⭐ Official Review [Album]: "AS TIME GOES BY" (UICY-1060)

[JohnFB]

This Indian couple's reaction to RAINBOW CONNECTION is joyfully reflective of what Paul Williams was saying about it - they are obviously charmed by it and discuss it's possible meanings and effects (starting just past the 5 minute mark) - this couple has reacted to a number of the Carpenter videos and always in the most glowing terms (see their reaction to FOR ALL WE KNOW and especially THIS MASQUERADE, among others) - in one of their reactions he says, in summarizing all of the individuals and groups that they've reacted to, something to the effect that "there's the Carpenters and then there's everyone else", placing them in a very special category above and beyond all others...a very wise gentleman and highly discriminating music lover indeed.

 

[Cuyler]

My only complaint about the mixing on As Time Goes By is that you can hear on some of the tracks (especially the Carpenters/Como Medley and Hits Medley ‘76) some doubling of 1) the drums from the TV mix, and 2) the drums from the backing track. The other annoyance of mine is that Karen’s vocals on Hits Medley ‘76 have a high-pitched noise throughout—I’m wondering if this is from the videotape?

 

[Cuyler]

My favorite track on “As Time Goes By” is the hidden track. Always found it a delight to listen to, ever since the first time I ripped the CD into iTunes in 2005.


Carpenters – And When He Smiles


Mahalo nui to @Billy Rees for the source video

 

[newvillefan]

My favorite track on “As Time Goes By” is the hidden track. Always found it a delight to listen to, ever since the first time I ripped the CD into iTunes in 2005.


Carpenters – And When He Smiles


Mahalo nui to @Billy Rees for the source video

I’ve just watched this again after a long time. It’s such a charming song and performance. They should have finished the studio version and put it on the Tan album, in place of Druscilla Penny.

 

[Cuyler]

This should have been on the Tan album, in place of Druscilla Penny.

This song to me is a bit of an odd one, because the Tan Album was released in May of '71, if I'm not mistaken, and the few recordings we do have of "And When He Smiles" are from September of '71 (BBC) and June of '72 (Live at Budokan)... so maybe the timing didn't work out for it to go on the Tan Album. I think it could've belonged on "A Song for You," but wonder how different it would have been had it been recorded in early '72. I personally adore the song and am glad that it exists.

@newvillefan, if you had to take out one or two songs from "A Song for You" to replace with "And When He Smiles," which would you take out (if any), and why?

 

[Mark-T]

I would have placed this on the Tan album after Saturday and added one more track to Side Two.

 

[newvillefan]

@newvillefan, if you had to take out one or two songs from "A Song for You" to replace with "And When He Smiles," which would you take out (if any), and why?

Side A of the album is so majestically perfect, I’d never change that. I’d have put it on Side B right after Bless The Beasts and Children in place of Flat Baroque, which is a bit of a throwaway track and there wasn’t really a need for two Richard solo pieces back to back. The lovely rhythmic cadence at the end would have flowed perfectly into Piano Picker.

 

[Cuyler]

I’d have put it right after Bless The Beasts and Children in place of Flat Baroque, which is a bit of a throwaway track. The lovely rhythmic cadence at the end would have flowed perfectly into Piano Picker.

I'll have to try that out and make an iTunes playlist with that order!

 

[JohnFB]

I’ve just watched this again after a long time. It’s such a charming song and performance.

Yes, but her performance is more charming than the song - she looked awesome, healthy and vibrant during the time of this concert, her singing was at or near the top of her game, and she appeared to be so very contented and satisfied - almost serene - vocalizing behind the drum kit, her favorite place to be...even more so during the Bacharach medley...

 

[Cuyler]

Side A of the album is so majestically perfect, I’d never change that. I’d have put it on Side B right after Bless The Beasts and Children in place of Flat Baroque, which is a bit of a throwaway track and there wasn’t really a need for two Richard solo pieces back to back. The lovely rhythmic cadence at the end would have flowed perfectly into Piano Picker.

Wow, it actually works. "Bless the Beasts and Children" fades out "the children..." and then "And When He Smiles" begins, really beautiful electric piano (and plus, beasts and children + nature-y vibe go together really well). Then "Piano Picker" picks up really nicely. Good call I do like "Flat Baroque" though.

 

[Cuyler]

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but one addition that I think would have been really nice for As Time Goes By would have been that orchestral recording of "We've Only Just Begun" that the Carpenters played at the beginning and end of every TV special and concert in around 1976.



(Starts at around 1:36 in this clip.)

We still haven't heard the full recording without voice-over/applause. Would have been a great either beginning or end on As Time Goes By.

 

[Harry]

I agree. I've always wanted to hear that orchestral "theme" in full.

 

[newvillefan]

^^^ If Begun had been sequenced earlier in the RPO album, that orchestral version would have made a nice album closer and bookend with the overture.

 

[Cuyler]

^^^ If Begun had been sequenced earlier in the RPO album, that orchestral version would have made a nice album closer.

Yeah! It could've even been called "We've Only Just Begun (reprise)."

 

[Mark-T]

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but one addition that I think would have been really nice for As Time Goes By would have been that orchestral recording of "We've Only Just Begun" that the Carpenters played at the beginning and end of every TV special and concert in around 1976.



(Starts at around 1:36 in this clip.)

We still haven't heard the full recording without voice-over/applause. Would have been a great either beginning or end on As Time Goes By.

I've never understood why in the "intro ad" to the special, they did not include a shot of Karen singing with John Denver. If even a casual fan, this would make me curious enough to tune into the whole show.

 

[newvillefan]

New release today, 25 June, 2021. I never pictured Streisand releasing a cover of this but I actually really like her take on it.




The new album it comes from showcases songs and studio performances recorded over the course of Streisand’s career, but shelved for various reasons. This version of the song was recorded in 1979.

Hear Barbra Streisand sing 'Rainbow Connection' with Kermit the Frog

Barbra Streisand dropped a new track off her forthcoming album, 'Release Me 2,' a duet between her and Kermit the Frog on 'The Rainbow Connection.'

ew.com

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I’m surprised someone hasn’t done a remix of Carpenters version with Kermits lines interjected making it like an official duet between Karen and Kermit like this version.

I enjoy Karen’s interpretation much more than Streisand’s.

 

[Mark-T]

It's a great song, and her performance is OK, but the Kermit vocals sound cut and pasted in without even an attempt to make them seem as if they are singing together. Just awful.

 

[Mark-T]

Someone should remove the vocals from Barbra's version and bring in Karen's.

 

[newvillefan]

I’m surprised someone hasn’t done a remix of Carpenters version with Kermits lines interjected making it like an official duet between Karen and Kermit like this version.

Someone should remove the vocals from Barbra's version and bring in Karen's.

Karen’s version would need to be in the same key as Kermit’s vocal to make the same “alternating line” arrangement work, which it isn’t. Karen sings it three keys - almost half an octave - lower than Barbra, whose key matches Kermit (although she’s singing a full octave above him).

The only way you could do it is if each sang a whole verse at a time and the key was transposed up and down throughout the song, which I can’t really imagine working.

 

[Jorge]

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but one addition that I think would have been really nice for As Time Goes By would have been that orchestral recording of "We've Only Just Begun" that the Carpenters played at the beginning and end of every TV special and concert in around 1976.



(Starts at around 1:36 in this clip.)

We still haven't heard the full recording without voice-over/applause. Would have been a great either beginning or end on As Time Goes By.

Brilliant idea! That orchestral performance of WOJB gives me goosebumps!

 

[Mark-T]

Karen’s version would need to be in the same key as Kermit’s vocal to make the same “alternating line” arrangement work, which it isn’t. Karen sings it three keys - almost half an octave - lower than Barbra, whose key matches Kermit (although she’s singing a full octave above him).

The only way you could do it is if each sang a whole verse at a time and the key was transposed up and down throughout the song, which I can’t really imagine working.

Sorry, I should have clarified. I'd love to hear Karen's vocals (without Kermit) and using Barbra's arrangement of the song. Similar to what that fan did with Ordinary Fool when he/she took Paul Williams arrangement and replaced his voice with Karen's.

 

[newvillefan]

Sorry, I should have clarified. I'd love to hear Karen's vocals (without Kermit) and using Barbra's arrangement of the song. Similar to what that fan did with Ordinary Fool when he/she took Paul Williams arrangement and replaced his voice with Karen's.

Oh ok I see what you mean. Yeah that would be nice to hear. I don’t think Paul Williams was ever than enamoured with Richard’s arrangement.

 

[JohnFB]

There's so very many tracks that the marvelously talented Streisand recorded over the years that are wonderful, but this is not one of them and it's easy to understand why it was shelved...but it would have been fun to watch her perform this with Kermit on some TV special...

And no, I have absolutely no desire to hear Karen in a duet with the "frog-throated" Kermit (so to speak) - her vocally unaltered version of this is as beautiful as one could or would expect - and yes, I love the choral accompaniment (whomever constitutes the chorus). A duet with Perry Como would have been a real treat though...

Here's what Robert Patterson says about this recording in the description to the "Ned Nickerson" video on YouTube (bolding mine):

Recorded in 1981 for the "Made In America" album, this performance is a work lead by Karen. The song was recorded with just piano, bass and drums, and vocals by Karen to introduce the song for the other musicians and to familiarize them with Richard's arrangement. Had the song been completed and included on the album, other instruments would have been added such as strings and horns, and later, Karen would have come back to the studio and recorded a new vocal track. Karen recorded the song at Richard's request, but simply didn't like the song, and so the song was never completed..

Years later, after Karen's death, fans learned of the track and begged Richard to release it. In an interview, Richard stated, "If I ever released it, Karen would come down and get me!" But twenty years after Karen recorded "Rainbow Connection," Richard began work on the last Carpenters album, a Japanese CD entitled "As Time Goes By" released in 2001, and he decided to complete the song and include it on the CD.

To put this song into historical context, it was recorded a year after Karen completed her solo album, an album which she decided to shelve at the urging of A&M. She then returned to the studio to begin recording what turned out to be her last Carpenters album, "Made In America." Her solo album has been described as her effort to change her image by breaking away from traditional Carpenters songs and recording songs with more risque lyrics in a higher tone of voice.

She may have viewed "Rainbow Connection" which had been introduced by Kermit the Frog in "The Muppet Movie," as a step back toward the type of song she was trying to break away from. But she obliged Richard by laying down a vocal track, but ultimately, she didn't like the song enough to pursue it any further. But her vocals, however "begrudgingly" they were recorded, are nearly perfect, and show her extreme professionalism towards her craft. Most Carpenter fans like "Rainbow Connection," but are divided on two aspects of the song: the toy piano and the "angel" voices in the chorus. I like the song just the way it is and it's among one of my favorite Carpenter recordings. Of all the videos I've created using Carpenters songs, this is the first one that made me cry when I viewed it for the first time after its completion. There's something about it that makes me miss her all the more - I'd like to think that she's happy wherever she is and that she's finally found her rainbow connection.

 

[Cuyler]

Most Carpenter fans like "Rainbow Connection," but are divided on two aspects of the song: the toy piano and the "angel" voices in the chorus. I like the song just the way it is and it's among one of my favorite Carpenter recordings.

The whole quote is fascinating and great context--thank you for posting!

I guess, with respect to the excerpt quoted here, I'm in the camp of people who really like how "The Rainbow Connection" turned out but could do without the toy piano and the "angel voices" (is that the O.K. Chorale again?). However, I don't mind either too much, and I particularly understand that the toy piano is an artistic choice to convey some of that playful energy, considering this song is a Muppets song. But, imho, the wind and brass instruments, and what sounds maybe like an ukulele, are really exquisitely executed here.

I think herein lies the beauty of Karen's voice and Richard's arrangement. on the surface, it may be polished or shiny or simple and milquetoast, and their music is often mischaracterized as such--but the reality is, they were able to take a song--any song--and make it completely, unapologetically their own--sophisticated, but not at all inaccessible. "Rainbow Connection" ceases to be a song by Kermit for kids, and it becomes a tune "adult contemporary" grown-ups and musical theory college majors alike can enjoy.