Any chance of Richard's Christmas album this year?
- Thread starter JAZZ4JEFF
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JEFF- this supposed Christmas album was probably completed years ago,but Richard doesn't have a label to release it.Universal's takeover(and destruction) of A&M was a bad omen for Richard-in terms of future solo releases.Richard always had a "home" with A&M,but that is no longer the case.I think this album was probably finished in 2002 or 2003.Generally,an artist doesn't divulge much info about an album until there's a strong likelihood that it will be released.
Universal would probably happily release this album if Richard wished it to be released. And if they wanted to cut ties with him (which they have not), any of the other majors would happily market this album.
Richard's former assitant, Becky Boxberger, said his working pace is "glacial" and he's such a perfectionist -- that's why it's not been released and who knows, may never be.
Richard's former assitant, Becky Boxberger, said his working pace is "glacial" and he's such a perfectionist -- that's why it's not been released and who knows, may never be.
no1kandrfan
Well-Known Member
MIKE B.-It's nice to see that your optimistic,but ,honestly,your living in a fantasy world!Record labels don't give an artist "carte blanche" to decide if they want an album released-the label ALWAYS makes a final decision to release an album.And,that decision generally rides on whether they feel the album will sell a respectable amount of copies.Labels also look at the artist's previous "track record",and Richard's first two solo efforts bombed(big time!).To my knowledge,Richard doesn't have a current solo contract with a Universal label,or any label.And,(for those who might be confused about this),The Carpenters A&M back catalog has nothing to do with any current solo contract Richard signs with any label.Universal will always own those master tapes,and they can delete or reissue any album or compilation as they see fit.
As far as this supposed Christmas album goes,I remember hearing talk about this six or seven years ago,and nothing ever materialized.It doesn't look hopeful.
As far as this supposed Christmas album goes,I remember hearing talk about this six or seven years ago,and nothing ever materialized.It doesn't look hopeful.
mr J. - I never said Uni didn't own the masters and I never said an artist has carte blanche to release anything he wants, and I never said the label didn't make the decision whether or not to release something.
What I said was that Universal or any of the other majors WOULD BE HAPPY to release a new Richard Carpenter solo Christmas album because they know it would sell, if not in the millions, at least in the hundreds of thousands - which is enough to get any executive's attention.
With regard to reissues - Richard Carpenter maintains complete approval (in the U.S. at least, I don't know about foreign countries) over what gets released. Of course the record company has to approve also. Most likely, when something gets released, it's subject to a contract wherein if it sells less than X number of copies in a given time period, the label has the option to delete it. That's why you're seeing such albums as A SONG FOR YOU remaining in print, whereas slower sellers like TICKET TO RIDE wind up getting cut-out.
What I said was that Universal or any of the other majors WOULD BE HAPPY to release a new Richard Carpenter solo Christmas album because they know it would sell, if not in the millions, at least in the hundreds of thousands - which is enough to get any executive's attention.
With regard to reissues - Richard Carpenter maintains complete approval (in the U.S. at least, I don't know about foreign countries) over what gets released. Of course the record company has to approve also. Most likely, when something gets released, it's subject to a contract wherein if it sells less than X number of copies in a given time period, the label has the option to delete it. That's why you're seeing such albums as A SONG FOR YOU remaining in print, whereas slower sellers like TICKET TO RIDE wind up getting cut-out.
Daniel Perales
Well-Known Member
no1kandrfan said:
Why do people always insist that Karen should be on every recording that Richard releases?
Don't get me wrong, I loved Karen. But she's dead. Life goes on.
I want to hear more stuff from Richard, himself. I can only imagine the kind of music he could have been recording if only the so-called Carpenters fans would have supported him back then.
I really want to have a copy of his Christmas album. An album that will be good in it's own right, without having to rely on a voice that has been silenced a long time ago.
Danny
Dave
Well-Known Member
The firmament of The Carpenters has always been Karen... There are still enough sentiments towards her that any new product's buyership would mainly consist of a few loyal fans, much like Richard Carpenter's Time had...
If he can convinsingly offer a disctinctive piano style, sing out a compantble vocal & performance style and offer a quality selecion of material, then a product such as a Christmas album would be very worthy of release, if not launched off the way Time was...
There is much speculation as to when and if Richard is going to rlease this and much of the reason it hasn't been out yet probably just lies "within", for whatever reason he knows...
Dave
If he can convinsingly offer a disctinctive piano style, sing out a compantble vocal & performance style and offer a quality selecion of material, then a product such as a Christmas album would be very worthy of release, if not launched off the way Time was...
There is much speculation as to when and if Richard is going to rlease this and much of the reason it hasn't been out yet probably just lies "within", for whatever reason he knows...
Dave
Daniel Perales said:
I'll expand on that: I've always felt RC would be a really good songwriter/producer/arranger for any number of good vocal talents out there. The past does need to be preserved and appreciated, but that's been done. It would be neat if he recognized a little-known talent and were able to bring that person some much-needed attention via some of his own talent, as he'd done with Carpenters records in the past.
JAZZ4JEFF
Active Member
I agree with Rudy.
I always thought after Karen's death, Richard would evolve into a composer, film scores, or a producer. What's odd to me is that he just seems to shy away from any type of solo career. He could be a guest star at various symphony concerts around the country, tour overseas, or produce a high profile singer. He seems content to just be a Dad.
The Carpenters still have popularity and there is still an audience for his music and performances. But, he has to get out there in front of the public.
I always thought after Karen's death, Richard would evolve into a composer, film scores, or a producer. What's odd to me is that he just seems to shy away from any type of solo career. He could be a guest star at various symphony concerts around the country, tour overseas, or produce a high profile singer. He seems content to just be a Dad.
The Carpenters still have popularity and there is still an audience for his music and performances. But, he has to get out there in front of the public.
JAZZ4JEFF said:
I suppose that should be viewed as admirable.
As for the "producing" route, well, he's done that, without very much success. He did the Akiko, Scott Grimes, and Veronique albums - all different, yet all with the unmistakeable Richard Carpenter touch.
Akiko's album was released on a small label (Voss) and suffers from the language barrier in the US. Most people in the States don't care for anything in other languages, so this was a non-starter.
Veronique's album was an A&M Canada production, again features a non-native English speaker, and had extremely limited distribution.
Scott Grimes' album probably had the widest distribution. I remember finding that one in a standard record store without any difficulty. It had the name "Herb Alpert" associated with it as well, making it a natural for me to buy unheard. Unfortunately, the album's just not that good, IMHO. Scott has gone on to greater fame as an actor on the E.R. television show.
Of the three, I favor the VERONIQUE album the most.
Harry
I agree with this. The album had a killer single (the name of which escapes me at the moment) but didn't get chart attention. I think part of the problem was the cover, which looked...well, Donny Osmond-ish.
I have long thought Richard could have done a talent search and found another young female singer and made some more great Carpenters-style records. Trouble is, if he'd done that right away he'd have been seen as stomping on Karen's memory; but waiting didn't do any good either, since by the time the '90s dawned, that type of music was so far out of the mainstream he probably wouldn't have had chart success anyway. His best chance then would probably have been in the country arena, but even that has gone "guitar heavy" these days and smooth balladry is pretty much a thing of the past, except for old warhorses like George Strait.
From the viewpoint of today's music industry, this long-discussed Christmas album is probably the best vehicle for getting his name in front of the public again. Look what it did for Mannheim Steamroller...who'd've thought "18th Century Classical Rock" would hit the pop charts?
One of the Grimes tracks is currently up on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SCaFOhRNZE
Harry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SCaFOhRNZE
Harry
goodjeans
Well-Known Member
The Scott Grimes CD is one of my favorites of all time. "Walking on the Water" is such a perfect piece of pop as is "I Don't Even Mind". Why the CD wasn't a hit is beyond me. They also did a 12" club remix of "You've Got A Friend" that played in a club where I worked in my youth. It has Richard's 'sound' all over it and I agree with the above messages. Be a great Dad, of course, but also share your musical talents, man!
SakuraSYayoi
Active Member
I haven't heard Scott Grimes on radio, but I came across one of songs on the album produced by Richard at Japanese radio playing list back then.
I might read Roberta Flack as one of the vocalists. Seiko released Richard's songs, but I don't think the songs will be included.
Sakura
goodjeans said:I have heard that there are vocalists from Glen Campbell to Petula Clark to Seiko Matsuda who have recorded tracks for this cd. or, "Dreaming, I must be dreaming..."
I might read Roberta Flack as one of the vocalists. Seiko released Richard's songs, but I don't think the songs will be included.
Sakura
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