Carpenters “Complete Singles” Released For Public Television

http://theseconddisc.com/2015/08/24...plete-singles-released-for-public-television/

On November 5, 1969, the very first single by Carpenters was released on A&M Records. “Ticket to Ride” b/w “Your Wonderful Parade” announced the fresh talents of Richard Carpenter, 23, and Karen Carpenter, 19. The dramatically reinterpreted Beatles song introduced radio to Karen’s richly intimate voice, and the bitingly ironic flipside heralded the songwriting team of Richard Carpenter and John Bettis – while both sides revealed Richard’s prodigious gifts for arrangement and orchestration. On Valentine’s Day, 1970, “Ticket to Ride” entered the Billboard Hot 100 where, five weeks later, it peaked at a more-than-respectable No. 54. With their very next single, “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” the Carpenters would reach No. 1 on the Billboard Pop and Easy Listening charts, as well as topping Cash Box and Record World. In a career that spanned 1969 to 1983, Richard and Karen would notch 20 Billboard top 40 hits, including three #1s and five #2s, as well as fifteen Adult Contemporary #1s. The brother and sister earned three Grammy Awards, fifteen more nominations, and two song inductions into the Grammy Hall of Fame. More than 100 million Carpenters records have been sold. Now, the enduring music of Richard and Karen Carpenter is being celebrated with a very special new 3-CD release in conjunction with the public television return of the definitive documentary devoted to the duo.

Carpenters – The Complete Singles features, for the very first time, the A- and B-side of every Carpenters single released on A&M Records in the United States between 1969 and 1989 in their original single versions.

Carpenters, The Complete Singles (A&M, 2015) (Pledge at KQED-TV)

CD 1

1. Ticket to Ride (A&M 1142, 1969)
2. Your Wonderful Parade (A&M 1142, 1969)
3. (They Long to Be) Close to You (A&M 1183, 1970)
4. I Kept On Loving You (A&M 1183, 1970)
5. We’ve Only Just Begun (A&M 1217, 1970)
6. All of My Life (A&M 1217, 1970)
7. Merry Christmas Darling (A&M 1236, 1970)
8. Guder (A&M 1236, 1970)
9. For All We Know (A&M 1243, 1971)
10. Don’t Be Afraid (A&M 1243, 1971)
11. Rainy Days and Mondays (A&M 1260, 1971)
12. Saturday (A&M 1260, 1971)
13. Superstar (A&M 1289, 1971)
14. Bless the Beasts and Children (A&M 1289, 1971)
15. Hurting Each Other (A&M 1322, 1972)
16. Maybe It’s You (A&M 1322, 1972)
17. It’s Going to Take Some Time (A&M 1351, 1972)
18. Flat Baroque (A&M 1351, 1972)
19. Goodbye to Love (A&M 1367, 1972)
20. Crystal Lullaby (A&M 1367, 1972)
21. Sing (A&M 1413, 1973)
22. Druscilla Penny (A&M 1413, 1973)
23. Yesterday Once More (A&M 1446, 1973)
24. Road Ode (A&M 1446, 1973)
25. Top of the World (A&M 1468, 1973)
26. Heather (A&M 1468, 1973)

CD 2

1. I Won’t Last a Day Without You (A&M 1521, 1974)
2. One Love (A&M 1521, 1974)
3. Please Mr. Postman (A&M 1646, 1974)
4. This Masquerade (A&M 1646, 1974)
5. Santa Claus is Coming to Town (A&M 1648, 1974)
6. Only Yesterday (A&M 1677, 1975)
7. Happy (A&M 1677, 1975)
8. Solitaire (A&M 1721, 1975)
9. Love Me for What I Am (A&M 1721, 1975)
10. There’s a Kind of Hush (All Over the World) (A&M 1800, 1976)
11. (I’m Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You (A&M 1800, 1976)
12. I Need to Be in Love (A&M 1828, 1976)
13. Sandy (A&M 1828, 1976)
14. Goofus (A&M 1859, 1976)
15. Boat to Sail (A&M 1859, 1976)
16. All You Get from Love is a Love Song (A&M 1940, 1977)
17. I Have You (A&M 1940, 1977)
18. Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (A&M 1978, 1977)
19. Can’t Smile Without You (A&M 1978, 1977)
20. Sweet, Sweet Smile (A&M 2008, 1978)
21. The Christmas Song (A&M 1991, 1977)

CD 3

1. I Believe You (A&M 2097, 1978)
2. B’wana She No Home (A&M 2097, 1978)
3. Touch Me When We’re Dancing (A&M 2344, 1981)
4. Because We Are in Love (A&M 2344, 1981)
5. (Want You) Back in My Life Again (A&M 2370, 1981)
6. Somebody’s Been Lyin’ (A&M 2370, 1981)
7. Those Good Old Dreams (A&M 2386, 1981)
8. When It’s Gone (It’s Just Gone) (A&M 2386, 1981)
9. Beechwood 4-5789 (A&M 2405, 1982)
10. Two Sides (A&M 2405, 1982)
11. Don’t Cry for Me Argentina (A&M 8629, 1983)
12. Make Believe It’s Your First Time (A&M 2585, 1983)
13. Look to Your Dreams (A&M 2585, 1983)
14. Your Baby Doesn’t Love You Anymore (A&M 2620, 1984)
15. Sailing on the Tide (A&M 2620, 1984)
16. Honolulu City Lights (A&M 8667, 1986)
17. I Just Fall in Love Again (A&M 8667, 1986)
18. If I Had You (A&M 1471, 1989)
19. The Uninvited Guest (A&M 1471, 1989)

 

Wonder if it is the single version of Calling Occupants? Mostly it's the album cut with the 'funny' intro. It'd be nice if it was the edited single version as it's a bastard to find on CD...

 

Looks like it will be. I amended the original post to include 'original single versions'.

 

It's a brilliant collection. Surely the best Carpenters comp I've ever seen. The single mix of Calling Occupants would more than seal it for me, though.

 

Every shimmering track on this first-of-its-kind anthology has been freshly remastered at Universal Mastering with Jim Pierson and Richard Carpenter himself having assembled and supervised the release.

Hmm, I'm nervous about endless-tinkerer Richard's role in this. And I have nothing in my library mastered by Jim Pierson - who is this guy? I'd be excited to have the original single mixes but have concerns about how the mastering will be. Guess I'll have to wait for someone else to take the plunge and report back on the SQ.

 

Well, Richard used the original mixes on the SACD of 'The Singles 1969-1973' last year, so let's hope he's over the tinkering phase...

 

For the purposes of a singles collection, I'm sure that Richard's involvement will be in the accuracy of these single mixes. He has an incredible memory for details like this. I'm counting on this release to be 100% accurate - and quite a collectible if it's only ever released through PBS.

Harry

 

Which SACD is it? The 2014 SACD release of 69-73 (A&M UIGY-9542) states:

Richard gave the album this title because he doesn’t like the term “greatest hits” because he felt it was “an overused thing”. He continues: Individuals and groups with two or three hits all of a sudden put them on an album, use filler for the rest and title it “greatest hits”. This album contains eleven true hits and it just wasn’t slapped together. We’ve remixed a few, re-cut one and joined a couple of others. It’s simply something I believe we owe our audience and ourselves.

 

All that's true, but he's talking about the original LP when he says that. The SACD has the same mixes as that LP. Even though those were tinkered with to begin with, it's still the album we all know and love.

The urge to tinker with the SACD mixes must have been huge for Richard, but he didn't.

 

If these are all the original single versions/mixes, it would be like a dream come true for me. I've been waiting for this for years. Some of these single versions have never been on CD, as far as I know, like "Ticket To Ride" and "Calling Occupants", among others.

 

That quote needs to be put in context with the time in which it was made. Richard said that when SINGLES 1969-1973 was first being released as an LP back in 1974. The remixing refers to the complete re-do of "Ticket To Ride", the inclusion of the single remix of "Top Of The World" and "Yesterday Once More", the ever-so-slight tweaking of "Hurting Each Other" (opening breath added!), and the segues added to side one.

The SACD from 2014 is an exact replica of the mixes used back then, with the side one trilogy at the correct speed.

Harry

 

"Calling Occupants" single version was released on the JAPANESE SINGLE BOX, but both it and "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" are reported to be needledrops from vinyl as the analog tapes couldn't be located.

Harry

 

You explained it better than me. Thanks.

 

Thanks for the info Bobby and Harry. Nice to know the mixes are legit, or at least identical to those used the '74 LP. My concern over mastering and SQ still remains. If it turns out as good as, say, the Motown Hitsville USA box, I'd be more than happy to pony up the PBS donation to buy one.

 

Though the article states that it's a PBS exclusive, you have to wonder if it will ever be released on its own to retail - perhaps not initially in the US, but maybe Japan or Europe. Then perhaps six months or a year down the road, it'll see general release in the US. Just my thought processes working...

Harry

 

It's promising. After this all the need is every album on SACD, then we're done.

 

I guess this suggests that the single masters weren't lost in the Universal fire. Richard intimated a bunch of Carpenters stuff was lost in that fire...

I can't possibly imagine this is going to be PBS only forever. I mean, the target audience for something like this isn't really the PBS listener in the first place.

 

I guess this is a good idea but if someone must say it, I guess it has to be me
Some of those B sides are decidedly B material IMO but it would be nice to collect them together I suppose. I think perhaps they occasionally used a Phil Spector model of a super unreal A side paired with a complete throwaway B side. Put together, unless you are a mega super fan who thinks Richard could never write a bad song it seems like a bit of a roller coaster ride. I know I surely wouldn't want Phil's singles presented this way but the C's had some nice B sides, so I think it's cool.

 

Looks like a great set and according to the website there are more interesting releases coming soon.
UPCOMING RELEASES

• 
  Freedom: Atlanta Pop Festival
  The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  August 28, 2015
  
  
• 
  You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (1970-1975)
  Faces
  August 28, 2015
  
  
• 
  When The Rainbow Disappears: An Anthology 1965-1968
  The Kitchen Cinq
  August 28, 2015
  
  
• 
  The Essential Van Morrison
  Van Morrison
  August 28, 2015
  
  
• 
  Full Circle/Other Voices
  The Doors
  September 04, 2015

 

How so? I'm assuming PBS is an older demographic and Carpenters fans are now older. I would assume the station has some idea of the demo that they draw. I will assume this set is going to get a wide release. I can't imagine they would put this together just for a limited PBS release. I downloaded the video from YouTube a couple months ago, but haven't watched it yet. I did just check the date at the end and it looks like this doc is from 1997, almost 20 years ago.

 

Yeah, this fits right in with the PBS audience demo. I expect they will do very well with the pledges for this premium.

 

Carpenters definitely fits the PBS demo. But a collectors bait release offering the first time single mixes on CD and second string b-side songs that rarely make compilations is the kind of thing made for music hounds, not those who donate to PBS.

 

Perhaps that was the reason for doing it. The people who normally pledge to PBS are going to do it regardless of the pledge prize. It's the ones who don't normally pledge they would want to pony up some cash for this unique collection. Plus it ties in nicely with the documentary.

 

I hear what you're saying, but I think they will sell it as "ALL the hits! Every single ever released! Plus songs you can't get anywhere else that you had on your old 45's!"

 

It looks like I'll finally be supporting PBS. Really, 32 years into the CD age and 46 years since its original release to get the mono single version of "Ticket to Ride" on CD? This looks like a great package, though. The KQED.org site is responding poorly at the moment; there must be real demand. Eventually, I'll want to compare this release to my Japanese Singles Box.