Ticket to Ride (album)

Ticket to Ride/Offering
Cover photo by Jim McCrary
Studio album by
Carpenters
ReleasedOctober 9, 1969 (Offering)
November 10, 1970 (Ticket to Ride)
StudioA&M Studios (Los Angeles)
GenrePop, soft rock
Length36:52
LabelA&M
ProducerJack Daugherty
Carpenters chronology
Ticket to Ride/Offering
(1969) 		Close to You
(1970)
Original cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[2]

Ticket to Ride is the debut studio album by the American music duo Carpenters. At the time of its initial release in 1969, it was issued under the title Offering, with a completely 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. The CD in the "Remastered Classics" series went out of print in March 2007. However, in Japan, the "Pack Series" released the Ticket to Ride and Close to You CDs together.

The album is far more self-contained than other 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.

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]

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 listing

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All lead vocals by Karen Carpenter except where noted; all tracks written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Invocation" (lead vocals: Karen and Richard Carpenter) 1:04
2."Your Wonderful Parade" (lead vocals: Richard Carpenter) 2:54
3."Someday" 5:19
4."Get Together" (lead vocals: Richard Carpenter)Chet Powers2:37
5."All of My Life"Richard Carpenter3:07
6."Turn Away" (lead vocals: Richard Carpenter) 3:12
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Ticket to Ride"Lennon–McCartney4:13
8."Don't Be Afraid"Richard Carpenter2:07
9."What's the Use" (lead vocals by Richard Carpenter) 2:43
10."All I Can Do" 1:41
11."Eve" 2:53
12."Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" (lead vocals: Richard Carpenter)Neil Young4:21
13."Benediction" (lead vocals: Karen and Richard Carpenter) 0:41

Personnel

[edit]
Technical

Charts

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Chart (1971–1972) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[7] 19
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[8] 88
UK Albums (OCC)[9] 20
US Billboard 200[10] 150

Singles

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"Ticket to Ride"

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  • JP 7" single (1969) [KING AM-18] / (1976) [KING AM-1001] / (1977) [KING AM-2061]
  1. "Ticket to Ride"
  2. "All I Can Do"
  • US 7" single (1969) [A&M 1142]
  1. "Ticket to Ride"
  2. "Your Wonderful Parade"

References

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  1. ^ AllMusic review
  2. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 140. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  3. ^ Fawthrop, Peter. Making a Good Thing Better at AllMusic. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  4. ^ "Album Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. No. 11 November 1969. p. 76. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  5. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/ticket-to-ride-mw0000193203
  6. ^ Carpenters Fans Ask... Richard Answers, Official Carpenters website. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  7. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. ^ "Yamachan Land (Japanese Chart Archives) – Albums Chart Daijiten – Carpenters" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on November 11, 2007. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  9. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  10. ^ "Carpenters Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
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