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I love both versions and it may be my ears but...the original version sounds a little flat to me in places.
Thank you Ed.It's not just you. Karen's pitch and intonation is all over the place on the original - like she didn't really have a handle on it. The 1973 performance, while not as raw, is technically far better in every way.
Ed
It's not just you. Karen's pitch and intonation is all over the place on the original - like she didn't really have a handle on it. The 1973 performance, while not as raw, is technically far better in every way.
Ed
By the time the vocal was re-recorded Karen was a pro and had found her way!!!
^^ This video is fascinating. It is amazing that the duo had to lip-sync so many television appearances when they were such great live performers to begin with.
More highlights of this video for me;
- At the opening, Arthur Godfrey calling Richard "Ed" and then something completely different when he invites him to shake hands with Ed Sullivan.
- Sullivan "leering" at Karen throughout the interview.
- At one point, 0:32, Godfrey touching Karen's hands (which are in her lap) and her looking down as if to say; "what are you doing?!".
- We get a Karen eye-roll at 0:38.
- And of course, those close-ups of Karen behind her drum kit that just show in such high resolution what an absolute natural beauty she was.
She was a perfectly good singer before 1973 and recorded plenty of lead vocals between 1966 and the Offering album, all of which were of a high standard. So why was her pitch so all over the place on this one track in particular and why on earth did that take get included on the album? She is off key throughout.
It sounds plausible to me.I have a sneaking suspicion about OFFERING. I wonder how much of the album might have been recorded earlier at Joe Osborn's studio, and then those parts and pieces were enhanced and assembled once they got to A&M Studios. (?)
If that's the case, then perhaps a slight deviation in speed between tape machines might account for why Karen's pitch is slightly off. I know that the beginning of the track has a couple of different intros between the album version and the single version. That also might account for why some of the album is a bit distorted while other parts are fine.
Just my brain working to explain a mystery...
She was a perfectly good singer before 1973 and recorded plenty of lead vocals between 1966 and the Offering album, all of which were of a high standard.
I would say she was still a phenomenal vocalist way before 1973, even if she wasn’t at full, technical maturity yet (emotionally speaking she always had that gift ready).
It's just too bad "that" recording became the single. Whether that effected it's fate, or would of it charted higher if it would of been a better recording?
I’m quite surprised none of the reviews of the 1969 single made any reference to what we all hear clearly now.
Good to find some positive stuff about their A&M debut single in some parts of the US (unfortunately haven't been able to find any reviews)
from The Journal Times (Wisconsin) Dec. 2nd, 1969
from "Top Sounds Around Town" section in The Tampa Times, Jan. 6, 1970
This WFLA chart is quite interesting to me at the moment.
First, we always hear about "Ticket To Ride" being a middle-charter, topping out at 53 on Billboard, but here was a big AM station in Tampa, playing the song and it climbing all the way to Carpenters' familiar number two slot.
Second, I've recently been digging around in some old reel-to-reel tapes, and remembering a lot of great songs by both Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck that I used to like a lot back then, and digging out some old albums for digitizing.
Third, a little side-trip away from Tom and Engelbert had me working with a Mark Lindsay album - the one after ARIZONA called SILVERBIRD.
And here they all are in the top ten!
And Mark Lindsay sang the song Silverbird (as well as Arizona) in his set, opening for Richard & Karen, while on tour with them in the Spring of 1971This WFLA chart is quite interesting to me at the moment.
First, we always hear about "Ticket To Ride" being a middle-charter, topping out at 53 on Billboard, but here was a big AM station in Tampa, playing the song and it climbing all the way to Carpenters' familiar number two slot.
Second, I've recently been digging around in some old reel-to-reel tapes, and remembering a lot of great songs by both Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck that I used to like a lot back then, and digging out some old albums for digitizing.
Third, a little side-trip away from Tom and Engelbert had me working with a Mark Lindsay album - the one after ARIZONA called SILVERBIRD.
And here they all are in the top ten!
I recently heard the first episode of MYOKOM and Mark Lindsay performed "Arizona" on that debut episode (M was for Mark Lindsay).And Mark Lindsay sang the song Silverbird (as well as Arizona) in his set, opening for Richard & Karen, while on tour with them in the Spring of 1971
Mark Lindsay setlists 1971