THE OFFICIAL REVIEW: ANTHOLOGY (POCM 1556/9)

[Harry]

CARPENTERS

A · N · T · H · º · L · º · G · Y

Original release cover

Re-issued release cover

CD: (1997 version) POCM-1556/9​

Track Listing
Disc One:
1.) A Song For You
2.) Top Of The World
3.) Because We Are In Love (The Wedding Song)
4.) We've Only Just Begun
5.) Those Good Old Dreams
6.) Sing
7.) Jambalaya
8.) (They Long To Be) Close To You
9.) Ave Maria
10.) Bless The Beasts And Children
11.) All You Get From Love Is A Love Song
12.) Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft

Disc Two:
1.) Desperado
2.) Superstar
3.) Rainy Days And Mondays
4.) This Masquerade
5.) (Want You) Back In My Life Again
6.) Ticket To Ride
7.) Yesterday Once More and Oldies Medley
- Fun Fun Fun
- The End Of The World
- Da Doo Ron Ron
- Deadman's Curve
- Johnny Angel
- The Night Has A Thousand Eyes
- Our Day Will Come
- One Fine Day
8. Yesterday Once More (Reprise)

Disc Three:
1.) I Just Fall In Love Again
2.) Honolulu City Lights
3.) Goodbye To Love
4.) Help
5.) BEechwood 4-5789
6.) Hurting Each Other
7.) There's A Kind Of Hush
8.) Sweet Sweet Smile
9.) I Won't Last A Day Without You
10.) Now
11.) For All We Know
12.) Touch Me When We're Dancing

Disc Four:
1.) (I'm Caught Between) Goodbye And I Love You
2.) Please Mr. Postman
3.) I Need To Be In Love
4.) Don't Cry For Me Argentina
5.) Mr. Guder
6.) I Kept On Loving You
7.) Two Lives
8.) Only Yesterday
9.) Bacharach/David Medley (Live):
- Any Day Now
- Baby It's You
- Knowing When To Leave
- Make It Easy On Yourself
- (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me
- I'll Never Fall In Love Again
- Walk On By
- Do You Know The Way To San Jose
10. Sometimes

From the lengthy liner notes written by Richard:
"Anthology" is the "Carpenters" most ambitious and thorough compilation to date. It contains 42 selections I feel well represents the 13 years of our recording career.

Selections produced by Richard Carpenter, Karen Carpenter, Jack Daugherty.
Arranged and orchestrated by Richard Carpenter

Selections orchestrated by Peter Knight

Recorded at A&M Recording Studios
Engineers: Ray Gerhardt and Roger Young
Compilation Assistant Engineer: Robert De La Garza
Mastering Engineer: Arnie Acosta

 

[Harry]

ANTHOLOGY has always been a bit of a mystery to me, since I never got hold of the first issue, and didn't manage to find the re-release until around 2000 or so. By that time, I'd already gotten its two claims-to-fame, the "Bacharach David Medley (Live)" and "Honolulu City Lights" elsewhere. The former was on the Readers' Digest set, and the latter was on LOVELINES.

Still, I wanted ANTHOLOGY for completeness sake and found it somewhere on the Internet. I can't recall now if it was an eBay purchase, or if I bought it new from a Japanese retailer. What I didn't know then and am only beginning to suspect is that the two ANTHOLOGY sets are different in more ways than the cover change. I now suspect that they contain totally different versions of the songs in their track listings.

My first "puzzlement" came as I listened through the set the first time, following along with the track-by-track liner notes written by Richard. He mentions in the notes for "Goodbye To Love" that he went to great lengths to include his count-off that was audible in Karen's headphones so that we could hear her breath intake at the start of the song. His reasoning was that it sounded unnatural to him to not hear that breath. But the actual audio on this set I had didn't have a count-off OR an opening breath, so I couldn't figure out what was going on.

Recently, while playing the set for the purpose of this thread, I was referring to DavidGra's website where he lists the tracks and notes the remix versions. I found it curious that he didn't mention that the entire "Oldies Medley", including the "Yesterday Once More (reprise)" was a remix, nor the fact that indeed, nearly the entire track listing was a remix. He also mentions some sort of segue between "Close To You" and "Ave Maria" which isn't found at all on my set. Then it hit me - maybe his original version has totally different recordings on it, and Richard and A&M Japan UPDATED the set when it was re-issued.

Maybe this is all old news to some, that the two ANTHOLOGY sets were different, but it came as news to me. (Particularly if true!) I'm going to need to hear from folks out there who may have both to compare them, or from those who have the older version so we can compare them here.

Harry
...still discovering (?) stuff about the Carpenters recordings, online...
...or am I?...

 

[JAZZ4JEFF]

I love this collection for the live Bacharach & David medley alone!

Richard said he recorded the group in Las Vegas, but the engineer did not record the brass. This version features Richard on synthesizer playing the brass parts.

 

[Chris May]

I love this collection for the live Bacharach & David medley alone!

Richard said he recorded the group in Las Vegas, but the engineer did not record the brass. This version features Richard on synthesizer playing the brass parts.

Richard *also* played the bass lines on a Kurzweil keyboard, as well as the "kick" drum and all of the backing vocals. These were also lost on the tape.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I wish I could comment but I don't have either one. I really don't know why I never added these to my collection. Maybe because I have the Live Bacharach Medley on the Readers Digest set.

 

[thestitch]

I'm with you on this one, Chris. I, too, don't have either one. This is the first time I'm hearing about these issues! So much for what I know. I do enjoy the Reader's Digest collection very much.

Marilyn

 

[scottb]

Harry,

I'm with you on this set as well. I have the one with the newer cover(picture cover) and when I read the liner notes I too was confused when it came to 'Goodbye To Love'. I do recall one Ebay seller who was selling the first pressing with the Red Cover saying the live medley was not remixed which always made me wonder if there was another version of that live medley out there and did Richard remix it for the second 'Anthology' and 'Readers Digest' sets? The seller may not have been accurate with that information.

All the websites that sold the set said it was newly remastered and updated with a new cover so I guess Richard also decided to include many remixes as well.

I guess the only way we'll know for sure is if someone has both sets or if David can supply more details about the set. Particularly the Live medley as I'm really curious if this medley exists in another mix of some sort?

Scott B

 

[Harry]

Something I learned from the ANTHOLOGY liner notes that Richard wrote is that the song "Help!" was scheduled to be the second single for the duo after the middling success of anothe Beatles cover,"Ticket To Ride". It was at that point in time that Herb Alpert forwarded the "Close To You" song with the result being that *it* became the second single and launched Carpenters to true hit status.

"Help!" by Carpenters doesn't often get a lot of praise, but it's one of the tracks I've always liked on the CLOSE TO YOU album, and it's well represented on this box set.

Harry

 

[Mark-T]

I own the original release and couldn't wait to get it.
Not disapointed when it arrived- the liner notes and the inclusion of the medley and "Honolulu" made it a great listen. Of course, I haven't heard it in years without a turntable in my possession.

 

[Harry]

I own the original release and couldn't wait to get it.
Not disapointed when it arrived- the liner notes and the inclusion of the medley and "Honolulu" made it a great listen. Of course, I haven't heard it in years without a turntable in my possession.

Ah - so you have the LP version? Cool.

The always-expensive "Electric Obiland" has the LP set listed for $300!

Harry

 

[Mark-T]

^^^Wow! Think I paid somewhere between $70-$85- but it was so long ago, I don't remember! Hate getting older

 

[Mark-T]

Just looked at my collection. I was quite the obessive fan then... I bought the blue-boxed cassette version as well!

 

[goodjeans]

I had heard them do "Any Day Now" in concert and then on this compilation. I wish that they had done a full version of this. Ronny Milsap's was ok, but they would have brought it home. Oh, well...

 

[no1kandrfan]

This is a great set - one of the better compilations for many of the reasons already stated. I have both the LP and CD versions; need to dig them out and give them a listen again.

Mike

 

[Johnny Angel]

I have the original version with the red and blue cover. I paid close to $100.00 for it when it was released in 1989. The CD has NINE inserts which aggravate me no end every time I open the case, because they all fall out and I almost can never get them to fit back in the case when I try to close it.

My version has the countdown and the breath... In response to this thread, I've made a 14 second wav file of it if someone can tell me where and how to post it for those of you who are curious to hear it...

When the track opens, you can hear a split second of what might be the last fading strains of a piano (?) note, then one low piano note, then Richard counting off the three-quarter beat, "One, two, three..." Between "two, three," you can hear Karen inhale in anticipation of the 4th beat where she begins singing, "I'll say good bye to love..."

Listening to the track, with the volume turned up, I can also hear a soft "pop" between "two, three" along with the breath... Maybe a "lip pop" when Karen's lips parted...?

So it's:
fading piano (?) note, full piano note, Richard: "One, two (Karen: inhaled breath/soft pop) three--" Karen: "I'll say goodbye to love..."

As for the inserts:
1) Four-page English-language insert
A) Page 1 and 2 - Richard's detailed biography of the Carpenters.
B) Page 2, 3, 4 - Richard's notes for each individual song

2) 4-page insert giving info (songwriters, who played what instrument, etc...) for all the songs on CD 1 (in English and Japanese)
3) 4-page insert giving info for all the songs on CD 2 (in English and Japanese)
4) 4-page insert giving info for all the songs on CD 3 (in English and Japanese)
5) 4-page insert giving info for all the songs on CD 4 (in English and Japanese)
6) 1-page insert in Japanese about the "Kind of Hush" album (I don't know why it's in there. Maybe a mistake?)
7) 1-page, front and back, insert that appears to be a lyric sheet. It's in Japanese, but occasionally the English word "(repeat)" appear several times, perhaps to show that a chorus is repeated?
8 ) 1-page insert that appears to be an advertisement for 20 A&M CDs for 2,000 yen entitled "A&M Super Selection 2000" among the 20 CDs listed are 3 Carpenters CDs, several Styx CDs. Other artists: Sergio Mendes & Brasil, Herb Alpert, Bryan Adams, Quincy Jones, and 38 Special.\
9) The same insert as #1, in Japanese.

Looking at the song listings for the second release, mine is the same except for one difference -- The Casa Rosada balcony part precedes Don't Cry For Me, Argentina, as it did on the PASSAGE album.

Harry, for your records, the first release is PCCY-10023 and has release date of 1989 on the back.

 

[scottb]

Well all I can say is that you're very lucky to have the original set. I had an oppurtunity to get it a few years ago for a reasonable price but passed since I thought it was the same as the newer release with the different cover. Now I'm kicking myself for not getting it

Oh well what can you do.

Thanks for the detailed info though.

Scott B

I have the original version with the red and blue cover. I paid close to $100.00 for it when it was released in 1989. The CD has NINE inserts which aggravate me no end every time I open the case, because they all fall out and I almost can never get them to fit back in the case when I try to close it.

My version has the countdown and the breath... In response to this thread, I've made a 14 second wav file of it if someone can tell me where and how to post it for those of you who are curious to hear it...

When the track opens, you can hear a split second of what might be the last fading strains of a piano (?) note, then one low piano note, then Richard counting off the three-quarter beat, "One, two, three..." Between "two, three," you can hear Karen inhale in anticipation of the 4th beat where she begins singing, "I'll say good bye to love..."

Listening to the track, with the volume turned up, I can also hear a soft "pop" between "two, three" along with the breath... Maybe a "lip pop" when Karen's lips parted...?

So it's:
fading piano (?) note, full piano note, Richard: "One, two (Karen: inhaled breath/soft pop) three--" Karen: "I'll say goodbye to love..."

As for the inserts:
1) Four-page English-language insert
A) Page 1 and 2 - Richard's detailed biography of the Carpenters.
B) Page 2, 3, 4 - Richard's notes for each individual song

2) 4-page insert giving info (songwriters, who played what instrument, etc...) for all the songs on CD 1 (in English and Japanese)
3) 4-page insert giving info for all the songs on CD 2 (in English and Japanese)
4) 4-page insert giving info for all the songs on CD 3 (in English and Japanese)
5) 4-page insert giving info for all the songs on CD 4 (in English and Japanese)
6) 1-page insert in Japanese about the "Kind of Hush" album (I don't know why it's in there. Maybe a mistake?)
7) 1-page, front and back, insert that appears to be a lyric sheet. It's in Japanese, but occasionally the English word "(repeat)" appear several times, perhaps to show that a chorus is repeated?
8 ) 1-page insert that appears to be an advertisement for 20 A&M CDs for 2,000 yen entitled "A&M Super Selection 2000" among the 20 CDs listed are 3 Carpenters CDs, several Styx CDs. Other artists: Sergio Mendes & Brasil, Herb Alpert, Bryan Adams, Quincy Jones, and 38 Special.\
9) The same insert as #1, in Japanese.

Looking at the song listings for the second release, mine is the same except for one difference -- The Casa Rosada balcony part precedes Don't Cry For Me, Argentina, as it did on the PASSAGE album.

Harry, for your records, the first release is PCCY-10023 and has release date of 1989 on the back.

 

[wisejester7]

Arrrrggg ... original set OR remix set. How is anyone supposed to know what is going on and how to keep it all straight?

Is there a 'bible' somewhere that explains ALL the different versions and compilations that exist?

I have the remix of Anthology. No Karen breath or count down on Goodbye To Love.