Offering – THE CARPENTERS***

Invocation/Your Wonderful Parade/Someday/Get Together/All Of My Life/Turn Away/Ticket To Ride/Don’t Be Afraid/What’s The Use/All I Can Do/Eve/Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing/Benediction

Offering was the debut album from the easy listening brother and sister duo The Carpenters. They would become a major international act during the early 1970s helped by the pure voice of Karen Carpenter. Album re-released as Ticket To Ride the following year. (US:150)

"I always thought that The Carpenters were typically a 1970s band but in fact their first album, released at the tail end of the 1960s, is pure sixties pop magic. This first 'offering' includes a majority of excellent self-penned songs, which would not be the norm later on."

"I think the problem with this album is that Richard takes too many lead vocals. The great thing about The Carpenters was Karen's voice - other than that, they're not that much different from countless sunshine poppers. Not a fantastic album as a whole and it occasionally gets a bit boring."

"The sound of this album is quite different to their later recordings. At the time it was recorded, the intention may have been for The Carpenters to be a true duo, rather than the focus, at least vocally, being on Karen. Richard sings lead on five of the songs."

"The distinctive 'Carpenter sound', that of multi-layered harmonic vocals, is first heard on this album in several songs. Karen's voice is not yet 'perfect' in her emotional content interpretation of the songs, as she is just a young 19 years old."

This is obviously the start of The Carpenters' success to come; the album is not quite as polished as their later works. With the gift of a perfect pitch, and an uncanny innocence to her voice, Karen begins her legacy of getting to the heart of millions."

"Offerings is The Carpenters first album, and it shows their signature sounds from the beginning. Karen's haunting vocal on tunes like Someday and Ticket To Ride provide the highlights. Most of these songs are just average though, and the lyrics are weak but well sung. Karen's voice is still developing, and she shows strength on the lovely Eve and All Of My Life. At this point, they still had to work and find their trademark sound."