⭐ Official Review [Album]: "VOICE OF THE HEART" (SP-4954)

[Harry]

I simply can't forget the words from Richard Carpenter, regarding Voice of The Heart,
that none of the songs--save 'Now'--would have been "...thought of again."
(Notwithstanding the song was "...misplaced in A&M's Tape Library..delighted we found it. " (ref:1983 Interview.)

It seems self-explanatory: If Karen had lived, the duo would have gone on to record many more songs that they liked and the ones that they were "iffy" about would have stayed in the vault. Once the event or Karen's passing happened, the stuff that was in the vault became extremely valuable as there would never be anything else new.

Does that mean that "Ordinary Fool" might never have been heard? Possibly. Or they might have revisited it at some point. One can never know for sure.

Harry

 

[GaryAlan]

Indeed, it is self-explanatory !
Thus, my comment appended with Richard Carpenter's words.
What is not explained is his view that only the song Now would have made a " bona-fide follow up."
Karen Carpenter's vocals on Ordinary Fool, and Richard's fantastic arrangement,
are the reasons behind--the reasons I express-- my puzzlement.
Obviously, 'one never knows for sure'--except for Richard Carpenter's words.

 

[Harry]

His sister, his partner is dead. He's trying to come up with a cohesive album from the sessions left behind. He knows they recorded "Ordinary Fool" but can't find it. It's misplaced. Suddenly it's found. Eureka! "...delighted we found it."

Had Karen lived, "Now" would have surely been on the next album. None of the other vault stuff would have been considered. "Ordinary Fool" might have stayed in the vault for years, perhaps surfacing on some kind of "LOST TREASURES" album in later years.

 

[GaryAlan]

November 1983( Nevada Daily Mail):
Richard Carpenter,
"Ordinary Fool dates from 1976. I was delighted to find that. I think it's really a nice tune and one of Karen's best readings."
More recently:
"and though I still feel that Ordinary Fool is a good vehicle for Karen and a good piece of arranging and production on my part,
had Karen lived, we would have turned our attention to the new songs."

 

[GaryAlan]

Yes, Harry, I completely understand where you are coming from.
However, to even contemplate that Ordinary Fool would have been 'buried forever' had the events which
transpired not occurred---boggles my mind. A flawless vocal and a great arrangement do not --in my humble
opinion--necessitate believing this song was 'misplaced' and--as you say--'suddenly it is found'.
(Again, I'm not saying it wasn't misplaced, I am saying "how does such a thing as this great vocal get misplaced to begin with?".
Again, the song recorded in 1976 and held back until the unthinkable occurs with A&M's Star vocalist.)
It seems another Rainbow Connection moment, where Karen really did not like the song.
Good as it is, the song Now, pales in comparison to Ordinary Fool.

 

[newvillefan]

Good as it is, the song Now, pales in comparison to Ordinary Fool.

I'd second that.

 

[Harry]

It's all a matter of taste and the times we live in and the decisions we make in those moment in time, I guess.

 

[GaryAlan]

I notice that the June 1982, #75 Fan Club Newsletter states:
"Richard and John Bettis are also spending more time composing, having completed four songs as of this writing."
I'm assuming these four include:
At The End of A Song
You're Enough
But,
Look To Your Dreams was already recorded in 1978 (composed 1974).

Thus,either, I am overlooking some songs, or there are two more composed in 1982. (?).

 

[newvillefan]

I notice that the June 1982, #75 Fan Club Newsletter states:
"Richard and John Bettis are also spending more time composing, having completed four songs as of this writing."
I'm assuming these four include:
At The End of A Song
You're Enough
But,
Look To Your Dreams was already recorded in 1978 (composed 1974).

Thus,either, I am overlooking some songs, or there are two more composed in 1982. (?).

'At The End Of A Song' was recorded in 1980/1981. I've always assumed that two other songs were recorded during the April 1982 sessions but for some reason weren't good enough or complete to release. I'm sure there are a couple of unfamiliar titles on the Buried Treasure list that are down as 1982.

 

[ullalume]

I notice that the June 1982, #75 Fan Club Newsletter states:
"Richard and John Bettis are also spending more time composing, having completed four songs as of this writing."
I'm assuming these four include:
At The End of A Song
You're Enough
But,
Look To Your Dreams was already recorded in 1978 (composed 1974).

Thus,either, I am overlooking some songs, or there are two more composed in 1982. (?).

Yeah, 2 of those 4 were You're Enough, recorded in April '82, and In Love Alone which they were due to record Spring of '83. The other 2. . .maybe they were recorded in April '82. . .more likely they would have been recorded in Spring '83.

 

[ullalume]

In fact one of those remaining 2 songs may have been the "debris" song that Bettis referred to in Chris's brilliant download interview.

 

[Charlie D]

This has probably been mentioned in this thread and in others, but has anyone else noticed the tape flub on "Two Lives", I believe it's right where Karen says "Maybe I'm a dreamer" after dreamer you hear a little glitch in the tape I think. It's probably due to Richard's rushing to get it complete by September of 1983.

 

[theninjarabbit]

I haven't played through this album yet, but "Look to Your Dreams" is absolutely heart-wrenching for me -- particularly at the end. It's an elegant showtune and vocal, of course. Then all of a sudden, where Richard's piano comes in and poignantly plays the melody, I can envision a line I heard somewhere: "the piano playing implies that while the voice has been silenced, the music continues on". That hits home. Hard.

I do enjoy "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore" and "Sailing on the Tide". That's as far as I've gotten.

 

[Chris May]

This has probably been mentioned in this thread and in others, but has anyone else noticed the tape flub on "Two Lives", I believe it's right where Karen says "Maybe I'm a dreamer" after dreamer you hear a little glitch in the tape I think. It's probably due to Richard's rushing to get it complete by September of 1983.

Yep! I'll give it a fresh listen to help remind me of what it was as it's been a while since I've listened to it.

 

[Mark-T]

I haven't played through this album yet, but "Look to Your Dreams" is absolutely heart-wrenching for me -- particularly at the end. It's an elegant showtune and vocal, of course. Then all of a sudden, where Richard's piano comes in and poignantly plays the melody, I can envision a line I heard somewhere: "the piano playing implies that while the voice has been silenced, the music continues on". That hits home. Hard.

I do enjoy "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore" and "Sailing on the Tide". That's as far as I've gotten.

I remember tearing up the first few times I heard the lone piano after "Look to Your Dreams". That drove Karen was gone like almost nothing else.

 

[Charlie D]

I remember tearing up the first few times I heard the lone piano after "Look to Your Dreams". That drove Karen was gone like almost nothing else.

The loneliness/aloneness of that coda will haunt a person forever. It's Richard's way of musically conveying what has happened and the song as a whole is really an elegy that Karen sings to herself. Richard finishes it off with his own personal mourning through the piano.

 

[Chris May]

This has probably been mentioned in this thread and in others, but has anyone else noticed the tape flub on "Two Lives", I believe it's right where Karen says "Maybe I'm a dreamer" after dreamer you hear a little glitch in the tape I think. It's probably due to Richard's rushing to get it complete by September of 1983.

I'm certain this is a work-lead on Karen. The only conclusion I can make given my own studio background and experience was there was a glitch in the vocal booth - either she bumped something or did something to create the "blip". It's not natural, and certainly something Richard would have caught on the instrumental side of the multi-track and fixed, had an instrument been responsible for the error.

 

[Charlie D]

I'm certain this is a work-lead on Karen. The only conclusion I can make given my own studio background and experience was there was a glitch in the vocal booth - either she bumped something or did something to create the "blip". It's not natural, and certainly something Richard would have caught on the instrumental side of the multi-track and fixed, had an instrument been responsible for the error.

I just heard it again and it actually occurs right when she's says "maybe". It sounds like a droplet of water or something, that little blip. I agree that it isn't any instrument, just like the creaking door in "Bless the Beasts". Also at the end of "Somebody's Been Lyin" the very last thing you hear is a little "tick" sound and I think it may have been an instrument hitting the stand.

 

[Charlie D]

Also, what the hell was that giant burp that finishes off "I Got Music"?! It's so weird because if it was a joke it doesn't fit that song at all (Goofus, yes, but not this). Did someone jokingly sneak that in there and no one noticed? That sounds absurd, but I cant see why Richard would include that.

 

[Chris May]

I just heard it again and it actually occurs right when she's says "maybe". It sounds like a droplet of water or something, that little blip. I agree that it isn't any instrument, just like the creaking door in "Bless the Beasts". Also at the end of "Somebody's Been Lyin" the very last thing you hear is a little "tick" sound and I think it may have been an instrument hitting the stand.

THAT is usually someone dropping something on a music stand or a string player hitting the bow against something. Not uncommon

 

[Charlie D]

THAT is usually someone dropping something on a music stand or a string player hitting the bow against something. Not uncommon

Uncommon for me as in I rarely hear it on the finished recording.

 

[Chris May]

Uncommon for me as in I rarely hear it on the finished recording.

Listen to the end of the Bacharach/David Medley after the diatonic scale walk back "Bum-bum-badum-bum-bum-badum-bum...padabump..BUMP (followed by faint "click"). You'll hear it

 

[newvillefan]

I just heard it again and it actually occurs right when she's says "maybe". It sounds like a droplet of water or something, that little blip.

That noise has always bothered me. I noticed it the very first time I heard the song and found it so noticeable that I was surprised Richard had let it slip through.

 

[Charlie D]

That noise has always bothered me. I noticed it the very first time I heard the song and found it so noticeable that I was surprised Richard had let it slip through.

I think a big part was his having to rush to get it complete for the October release date. If he had more time to perfect than those little errors wouldn't have slipped through the cracks. Did he notice it and just couldn't fix it or only was it after the fact?

On the whole the Lovelines album has a richer sonic sound (and no choir) and sounds a lot more finely crafted in some ways.

 

[Chris May]

I think a big part was his having to rush to get it complete for the October release date. If he had more time to perfect than those little errors wouldn't have slipped through the cracks. Did he notice it and just couldn't fix it or only was it after the fact?

On the whole the Lovelines album has a richer sonic sound (and no choir) and sounds a lot more finely crafted in some ways.

Honestly, Richard still had enough time - no less really than usual - to deliver the album. I think the "blip" is locked into the lead vocal track and there's simply nothing that could have been down with the technology available during that period to "notch" it out. Just my opinion.