This solo album is one that I don't listen to often, but I am glad that it was released and that I have it.

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The album was recorded in New York with producer Phil Ramone in 1979 and 1980, during the time that her brother Richard was being treated for drug addiction .

 

Some of the songs from the album were later featured on the Carpenters' 1989 compilation Lovelines and later releases. The liner notes (including comments from Richard Carpenter and producer Phil Ramone) include Richard's explanation for shelving the album in 1980, and his later decision to release it as Karen approved it. 

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A&M executives in Los Angeles, including label owners Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, responded negatively. Ramone recalls that Carpenter broke down in tears.

 

Devastated, she accepted A&M's urging not to release the album. Richard Carpenter later said that the decision not to release the album was Karen's, who respected the opinions of A&M executives and others—including him. Several musicians who worked on the album have said that Carpenter very much wanted her album to be released and that it was not her idea or decision to shelve it.

 

Quincy Jones championed releasing the album to Derek Green, an A&M Records vice-president, but Alpert, Moss and Green insisted the album had to be canceled. The production of the album cost $400,000 of Carpenter’s own money and $100,000 fronted by A&M Records. The $100,000 fronted by A&M was offset against Carpenters' future album royalties.

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 It remained shelved until 1996 — thirteen years after Carpenter’s death. The songs on the album were mixed according to Carpenter’s instructions. Out of the twenty-one songs recorded, only eleven were chosen for the album. While the album was being prepared for release, an individual at A&M copied Carpenter's unreleased and unfinished material on a cassette tape and distributed it via a fan club on Yahoo! through the mail. The songs were leaked onto the internet in 2000. Two of the unreleased songs, "I Love Makin' Love to You" and "Truly You" were finished, while the remaining tracks were work leads only and in different stages of completion.