Battle of the B-sides

What are your 5 favourite B-sides?

  • Your Wonderful Parade

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • I Kept On Loving You

    Votes: 5 15.6%
  • All Of My Life

    Votes: 8 25.0%
  • Mr. Guder

    Votes: 2 6.3%
  • Don't Be Afraid

    Votes: 8 25.0%
  • Saturday

    Votes: 1 3.1%
  • Bless The Beasts And Children

    Votes: 12 37.5%
  • Maybe Its You

    Votes: 6 18.8%
  • Flat Baroque

    Votes: 3 9.4%
  • Crystal Lullaby

    Votes: 5 15.6%
  • Druscilla Penny

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Road Ode

    Votes: 12 37.5%
  • Heather

    Votes: 2 6.3%
  • One Love

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • This Masquerade

    Votes: 11 34.4%
  • Happy

    Votes: 8 25.0%
  • Love Me For What I Am

    Votes: 12 37.5%
  • Goodbye And I Love You

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • Sandy

    Votes: 3 9.4%
  • Boat To Sail

    Votes: 6 18.8%
  • I Have You

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • Can't Smile Without You

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • B'Wanna She No Home

    Votes: 9 28.1%
  • Because We Are In Love

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Somebodys Been Lyin

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • When It's Gone

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • Two Sides

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • Look To Your Dreams

    Votes: 6 18.8%
  • Sailing On The Tide

    Votes: 3 9.4%
  • I Just Fall In Love Again

    Votes: 7 21.9%

  • Total voters
    32

Simon KC1950

Well-Known Member
The Carpenters released many singles which of course came with a B-side. Which ones are your favorites? You have 5 votes... Use them wisely !
 
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Bless the Beasts, Masquerade, Love Me For What I Am, Boat to Sail (but then this ranks in my Top Ten of any of their songs), Look to Your Dreams.
 
Your Wonderful Parade - This one's a little different from the album version with its shorter opening.
I Kept On Loving You - Opens clean on the 45 making this version of a great song unique.
Bless The Beasts And Children - As a double-a-side single, this b-side was an important one.
Flat Baroque - A different stereo staging from the album version highlights this b-side.
B'wana She No Home - Brighter EQ and a right-channel reverb trail make this version unique.
 
I Kept On Loving You - I like Richard's uptempo fast tunes, they break the albums up and provide variety. I wish he'd kept doing them throughout their career.

Bless the Beasts and Children - Too bad this got sort of overshadowed by all the other hits they were having at the time, I think it's one of their best songs ever.

Crystal Lullaby and Road Ode - These two songs (along with the following "A Song For You Reprise" on the album) are always played together whenever i listen to Carpenters. Road Ode, in particular is one of my favorites of all their tunes.

This Masquerade - A terrific cover and my favorite version of this song.
 
This Masquerade - Great lead vocal from Karen, the harmonies, arrangement, piano/flute solos. It all came together.

I Just Fall In Love Again - Karen's outstanding vocal performance. The definitive version IMHO.

All Of My Life - Beautiful song from the early days.

Bless The Beasts - That incredible hook from Karen; "Light their way..."

B'wana - Great dance tune. Should've been played in the discos back in the day. Karen's playful vocal.
 
Very difficult to choose. Many excellent B-Sides.
But, amusingly my favorites come from my three favorite Top Albums:
A Song For You...Horizon...Passage
(1) Bless The Beasts And the Children
(2) Crystal Lullaby
(3) Caught Between Goodbye And I Love You
(4) Two Sides
(5) I Just Fall In Love Again




 
"Boat to Sail" wasn't a favorite of mine initially, but it has grown on me over the years. I prefer it to the Christoper Cross hit "Sailing" in 1979 and think it has a better laid back nautical/tropical vibe.
 
Crystal Lullaby, Happy (should’ve been an A), Can’t Smile Without You (should’ve been A), Two Sides, Sailing On The Tide.

Honorable Mention: The Uninvited Guest (from 1989)
 
So many B sides, not enough choices....but, one of my favorites, I'm Caught Between Goodbye and I Love You caught my attention today as I was listening to, and as it seems, almost for the first time. In the phrase toward the last chorus..."give me a reason" "why should I stay here" have a word after each phrase in a vocal chorded structure overdubbed. Today, I heard the top of the chord that I never heard before where the notes are going from B to A. Has this ever happened to you? It has certainly shed a new note to one of my old favorites.
 
"Don't Be Afraid" was first -- easily my favorite B-side and one of my favorite Carpenters recordings, period. "All of My Life", "Road Ode", and "This Masquerade" were also no-brainers. Since the last one was a rather difficult choice, I went with "Bless The Beasts". I didn't realize how many good b-sides there were! :D
 
  • Fun exercise!
  • What's up with the percentages? Does the given percentage denote the percentage of top 5 lists containing the song?
  • Two of my favorite album cuts ("You" and "Strength of a Woman") were not B-sides --- sadly...
  • My choices:
One Love
Happy
(I'm Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You
I Have You
Two Sides​
 
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