davidgra
Active Member
There's always a lot of discussion regarding the unreleased recordings still in the vaults. I read an interview with Richard Carpenter that was done several years ago, where the interviewer asked Richard about the infamous "Buried Treasure" list that shows all the recordings in A&M's vaults that had not been released at that time.
I made notes on which songs from that list were actually songs with a lead from Karen. Here's a summary of what Richard acknowledged from that:
"All My Life" -- complete lead, perfect
"All Good Things Don't Have to End" -- incomplete lead
"Magic In the Music" -- either partial or complete lead, but Richard hates it
"Won't You Play a Simple Melody" -- complete song, with Karen and Richard's parents. Richard said he might release this someday
"Come and Be Kind" -- incomplete lead
"Peter Pan Moon" -- incomplete lead, but Karen and Richard loved this song
"Better World" -- possibly has complete lead, but wasn't Carpenters-like so they never did anything with it
"Don't Leave Me" -- done for the CARPENTERS album but Richard doesn't like their rendition of it (even though he likes the song)
"Try and Win a Friend" -- has a complete lead, could be usable in the future
"Why Don't They Understand" -- has a complete lead
Those were the only songs I noted that Richard had commented on as containing a lead from Karen. Many of the songs on the "Bured Treasures" list were songs recorded by other artists (B.L. Mitchell, Ella Fitzgerald, John Davidson, etc.), or songs that were just tracks with no vocal.
So many of the "outtakes" from 1976-1981 couldn't be finished, as they have no lead vocals. From the sound of it, there really are only a handful of tracks on the list that could still be used.
But, by completing the songs listed here, adding a few of the unused songs from the television specials, and also completing some of the unfinished solo album outtakes, there really is the potential for another album...
David
I made notes on which songs from that list were actually songs with a lead from Karen. Here's a summary of what Richard acknowledged from that:
"All My Life" -- complete lead, perfect
"All Good Things Don't Have to End" -- incomplete lead
"Magic In the Music" -- either partial or complete lead, but Richard hates it
"Won't You Play a Simple Melody" -- complete song, with Karen and Richard's parents. Richard said he might release this someday
"Come and Be Kind" -- incomplete lead
"Peter Pan Moon" -- incomplete lead, but Karen and Richard loved this song
"Better World" -- possibly has complete lead, but wasn't Carpenters-like so they never did anything with it
"Don't Leave Me" -- done for the CARPENTERS album but Richard doesn't like their rendition of it (even though he likes the song)
"Try and Win a Friend" -- has a complete lead, could be usable in the future
"Why Don't They Understand" -- has a complete lead
Those were the only songs I noted that Richard had commented on as containing a lead from Karen. Many of the songs on the "Bured Treasures" list were songs recorded by other artists (B.L. Mitchell, Ella Fitzgerald, John Davidson, etc.), or songs that were just tracks with no vocal.
So many of the "outtakes" from 1976-1981 couldn't be finished, as they have no lead vocals. From the sound of it, there really are only a handful of tracks on the list that could still be used.
But, by completing the songs listed here, adding a few of the unused songs from the television specials, and also completing some of the unfinished solo album outtakes, there really is the potential for another album...
David