NEW: Roots Of The Carpenters CD

Simon KC1950

Well-Known Member
Japan has released a very interesting double CD. "The Roots Of The Carpenters: Now & Forever"

it has 33 songs which the Carpenters have recorded but these tracks are the original by the original artist... Allowing us to hear the songs the same way the Carpenters first hears them. Interesting, thoughts?

More details + pictures here:
The Carpenters: History & News
 
s-l1600.jpg

  • DISC 1
  • 01. THEY LONG TO BE CLOSE TO YOU / RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN (MGM '63)
  • 02. REASON TO BELIEVE / BOBBY DARIN (ATLANTIC '66)
  • 03. BABY IT'S YOU / THE SHIRELLES (SCEPTER '61)
  • 04. MAKE IT EASY ON YOURSELF / JERRY BUTLER (VEE JAY '62)
  • 05. (THERE'S) ALWAYS SOMETHING THERE TO REMIND ME / LOU JOHNSON (BIG HILL '64)
  • 06. WALK ON BY / DIONNE WARWICK (SCEPTER '64)
  • 07. HURTING EACH OTHER / JIMMY CLANTON (MALA '65)
  • 08. JAMBALAYA (ON THE BAYOU) / HANK WILLIAMS WITH HIS DRIFTING COWBOYS (MGM '52)
  • 09. PLEASE MR. POSTMAN / THE MARVELETTES (TAMLA '61)
  • 10. I CAN DREAM. CAN'T I? / ANDREWS SISTERS (DECCA '50)
  • 11. THERE'S A KIND OF HUSH / THE NEW VAUDEVILLE BAND (FONTANA '66)
  • 12. BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO / NEIL SEDAKA (RCA VICTOR '62)
  • 13. BEECHWOOD 4-5789 / THE MARVELETTES (TAMLA '62)
  • 14. WHEN I FALL IN LOVE / THE LETTERMEN (CAPITOL '61)
  • 15. LITTLE GIRL BLUE / NINA SIMONE (BETHLEHEM '58)
  • 16. DANCING IN THE STREET / MARTHA AND THE VANDELLAS (GORDY '64)
  • 17. CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' / THE MAMA'S AND THE PAPA'S (DUNHILL '65)
  • DISC 2
  • 01. FUN. FUN. FUN / THE BEACH BOYS (CAPITOL '64)
  • 02. THE END OF THE WORLD / SKEETER DAVIS (RCA VICTOR '62)
  • 03. DA DOO RON RON (WHEN HE WALKED ME HOME) / THE CRYSTALS (PHILLES '63)
  • 04. DEAD MAN'S CURVE / JAN AND DEAN (LIBERTY '64)
  • 05. JOHNNY ANGEL / SHELLEY FABARES (COLPIX '62)
  • 06. THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES / BOBBY VEE (LIBERTY '62)
  • 07. OUR DAY WILL COME / RUBY AND THE ROMANTICS (KAPP '62)
  • 08. ONE FINE DAY / THE CHIFFONS (LAURIE '63)
  • 09. LITTLE HONDA / THE BEACH BOYS (CAPITOL '64)
  • 10. RUNAWAY / DEL SHANNON (BIGTOP '61)
  • 11. LEADER OF THE PACK / THE SHANGRI-LAS (RED BIRD '64)
  • 12. BOOK OF LOVE / THE MONOTONES (ARGO '58)
  • 13. SH-BOOM / THE CHORDS (CAT '54)
  • 14. DADDY'S HOME / SHEP AND THE LIMELITES (HULL '61)
  • 15. JOHNNY B. GOODE / CHUCK BERRY (CHESS '58)
  • BONUS TRACK
  • 16. THE CHRISTMAS SONG (MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU) / NAT KING COLE (CAPITOL '62)
 
A very nicely organized collection, where the two disks explore two distinctly different areas of the C's influences. Interesting to see several of the substitutions for the more famous songs--REASON TO BELIEVE, ALWAYS SOMETHING THERE TO REMIND ME, etc.

Of course, we are missing a number of covers: Beatles (TICKET TO RIDE, HELP!, NOWHERE MAN, CAN'T BUY ME LOVE), Buffalo Springfield (CLANCY), Youngbloods (GET TOGETHER), Bonnie Bramlett (GROUPIE/SUPERSTAR), Carole King (IT'S GOING TO TAKE SOME TIME), Eagles (DESPERADO), Paul Simon (STILL CRAZY), Michael Franks (BWANA), Klaatu (CALLING OCCUPANTS)--12 tracks that get us close to a very different disk #3. I doubt that the licensing costs would be worth it in terms of potential album sales, but it makes for an interesting counterpoint to ROOTS, doesn't it?
 
I thought these would be the songs on Interpretations, not Rainy Days, et al. I really wanted the disc to be more of Songs the Carpenters performed that were Smash Hits prior to the C's recording of it.
 
I love the concept, but think the track list could have been a little better. Tracks 9 - 15 on disc two are all songs that they only performed live so I don't really consider them part of their catalog. (Also, none of them are particularly rare or hard to find.) I wouldn't have included any of those, especially since the Carpenters' arrangements aren't all that drastically different from the original hits.

The thing that makes a project like this interesting is seeing what Richard, as an arranger, did to the songs to make them his own. It would have been better to focus on the more obscure or harder to find originals. I like all of Don's suggestions except I wouldn't waste space on the Beatles tracks since everyone knows (and probably already owns) them.

Some of my thoughts:
  • Had "Love Is Surrender" been recorded previously? If so, that would be a cool inclusion.
  • The Larry Meredith version of "For All We Know" that Richard and Karen heard in the Lovers and Other Strangers movie
  • Leon Russell's original versions of "A Song For You" (from his 1970 self-titled album) and "This Masquerade" (from 1972's Carney)
  • Either Neil Sedaka's original version of "Solitaire" (from his 1972 Solitaire album) or the 1974 Andy Williams cover.
  • The 1950 Les Paul version of "Goofus" (especially since Les was one of Richard's idols and his inspiration for the Carpenters' sound)
  • The Harry Belafonte version of "Man Smart (Woman Smarter)" from his 1956 mega-selling Calypso album
  • The 1979 version of "Touch Me When We're Dancing" by Bama
  • The 1977 version of "I Believe You" by Dorothy Moore
 
Interesting. I guess, "And When She Smiles" by The Wildweeds, was too obscure a cut to make it on this collection. I also remember reading or hearing Richard comment that the version of Jambalaya (On the Bayou) that endeared them to the song was the one done by Jo Stafford (1952).
 
I've been reluctant to reply to this thread for fear of saying something too negative. But now I have a positive angle:

I would very much like to hear the song list that @Actorman put together!
 
I also wonder why the Ruby and the Romantics version wasn't picked for Hurting Each Other as that's the one mentioned the most by Richard. Or why was their Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore not included? Or for that matter, why were no tracks from Passage included? I think Anne Murray had her version of I Just Fall In Love Again out before the Carpenters, and someone probably recorded Don't Cry For Me Argentina, and how about Klaatu's original version of Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft.
 
"And When She Smiles" by The Wildweeds, was too obscure a cut to make it on this collection.
I never knew "And When She Smiles" was a cover. Good call! I think the obscure stuff is what a project like this interesting.

I would very much like to hear the song list that @Actorman put together!

Thanks, James! :)

I also wonder why the Ruby and the Romantics version wasn't picked for Hurting Each Other as that's the one mentioned the most by Richard. Or why was their Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore not included? Or for that matter, why were no tracks from Passage included? I think Anne Murray had her version of I Just Fall In Love Again out before the Carpenters, and someone probably recorded Don't Cry For Me Argentina, and how about Klaatu's original version of Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft.

Anne's version of "I Just Fall In Love Again" was released in January of 1979, so it came after Passage.

Don Malcolm already mentioned the Klaatu track.

I assume they used the Clanton version of "Hurting Each Other" because they included the Ruby & The Romantics version of "Our Day Will Come" and wanted to avoid using the same artist on more that one track. That said, I would have rather seen them include Ruby's version of "Your Baby..." instead of "Our Day Will Come." It's much rarer.

The original version of "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" was by Julie Covington and was part of the 1976 concept album for Evita before it was developed for stage. (The show opened in 1978.) Carpenters, I believe, were one of the very first acts to release a cover of it. Olivia Newton-John included a cover on her 1977 album, Making A Good Thing Better, but I don't know which was recorded and/or released first.
 
I assume they used the Clanton version of "Hurting Each Other" because they included the Ruby & The Romantics version of "Our Day Will Come" and wanted to avoid using the same artist on more that one track. That said, I would have rather seen them include Ruby's version of "Your Baby..." instead of "Our Day Will Come." It's much rarer.

That doesn't make any sense, since if you look at the track listing, the Beach Boys are on disc 2 twice (they are the only group that makes a double appearance on the set) for Fun, Fun, Fun & Little Honda.
 
That doesn't make any sense, since if you look at the track listing, the Beach Boys are on disc 2 twice (they are the only group that makes a double appearance on the set) for Fun, Fun, Fun & Little Honda.

You're right. I didn't notice that. Like I said, it was just an assumption, but that does seem to disprove it in this case.
 
Personally, I would not have expected to see any songs released in the late 60's or 70's on this concept album. To me, the idea of "Roots of the Carpenters" signifies songs that they would have either heard in their parents' record collection or on the radio in the 50's and early 60's that they really liked and influenced Richard to create "The Carpenters Sound".
 
Personally, I would not have expected to see any songs released in the late 60's or 70's on this concept album. To me, the idea of "Roots of the Carpenters" signifies songs that they would have either heard in their parents' record collection or on the radio in the 50's and early 60's that they really liked and influenced Richard to create "The Carpenters Sound".

I don’t think the whole idea is of any worth. Feels like clutching at commercial straws to me. We all know the original versions but it’s not the same unless it’s Carpenters.
 
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