Gold: Love Songs

The Carpenters: Karen Carpenter, Richard Carpenter.
Producers: Richard Carpenter, Karen Carpenter, Jack Daugherty.
Includes liner notes by Paul Lester.
Digitally remastered by Roger Wake.
Liner Note Author: Paul Lester.
Few pop song catalogs have been as underappreciated as that of the Carpenters. Though many of their best songs ("Rainy Days and Mondays," "We've Only Just Begun") were penned by equally underrated songwriter Paul Williams, pianist Richard Carpenter got his compositional licks in too, and it was his vocalist/drummer sister Karen whose sweet but unaffected vocal style cemented these tunes' popularity and helped place them in the '70s pop canon for all time.
This collection, though essentially a functional "best of," focuses, as the title makes plain, on LOVE SONGS. Of course, it doesn't hurt that such tunes happened to be the duo's stock in trade. From the achingly evanescent "Close To You" to the uplifting, jubilant "Top Of The World," these songs celebrates the ups and downs of romance. Lend an ear and be reminded of the grace and beauty that existed in the musical world of Richard and Karen Carpenter.