newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
Around 2016 I managed to get a pristine original vinyl copy of Offering for around £100. Both the cover and vinyl itself are immaculate - no pops or crackles whatsoever.
One album
- Thread starter Song4uman
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Around 2016 I managed to get a pristine original vinyl copy of Offering for around £100. Both the cover and vinyl itself are immaculate - no pops or crackles whatsoever.
Listening to the Carpenters' Offering is a bit like listening to Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection. Both Carpenters and Elton John would go on to make lots of money in the music industry as a result of later, more successful albums. But those earlier albums give you a sense of what they were like before the flood of success rolled in.
Offering and Tumbleweed Connection are not similar, for the most part. But they do both have an experimental quality to them.
rockdoctor
Well-Known Member
I never saw Offering in the stores. It was in the color catalog but was re-titled Ticket To Ride before I ever saw it.
They should have left the original title.
This reminds me of an interview with Gordon Lightfoot that I saw recently. Lightfoot was asked about the discussion of re-issuing the album "Sit Down Young Stranger" as "If You Could Read My Mind."
Lightfoot said that a record company executive brought him into his office and said, "We think we should reissue this album as the title of your hit song, 'If You Could Read My Mind'."
Lightfoot responded, "I am not changing the name of my album." The record company executive said, "How about a little algebra? The number of copies your album has sold is X and if we rename the album, it will sell 7X."
Lightfoot agreed to rename the album, "If You Could Read My Mind."
Geographer
Well-Known Member
Love Gord and LOVE that story! And the song is one of my all time favorites.
Nemily
"I'm goin' way down south to Baton Rouge, tonight"
I'm curious, do you play it? The reason I ask, I have my well played original, now with some imperfections. I took good care of it however I got it right after TTR replaced Offering on 11/10/70. My original Offering is not terrible, but not great (it's weird but I kind of like it that way). I have a TTR that is in decent shape, I really wanted a clean copy, so like you I purchased Offering in mint condition however I can't bring myself to play it or even pull it out of the sleeve. I guess I will Someday (pun intended).
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
I think I’ve played it three times since I bought it. The first time I put it on the turntable I was amazed at how quiet the background ambience on the recording was - no noise whatsoever.
JohnFB
She was born to belong to the lines of a song...
Can't go with OFFERING - too many vocals by Richard - but even that could have possibly been overlooked if only Karen had done the lead on GET TOGETHER...what the hell was everybody thinking?
Love LOVELINES, but since it was pieced together I'd have to go with the "Tan Album" because it contains RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS, which is such a great, all-around recording, from every production and vocal aspect, that it's enough by itself to carry the album for me...
For some reason I tend to consider LOVELINES essentially a compilation, probably due to the presence of the solo tracks mixed with the remaining posthumous tracks. I still liked the album a great deal - as I do all Carpenters projects - but it doesn't quite make the magic that I get from the early albums.
That tan album is almost perfect with the inclusion of "Rainy Days And Mondays" and "Superstar", not to mention the prior single of "For All We Know". Unlike others, I think "Saturday" and "Druscilla Penny" are quite good and fit nicely within the album. "Let Me Be The One" also elevates the stature of the Tan album. It's biggest negative to me is its shortness. It needed at least one more song to fill it out - "And When He Smiles" would have been perfect for that album.
That tan album is almost perfect with the inclusion of "Rainy Days And Mondays" and "Superstar", not to mention the prior single of "For All We Know". Unlike others, I think "Saturday" and "Druscilla Penny" are quite good and fit nicely within the album. "Let Me Be The One" also elevates the stature of the Tan album. It's biggest negative to me is its shortness. It needed at least one more song to fill it out - "And When He Smiles" would have been perfect for that album.
JohnFB
She was born to belong to the lines of a song...
Including AWHS would have been good - it's a pleasant little song, even if the lyrics don't make a lot of sense - I enjoy their performance of it on the video of the 1971 BBC concert - Bob Messenger did some nice work on the flute and Karen sounded - and looked - really good. They had some excellent camera shots of her behind the drum kit, surrounded by the musicians of the band. I'm not sure she ever looked better - or happier.
Nemily
"I'm goin' way down south to Baton Rouge, tonight"
The Tan Album is my runner up favorite. And When He Smiles may be my favorite Carpenters deep cut. I’m of the same mind that it would have fit in nicely if it had been included on the Tan Album. This is a great cover selection and it blended in perfectly in the epic September 1971 BBC concert which was recorded for TV in between the Tan Album and A Song For You.
If it was even ever considered, the timeline was too tight for AWHS to make the album and Richard says during the BBC concert they haven’t had time to record it yet. Most of the tracks for that album were already completed by January 1971 except the final one, Superstar which was recorded February 1971. They heard the original song, And When She Smiles, sometime in early 1971 in the UK.
Below are Richard’s notes on the song, and the original Wildweeds version for anyone that has never heard it....
If you have found this hidden track, congratulations! This song was written and introduced by a group called Wildweeds. It got some regional airplay and I heard it while driving from one engagement to the next in early 1971. We both thought it was catchy, and I put together this arrangement. Karen and I recorded a track for it, but since Karen was the drummer, there is no "work lead". This is a live recording, done on September 25, 1971 at the BBC television Studios., London, for our first UK special, which was originally broadcast on November 6, 1971. Released by arrangement with BBC Music, 1971 BBC.
JohnFB
She was born to belong to the lines of a song...
Well, not by me - or my 2 granddaughters. They sing in their school choir. I played this for them a couple of times and they liked it a lot, and they thought Karen's voice was "fire". Then I linked them up to the YT video. They surprised me by performing an a capella version for me the next time we went to visit them. They did a great job.
Ian Claypole
Member
Carpenters tan album is my choice. I particularly love Sometimes, especially from the BBC Special.
