Carpenters Greatest Hits - Your version

[Jeff]

And! Who has the cajones to tell Karen (I've already won 3 Grammy's) Carpenter how to hold a mic?

Anyway youz guyz have come up with some great compilations. I'm struggling as tho it were the end all of listening. All I know so far is my disc has time ltd to no la la lalala's. Ironically as I prattle here LIVE IN BUDOKAN is on video at this very Lala lalala.

Whatcha gonna do?

 

[Passenger]

Of my several Carpenter's iPod playlists, I had narrowed 20 down to an "Ultimate" list, but if it had to be 12....

1. Baby It's You
2. Close to You
3. Let Me Be the One
4. One Love
5. A Song for You
6. Goodbye to Love
7. Road Ode
8. Only Yesterday
9. I Just Fall in Love Again
10. All You Get From Love is a Love Song
11. Touch Me When We're Dancing
12. Kiss Me the Way You Did Last Night

If we could include a couple of bonus Christmas tracks with the upcoming season, I'd have to go with...

13. Little Altar Boy
14, Ave Maria

 

[MorningOpensQuietly]

Okay here goes (sort of copied Harry with a hits side and an album tracks side & Passenger with Christmas bonus):

Side One
1. We've Only Just Begun
2. Superstar
3. Rainy Days and Mondays
4. Top of the World (single version)
5. I Won't Last a Day Without You
6. Only Yesterday

Side Two
1. And When He Smiles
2. Tryin' to Get the Feeling
3. Happy
4. This Masquerade
5. Medley: Sing/Knowing When to Leave/Make It Easy on Yourself/Someday/We've Only Just Begun
6. A Song for You

Christmas Bonus Tracks
1. Santa Claus is Coming to Town (single version)
2. Little Altar Boy

Maybe including the MMM medley is cheating, but what the heck - it's my compilation, right?!?

 

[Jeff]

So I have to strip the entire recorded output to 12 selections?

CarpenterS Desert Island (somewhere in the Pacific thank you)

1. Without A Song (extended version)
2. Close To You (album version)
3. Ticket To Ride ('73 version)
4. Rainy Days and Mondays
5. I Can't Make Music (remix)
6. Santa Claus is Comin' To Town (remix)

7. Boat To Sail
8. (I'm Caught Between) Goodbye and I love You
9. B'wana She No Home
10.Those Good Old Dreams
11. Ordinary Fool
12. Bacharach David Medley (from MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC)

and this is why in the Pacific stranded would be a joy:

#1 W/O A Song= harmony, elegance, flawless studio work
#2 C2U= The one that started this whole infatuation
#3 TICKET '73= the maturation of Karen's vocal
#4 RAINY DAYS= no turning back, my heart officially broken at 8 y/0
#5 CAN'T MAKE MUSIC= 'an old cliche' I'm gonna die'...thud! hook line sinker
#6 SANTA CLAUS= sultry, sophisticated, genius arranging

#7 BOAT TO SAIL= lovin' the loose delivery where extraordinary abound harmonies make this cut from HUSH a stand-out
#8 GOODBYE and I LOVE YOU= this selection encapsulates HORIZON's production. Featuring Karen's undeniable, definitive, smoky, controlled, masterful and the Gods given lower register to die for.
#9 B'WANA!!!= departure, great harmony configuration, sassy, over time has garnered my attention as a feature from PASSAGE.
#10 THOSE GOOD OL DREAMS= a return. Absent is my ultimate awareness of doom. Present is my ignorance. Fresh production circa '81. Final complete album.
At chorus I bask in the effortless 'findin' answers to my prayers' & revel in 'and it carries you away'= gone 3 years (or so we thought???) and Miss K ya still got it girl!
#11 ORDINARY FOOL= self explanatory. Brilliant, a seemingly effortless easy reading, communicating note for note the heart on a sleeve. Perhaps the missed opportunity in '76.
#12 BACHARACH DAVID MEDLEY 1980 from MMM= this is the quintessential peak of CarpenterS studio production technique. I have torch, lower register,
a complete Make it Easy On Yourself reading that in and of itself would suffice my ear at this Island solitude. This medley takes CarpenterS over-dubbing,
blending of siblings vocals to Angelic heavenly heights. This effort leaves me giddy, short of breath, literally cheering, sometimes watery-eyed and then
the We've Only Just Begun finish so final....what a sign-off.

Jeff

as I

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

These are some great "Greatest Hits" selections.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

And! Who has the cajones to tell Karen (I've already won 3 Grammy's) Carpenter how to hold a mic?

Anyway youz guyz have come up with some great compilations. I'm struggling as tho it were the end all of listening. All I know so far is my disc has time ltd to no la la lalala's. Ironically as I prattle here LIVE IN BUDOKAN is on video at this very Lala lalala.

Whatcha gonna do?

They likely just didn't want her to cover up her face. When she held her mic that way, she did and it was likely harder to shoot. I'm sure there's no more to it than that.

Ed

 

[Jeff]

Even still....Get off my Karen Carpenter maxi-dress!

 

[Mark-T]

I think it was wise counsel. On MMM, she never looked better in front of the television camera!

 

[Guitarmutt]

OK, here I go!

A Song for You
Superstar
Crescent Noon
Can't Buy Me Love
This Masquerade
Another Song
----------
Iced Tea
And When He Smiles
Bacharach/David (full length vers.)
Goodbye To Love
I Can Dream Can't I?
Road Ode -Reprise

I, too, wanted to think in terms of sides, and beyond just the albums. There are so many possibilities, and I love making mixed tapes, discs, playlists for friends and yours truly. I was looking for an ebb and flow, rise and tide, here and now, come and go.

Tomorrow my list might be very different.

Sigh.

 

[Passage_Ta_C]

What a fun topic! After some deliberation and a few replays, I have formulated my list.

Carpenters: Every Sha La La La, Every Woe Oh Woe Oh

(I must admit though, it is more woe-oh, than sha-la)

Side One:

1. Aurora
2. Someday
3. I'll Never Fall In Love Again
4. Rainy Days And Mondays
5. Superstar
6. It's Going To Take Some Time

Side Two:

1. This Masquerade
2. There's A Kind Of Hush
3. B'wana She No Home
4. Two Sides
5. Now
6. Eventide

For the CD release, there would be a bonus track of:

13. My Body Keeps Changing My Mind (Giorgio Moroder Remix)

• 'cause it has a good beat and you can dance to it

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

What a fun topic! After some deliberation and a few replays, I have formulated my list.

Carpenters: Every Sha La La La, Every Woe Oh Woe Oh

(I must admit though, it is more woe-oh, than sha-la)

So...how is it to win the Internet for a day? ROFL!!!

Side One:

1. Aurora
2. Someday
3. I'll Never Fall In Love Again
4. Rainy Days And Mondays
5. Superstar
6. It's Going To Take Some Time

Side Two:

1. This Masquerade
2. There's A Kind Of Hush
3. B'wana She No Home
4. Two Sides
5. Now
6. Eventide

I like this one! Never thought of Someday for this but I like that it leads.

For the CD release, there would be a bonus track of:

13. My Body Keeps Changing My Mind (Giorgio Moroder Remix)

• 'cause it has a good beat and you can dance to it

C'mon! It should be "My Body Keeps Changing My Mind (A Tom Moulton Mix)". He'd get them booties-a-shakin'.

Ed

 

[Passage_Ta_C]

I have been rereading this post and the lists provided. There are some similar picks on the lists, but I like the differences between the lists too. I gives you a little glimpse (albeit, a very little glimpse) into the mind of the creator. I also like Jeff's idea of the why he picked the songs, so here are my reasons.

1. Karen's opening vocal is like the beginning of the dawn itself; beautiful and promising.
2. The opening 2 key piano twinkling, followed by the flute creates something very magical. Then you add in young Karen's voice with wistful longing of her still to develop lower register just makes me melt. The phrasing of the lines 'One day, when I am able to love you, I'll come back from wherever I've been to' stresses the longing that becomes much more evident in her future performances. It is the anthem to all of us who wanted love and were not quite ready for the emotional ride. This really could have been a big hit. It stands the test of time.
3. This song is just so bouncy. Shows the great technical prowess of the overdubs and where their strength could take us. Try not to bounce with the song, it is impossible.
4. From the very start, the harmonica lets you know you are in for something different. Karen's voice just crystallizes in the first few lines. Her vocals have begun to hit their stride. This takes me back to the Seventies and that voice coming across the airwaves, so much more than 'Close To You' did.
5. More longing and a harp intro, more of something different. Nothing like pure music. This could not be called vanilla by any sense of the word. The strength and power of her voice increasing by leaps and bounds.
6. Great piano intro and good use of overdubs. More flute and a seemingly simplistic melody, although making something simple is actually complex. Just great music.
7. Great soul intro, you just slide into the song. Showcases the vocal acrobatics Karen is capable of; she just takes on a great jazzy journey.
8. A fun experiment to blending styles, pop, country, and easy listening. Possibly where vanilla came from, but there is so much more here than people give them credit for.
9. More experimenting and a more contemporary sound. Could have been remixed into a great dance classic. Karen does good things with her voice and really develops a different style for herself. Shows she was not just one type of singer.
10. Another musical journey with a country twist. Shows the development of her vocal skills and phrasing.
11. Her last recording is a great view of the subtleties of a fading light. It may not be as bright as it once was, but light is never out until the final breath. Her longing and grasp of emotion is still so evident in the depths she takes us. She left us way to early and still had it in the end. More flute and that ending 'now'. Gives me chills.
12. A perfect closing to a great career. This and Aurora create the encapsulation of her career from beginning to end (dawn to dusk, so to speak).

My bonus track:
13. An underrated gem that I feel would have been a great dance club hit and skyrocketed her, singly, and CarpenterS, again, into the charts. As I said in my previous post, it really has a good beat and you can shake your booty to it. What more could you ask for.

Seasons Greetings to you all!

Tracey