For All We Know - Carpenters (1971) 10/31/21

Richard Carpenter was always looking for "Great Songs" to record--even when he wasn't. In fact, some of the Carpenters' biggest hits were songs he discovered by accident!

The most famous example was "We've Only Just Begun," which came from a bank commercial he saw while watching TV. We highlighted that song and story back on 1/1/21 and you can read about it here: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelCuuuk/posts/256483095825145

Another example is today's "Great Song of 1971."

One night, Richard was taking a break from all things musical and decided to treat himself to a movie. He chose "Lovers and Other Strangers" starring Cloris Leachman, Bea Arthur and Diane Keaton, among many others.

Well, his ears perked up when he heard the movie's theme song, "For All We Know," sung by a guy named Larry Meredith. He thought it would be a perfect match for Karen's voice...and checked into it right away.

He discovered it was written by jazz trumpeter Fred Karlin and two guys from the group Bread who WEREN'T named David Gates: Robb Royer and Jimmy Griffin. (Quite a pedigree!)

In short order, Richard and Karen recorded and released "For All We Know," and it was a major success, reaching #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts in both the US and Canada. On the Top 40 charts, it went to #3 in the US and #5 in Canada.

And then the song was nominated for an Academy Award...BUT because they were not members of the Screen Actors Guild, the Carpenters were not allowed to sing the song at the awards ceremony! (Silly rule!) Petula Clark sang it instead.

Tough break, but nevertheless, Richard had found a "Great Song of 1971" and The Carpenters recorded the definitive version--for North America.

In the UK, a very different version of the song was a major hit for Shirley Bassey, peaking at #6 and spending 24 weeks on the chart!

"For All We Know:" A "Great Song of 1971!"

The Carpenters:

Shirley Bassey: