“Ticket To Ride” (Carpenters) #54 5/9/1970

The first chart record from siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter, which also reached the easy listening Top 20, was a very slowed-down version of the Beatles classic. They had scuffled for years to make it; Karen had even auditioned to join Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. They were ready to do some ads for Ford when Herb Alpert offered them a record deal, so they turned down $50,000 each and a new car. Karen and Richard made a few demos at the home studio of Joe Osborn of the Wrecking Crew, who later played bass on almost all their hits.