⭐ Official Review [Album]: "NOW & THEN" (SP-3519)

HOW WOULD YOU RATE THIS ALBUM?

  • ***** (BEST)

    Votes: 17 19.5%
  • ****

    Votes: 49 56.3%
  • ***

    Votes: 20 23.0%
  • **

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • *

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    87
^^ I differ...That whole look of females in the early seventies was one of my favorite recollections growing up during that period. The fashion, hair, style, etc was fantastic. Beautiful women abounded! Do I hear an AMEN!!? :)
 
^^ I differ...That whole look of females in the early seventies was one of my favorite recollections growing up during that period. The fashion, hair, style, etc was fantastic. Beautiful women abounded! Do I hear an AMEN!!? :)
AMEN! But as far as styles go, I much prefer the elegance of the 40s.
AMEN! Tastes in fashion may differ, but I'm sure there's one thing we can all agree on... Karen could have worn a potato sack, and we'd still think that she was a total babe! :love:
 
^^ I differ...That whole look of females in the early seventies was one of my favorite recollections growing up during that period. The fashion, hair, style, etc was fantastic. Beautiful women abounded! Do I hear an AMEN!!? :)

YES! Red Snap jeans, halter tops, no...errr...that thing. Women were burning them - hah! Ahhh youth...
 
As I am comparing various similar tracks on various albums, another thing occurred to me:
Now & Then, as we know, has its instrumental Heather.
A Song For You, as we know has its instrumental Flat Baroque.

First, I like them both. I notice that Flat Baroque is all of 1:45, whereas Heather is 2:49.
In any event, while Heather is undeniably beautiful,
Flat Baroque is both playful and bombastic (being a 1966 composition by Richard Carpenter).
Heather seems out-of-place for the album Now & Then (sandwiched between This Masquerade and Jambalaya).
Flat baroque is perfectly sequenced for the brilliant A Song For You album.
 
I’d choose ‘Heather’ over ‘Jambalaya’ every time. I love it. It’s classy, interesting and different. I’ve also got a soft spot for it because it was one of my Dad’s favorites.

‘Jambalaya’ certainly has its charms, but it’s probably the one track I wouldn’t play for someone when introducing them to Carpenters. 😂😆

I do love ‘Flat Baroque’, too. Very original and it looms large in Carpenters legend.
 
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I thought it odd that Ray Coleman wrote--regards the song,
I Can't Make Music--
"it stood out as the only item of introspection on an otherwise cheerful album." (page 131, Carpenters Untold Story).
Surely the song This Masquerade fits the bill of "introspection."
But, also, did Coleman listen to the song " I Can't Make Music " ?
He says, "this song predated Karen's dilemma by a couple of years, but heard now it assumes an awful eeriness." (ibid).
He is totally mis-reading what the song means.
 
He says, "this song predated Karen's dilemma by a couple of years, but heard now it assumes an awful eeriness." (ibid).
He is totally mis-reading what the song means.

I think what he’s getting at is the introspection of the song, and is probably referring to one of two things, either the onset of Karen’s illness in 1975...

Here I am just sittin' around
With an old piano in a vacant room
And the same old feelin’s come again
So uncertain, hurtin', scared
I though I grew, but here I am again


...OR he’s referring to Karen’s break up with Terry Ellis the same year...

I’d like to wish you luck and hope
That life will be with someone else
Just like I though it would be with me


My money’s on the former.
 
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I thought it odd that Ray Coleman wrote--regards the song,
I Can't Make Music--
"it stood out as the only item of introspection on an otherwise cheerful album." (page 131, Carpenters Untold Story).
Surely the song This Masquerade fits the bill of "introspection."
But, also, did Coleman listen to the song " I Can't Make Music " ?
He says, "this song predated Karen's dilemma by a couple of years, but heard now it assumes an awful eeriness." (ibid).
He is totally mis-reading what the song means.
ber

Maybe he means the isolation in Karen's vocals. All by herself and being introspective? As for the song, it's top shelf for me. I don't like the Waltons-esque ending, but the vocals and basic arrangement are stellar. Karen's voice never sounded better and she's belting it out. I remember my Mom saying back in '73, "I really like the way she's singing on this one".
 
Not a big fan of Jambalaya off the album, but I do enjoy the live performance at their 1974 Budokan Concert.
 
I think a FULL version of Our Day Will Come would have been a big winner for the Carpenters, if the following is any indication:



[P.S. Love that photo of Karen!]

Absolutely! I was just about to post this clip myself, but decided to look back to see if someone had done it before - glad I did - this was achieved by apparently looping part of the song back onto itself, extending it to almost 3 1/2 minutes instead of the 2 minute medley version - the DJ blabber was eliminated also...

Everytime I've listened to this I've had the same thought: why wasn't this arranged as a separate track with repeats and an instrumental middle section (preferably Richard's piano, since it's so prominent elsewhere here)? This simple song is a pleasure to listen to and feel, and Karen's vocal is so easy and delightful (just like on "It's Going To Take...") - this should have been isolated from the medley - her version is miles beyond that of Ruby and the Romantic's 1964 recording - a big winner, indeed!
 
ber

Maybe he means the isolation in Karen's vocals. All by herself and being introspective? As for the song, it's top shelf for me. I don't like the Waltons-esque ending, but the vocals and basic arrangement are stellar. Karen's voice never sounded better and she's belting it out. I remember my Mom saying back in '73, "I really like the way she's singing on this one".

I love those times when Karen belts and it’s when you don’t expect it. Here she’s opening the lid a bit more and exposing the narrator’s anguish that her usual measured approach maybe wouldn't do justice to, while still sounding as prismatic and enigmatic as the lyrics. And I love that harmonica ending. No instrument gets loneliness across more potently to me than that.
 
BBC Radio 1 deejay Kenny Everett played the whole of side 2 without interruption, don't know how he got away with it, but Kenny was well known for not conforming. (Feels weird after all these years referring to side 2 )
Until fairly recently I never knew that Kenny Everett was a DJ as well. As a little boy I remember seeing him on TV sometimes. What a character! :D
So happy to find that many of his radioshows survived on tape and are available for streaming :phones:

Here's the one that you mentioned:

Kenny Everett on Radio 1, 1973
 
Listened to the album, Now & Then, last night.
It is still a favorite of mine.
I will confess that Heather is beautiful, yet I would rather have had Karen singing during that time.
I also admit to preferring this album over the tan album.
 
Until fairly recently I never knew that Kenny Everett was a DJ as well. As a little boy I remember seeing him on TV sometimes. What a character! :D
So happy to find that many of his radioshows survived on tape and are available for streaming :phones:

Here's the one that you mentioned:

Kenny Everett on Radio 1, 1973
That is an amazing find, although not as I remembered as Kenny included some editing, this was such a great plug for the album on BBC Radio1. Thanks for posting, took me back in time!
 
Carpenters Now & Then Review
RPM Canada June 16, 1973
I wish that it had been a two record set.
I now wonder if the reviewer actually listened to the album or was impressed with the packaging and never put the needle to the record. Not records. Record.
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I have just seen this. Karen in those go-go boots. What a total BABE she was :love:!!
I had the Karen Carpenter bobble head and it was this outfit.
I wish that I still had it.
I used to put it at the top of my Christmas tree.
Ahhh, what memories, what memories.
 
This is one of my favorite quotes about the album and I think sums up why it’s significant even if it’s pretty flawed:

While each successive albums had moments of levity, the later albums found the duo trying too hard to have hits, to be hip, to sound “different”, to be taken seriously. But on this album, in this moment of time, the siblings seemed to be in high spirits, and their art reflected this boundless joy — blissfully ignorant of the tragedy that lie ahead. And if for no other reason, “Now and Then” is noteworthy for that.

(“Now & Then,” by Carpenters)
 
^^This is the quote I concur with from that interesting review you linked to, Jarred:
"...it (Now & Then) was, among other things, quirky, eclectic, eerie, joyful, eccentric, melancholy, silly, mysterious, and a TON of fun..."
 
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