Navy Presents or Sounds Like The Navy?

I was listening to both discs of this program over the past few days. Boy, compared to some radio programs that I have from the late 80’s (1987-1990) on LP, the sound quality is rough. A lot of the tracks seem to have been remixed to allow for playback on both mono stations and stereo. Maybe they were processed in the CSG process. But then again, Sam Riddle was probably using transcription discs or specially prepared LP’s, that were at least 1 analog generation away from the master tapes. Even “Ticket To Ride”, which is the 1969 version, sounds like the stereo version was reprocessed for this show so that it sounded ok on both mono and stereo stations. It doesn’t sound like he was using tape. Of course I think the one exception might’ve been “Flat Baroque” which was from ‘Your Navy Presents’.

I also found it interesting how, by 1971, they were still being Presented as Karen and Richard as the leads of the group, since there were a few Richard leads, like “Flat Baroque & I Kept On Loving You”.
 
Most of the live recordings were taped in Studio C at A&M and mixed for the show.


My friend Alana Voeller's father produced the program, so I can ask her to see what she remembers. I also acquired high-res scans of the master tapes and boxes from Richard. I'll check it out when I get home and see what other info I can find on this one.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if the Carpenters and the Sam Riddle stuff was recorded at separate times in different studios. It just sounds so scripted - on both ends.

The quality of those record pressings was always variable. They were distributed to radio for a one-time only airing, usually on Sunday mornings.

I have a disc with Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 from a few years earlier. The whole disc is full of drop-outs, variable levels, - and the musical parts were taken from records - but only the right channel!

I'm pretty sure these were all made in mono in those early days. Stereo FM was still a sort-of newish thing, and AM was all mono, so it was likely that the programs were all mono.

If you listen to the "Get Together" track on FROM THE TOP or ESSENTIAL, it sounds to me as if Richard had that track "stereo-ized" with some reverb trails in one or both channels.
 
What was their obsession with Cinderella Rockafeller in the early days and does anyone know the story of how/why they came to include it in their early live shows?
Having seen the Australia concert on YouTube, I thought maybe it was an early attempt to get Karen out from behind the drums, and with Doug to help out, bringing her personality to the audience. Only idea I came up with. It was a novelty song and others were performing them in the 70s. But a single - ugh. Must be more to it.
 
What was their obsession with Cinderella Rockafeller in the early days and does anyone know the story of how/why they came to include it in their early live shows?

The whole deal with Rockafella was that it was a trifle they'd thrown together in around 1970, along with Watermelon Man, Let it Be Me and Can't Buy Me Love.

They hit so fast around the time they played Tahoe as "Close to You" was becoming a smash — playing three sets per night, that they had to fill them up with material... quickly!

It wasn't meant to be serious. They just had to do what they had to do, which was a common theme for much of the material on the earlier albums as well, unfortunately.
 
The whole deal with Rockafella was that it was a trifle they'd thrown together in around 1970, along with Watermelon Man, Let it Be Me and Can't Buy Me Love.

They hit so fast around the time they played Tahoe as "Close to You" was becoming a smash — playing three sets per night, that they had to fill them up with material... quickly!

It wasn't meant to be serious. They just had to do what they had to do, which was a common theme for much of the material on the earlier albums as well, unfortunately.
"Let It Be Me" as in the Everly Brothers record?
 
The whole deal with Rockafella was that it was a trifle they'd thrown together in around 1970, along with Watermelon Man, Let it Be Me and Can't Buy Me Love.

They hit so fast around the time they played Tahoe as "Close to You" was becoming a smash — playing three sets per night, that they had to fill them up with material... quickly!

It wasn't meant to be serious. They just had to do what they had to do, which was a common theme for much of the material on the earlier albums as well, unfortunately.

Oh great! Now the scavenger hunt is on for video/film and/or audio of Watermelon Man and Let It Be Me. I guess I have my marching orders for the next half-decade!
 
The whole deal with Rockafella was that it was a trifle they'd thrown together in around 1970, along with Watermelon Man, Let it Be Me and Can't Buy Me Love.

They hit so fast around the time they played Tahoe as "Close to You" was becoming a smash — playing three sets per night, that they had to fill them up with material... quickly!

It wasn't meant to be serious. They just had to do what they had to do, which was a common theme for much of the material on the earlier albums as well, unfortunately.
Yikes! That’s big news indeed.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if the Carpenters and the Sam Riddle stuff was recorded at separate times in different studios. It just sounds so scripted - on both ends.

The quality of those record pressings was always variable. They were distributed to radio for a one-time only airing, usually on Sunday mornings.

I have a disc with Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 from a few years earlier. The whole disc is full of drop-outs, variable levels, - and the musical parts were taken from records - but only the right channel!

I'm pretty sure these were all made in mono in those early days. Stereo FM was still a sort-of newish thing, and AM was all mono, so it was likely that the programs were all mono.

If you listen to the "Get Together" track on FROM THE TOP or ESSENTIAL, it sounds to me as if Richard had that track "stereo-ized" with some reverb trails in one or both channels.
Both of my LP’s state “Compatible with Stereo” and there are clearly stereo effects, but not as much as on the original LP’s.
 
That means that you can play the record with a stereo cartridge. The stereo you think you hear is just noise or added reverb.
 
I see that Your Navy Presents has been bootlegged, like the Karen Carpenter unreleased tracks, by the same guys. It looks really good, but not at $109-119, depending on Discogs or EBay. The quality of their vinyl is on par with the UMe pressings.
 
I see that Your Navy Presents has been bootlegged, like the Karen Carpenter unreleased tracks, by the same guys. It looks really good, but not at $109-119, depending on Discogs or EBay. The quality of their vinyl is on par with the UMe pressings.
Just curious. How do you tell if the LP is a vinyl boot?
 
Check it out yourself on EBay. It’s too perfect, label a bit different and program attachment on the cover is new. Not faded. On Discogs it’s a set or you can buy record 1 or record 2. These guys have been selling bootlegs for about 2-3 years. Karen Carpenter Message In A Bottle one example. They sometimes say manufactured in Canada. Ships from Michigan or Las Vegas, etc. Goes by Kavenaugh? on YouTube.
 
Check it out yourself on EBay. It’s too perfect, label a bit different and program attachment on the cover is new. Not faded. On Discogs it’s a set or you can buy record 1 or record 2. These guys have been selling bootlegs for about 2-3 years. Karen Carpenter Message In A Bottle one example. They sometimes say manufactured in Canada. Ships from Michigan or Las Vegas, etc. Goes by Kavenaugh? on YouTube.
Thanks. I see what you mean. I wish Richard would release this set, but he may not own the rights or may not like the quality of the recordings. From what little I’ve heard, the songs are quite good considering the raw recordings.
 
They are. A friend made me a cd from his vinyl years ago. I have a cassette tape from another Carpenters fan. A couple of the cuts are really funny. I doubt Richard would release it at all…..
 
The quality of the early Navy recordings isn't very good to start with. They were made with the idea of being played on the radio, usually early Sunday mornings, to give the radio station credit for public service programming. They were really just recruitment tools for the branches of the service.

The original records didn't sound very good, fidelity-wise, so these fake pressings can only be as good as that. Supporting bootleggers and counterfeiters is never a good idea. It really irks me that people want to profit off of someone else's work.

I don't own these records, but I have the content in my collection. It's easy enough to find these recordings and save a copy for yourself.
 
Thanks. I see what you mean. I wish Richard would release this set, but he may not own the rights or may not like the quality of the recordings. From what little I’ve heard, the songs are quite good considering the raw recordings.

I’ve got the “Sounds Like The Navy” 2-disc set and each of the 4 programs is only 15 minutes in length. If they only offer one disc with all 4 programs, they’ve compressed the audio to fit 2 programs on one side.

As for audio quality, as Richard noted in “From The Top/The Essential Collection” on ‘Get Together’, there are audio issues with the tape masters. And the studio tracks appear to have been modified by either having CSG or a mix that would work in both mono and stereo (the discs are labelled “Compatible Stereo” so stations could use both mono and stereo needles, but it might mean other mods).

I just got in the mail today a copy of the Carpenters “Sounds Like The Navy”. Couple of interesting things:

-in comparison to what is on “From The Top”, the Carpenters comments have been edited (in one section you can even hear the record with Karen’s answer having a few loud pops) and in some cases are sayings that were not in the original interview and Sam Riddle is reading a very different script.

-“Flat Baroque” is a version that I have never heard before. I’ve never heard it on CD, but it seems to be from a needle drop. Possible the “Your Navy Presents” version. The other tracks on Program 1 appear to be modified albums cuts, and by modified, it sounds like they were processed by A&M with either CSG or mixed more to the Center to give the songs that mono sound but still have some stereo. The record does say “Compatible with stereo” so I guess they were making sure that the record was mono compatible for AM stations but could also be played on FM stereo stations.

-The sound quality is ok. But that’s to be expected when you are dealing with a record where you are a great number of analog copies away from the originals. Sam Riddle was probably using carts or vinyl copies that A&M had sent over to make his master and not the original masters (except for “Flat Baroque” which he probably owned).

-“All I Can Do” From ‘Offering’ opens and closes each program with Sam Riddle talking over the ‘wah-ah-ah-ah’ section.


-
 
And a reminder that there were two different Sam Riddle sets of programs. The second one used canned music from their records for all tracks, while the first one was very early in their career and they were still doing the "Cinderella Rockefeller" and "Sacre Bleu" stuff.
 
I listened through the entire set of Your Navy Presents tracks years ago but the material didn’t do all that much for me. Some of the tracks are the studio versions and the others are ok but not really anything more than a “one time listen” curiosity piece. The one outstanding performance that has always stuck with me is the medley of “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing/All I Can Do”. The segue between the two is just sublime and it’s a rare treat to hear Karen perform both album tracks at the drums. I would have loved it if that had been on the box set.
 
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