Carpenters Ultimate Collection (32 bit Remastered)

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andywithaz

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What is this I hear about a foreign release of an Ultimate Collection that has Carpenters, Karen Carpenter, and Richard Carpenter solo songs on it?

Sorry if this has been covered but I didn't see it anywhere else.
 
raz42289 said:
What is this I hear about a foreign release of an Ultimate Collection that has Carpenters, Karen Carpenter, and Richard Carpenter solo songs on it?

Sorry if this has been covered but I didn't see it anywhere else.

Hi Andrew,

There's a mention of this on Richard's official site though none of us here have been able track it down. It's supposed to be a Netherlands release.

http://www.richardandkarencarpenter.com/news-5.htm

Harry
 
The CARPENTERS ULTIMATE COLLECTION can be ordered here from Amazon.com.

Amazon's description is:

32bit Digitally Remastered Anthology from the 70's Superstar Brother and Sister Duo who Ruled the Top of the Pop Charts for the First Half of the Decade. With Karen's Angelic Voice Up Front and Richard's Melodic Harmony, their Vocal Blend was Simply Irresistable and Created a Long String of Chart Hits that Includes "Close to You", "we've Only Just Begun", "Rainy Days and Mondays", "Top of the World", "Sing", "Yesterday Once More", "Only Yesterday" and Many More. Those Hits also Brought Acclaim to the Composers as Well Like Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Paul Williams and Leon Russell. As Fans of their More Rocking Contemporaries, They Incorporated the Obscure with Klaatu's "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" Into their Repertoire. This Collection's Third Disc features a Special Selection of Tracks from Richard and Karen's Solo Albums.

It's release date is listed as March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, and is an import, which means that delivery to your address could take a bit longer than Amazon's usual service.

The track listing of this set is:

1. Ticket To Ride
2. (They Long To Be) Close To You
3. We've Only Just Begun
4. For All We Know
5. Rainy Days & Mondays
6. Superstar
7. Bless The Beasts & Children
8. Hurting Each Other
9. It's Going To Take Some Time
10. Goodbye To Love
11. Top Of The World
12. I Won't Last A Day Without You
13. Sing
14. Yesterday Once More
15. This Masquerade
16. Jambalaya (On The Bayou)
17. Please Mr Postman
18. Desperado
19. Only Yesterday
20. Solitaire
21. There's A Kind Of Hush
22. I Need To Be In Love
23. Goofus
24. All You Get From Love Is A Love Song
25. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft
26. Sweet Sweet Smile
27. I Believe You
28. Touch Me When We're Dancing
29. (Want You) Back In My Life Again
30. Those Good Old Dreams
31. Beechwood 4-5789
32. Now
33. Make Believe It's Your First Time
34. Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again
35. Lovelines (Karen Carpenter)
36. If I Had You (Karen Carpenter)
37. Still Crazy After All These Years (Karen Carpenter)
38. When Time Was All We Had (Richard Carpenter)
39. Calling Your Name Again (Richard Carpenter)
40. Sandy (Richard Carpenter)
41. Karen's Theme (Richard Carpenter)

There's not any album artwork yet - but watch this space - someone will come up with it sooner or later.

Harry
 
Now, since these are all of the single releases, we have to wonder if any of these will be unique single mixes, don't we?

Of note is that this is the first time to my knowledge that "Goofus" has made it onto a compilation set (not counting that massive 6-disc SWEET MEMORY Japanese set).

Harry
...wanting more details, online...
 
Seems like more songs could have fit on 3 disks... I haven't added it up, but you'd think they could have gotten at least 55 or so songs in. Nice lineup of the singles though.
 
I think the first two are the main discs, will be full, and all "Carpenters". The third disc is considered a bonus with the solo stuff on it.

Harry
 
That's one HELL of a collection, I have to get that when it comes out!

If you look, from track 1 to 31, they have included every single 45 release of the Carpenters' catalogue (wisely omitting the Christmas ones). Finally we have a true Singles collection!! And everything looks to be perfectly in chronological order too . Why couldn't A&M or Richard come up with this before now? I think the only additional songs are 'Desperado' and 'This Masquerade'.

I wonder if the solo Karen tracks are the original versions or the remixes? I think they should have included 'My Body Keeps Changing My Mind' after 'If I Had You' though, those go great together like Richard had them on the box set . I love the sound and feel of Karen's album but personally I hope this includes the remixed versions of those songs. They have a warmer feel to them and Karen's voice is right where it should be - up front.

I also don't think it was a good idea to put Sandy on at the end, it means the set finishes with not one, but two instrumentals. They could easily have squeezed in one of his more funky tracks from his solo album like Say Yeah or Who Do You Love. Or even I'm Still Not Over You.

Still, these are minor quibbles. It will be great for Carpenters fans to hear a selection of their respective solo efforts. I get the impression the 3rd disc might start with the posthumous releases ('Now' onwards), because it would be a waste to have a third disc with only 6 or 7 songs on it.

Stephen
 
Richard Carpenter, on his site, wrote:
Universal Music Netherlands recently released "Carpenters Ultimate Collection" on 3 cds, the first two arranged chronologically, and the third is a "bonus" with 7 tracks from Richard's and Karen's solo albums, including Richard's "TIME".

So the third disc does contain only 7 tracks - a bonus disc.

Harry
 
So this would only be a bonus to the folks in the Netherlands, correct? Because to the US, having the solo works of both Richard and Karen are not considered bonus material, both have been released here.

It will be interesting to see if these are remixes or original singles.

I wonder if we can find it cheaper than $27.00 anywhere.
 
Well, if WE buy it - then it's a bonus for us, too!

I guess even though the disc contains previously released material, it's considered "bonus" because it's solo material, not "Carpenters", and this is a "Carpenters" compilation.

It would seem that Richard was at least aware of this one, as it appeared on the official site first. Maybe he had some involvement and we'll get some nifty mixes.

Harry
 
ahh, what the heck, my order already been placed, can't wait to find out if these are remixes or original single verisons. Hopefully there will be some explanation why Richard chose to have these certain songs on the bonus cd, it will be interesting to see if there is a detailed insert booklet.
 
Harry said:
Of note is that this is the first time to my knowledge that "Goofus" has made it onto a compilation set (not counting that massive 6-disc SWEET MEMORY Japanese set).

Harry
...wanting more details, online...
There was a compilation LP which contained "Goofus", probably in late 70's, one of versions "Singles: 1974-1978". Peter may remember the discussion about this.

Sakura
 
I believe "Goofus" was also put onto an "A&M Gold" Japanese compilation in the early 1990's. It had a lot of those non-expected tracks.
 
I'll check the A&M GOLD SERIES when I get home. It's a two-disc set, not the later one that was also STARTRAX in Australia.

I don't think "Goofus" was ever on a SINGLES 74-78 disc, unless it was one from another country that didn't conform to the main release. With the number of Carpenters compilations that have ever appeared, ANYTHING's possible.

Harry
 
It's not on my copy of THE SINGLES 1974-1978. I'm so excited about this new release. And your right, Harry, the first volume is the same that was released as STARTRAX in Australia.
 
"Goofus" is not on the old original A&M Gold Series discs either.

I'm going to open anther thread with the details of those two discs, since I've rarely run into anyone who's got these.

Harry
 
Amazon keeps pushing out the street date of this title. Originally, they had it at March 17th, yesterday it said March 21st, and today it's listed as March 22nd.

I guess it's tough with imports to get this information correct.

Harry
 
I wonder if A&M in the Netherlands doesn't ship it out until the release date and then we must wait for them to arrive at amazon and then wait for them to arrive at our homes. I've always wondered that.
 
Yeah I noticed the push date too Harry. Does anyone else find it weird that there is still no cover anywhere? I was looking online for it last night, even on some Holland CD stores online and nothing.

I am dying to find out what the cover looks like. If anyone finds it please post it here. Thanks
 
Oh lord, I hope that that is not the cover. It's like GOLD + A&M CLASSICS, v2 merged into one.

I won't be surprised.

Thanks for the link, Laura.
 
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