I NEED TO BE IN LOVE 

Music and Lyrics by Richard Carpenter, John Bettis and Albert Hammond

Bettis, Hammond, and I wrote this ballad in 1976, and it quickly became Karen’s favorite of all the songs she and I had recorded, partly because of its melodic sweep, and partly because of the lyric, which resonated with the way she was feeling at that time.  To be frank, I always felt the song, performance, and arrangement were strong and commercial, and was a bit perplexed when, in the U.S., it peaked only at #25.  It turned out that, regarding this record, I was right; nineteen years later the very same recording was used in a Japanese mini-series named Misenen, and re-released as a CD single.  It became one of the biggest sellers of 1995, ultimately going quadruple platinum.  In more ways than one, Karen would have loved that!

 

Almo Music Corp. / Hammer And Nails Music, Inc. / EMI April Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
Produced and Arranged by Richard Carpenter
Lead Vocal: Karen Carpenter
Backing Vocals: The O.K. Chorale
Keyboards: Richard Carpenter
Bass: Joe Osborn
Drums: Jim Gordon
Guitar: Tony Peluso
Oboe: Earle Dumler
Flute: David Shostac
Engineer: Ray Gerhardt
From the album A Kind Of Hush (1976)
Remixed in 1990 by Richard Carpenter and Roger Young
Engineer: Roger Young

 

 

 
Last Updated June 4, 2008
May 2004  © Richard Carpenter

Hit Counter

WebDesign by the Webutante