A Kind of Hush (album)

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A Kind of Hush
A Kind Of Hush (Carpenters album).jpg
Studio album by The Carpenters
Released May, 1976
Recorded 1976
Genre Pop, easy listening, adult contemporary
Length 34:00
Label A&M
Producer Richard Carpenter/Associate Producer - Karen Carpenter
The Carpenters chronology
Horizon
(1975)Horizon1975
A Kind of Hush
(1976)
Live at the Palladium
(1977)Live at the Palladium1977

A Kind of Hush is the seventh studio album by American popular music duo The Carpenters. It was released in May 1976.

By the time of the album's recording, Richard Carpenter's addiction to sleeping pills had begun to affect him professionally, and he blames this for the album being, in his opinion, sub-par.[1] All three excerpted singles became hits. "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)", a cover of a 1960s song by Herman's Hermits, broke both the UK Top 30[2] and US Top 20, as well as topping the adult contemporary chart.[3] "I Need to Be in Love" hit number 25 in the US[4] and number 36 in the UK.[2] "Goofus" was only a minor success, stalling at number 56 on the Billboard chart, though it did crack the adult contemporary top 10.[5]

John Bettis called "I Need to Be in Love" the favorite lyrics he ever wrote for Karen Carpenter. "If there was ever anything that came out of my heart straight to Karen I would say that that was it, and I was very proud of it for that."[citation needed] Richard Carpenter recalled that the song "became Karen's favorite Carpenters song".[1] However, this album was also the first not to have Karen playing drums at all and top Los Angeles session drummer Jim Gordon played the drums on this album.

The album, despite its gold certification and a high UK chart placing, was a commercial disappointment in the US where its chart peak was outside the Top 30.[6] The CD has been out of print since 2006 except in the Japanese market.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3/5 stars[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 2.5/5 stars[8]

While noting that there are occasional highlights, AllMusic's retrospective review was generally negative, calling the album "pleasant, well-sung, and well-played, but basically bland". They particularly criticized the selection of material and the overt similarity of the album's formula to that of previous Carpenters albums.[7]

Track listing

Side one
  1. "There's a Kind of Hush" (Les Reed, Geoff Stephens) – 2:57
  2. "You" (Randy Edelman) – 3:52
  3. "Sandy" (Richard Carpenter, John Bettis) – 3:42
  4. "Goofus" (William Harold, Gus Kahn, Wayne King) – 3:09
  5. "Can't Smile Without You" (Chris Arnold, David Martin, Geoff Morrow) – 3:28
Side two
  1. "I Need to Be in Love" (Carpenter, John Bettis, Albert Hammond) – 3:47
  2. "One More Time" (Lewis Anderson) – 3:32
  3. "Boat to Sail" (Jackie De Shannon) – 3:31
  4. "I Have You" (Carpenter, John Bettis) – 3:27
  5. "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield) – 2:35

Singles

  • "There's a Kind of Hush"
    • US 7" single (1976) – A&M 1800
  1. "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)"
  2. "(I'm Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You"
    • UK 7" single (1976) – AMS7219
  1. "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)"
  2. "(I'm Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You"
    • JP 7" single (1976) – CM-2001
  1. "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)"
  2. "(I'm Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You"
  • "I Need to Be in Love"
    • 7" single (1976) – A&M 1828
  1. "I Need to Be in Love"
  2. "Sandy"
    • JP 7" promo (1976) – CM-2020
  1. "I Need to Be in Love"
  2. "Sandy"
    • JP CD single (1995) – PODM-1060
  1. "I Need to Be in Love"
  2. "Top of the World"
  • "Goofus"
    • US 7" single (1976) – A&M 1859
  1. "Goofus"
  2. "Boat to Sail"
  • "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"
    • JP 7" single (1976) – CM-2025
  1. "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"
  2. "I Have You"
  • "I Have You"
    • MX 7" single (1978) – AM-064
  1. "I Have You"
  2. "Sweet, Sweet Smile"

Charts

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Richard Carpenter's comments on A Kind Of Hush, RichardAndKarenCarpenter.com.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Carpenters UK chart history, The Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  3. "There's a Kind of Hush" US chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  4. "I Need to Be in Love" US chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  5. "Goofus" US chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  6. Complete Guide to the music of The Carpenters, John Tobler, Omnibus Press ISBN 0-7119-6312-6
  7. 7.0 7.1 Eder, Bruce. A Kind of Hush at AllMusic
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