Close to You: Who Recorded It Before the Carpenters
Close to You was already seven years old when the Carpenters made it a hit.
Richard Chamberlain released it first, Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield recorded it next, and Herb Alpert cut a version he never released.
Then Karen and Richard Carpenter put it out on May 14, 1970, and it held number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks.
This page follows the song from the early recordings to the 1970 session, the charts and the covers that came after.
The duo's wider catalog is on Carpenters songs.
The Carpenters on stage at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, 1972, two years after Close to You.
Image credit: Photo by Kathleen Ballard, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (UCLA Library).
Close to You Before 1970: Four Artists Got There First
Burt Bacharach wrote the music and Hal David wrote the lyrics.
The song is in the key of C major and tells it from a woman's side, asking why birds and stars appear whenever her partner is near.
It spent years looking for the right singer.
| Artist | Year | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Richard Chamberlain | 1963 | Released it as a single titled They Long to Be Close to You. The B-side, Blue Guitar, became the hit instead. |
| Dionne Warwick | 1963 to 1965 | Recorded a demo in 1963, then a version for the 1964 album Make Way for Dionne Warwick. It was the B-side of her 1965 single Here I Am. |
| Dusty Springfield | 1964 | Recorded it in August 1964. It stayed unreleased until the 1967 album Where Am I Going? |
| Herb Alpert | After 1968 | Recorded it after the hit This Guy's in Love with You, was displeased, and never released it. |
Source: Wikipedia article on the song, checked October 17, 2026.
The Songwriter Who Admitted the Carpenters Won
Bacharach later said the Carpenters' version was much better than his own work with Chamberlain.
That is a rare thing for a composer to say about his own song.
Burt Bacharach in a 1972 photograph from a television special.
Image credit: ABC Television, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Alpert Passed It to the Carpenters
Alpert suggested the song to the duo after setting it aside.
Richard Carpenter wrote the horn solo with Alpert in mind, and Alpert could not do the session.
Herb Alpert in a 1966 publicity photograph.
Image credit: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Close to You in the Studio: The 1970 Carpenters Version
The Carpenters put the song on their 1970 album Close to You, on A&M.
Jack Daugherty produced it, and Richard handled the orchestration.
For more of what the duo did next, see Carpenters songs.
| Detail | Fact |
|---|---|
| Written by | Burt Bacharach and Hal David |
| Artist | The Carpenters |
| Released | May 14, 1970, A&M Records |
| Album | Close to You (1970) |
| Producer | Jack Daugherty |
| B-side | I Kept on Lovin' You |
| Length | 3:40 single, 4:33 album |
| Hot 100 Year-End Rank | No. 2 of 1970 |
Source: Wikipedia article on the song, checked October 17, 2026. Year-end rank from this site's Billboard Year-End Hot 100 data.
Who Played on the Session
Karen sang, and a group of Los Angeles session players backed the duo.
- Karen Carpenter: lead and backing vocals.
- Richard Carpenter: backing vocals, piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, harpsichord and orchestration.
- Joe Osborn: bass.
- Hal Blaine: drums.
- Chuck Findley: the horn solo Richard wrote for Alpert.
A Title Trimmed and Two Notes Saved
Richard added the parentheses to the title because he felt the original, They Long to Be Close to You, ran too long.
Bacharach asked for one detail to stay: the two quintuplet piano ornaments at the end of the first bridge.
The New York Times writer Rob Hoerburger later praised Karen's alto and Richard's piano arrangement.
Hear the 1970 Single
Press play and listen for the piano ornaments after the first bridge.
You can also find (They Long to Be) Close to You on the Listen Now jukebox.
Close to You on the Charts: Four Weeks at Number One
Billboard's Spotlight Singles column picked it on May 30, 1970, and called the performance exceptional.
KHJ in Los Angeles was the first US station to play it, according to Record World.
That early press matched what came next.
The Number One Run
This site's weekly Hot 100 data shows four weeks at number one, from the week of July 25 to the week of August 15, 1970.
It was the first number one for the Carpenters.
It finished 1970 at No. 2 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100, behind Bridge Over Troubled Water.
For a song that spent more weeks on top that year, read Bridge Over Troubled Water.
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | No. 1 (4 weeks) |
| US Adult Contemporary | No. 1 |
| US Cash Box Top 100 | No. 1 |
| US Record World | No. 1 |
| Canada RPM Top Singles | No. 1 |
| Australia Go-Set | No. 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | No. 6 |
| Ireland IRMA | No. 6 |
| New Zealand Listener | No. 9 |
Source: Wikipedia article on the song, chart performance section, checked October 17, 2026. Wikipedia also counts 17 weeks on the Hot 100.
Gold, a Grammy and a Summer Title
- The RIAA certified the single Gold on August 12, 1970, for one million shipments.
- It won the 1971 Grammy for Best Contemporary Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus, the first of the duo's three Grammys.
- Billboard named it the top single of summer 1970 in a 2018 ranking.
- Billboard placed it at No. 255 on its all-time Hot 100 list for 1958 to 2018.
- A 2016 ITV special voted it fourth in The Nation's Favourite Carpenters Song.
- The hit helped A&M set a singles sales record in 1970.
If you want more songs from the same summer, the Random 70s Song Generator pulls one at random.
Close to You After 1970: Covers and Screen Moments
Singers kept returning to it after the Carpenters made it famous.
The Carpenters' take is still the version most people mean.
Covers Worth Knowing
- Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams both recorded it in 1970.
- Burt Bacharach released his own version in 1971, and Bobby Womack recorded one that year too.
- The Cranberries recorded it for a 2002 expanded edition of No Need to Argue.
- Lady Gaga recorded it in 2024 for her album Harlequin.
The 1986 Gwen Guthrie Remake
Gwen Guthrie released a synthesizer-heavy dance version on September 13, 1986, on Polydor, from her album Good to Go Lover.
It ran 5:33 and put the song in a 1980s sound.
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| New Zealand | No. 9 |
| UK Singles Chart | No. 25 |
| Ireland | No. 19 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | No. 69 |
Source: Wikipedia article on the song, checked October 17, 2026.
On Screen
The song turns up in film and television.
- Parenthood (1989): Rick Moranis sings it in his wife's classroom.
- The Simpsons: the 1991 episode The Way We Was, the doorbell tune in Maximum Homerdrive, and The Simpsons Movie in 2007.
New York Times writer Stephan Talty called it a hushed love song that set the tone for a generation of soft ballads in 1995.
To match a mood like that with other songs of the decade, try the Mood Song Matcher.
Or start from the whole decade at Music of the 70s.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote Close to You?
Burt Bacharach wrote the music and Hal David wrote the lyrics for Close to You.
The pair wrote it years before the Carpenters recorded it.
The Carpenters released their version on A&M Records on May 14, 1970, and it became their first number one.
Who sang Close to You first?
Richard Chamberlain released the first single of the song in 1963, under the title They Long to Be Close to You.
Dionne Warwick recorded a demo the same year and re-recorded it for her 1964 album Make Way for Dionne Warwick.
Neither version was a hit.
How many weeks was Close to You at number one?
Close to You spent four consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in July and August 1970.
Per this site's weekly Hot 100 data, the run began with the week of July 25, 1970.
Wikipedia counts 17 weeks on the chart in total.
Did Close to You win a Grammy?
Close to You won the 1971 Grammy for Best Contemporary Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus.
It was the first of three Grammy Awards the Carpenters won.
The RIAA had already certified the single Gold on August 12, 1970.
Who played on the Carpenters' Close to You?
Karen Carpenter sang lead, and Richard Carpenter played piano, Wurlitzer electric piano and harpsichord and wrote the orchestration.
Joe Osborn played bass and Hal Blaine played drums.
Chuck Findley played the horn solo that Richard had written for Herb Alpert, who was unavailable.
Sources
- (They Long to Be) Close to You, Wikipedia, for the earlier recordings, the session, chart peaks, certifications, honors, covers and screen uses.
- Close to You (The Carpenters album), Wikipedia, for the album the song appears on.
- Carpenters, Wikipedia, for background on the artist.
- The number one run and the Year-End rank come from this site's own Billboard weekly Hot 100 and Year-End Hot 100 data.
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