Solitaire - The Carpenters (1975) 6/26/21

One day in the early '70s, Neil Sedaka sat down at his piano and came up with a tune that he says was inspired classical composer Frederic Chopin, and yesterday's featured "Great Song" artist, Roberta Flack.

When he presented the tune to lyricist Phil Cody, Neil challenged him to write lyrics that would make him cry. Phil was going through a divorce at the time, and to cope, he had been playing game after game of solitaire.

Feeling Neil's melancholy melody deeply, Phil poured his pain and loneliness (and card playing) into his lyrics...and the song "Solitaire" was born. (And Neil cried.)

Of course, Neil recorded it first, in 1974, backed up (oddly enough) by members of 10cc, but it was never released as a single. It was almost immediately covered by the likes of Petula Clark and The Searchers.

Not much happened with any of those versions--but then things started to change.

Late in the year, Andy Williams recorded a version that went to #1 in South Africa and #4 in the UK. In the US, it reached #23 on the Easy Listening Chart.

And then...Richard Carpenter heard the song and thought it would be the perfect showcase for Karen's voice. He crafted an arrangement that would complement her alto/tenor range, and Karen recorded her vocals.

The result was a #1 song on the Adult Contemporary Charts in both the US and Canada.

Even so, Richard claims "Karen never liked the song, and never changed her opinion." That's almost as sad as the song itself. :(

"Solitaire:" a melancholy, yet beautiful, "Great Song of the '70s!"

The Carpenters: (1975):

Andy Williams (1973-74):

Neil Sedaka: (Live version):