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

[Jack A.]

True, however my supposition was based upon a healthy Karen who "got better" and had a lot longer time to explore her solo opportunities.

Especially if she got into solo work a little earlier - maybe around ‘73-74, at the time when their heyday as the Carpenters was just starting to cool off, but there still would have been a decent amount of interest regarding a KC solo album.

 

[newvillefan]

Especially if she got into solo work a little earlier - maybe around ‘73-74, at the time when their heyday as the Carpenters was just starting to cool off, but there still would have been a decent amount of interest regarding a KC solo album.

They were on the road so much and run ragged, she and Richard could hardly find the time to make a Carpenters album, let alone her make one of her own. The label, her family, and many others never would have allowed it anyway.

 

[Jack A.]

They were on the road so much and run ragged, she and Richard could hardly find the time to make a Carpenters album, let alone her make one of her own. The label, her family, and many others never would have allowed it anyway.

Fair point. IF all those other circumstances were somehow lifted, that could’ve made for an ideal time.

 

[GDBY2LV]

I was playing Lovelines this afternoon from the Carpenters Collection vinyl set, and wishing, and wondering why Japan hasn’t rereleased ATGB, and Karen’s solo album on vinyl yet. That would be a great treat for Carpenters fans. Especially if they do them right, on 180g clean vinyl, and pressed there, not in the states by UMe. There’s still hope I guess.

 

[newvillefan]

Fair point. IF all those other circumstances were somehow lifted, that could’ve made for an ideal time.

You're pushing against an open door - 1973 would have been the perfect time to hear a KC solo album. Her voice was as rich as honey by then.

 

[newvillefan]

I was playing Lovelines this afternoon from the Carpenters Collection vinyl set, and wishing, and wondering why Japan hasn’t rereleased ATGB, and Karen’s solo album on vinyl yet. That would be a great treat for Carpenters fans. Especially if they do them right, on 180g clean vinyl, and pressed there, not in the states by UMe. There’s still hope I guess.

Has Karen's album ever been released on vinyl? Don't think so. It's done well to sell over a million units without it - and with zero promotion. Imagine if she was here now and knew that was the case - even despite it being released years after her death. She'd be so proud.

 

[GDBY2LV]

Has Karen's album ever been released on vinyl?
As far as I know, no! Only the bootleg vinyl called “Message In A Bottle” with the rest of the unreleased tracks from the solo sessions.

 

[newvillefan]

Has Karen's album ever been released on vinyl?
As far as I know, no! Only the bootleg vinyl called “Message In A Bottle” with the rest of the unreleased tracks from the solo sessions.

Imagine if it was re-released on vinyl with the original front and back cover, gatefold sleeve with the inner double-spread of Karen on the couch and the tracklisting listed as originally intended...remastered on a half speed vinyl master...

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Has Karen's album ever been released on vinyl?
As far as I know, no! Only the bootleg vinyl called “Message In A Bottle” with the rest of the unreleased tracks from the solo sessions.

Never has been. Likely won't ever happen either. It bombed when released so there's likely zero motivation to even think about that.

Ed

 

[David A]

Has Karen's album ever been released on vinyl? Don't think so. It's done well to sell over a million units without it - and with zero promotion. Imagine if she was here now and knew that was the case - even despite it being released years after her death. She'd be so proud.

I was shocked to see that her solo album sold a million units over time - not sure how that number was calculated/tracked but if true, I am stunned. As you say, released with little fanfare and was generally a "quiet" release. Wow.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I was shocked to see that her solo album sold a million units over time - not sure how that number was calculated/tracked but if true, I am stunned. As you say, released with little fanfare and was generally a "quiet" release. Wow.

Where did you see that? I'm honestly curious.

Ed

 

[David A]

Where did you see that? I'm honestly curious.

Ed

In @newvillefan 's post above he mentions it. I did a quick Google search and found it also, albeit on wikipedia. That's why I questioned how this may have been calculated/tracked, as it seems a really high number.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

In @newvillefan 's post above he mentions it. I did a quick Google search and found it also, albeit on wikipedia. That's why I questioned how this may have been calculated/tracked, as it seems a really high number.

Yeah, that's pretty suspect. It's source from a fan blog (complete with misspellings) that says, "To date the album has sold more than one million copies worldwide and is a favorite amongst Karen Carpenter fans" with no substantiation whatsoever.

Ed

 

[newvillefan]

I'm sure I did read about the solo album sales figures somewhere else (a more credible source) a couple of years back. I'll try and find it and repost here.

 

[kprather]

"Rainbow Connection" is a tune she didn't like and it shows.

How must Karen have felt in that recording session? She just had her solo album shelved, where she tried to branch out from the squeaky clean image, she gets back in the studio with Rich and one of the first songs he's having her sing is The Freakin' Rainbow Connection.

It's easy to see why that session was allegedly called The Session From Hell.

 

[newvillefan]

How must Karen have felt in that recording session? She just had her solo album shelved, where she tried to branch out from the squeaky clean image, she gets back in the studio with Rich and one of the first songs he's having her sing is The Freakin' Rainbow Connection.

It's easy to see why that session was allegedly called The Session From Hell.

It's easy to imagine Karen feeling exactly as you describe above. That song is a world away from the great material she'd just completed with Phil Ramone.

Something related that I've been wondering for a while - we've seen photos of Karen recording material for her solo album at A&M in Los Angeles (the below photo was taken there). I wonder if Phil Ramone was there overseeing the sessions or whether it was just late-stage overdubs she was doing in LA. I'm sure the below was a full session laying down the vocals for 'Love Makin' Love To You', so surely Phil must have been present. If he was there, it must have been fairly awkward from time to time, as I'm sure he (and Karen too, for that matter) ran into Richard now and then.

 

[David A]

This is out of the blue and probably answered elsewhere long ago and I'm in danger of losing my Carpenters geek card, but...why wasn't this album included in the Carpenters Vinyl Boxed Set release?

 

[Harry]

I suppose it's not really considered a true "core" album, but more of a mop-up of loose odds and ends - the kind of stuff that Richard is constantly bombarded with requests to release.

 

[David A]

I've always liked "California Dreamin" - I just listened to it on youtube and noted that Karen sings "...and I began to pray..." The actual lyric is "pretend" to pray. According to wikipedia, Cass Elliot also sang "began" on tour until Phillips corrected her. Not sure if this was even a Carpenters decision or not, which word to use in their cover.

 

[Matthew S]

I was shocked to see that her solo album sold a million units over time - not sure how that number was calculated/tracked but if true, I am stunned. As you say, released with little fanfare and was generally a "quiet" release. Wow.

It’s not listed as platinum or gold on the RIAA website so unless it sold most of that million internationally, that’s probably inaccurate.

 

[Jack A.]

Yeah, that's pretty suspect. It's source from a fan blog (complete with misspellings) that says, "To date the album has sold more than one million copies worldwide and is a favorite amongst Karen Carpenter fans" with no substantiation whatsoever.

Ed

That’s the source cited by the Wikipedia article for the album. I do edit Wiki articles for a hobby, so unless someone can find a more credible source, I might go ahead and remove that sentence.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

That’s the source cited by the Wikipedia article for the album. I do edit Wiki articles for a hobby, so unless someone can find a more credible source, I might go ahead and remove that sentence.

Yeah, it should go. It's unsubstantiated in the blog. It's just there with nothing to back it up.

Ed

 

[JohnFB]

How must Karen have felt in that recording session? She just had her solo album shelved, where she tried to branch out from the squeaky clean image, she gets back in the studio with Rich and one of the first songs he's having her sing is The Freakin' Rainbow Connection.

...

We can all imagine whatever we want but nobody knows what she felt in that recording session - the chances are good that no matter what resentment she was still feeling about the Solo Album, she was still at least somewhat happy to be back in the studio recording again- as she always was...

And I've always wondered - exactly what's wrong with a "squeaky clean image"? It was for real, and who she was, and she not only should have been proud of it, but flaunted it in the face of those moronic critics who would rather have seen her as some drug-addled, alcoholic sex maniac...

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with her singing a children's song like "Rainbow Connection" - its appealing and sing-song melody line was a perfect match for her warm, rich, melodious voice - even if the lyrics were a little "muppetish"...and do we know why she didn't like the recording? Maybe she felt she could have done a better vocal on the final recording (as she had ultimately come to feel about "Ticket to Ride" and "Merry Chrismas, Darling"), or maybe it was something as simple as (but important to the perfectionist in her) that little "crack" in her voice on the final "me" at the end - who really knows???

But, she sounds great thru the vocal and it's a joy to listen to her at every turn within the performance. Hell, she would have sounded great singing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and I (and countless thousands also) would have bought and treasured that one too.

It's easy to imagine Karen feeling exactly as you describe above. That song is a world away from the great material she'd just completed with Phil

What great material? There were only a few songs on the Solo Album worthy of her phenomenal voice, and Richard wisely plucked them out and inserted them into the "Lovelines" album - ultimately, the failure of the Solo Album was her fault - she should have known better and demanded better material from Phil. In the mission to reinvent herself she settled for 3rd rate Disco slosh...it could be that her long running malnutrition was affecting her powers of musical judgment??? One can probably never know for sure...

 

[newvillefan]

^^^ Let's agree to disagree.

 

[Geographer]

We can all imagine whatever we want but nobody knows what she felt in that recording session - the chances are good that no matter what resentment she was still feeling about the Solo Album, she was still at least somewhat happy to be back in the studio recording again- as she always was...

And I've always wondered - exactly what's wrong with a "squeaky clean image"? It was for real, and who she was, and she not only should have been proud of it, but flaunted it in the face of those moronic critics who would rather have seen her as some drug-addled, alcoholic sex maniac...

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with her singing a children's song like "Rainbow Connection" - its appealing and sing-song melody line was a perfect match for her warm, rich, melodious voice - even if the lyrics were a little "muppetish"...and do we know why she didn't like the recording? Maybe she felt she could have done a better vocal on the final recording (as she had ultimately come to feel about "Ticket to Ride" and "Merry Chrismas, Darling"), or maybe it was something as simple as (but important to the perfectionist in her) that little "crack" in her voice on the final "me" at the end - who really knows???

But, she sounds great thru the vocal and it's a joy to listen to her at every turn within the performance. Hell, she would have sounded great singing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and I (and countless thousands also) would have bought and treasured that one too.


What great material? There were only a few songs on the Solo Album worthy of her phenomenal voice, and Richard wisely plucked them out and inserted them into the "Lovelines" album - ultimately, the failure of the Solo Album was her fault - she should have known better and demanded better material from Phil. In the mission to reinvent herself she settled for 3rd rate Disco slosh...it could be that her long running malnutrition was affecting her powers of musical judgment??? One can probably never know for sure...

100%...especially about the solo effort.