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Ticket to Ride (album)
Ticket to Ride is the debut studio album by the American music duo Carpenters. BackgroundThe album is far more self-contained than subsequent Carpenters albums; excluding the orchestrations, bass by Joe Osborn and occasional guitar from Gary Sims, most of the instruments were played by Karen and Richard Carpenter themselves—drums and keyboards respectively—and 10 of the 13 songs were written by Richard and his lyricist John Bettis. It also stands out from subsequent Carpenters albums in that the lead vocals are evenly split between the two band members; on later albums, Karen would perform most of the lead vocals and this is one of two albums where Karen provided virtually all of the drumming, the other being Now & Then, released in 1973. ReleaseAt the time of the album's initial release in 1969, it was issued under the title Offering, with a different cover photo. It was a commercial failure and produced only one minor hit single, a ballad version of the Lennon-McCartney song "Ticket to Ride". After the Carpenters' subsequent breakthrough, however, the album was reissued internationally under the name Ticket to Ride and sold moderately. Reception
In their review, Billboard noted that "brother and sister Richard and Karen Carpenter have come up with fresh and original concepts of music and singing in this debut LP on A&M. Richard's songs and arrangements, especially the overdubbing of his and Karen's voices, combine the best elements of pop, folk-rock, and jazz, and their version of the now classic "Get Together" makes it sound very new. With radio programming support, Carpenters should have a big hit on their hands."[4] In a retrospective review, Allmusic stated that "Karen and Richard Carpenter issued a finely crafted record that moved effortlessly between Spanky & Our Gang-style pop/rock ("Your Wonderful Parade") and art-song. In some ways, Ticket to Ride is the Carpenters' most interesting album, for it contains a range of interests and sounds that were modified or abandoned on subsequent albums. The lushly orchestrated "Someday" is a brilliant showcase for Richard's arranging skills and the most dramatic side of Karen's voice - it points the way toward songs like "Crescent Noon" on the next album, and although that highly dramatic sound proved a blind alley, it did result in some ravishing performances by the duo."[5] Track listingAll tracks written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis, except where noted.
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