Carpenters – Now & Then (1973)

01. Sing (Joe Raposo) - 3:18
02. This Masquerade (Leon Russell) - 4:49
03. Heather (Richard Carpenter) - 2:48
04. Jambalaya (On The Bayou) (Hank Williams) - 3:40
05. I Can't Make Music (Randy Edelman) - 3:18 
06. Yesterday Once More (John Bettis/Richard Carpenter) - 3:56
Medley - including (07-14):
07. Fun, Fun, Fun (Mike Love/Brian Wilson) - 1:40 
08. The End Of The World (Dave Coutts/Sylvia Dee/Robert DeLeo/Arthur Kent) - 2:25 
09. Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home) (Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich/Phil Spector) - 1:47 
10. Deadman's Curve (Jan Berry/Roger Christian/Roger "Hot Dog Rog" Christian/Artie Kornfeld/Brian Wilson) - 1:32 
11. Johnny Angel (Lyn Duddy/Lee Pockriss) - 1:31 
12. The Night Has A Thousand Eyes (Marilyn Garrett/Dorothy Wayne/Ben Weisman) - 2:17 
13. Our Day Will Come (Mort Garson/Bob Hilliard) - 2:00 
14. One Fine Day (Gerry Goffin/Carole King) - 1:38
15. Yesterday Once More (reprise) (John Bettis/Richard Carpenter) - 0:57

Personnel:
- Richard Carpenter - vocals, keyboards, producer 
- Karen Carpenter - female vocals, drums, producer
- Joe Osborn - bass
- Bob Messenger - flute, tenor saxophone 
- Doug Strawn - baritone saxophone
- Tony Peluso - lead guitar, keyboards, voice of D.J.
- Gary Sims - guitar
- Ron Gordon - drums
- Buddy Emmons, Jay Dee Maness - steel guitar
- Earl Dumler - oboe and bass oboe, english horn
- Tom Scott - recorder
- The Jimmy Joyce Children's Chorus (01)
- Hal Blaine - drums (04)

It was with the release of Now & Then that the Carpenters lost any pretense of being even dorky cool. The album jacket was a giveaway, depicting them in a car in front of a suburban home. The problem also laid in the relentlessly cheerful children's chorus on "Sing," which seemed to come out of every public music outlet that spring and summer; the silly version of "Jambalaya" on side one; and the oldies medley on the second side, which at least predated Happy Days going on the air but still botched its job, mixing Karen Carpenter's haunting rendition of "Johnny Angel" and her spirited version of "One Fine Day" (anticipating her white-bread but effective version of "Beechwood 4-5789") with filler like "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "Dead Man's Curve," all interspersed with Tony Peluso doing his best (i.e., worst) imitation of an obnoxious disc jockey. Whatever the reason, from the moment of the release of Now & Then, listeners under 30 buying a Carpenters album would have good reason to go to a neighborhood where no one knew them to make the purchase, and hide it from their friends. The pity is that the medley paled next to its framing song, the wistful "Yesterday Once More," the last really memorable song that the duo introduced, which summed up in four minutes all of the emotions and sensations that the medley took 15 to deliver. And that song was botched in its album edit, which, instead of giving it an ending, made it part of the medley, with an annoying segue into the latter. ---Bruce Eder, Rovi

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