We've Only Just Begun—The Cultural Impact of Karen and Richard Carpenter
"We've Only Just Begun," written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols, was recorded by the Carpenters for A&M Records in 1970. During its fourteen-week stay on Billboard's Hot 100, it held the #2 position for four weeks and then went on to earn a gold record. It received two Grammy nominations the same year the Carpenters received a Grammy for Best New Artist. Named to the BMI Top 100 Songs, 'We've Only Just Begun' has had over five million broadcast performances. The Carpenters' recording was named to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. Paul Williams was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in
2001..." —Off The Record: Songwriters on Songwriting "When Crocker Citizens Bank in San Francisco decided to shed its image as a bluestocking, upper-class institution in 1970, its advertising agency drew up a low-keyed TV commercial intended to attract people in their 20's and 30's. 'We wanted them to know that we understood they had a long way to go in life, and we wanted to help them,' one executive pointed out. The scene for the commercial wa to be a wedding in a white-spired church. As musical background, the agency wanted a ballad to be called 'You've Only Just Begun.' They asked Burt Bacharach to write the song, but he wasn't interested. Then they approached Jimmy Webb, but he couldn't do it because he was on his way to Europe. However, he recommended a young songwriting team, Paul Williams and Roger Nichols, and they turned out the song in two days. After the commercial was aired, there was a deluge of requests for sheet music from couples who wanted to use the song at their weddings. And finally, with only one word changed—'You've' to 'We've'—the TV commercial became a pop hit, thanks to the brother-sister team, the Carpenters." —Festival of Popular songs
"This song has become our signature tune. Karen and I had met Roger Nichols and Paul Williams not long after we signed with A&M. Already fans of their work, we came to know them – and Paul's singing, as he would occasionally stop in and sing with us while we rehearsed on the A&M sound stage. Around the time we were recording Close To You, I took notice of a TV commercial for the Crocker Bank. A soft-sell campaign, it featured a young couple getting married, and driving into the sunset. The song, expressly written for the commercial was 'We've Only Just Begun.' It caught my ear immediately. As the commercial featured Paul's singing, I assumed it was a Nichols/Williams song, and spoke to Paul on the A&M lot shortly thereafter. Paul informed me that I was correct, and that the song did have both a bridge and a third verse. (I was curious, as the ads contained only the one or two verses.) Upon hearing the demo, I was convinced the song was a hit, and went into the sound stage to work out the arrangement. The single was released in August of 1970 and went on to become a smash, and one of the best known prothalamia [wedding songs] ever written.
"They were the biggest-selling group of the 70s. No fewer than ten of their singles went on to become million-sellers, and by 2005 combined worldwide sales of albums and singles well exceeded 100 million units. Yet the Carpenters were much more than creators of beautifully crafted and hugely successful hit records. Within the space of just a few years their unique and inimitable sound had brought a new dimension to the world of popular music...
"On November 13, 1973, the Carpenters guested on a Bob Hope TV special. When Karen saw the video of the show soon afterward, she remarked to Richard about her appearance. Self-consciously unhappy about how she appeared, she assured him she intended to "do something about it." He agreed that she looked heavier than she had previously. The conversation passed as insignificant.
"She stopped most of the exercises, which she believed to be too muscle-building, and began what she considered to be a normal diet, nothing remarkable or even noticeable by others. It was just sensible enough, she assured Richard, to shed a few pounds which was necessary. With the benefit of hindsight, he now thinks that the "bulking up" caused by the exercises might have been the turning point that intensified her decision to maintain a strict check on her weight.
"Nobody can be certain of exactly when her anorexic habits took root, Richard insists – chiefly because Karen had always been conscious about her weight. She remarked often on how much she hated her 'hourglass' figure.
"The year 1974 set no alarm bells ringing, as Karen was seen as one of the many health-aware young women – and since she had a historic reason for weight watching, why should anyone have been surprised? Photographed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine on May 22, 1974, wearing a tank top, a cap, and the upbeat expression that was part of her trademark appeal, she looked radiantly happy and healthy.
"Within less than a year, however, Karen plunged into what Richard believes was the period marking the start of the decline that was to prove deadly. By September 1975, due to the onset of anorexia nervosa, her weight had dropped to just 91 pounds, depleting Karen of her normal high energy and forcing her to take [time off] to recover...
"In December 1982 she gave what would be her last performance at her godchildren’s school. (Given what was to transpire, it turned out that the Carpenters' last performance was December 3, 1978, a benefit performance at the Long Beach Pacific Terrace Theater, for the CSULB choir.) Just weeks later, on February 4, 1983, she was found unconscious at her parents’ home in Downey where she had been visiting. Although she was rushed to the hospital, she was pronounced dead of a heart attack soon afterward – a side effect of her long battle with her illness." —RichardandKarenCarpenter.com
Karen Carpenter's illness and subsequent death brought new and needed attention to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Her life was depicted in the 1987 movie, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story which chronicled Karen's battle with anorexia nervosa and the cultural influence of the Carpenters in the 1970s.
We've only just begun to live,
Before the rising sun we fly,
Sharing horizons that are new to us,
And when the evening comes we smile,
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