Close to You

Close To You', from renowned guitarist/vocalist/songwriter JONATHAN BUTLER celebrating the music of Burt Bacharach! These well-loved songs find invigorated, unique interpretations that resonate as strongly as the originals. Polished to an easy, smooth shine Jonathan presents this collection to his International audience which has easily crossed musical genres.

Hurriedly put together in the wake of the success of the title song, and containing the follow-up hit "We've Only Just Begun," Close to You is a surprisingly strong album, and not just for those hits. Richard Carpenter's originals "Maybe It's You" and "Crescent Noon" are superb showcases for Karen Carpenter's developing talent, the latter a superbly atmospheric, hauntingly beautiful art song of the kind that Judy Collins was doing well at the time, and gorgeously arranged. There's also a Swingle Singers-style number, "Mr. Guder," showing off their paired vocal talents and more of Richard's arranging talents. Karen's singing on "Reason to Believe" isn't so much somber as it is passionate, as she emphasizes the melancholy component in the song more than most versions. Their version of "Help" lacks the inventiveness of "Ticket to Ride," although it has some pleasing vocal flourishes…

Carpenters - Close to You
Vinyl Rip in 24-Bit/96-kHz | FLAC | with cue | no log | Covers | FS, MU, HF | 788 MB 3% rec
1970 | Genre: Pop | Label: A&M | SP-4271 | US pressing
Rated 4 out of 5 star by AllMusic Guide

Hurriedly put together in the wake of the success of the title song, and containing the follow-up hit "We've Only Just Begun," Close to You is a surprisingly strong album, and not just for those hits. Richard Carpenter's originals "Maybe It's You" and "Crescent Noon" are superb showcases for Karen Carpenter's developing talent, the latter a superbly atmospheric, hauntingly beautiful art song of the kind that Judy Collins was doing well at the time, and gorgeously arranged.

( Bruce Eder - AllMusic Guide )

On her new album Close to You, the Dutch power woman of jazz Fay Claassen draws her attention to musical gems of late sixties and early seventies. Averse to box spirit and style restrictions, she broadens her musical horizon again with surprisingly own versions of well-known powerful Pop & Soul ballads and songs, which really have something to say.