⭐ Official Review [Album]: "CARPENTERS" S/T (SP-3502)

[GDBY2LV]

It was my first Carpenters purchase, as I’ve said before. It absolutely began my love, admiration, and eventual infatuation with the group. I believe it has been their biggest selling non hits collection in the states. After all these years it still stands as an excellent piece of Carpenters work. I like A Song For You better myself though. It’s like a continuation of the amazing output of it’s predecessors. My only complaint about the tan album is that it’s definitely too short, as Harry and even Richard have stated.

 

[Electroliner]

Something sounds really off with it, like it’s not the totally smooth, clear sound we get elsewhere on the album.

Jarred,

The jittery “cheese grater effect” that you hear with Karen’s in the beginning of RPO Superstar is caused by removal of background rumble from the HVAC system during recording of Karen’s voice. Notice how it dissipates after the first verse.
16bit CD playback it is most pronounced. 24 bit versions played back thru high end DACs it’s barely noticeable.

 

[Harry]

It would appear that the TICKET TO RIDE re-title happened on November 10th of 1970. That's interesting to me, as I was really enamored of CLOSE TO YOU and really wanted that "Ticket To Ride" single that I'd heard on radio. My sister, living in the northeast suburbs of Philly, said she'd seen a different Carpenters album from CLOSE TO YOU in a store near her and offered to buy it for me as a Christmas present. She did, and it turned out to be the original OFFERING still on the shelves, so I was gifted that and from Christmas on, really enjoyed that album.

From my perspective, CLOSE TO YOU was the first album I heard, OFFERING was second, and CARPENTERS was third. Each one of those holds a special place in my memory.

 

[Jarred]

Jarred,

The jittery “cheese grater effect” that you hear with Karen’s in the beginning of RPO Superstar is caused by removal of background rumble from the HVAC system during recording of Karen’s voice. Notice how it dissipates after the first verse.
16bit CD playback it is most pronounced. 24 bit versions played back thru high end DACs it’s barely noticeable.

I remember hearing it throughout the whole track. Richard should’ve picked up on this and heard that he clearly wasn’t producing the sound we hear elsewhere.

 

[GaryAlan]

Billboard Magazine, February 26, 1972:
Grammy's Presenters NEW YORK -
"The Carpenters, Kris Kristofferson and Anthony Newley are the first to be signed as presenters at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards ceremonies.
Hosted by Andy Williams, the event will be televised live on March 14 from the Felt Forum in Madison Square Garden over ABC -TV.
NARAS has twice awarded Grammys to the Carpenters. This year, the group has been nominated in four categories,
including Album of the Year ( "Carpenters") and Best Pop, Rock and Folk Vocal Performance by a Group ( "Carpenters ")."

 

[Harry]

I remember hearing it throughout the whole track. Richard should’ve picked up on this and heard that he clearly wasn’t producing the sound we hear elsewhere.

There are always trade-offs when trying to access and extract exact sounds in an old recording like that. If Karen's vocals and the HVAC noise were on the same channel of recording, and one wants to remove the HVAC sound, then something of Karen's vocal is going to suffer as well. It becomes a matter of how much degradation of the original sound are you comfortable with losing.

I hear this all the time in the innumerable attempts on YouTube of filtering out backing tracks and leaving just Karen's vocals. The artifacts left behind are not tolerable to me, but may have been a joy and revelation to the person who did the filtering.

 

[tomswift2002]

Getting close to the music that made Carpenters superstars...​

"...they recorded their second album, 1971’s Carpenters, known to fans as the tan album and regarded by many as their best."
Source:

Getting close to the music that made Carpenters superstars » Borneo Bulletin Online

LOS ANGELES (AP) – “Every sha-la-la-la, every wo-o-wo-o still shines”, the Carpenters’ sang in Yesterday Once More, their hit 1973 tribute to the songs of the past. It could be the tagline of a new book on the work of Richard and Karen Carpenter, which seeks to set aside the noise surrounding...

borneobulletin.com.bn

How many news articles repeat this: that the Tan album was their "second" (it actually being the third album) ?

But, I digress.
My question is this: Who still considers the Tan album to be "their best." ?
Obviously, I don't and never did. But, I am interested in those who believe it is "their best" and why so.
As much as I admire Superstar, I gravitate more towards Rainy Days And Mondays.

They might be repeating this if they do a quick search online and come across the 1971 BBC special, since early in that special Richard himself says that the self-title is the Carpenters second album, which makes sense from a UK standpoint as Ticket To Ride didn’t get released there until closer to Passage with the pink cover.

 

[LondonRobert]

I think it could be that for non-fans it’s the album where Karen’s dramatic abilities and Richard’s mise en scene really flourished fully for the first time with Superstar and Rainy Days - two songs that could also slide past their uncool image because of their harder edge (as opposed to the previous soft sounds of CTY and WOJB, where for me the music and vocals are just as arresting). Of course we know there’s plenty of lesser known examples on the previous two albums of their genius in action but someone who’s not deep in the fandom won’t be drawn to more obscure, subtle examples. Also the Tan Album is where Karen hit her first peak of maturity as a singer, her tone became richer and fuller, and maybe even more casual fans hear that difference on this album.

I totally agree.
In the 80's when i discovered them, a friend from school lent me the 'tan' album. I absolutely loved it and still do. It's hard to explain why, but as you say Jarred , i think Karen's voice moved up a big notch. Those first "straight in' couple of lines from Hideaway just literally grab me - it's astounding what she could do.
It had such a pure natural emotiveness to it - but it hadn't yet become that ultra smooth chocolate voice that i know Karen preferred.
The tan album and now and then absolutely nail it for me .....
Harry you are right though - of course everyone has their own personal favourites ( excuse the added 'u' ) lol

 

[A&M Retro]

They might be repeating this if they do a quick search online and come across the 1971 BBC special, since early in that special Richard himself says that the self-title is the Carpenters second album, which makes sense from a UK standpoint as Ticket To Ride didn’t get released there until closer to Passage with the pink cover.

The pink ‘Ticket To Ride’ LP was released in the U.K. as a ‘budget-priced’ release. But the album was indeed available in England on A&M on the original tan label imprint before that time.

 

[GaryAlan]

Nice comedic touch, Karen (4:55). "You stole from the poor ? What was your last job? "
Now, the more I listen to the alternate piano interlude for One Love,
as heard here (7:06-7:24, MYOKOM), the more I prefer it,
and wonder why it was not retained that way for the Tan album.
Thanks Billy Rees for the Make Your Own Kind of Music uploads.

 

[masqueraded]

Slowly rebuilding my cds again. So far i have CTY (86 and 98), AKOH (86), Interpretations (US), KC (Japan pressing), Love Songs now this one (98) is on the way. Just wish the 98/99 cds werent so expensive/hard to come by.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Slowly rebuilding my cds again. So far i have CTY (86 and 98), AKOH (86), Interpretations (US), KC (Japan pressing), Love Songs now this one (98) is on the way. Just wish the 98/99 cds werent so expensive/hard to come by.

The "Remastered Classics" versions have compression applied. It's not crazy but it is there. Stick to the AM+ CDs. Those are my "go to"s. I don't bother with the remastered versions.

Ed

 

[tomswift2002]

The "Remastered Classics" versions have compression applied. It's not crazy but it is there. Stick to the AM+ CDs. Those are my "go to"s. I don't bother with the remastered versions.

Ed

Although on CD, Passage is the worst for whatever reason on both the 80’s & 98 CD’s. Especially when you compare B’Wana She No Home to either the pre-90’s LP’s or 45s. On all CD’s, B’Wana is in mono (and it applies to the LP releases that have been issued over the past 10 years as they used the 98 masters) whereas the pre-90’s LPs & 45s have the track in wonderful stereo that you can hear stuff panning from left to right and vice versa.

 

[Harry]

On all CD’s, B’Wana is in mono (and it applies to the LP releases that have been issued over the past 10 years as they used the 98 masters)

We've been down this road before, and although "B'wana She No Home" sounds largely monophonic on the CDs, there is a very narrow stereo component to it, so it's not quite correct to say that it's totally mono. Just endeavoring to be accurate here. The old LPs and 45s have a wider stereo presence, for sure.

 

[masqueraded]

I only want RC for the album mixes (sans a few tracks). The early pressings sound better yes but they contain mixes here and there. Ill collect both but mainly looking for 98s right now. Thanks for your guys' input. Oh i also of course got christmas collection 96.

 

[Harry]

I only want RC for the album mixes (sans a few tracks). The early pressings sound better yes but they contain mixes here and there. Ill collect both but mainly looking for 98s right now. Thanks for your guys' input. Oh i also of course got christmas collection 96.

Totally understandable. The tell-tale of course is to get the disc with a black face, red logo, and silver track list. (Some TICKET Remastered CDs have red face CDs.)

 

[masqueraded]

Totally understandable. The tell-tale of course is to get the disc with a black face, red logo, and silver track list. (Some TICKET Remastered CDs have red face CDs.)

I had a red disc before for Ticket. Is that a bad thing to get red?

 

[Harry]

I've never run into the red one other than seeing it online. It's likely identical to the black 98.

 

[masqueraded]

Oh ok. Thanks Harry. I came close to getting Ticket on the 98 CD for a good price but got beat out.

 

[tomswift2002]

We've been down this road before, and although "B'wana She No Home" sounds largely monophonic on the CDs, there is a very narrow stereo component to it, so it's not quite correct to say that it's totally mono. Just endeavoring to be accurate here. The old LPs and 45s have a wider stereo presence, for sure.

I’d disagree. When I listen to it on any CD it’s like listening to a 2.0 mono Beach Boys (I.e. Pet Sounds 1966 mono album) on CD and calling it stereo.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Totally understandable. The tell-tale of course is to get the disc with a black face, red logo, and silver track list. (Some TICKET Remastered CDs have red face CDs.)

The only Remastered Classics CD’s I bought were Close to You and The Singles 1969-1973. Both are identical and have the black face, red logo and silver track list. The Singles was the hardest to find and really the only one that I wanted. I’ve never been a fan of the Remastered Classics CD’s but that’s just me.

I’ve never heard or seen a red faced one, is there a picture somewhere? I didn’t know they made different versions/coloring of the Remastered Classics.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

My original Passage CD 3199/DX 787 AM+ is my favorite version of Passage ever released on CD. It was before all the tinkering and muddiness they did to this album. B’WANA SHE NO HOME is amazing and the best I’ve heard of Karen singing this one off Carpenters track. I’m so glad she recorded this song. Love it!!

 

[Matthew S]

We've been down this road before, and although "B'wana She No Home" sounds largely monophonic on the CDs, there is a very narrow stereo component to it, so it's not quite correct to say that it's totally mono. Just endeavoring to be accurate here. The old LPs and 45s have a wider stereo presence, for sure.

And the example you shared awhile back proves it was really in stereo.

 

[Harry]

Tom has his opinion, but I just wanted to set the record straight. It is stereo - very, very narrow stereo.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Tom has his opinion, but I just wanted to set the record straight. It is stereo - very, very narrow stereo.

Glad we got the book to explain what happened there. It's not just a narrow stereo image (though I'm definitely hearing that); it's just a dull recording...and now we know why.

Ed