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I'll take anything new at this point!
I wouldn't hold my breath on it, remember his last interview, "all done"
I take that he is now officially retired from all things Carpenters. That interview was also after the 2014 DSD mastering of the SHM Singles 69-73, so I take it that is it.
The recent Richard Carpenter interview, when he responds with "..all done", certainly sounds definitive.
I am still puzzled/perplexed/wondering as to what material has been irretrievably destroyed in the Universal fire...
...And, too, it may have saddened him to such an extent that he no longer has the desire to pursue a Carpenters-related
anniversary project (with digitally extant material) and is happier to simply remain fully retired.
It seems as if (and this is speculating) the fire did destroy all extent (first generation tapes) recordings,then
that would be an enormous loss to him personally--after all, his life work is destroyed (irrespective of the financial loss incurred).
If this be the case, I hope Universal had to fork over many,many millions of dollars to Richard for such a loss.
For some reason I seem to remember he went in to do the SHM-SACD mastering a few weeks after our interview - early February or something like that? When I asked him if there was anything that hadn't been released, I was referring to "previously unreleased", and knew he would understand that. That's where he was coming from. Either way regarding the latest SACD, that was to work on a repackaging of existing stuff...nothing "new" per se.
That's true, but those are finished versions. What could have been destroyed are the multi-track masters, meaning it would now be impossible to have the original version of just the vocals, say, or just the keyboards. I'd assume there MUST be backups of these things out there, but who knows?There are literally millions of copies all over the world of the music he created.
This is a totally inept question to even consider.Richard wouldn't be thinking about a compilation release five or six years in advance. And,that is,if Richard is still living in five or six years when the 50th anniversary rolls around.Does anyone know if he is working on it? If so, will we see anything previously unreleased?
There are digital master tapes for every Carpenters recording in release.Anything that has been released on CD has been transferred to digital master tapes.it's hard to fathom that he doesn't have digital backups for the master recordings.
Whatever might have been lost in that Universal fire,they would have been original analog master tapes.Every Carpenters album has been transferred to digital master tapes-there is no loss of Carpenters recordings.Anything that has been issued on CD is digitally preserved.The recent Richard Carpenter interview, when he responds with "..all done", certainly sounds definitive.
I am still puzzled/perplexed/wondering as to what material has been irretrievably destroyed in the Universal fire.
Richard is an intelligent, thoughtful, individual and he would realize that those words ,"all done",
would reverberate throughout Carpenters' "fandom" .
And, thus I take him at his word(s).
It seems as if (and this is speculating) the fire did destroy all extent (first generation tapes) recordings,then
that would be an enormous loss to him personally--after all, his life work is destroyed (irrespective of the financial loss incurred).
If this be the case, I hope Universal had to fork over many,many millions of dollars to Richard for such a loss.
And, too, it may have saddened him to such an extent that he no longer has the desire to pursue a Carpenters-related
anniversary project (with digitally extant material) and is happier to simply remain fully retired.
I, for one, am still a bit shaken over the abruptness of "all done";I mean, he did not even stop to thing about any " what if's"
or "maybe's" (for the 50th Anniversary,say).
It was very matter of fact.
It sounded final.
It sounded sad.
Thankfully, we have what there is to have.
There are digital master tapes for every Carpenters recording in release.Anything that has been released on CD has been transferred to digital master tapes.
Regarding the bootleg material....tell me an artist that is not affected with all things bootleg? I'm not saying it's ok but like Richard said what is he going to do about it? I really doubt that he is that worried about bootleg material as he says he tried not to think about it. Still at this point in his life, even if there were no bootleg material ever made of Carpenters, I think he would still be in the same position. Carpenters releases still bring in some kind of money, look at all the compilations over the years Richard has been involved in especially in Japan, you can't tell me that didn't bring in some money. So the market is still there for renewed growth and interest. I wish more SACD 5.1 multi channel CD's has been made.
I hate to say it, but I'm gonna push back on this a little. First off, are you saying that because Richard and Universal still profit from the Carpenters catalog, that in essence it's okay to steal a little here, a little there, since they won't really feel the weight of it? Don't get me wrong, I've certainly traded a track or two - even though I technically own every single track every recorded, mixed, remixed etc that has been released officially (unreleased bootlegs excepted).
All I'm saying is, there isn't a single wise business person on the planet, corporate or individual that ever goes into an expenditure with the mindset of "Hey, I know they're gonna steal it once I put it on the shelf, so let's put it out and just hope we make what we can?". Just doesn't work that way. The record companies (especially nowadays) just don't look at it that way. Richard was raised to be a smart manager of finances, as was Karen. I would bet my life that the money lost on bootlegs with respect to their catalog is in the 7-digits. Granted it has generated truckloads of revenue. Still, (and to reference your last point above), I know Richard is burned out. His sole purpose on this planet wasn't to think of the millions of fans they had, yet he still has for decades since Karen's passing. I just think he's done, and he should be, regardless of whether or not I (like many of us) would love to hear just one more new, unreleased track.
Supposing I could hear from Karen about the unreleased material Richard is done with. If she said 'done' then I'd acquiesce. If she thought pursuit would only interrupt moments of recliner time for her big brother and he was just being lazy then up and atom boy! Clear those damn shelves at the raging fans ' behest'. This is just a 30 plus year way of stifling Karen once more. His ego won't allow anything beyond the bare minimum and while many are forever ingratiated to RC for post CarpenterS releases I don't think he's really knocked himself out going beyond anything that might rattle his wallet or nap time. Poor R my foot! Karen's legacy is just that. Karen's legacy. It is the survivors responsibility to carry, nurture and promote that honorably ad infinitum. Not recognizing the entire repertoire is just that. No recognition. Not to be contained miserly or with undo megalomania. Her talent was presented and she loved sharing it. Who is to say Karen share no more? No more anything. The same person(s) who dictated her works all the way to the bank from the get go. Clearly this behavior is alive and well lasting long after Karen's passing. When she could turn a big buck back in the day it was go go girl. Now with residuals so-so seems she's out to pasture. I'll never be convinced there is not some deep psycho sumpin sumpin afoot. May sympathy abound cuz Karen aint talkin'.