We've Only Just Begun

Infobox Single
Name = We've Only Just Begun


Caption =
Artist = The Carpenters
from Album = Close to You
A-side = "We've Only Just Begun"
B-side = "All of My Life"
Released = August 21, 1970
Format = 7" single
Recorded = 1970
Genre = Pop
Length = 03:05
Label = A&M Records
1217
Writer = Paul Williams; Roger Nichols
Producer = Jack Daugherty
Certification =
Chart position = * #2 (U.S. Billboard Hot 100), #1 (U.S. AC)
Last single = "(They Long to Be) Close to You" (1970)
This single = "We've Only Just Begun" (1970)
Next single = "Merry Christmas Darling" (1970)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Close to You
Type = studio
Tracks = ;Side one
# "We've Only Just Begun"
# "Love is Surrender"
# "Maybe It's You"
# "Reason to Believe"
# "Help!"
# "(They Long to Be) Close to You";Side two
# "Baby It's You"
# "I'll Never Fall in Love Again"
# "Crescent Noon"
# "Mr. Guder"
# "I Kept on Loving You"
# "Another Song"

"We've Only Just Begun" is The Carpenters' signature song. Although it was recorded in early 1970, it is still much in demand as a wedding anthem. [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2410 We've Only Just Begun by The Carpenters Songfacts ] ] Written by the songwriting team of Roger Nichols (music) and Paul Williams (lyrics), the song originally debuted in a commercial for Crocker National Bank in California in 1970, with Williams providing the vocals. It is ranked #405 on the "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Believing that the song had hit potential, Richard 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 his sister 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" crested at #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming the pair's second gold single and was considered by both Karen and Richard to be their signature song. [] 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 #1 (besting the six-week stay at the top of "Close To You"). The song 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").

In 1998, the recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for recordings of lasting quality or historical significance. [ [http://www.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/Awards/Hall_Of_Fame/#w GRAMMY.com ] ]

In 1996, Grant Lee Buffalo covered this song on If I Was Carpenter: A Tribute to The Carpenters.
Example used it as a backing track to his song "So Many Roads".

Carpenters compilation appearances

*1973 - "" (1973 remix)
*1980 - "Beautiful Moments"
*1985 - "Yesterday Once More: Their Greatest Hits" (1985 remix)
*1989 - "Anthology"
*1991 - "From the Top" (1991 remix)
*1995 - "Interpretations: A 25th Anniversary Edition"
*1997 - "Carpenters: Their Greatest Hits And Finest Performances"
*1998 - "Love Songs"
*2000 - ""
*2002 - "The Essential Collection"
*2004 - ""

Notable cover versions

*Perry Como (1970)
*Dionne Warwick (1970)
*Mark_Lindsay (1970)
*Andy Williams (1971)
*Claudine Longet (1971)
*Grant Green (1971)
*Curtis Mayfield (1971)
*Johnny Mathis (1971)
*Henry Mancini (1972)
*Ray Conniff (1986)
*Liberace (1989)
*Richard Clayderman (1986)
*Grant Lee Buffalo (1996)
*Bradley Joseph (2005)

References