đź“Ł News Carpenters With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

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Richard is so anal and OCD about their legacy that I don’t for a second think he’d want the catalogue stripped down and reconstructed. Not unless a) he was in charge of the entire project, b) the new arrangements were his and c) he supervised and conducted the entire thing.

I posted the above in the thread about whether there will be a 50th anniversary release. Judging from the picture he posted on Instagram, it looks like I was right on at least c) above if not a) and b) as well :)

Richard Carpenter on Instagram: “Excited to announce that I will be working with @universalmusicgroup and the Royal Philharmonic orchestra on a compilation album of…”
 
Let's not forget that when Colin posted one of the photos, he described it as Dad working on Christmas music ...

I promise I don't mean to hate but I don't think we'll ever see that Christmas album unless Richard puts it out himself. No one will care about a Richard Carpenter project. They didn't in 1987 and they don't now.

Ed
 
I'm so excited to see what songs will be on it. Here are some I think will sound great with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra treatment:

-Yesterday Once More
-Close To You
-Look To Your Dreams
-Superstar
-Where Do I Go From Here
-I Won't Last A Day Without You
-Solitaire
-I Need To Be In Love
-Hurting Each Other
-Goodbye To Love
-Rainy Days And Mondays
-One Love
-Touch Me When We're Dancing
-I Just Fall In Love Again

Maybe even an unheard track with Karen on vocals, this would be a great place to put it.
 
Though sort of exciting, one of the recurring themes/criticisms of the band's later albums is the arrangements - too many strings and orchestrialness. Won't this sort of be the same thing only with even more strings, etc.??
 
There would also be an opportunity to concentrate on more of the Standards, as well as the Hits! I would even welcome a double CD!
 
Though sort of exciting, one of the recurring themes/criticisms of the band's later albums is the arrangements - too many strings and orchestrialness. Won't this sort of be the same thing only with even more strings, etc.??

Not necessarily. In many cases the RPO treatment, completed with new rhythm sections, have brought old songs to life. Listen to the selections below. I'm sure the Carpenters album will be a mix of ballads with a few uptempo tracks from their catalogue. Who knows, he might even throw in one of Karen's solo tracks for special measure. Didn't he say some time ago that he'd love to finish off Something's Missing? :)



 
Just heard from a friend from Downey who says that Richard has been working long, hard hours on this project and he is very enthusiastic about it. Seems like he really is putting a lot into this... When I emailed a couple of months ago, his assistant said he can't answer any questions because he is busy working on a project. I think it's safe to say that we can expect something very special and magic in every sense of the word.
 
This is fantastic news, though in all honesty, I`m not totally surprised by this, as given the other work they`ve done, this was just a matter of time!
I`m willing to bet, this will be the most popular and best selling of the series so far, but we`ll see. I think the Elvis one is the best selling so far.
 
Let's not forget that when Colin posted one of the photos, he described it as Dad working on Christmas music ...

That could still be accurate. We don't know the track list yet. It's possible that there could be a Christmas song or two thrown in the mix given that it is one of the things for which they are best known to modern audiences.
 
It's possible that there could be a Christmas song or two thrown in the mix given that it is one of the things for which they are best known to modern audiences.

I don’t think they are - they’re known for their greatest hits. Few people nowadays even know they put out entire Christmas albums back in the day.
 
Maybe in the UK, but here in the States, I think almost everyone has heard some of their Christmas music or seen the discs. I could be wrong though.
 
just been looking at the photos on Richards instagram and couldn't believe this photo, what the hell was going on here with him?
it`s not the first time I`ve looked at how skinny Richard is sometimes, in a lot of photos and in their videos. it surprises me sometimes how it`s Karen that always gets talked about regarding her weight issues, but I`ve never seen anyone mention Richard!

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On FB, there is a vinyl company putting out The Beach Boys with the Royal Philharmonic on orange vinyl. Double album.

Maybe Gold for the Carpenters to celebrate 50 years???
 
The idea of the RPO alone makes me smile!
Once again we'll see Karen grace store shelves again.

The C's will be back--in a way.
Expect promotion, interviews, maybe some behind-the-scenes of this process.
How cool is it that Richard saw this trend of the RPO working on legacy collections,
and said "yes!"?? So awesome during this period in time when physical releases are dwindling.

Older acts still put out new music, but they have to tour and go through the whole rigmarole.
Considering where the industry is today and everything... this is the right opportunity.
If there is an additional Christmas release with new music that's gravy folks!

I can't celebrate too early, but this is the best news I've read basically since the entire time I've been on Carpenters forums. I started on these kinds of sites in 2007. By that point everything was out. There were no surprises to be had really. It was complaints about The Carpenters image, choices they made and how Richard was this boulder in the way of releasing new music. For the first time, I'll get to experience a re-imagined release with you all!
"One more time... for the good times." :)

If the stories of "Trying to get the feeling" or "Rainbow Connection" showed me anything it's that he still had it in him.
With songs like "All those years ago" and "The Reply"... he said he "kept coming up with these things."
The desire to create doesn't just up and leave a guy like that. I bet now that his kids are starting lives of their own it's much easier for him. Doing podcasts, participating in documentaries or Jay Leno's garage wasn't too taxing, but to gear up for career preservation is something he wants to give full energy.
Now is the ideal time to do it.

I'm happy for him that he came around to this after the "all done" comment.
This is exciting and goes to show that RC didn't forget about us.
He knows full well what The Carpenters mean to people.
It'll be an honor to hear something newly done after all these years.
 
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just been looking at the photos on Richards instagram and couldn't believe this photo, what the hell was going on here with him?
it`s not the first time I`ve looked at how skinny Richard is sometimes, in a lot of photos and in their videos. it surprises me sometimes how it`s Karen that always gets talked about regarding her weight issues, but I`ve never seen anyone mention Richard!

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This must have been during his Quaalude addition. He's a stick here. Karen doesn't look amazing either. This must have been 1978-ish maybe?

Ed
 
It'd be interesting to see if the stellar performance of their "Nations Favourite" album two years ago green-lit this.

Praying for some alternate vocal takes. And perhaps Now sans choir as a gift to the fans????
 
I would think that any alternate vocal takes or even any unreleased tracks would be out of place on a release of this sort. I would think Richard would want to use the best of the best with a known orchestra as this and the studio recordings would be what he’d accept.

I’d bet any bonus track might appear as a well known Christmas track such as MCD.
 
just been looking at the photos on Richards instagram and couldn't believe this photo, what the hell was going on here with him?
it`s not the first time I`ve looked at how skinny Richard is sometimes, in a lot of photos and in their videos. it surprises me sometimes how it`s Karen that always gets talked about regarding her weight issues, but I`ve never seen anyone mention Richard!

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I am just looking at Richard's Instagram here ====> Richard Carpenter (@richardcarpenterofficial) • Instagram photos and videos
and no where on that page do I see the picture above on that site as you state "just been looking at the photos on Richards instagram and couldn't believe this photo, what the hell was going on here with him?"
Could you please clarify where you actually saw the above picture? I only see 11 posts and that picture is not included on that page. Thank you.
 
This must have been during his Quaalude addition. He's a stick here. Karen doesn't look amazing either. This must have been 1978-ish maybe?

Ed

I seem to recall that this may have been taken during their tour of the UK in late 1976 - that date certainly fits better with Karen's appearance compared to how she looked in 1978. Richard looked somewhat gaunt in their performance that was filmed at the New London Theatre, so that would tally with how he looks in this photo.
 
I've said a lot already. To add, I'm not disappointed by this in any way. I won't be.
Regardless if a "deep cut" gets the re-polished 2018-19 remix treatment or not.

It's true that other artists [Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Elvis and Aretha] had some lesser known tracks re-made.
Reasonably, with as many top ten hits that the C's had those would take up the majority of the track-listing.
So, compilations like "Love Songs" (1997), "Gold" (2004) or "ICON" (2014) would be good indicators.

From "Ticket to Ride" I can't imagine any more than a few being considered from there.
The title track and maybe something like "All of my life."
Obviously, "We've only just begun" and "Close to you" would be higher on The C's with the RPO list of things to do.
"Superstar," "Rainydays," and "For all we know" would be must haves.
God only knows how many times "Superstar" has been remixed by this point! :nut: That's commitment to quality right there.

"Top of the world" could get the treatment with a longer opening like on Richard's 1997 instrumental album.
"Hurting" and "Goodbye to love" would be good contenders as well. Though, I never thought of how a fuzz guitar will work with an orchestra. hahah We'll see!!

Horizon is remembered for being the "draggy album."
Probably "Only yesterday" or "Solitaire" would make it from there.

"Yesterday once more" would be lovely to hear done for this, and one Richard's consistently felt proud of over the years.
Same with "I need to be in love." They're his babies so of course why not re-do these?! They'd sound beautiful.

"Calling Occupants" would feel a bit out of place, so "I just fall in love again" from Passage would seem like a good fit.
They'll flip a coin and decide. :razz:
Something from MIA like "Touch me" would probably make it too.

That's already coming up to a count of 14 just from their big ones!
Typically RPO albums runs for about that many tracks.


Some of The C's songs are hard to imagine having new orchestration add that much. "When I fall in love" or "Look to your dreams" would make for a nice remix, but those already sound fine the way they are.

I could hear "Now" getting this treatment. That would be very nice for Karen's legacy that it has a chance to get the reception it deserves. That would be my one wish for this album, but I won't count on it.

Idk about the posthumous stuff honestly. I assume, "Your baby" or "Rainbow Connection" would be further down their list of considerations.

My point is, they're going by stuff you can hear orchestrated and what sells, right? Not saying it's impossible, but I don't think RPH will feel the need to dig too deep. It depends on how Richard feels too. He's felt guilt about posthumous stuff, so more-than-not he'll stick to stuff they released as a duo.

I can't be too sure, but even if this is comprised of just "the big ones" I'm a happy camper! :)
 
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