1970年8月，Carpenters的第二张专辑"Close To You"上市发行，没过几个星期主打单曲"Close To You"就登上了排行榜的冠军宝座，还蝉联了四个星期。鉴于在这张专辑中的突出表现，卡朋特兄妹获得了该年度格莱美"最佳新人"和"最佳流行合唱团体"两项大奖。但是the Carpenters也不是这首歌的原唱，Dionne Warwick和Dusty Springfield，都演唱过这首歌，但始终没有走红。Richard舒缓的改编突出了温暖的小号独奏和柔润的加利福尼亚式和声的渲染。原作者Burt Bacharach说："我认为理查德真正抓住了这首歌的精华。" 年末，凯伦和理查德荣获五项格莱美提名，并被授予“最佳新人”和“最佳时代演唱组合”，这使他们从音乐界的同僚当中升出水平面。

这张专辑在滚石杂志选出的500张历代最强专辑中排名第175位。

Hurriedly put together in the wake of the success of the title song, and containing the follow-up hit "We've Only Just Begun," Close to You is a surprisingly strong album, and not just for those hits. Richard Carpenter's originals "Maybe It's You" and "Crescent Noon" are superb showcases for Karen Carpenter's developing talent, the latter a superbly atmospheric, hauntingly beautiful art song of the kind that Judy Collins was doing well at the time, and gorgeously arranged. There's also a Swingle Singers-style number, "Mr. Guder," showing off their paired vocal talents and more of Richard's arranging talents. Karen's singing on "Reason to Believe" isn't so much somber as it is passionate, as she emphasizes the melancholy component in the song more than most versions. Their version of "Help" lacks the inventiveness of "Ticket to Ride," although it has some pleasing vocal flourishes. The finale, "Another Song," tries hard for a serious rock sound, especially in Karen's animated drumming, but it's her voice that stands out. Released amid the political turmoil of 1970, in the wake of the Cambodian incursion, Kent State, and the conservative backlash against the antiwar forces, there was no way that the rock press or the most politically active listeners were going to appreciate this record, but the fact that it had two huge hit singles and earned a gold record award raised their ire against the Carpenters, a problem that would dog the duo for most of its career. But the public bought, and kept on buying.