 4, it had reached No. 1.

Dionne Warwick, a close friend of The Carpenters, performed the song live in Las Vegas the night before Karen Carpenter's death in 1983.^[3]

Personnel

• Karen Carpenter - lead and backing vocals, drums
• Richard Carpenter - backing vocals, piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, orchestration
• Joe Osborn - bass
• Tony Peluso - electric guitar
• Earl Dumler - English horn
• Uncredited - tambourine

Cover versions and performances

• "Hier est près de toi (Sha la la)" (Yesterday is near you) by Claude François (France) in 1973, adaptation by Eddy Marnay.
• In 1973, Icelandic singer Þuríður Sigurðardóttir covered the song with the title "Á valdi minninga (On the power of memories)" on the album "Þuríður & Pálmi". Icelandic words by Pálmi Gunnarsson.
• In 1974, Italian singer Dori Ghezzi covered the song with the title "Io sto bene con te" (I'm fine with you).
• In 1974, the singer Ami Asplund covered the song with the title "Käy Luonain Eilinen (Visit the "yesterday"'s)", followed by later Finnish-language covers, by Katri Helena, Lea Laven, and others.
• In 1981, The Spinners recorded the song as a medley with "Nothing Remains the Same". The medley went to No. 32 on the soul chart.^[4]
• The Shaggs, now seen as one of the most important outsider music groups, recorded a cover of the song which later appeared on their 1982 compilation "Shaggs' Own Thing".
• Italo disco singer Sabrina Salerno covered the song on her 1991 album Over the Pop.
• Redd Kross, a rock/punk band from Hawthorne, California covered the song on the 1994 Carpenters tribute album If I Were a Carpenter. This cover was also released as a double A-side single with Sonic Youth's cover of "Superstar" to promote the album.
• The British indie rock band Cinerama released a cover of the song as a B-side on their 2001 single "Superman".
• Swedish pop and country singer Kikki Danielsson covered the song on her 2006 album, I dag & i morgon.
• In Japan, Tohoku Broadcasting Company's TV station in Miyagi prefecture played the song moments before it ceased broadcasting on analog on March 31, 2012.^[5]
• The Japanese band D=OUT did a cover of the song in 2012 for their album High Collar.
• In 2016, Dami Im recorded a version for her album Classic Carpenters.
• In 2016, Aimee Mann covered the song for episode 2 of HBO's Vinyl.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts Chart (1973) Peak position Australia 9 Canadian Singles Chart 1 Oricon International Singles Chart 1 Oricon (Japanese) Singles Chart 5 UK Singles Chart 2 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 2 U.S. Billboard Easy Listening 1 US Cash Box Top Singles 1

Year-end charts Chart (1973) Rank Australia 65 Canada 23 UK [6] 18 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [7] 70 U.S. Cash Box [8] 43

See also

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1973 (U.S.)
• List of RPM number-one singles of 1973

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 47.
2. Carpenters UK chart history, The Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
3. Schmidt, Randy L. Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter. Forward by Dionne Warwick. Chicago Review Press, 9781556529764). p. 368.)
4. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 545.
5. "TBC 東北放送 2012/3/31 アナログ放送停波". Retrieved 2012-04-05.
6. http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1973.shtml
7. http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1973.htm
8. http://50.6.195.142/archives/70s_files/1973YESP.html

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics