Carpenters - Leave Yesterday Behind

In 1977, while on summer hiatus of "Three's Company," John Ritter costarred with Carrie Fisher in a made for tv movie "Leave Yesterday Behind," about a man who is paralyzed from the waist down following an accident while playing polo. He moves in with his grandfather and meets a young horse trainer (Carrie Fisher) and falls in love with her. Realizing that she is falling for him, too, he tries to hide his feelings, since he doesn't know what sort of future he can offer her. The film aired on ABC TV in May 1978.

The title song was written by Fred Karlin (who co-wrote "For All We Know"), hence the similarities in the opening theme of both songs.

In 1978, while working on their first Christmas album, Karen and Richard also recorded several songs for what was intended to have been a 10th-anniversary album, including "Leave Yesterday Behind.". But personal and health issues for both Karen and Richard prevented them from finishing the album and the songs were relegated to the vaults of A&M.

The song finally appeared on CD in 2001 (23 years later!) on the Japanese release of "As Time Goes By." The vocal track by Karen is a work lead intended to familiarize studio musicians with the song as well as Richard's arrangement of it. After a music track had been recorded, Karen would then have gone back into the studio and recorded a new vocal. This work lead as heard here shows Karen's dedication to her craft as she gives yet another heartfelt performance, even on a track which was never intended to have been heard by anyone.

This recording features a performance by Tommy Morgan on the harmonica. He also played harmonica on the Carpenters recordings of "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "Desperado."