Richard Performing at EPCOT

Mark it's possible he performed Carpenters Fantasia at Epcot.

Here is what the newsletter said:
Newsletter #84 July 1985
"He will be performing at EPCOT Center in Orlando, Florida on July 19th, 20th and 21st. Included in the program will be an all new 15 minute Carpenters' medley scored for piano and orchestra"

What's interesting about the 1985 15 min medley is that in the newsletter for 1986 it says Richard performed a Carpenters Fantasia with the Garden Grove Symphony. There is a video on u tube of this recording. The Carpenters Fantasia is about 15-17 mins.

Newsletter #85 February 1986
"The next evening Frank Pooler and his choir again joined Richard when he performed with the Garden Grove Symphony Orchestra. m addition to the "Fantasia", Richard performed "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue", "Warsaw Concerto", "My Favorite Things", and "Star Wars/Close Encounters". The orchestra is under the direction of Richard's long time chum, Edward Peterson. Moines raised from the concert will benefit the Garden Grove orchestra. The evening was entitled "We've Only Just Begun" and was dedicated to Karen memory"

This u tube video says 1985 but according to the newsletter it was 1986. The album has the direction of Edward Peterson who is mentioned in the newsletter.
 
Mark, to be honest I don't even know if that u tube video is really from that 1986 performance and it's possible that album cover was photoshopped or designed and not even real. Someone can chime in that knows if it's real or not. Now that I'm looking at the u tubers account. lol Sorry.
 
Mark it's possible he performed Carpenters Fantasia at Epcot.

Here is what the newsletter said:
Newsletter #84 July 1985
"He will be performing at EPCOT Center in Orlando, Florida on July 19th, 20th and 21st. Included in the program will be an all new 15 minute Carpenters' medley scored for piano and orchestra"

What's interesting about the 1985 15 min medley is that in the newsletter for 1986 it says Richard performed a Carpenters Fantasia with the Garden Grove Symphony. There is a video on u tube of this recording. The Carpenters Fantasia is about 15-17 mins.

Newsletter #85 February 1986
"The next evening Frank Pooler and his choir again joined Richard when he performed with the Garden Grove Symphony Orchestra. m addition to the "Fantasia", Richard performed "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue", "Warsaw Concerto", "My Favorite Things", and "Star Wars/Close Encounters". The orchestra is under the direction of Richard's long time chum, Edward Peterson. Moines raised from the concert will benefit the Garden Grove orchestra. The evening was entitled "We've Only Just Begun" and was dedicated to Karen memory"

This u tube video says 1985 but according to the newsletter it was 1986. The album has the direction of Edward Peterson who is mentioned in the newsletter.


Rick!!! 😃 Thanks so much for finding/sharing that bit of audio, I've been hoping for quite some time to be able to hear it,'cause I know it was on some album (it's been discussed here before: Richard Carpenter album not sold in stores! and Audio: Richard Carpenter 1985 Garden Grove ? )

What a wonderful tribute to their music, it made me smile a big smile (and gave me chills too). Richard played some classical music too, would love to have heard that!

This Garden Grove concert was in California on October 20, 1985 (apparently not mentioned in the newsletter until early '86?).
A few clippings here:

Ad in Los Angeles Times, September 1985

Interview with Richard in Los Angeles Times, Oct. 18 1985 (with photo)

Review and interview w/Richard in Los Angeles Times, Oct. 22 1985 (part 1, with photo)
Review and interview w/Richard in Los Angeles Times, Oct. 22 1985 (part 2)


I have no idea though what the album cover looked like...

Greg
 
Since today is the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World, I was wondering if anyone had a video or photo of RC performing at EPCOT.
Thanks!
Mark
Mark, I'm sure that somebody must have taken photos of Richard's performance there. He appeared there several times actually, between 1984 and 1987 (maybe later as well??). All of those dates I could find are on the Setlist.fm website. If a relevant article was still fairly legible (clippings that are too "wide" can be hard to read due to lower resolution), then I've included it in the comments section.

In here Richard mentions his EPCOT Center appearance:
Clipping from The Daily Oklahoman, September 15 1985

And a photo of Richard behind the piano, but I'm not sure if it was taken a previous year at EPCOT? :
Clipping from News-Press (Fort Myers, FLA), August 13, 1986

Greg
 
Rick!!! 😃 Thanks so much for finding/sharing that bit of audio, I've been hoping for quite some time to be able to hear it,'cause I know it was on some album (it's been discussed here before: Richard Carpenter album not sold in stores! and Audio: Richard Carpenter 1985 Garden Grove ? )

What a wonderful tribute to their music, it made me smile a big smile (and gave me chills too). Richard played some classical music too, would love to have heard that!

This Garden Grove concert was in California on October 20, 1985 (apparently not mentioned in the newsletter until early '86?).
A few clippings here:

Ad in Los Angeles Times, September 1985

Interview with Richard in Los Angeles Times, Oct. 18 1985 (with photo)

Review and interview w/Richard in Los Angeles Times, Oct. 22 1985 (part 1, with photo)
Review and interview w/Richard in Los Angeles Times, Oct. 22 1985 (part 2)


I have no idea though what the album cover looked like...

Greg
The front cover of this album is a "flipped", reverse copy of Richard's photo on the back of Voice Of The Heart.
 
Is this Garden Grove LP on Discogs? If not someone needs to upload this front and back and any inserts.
Thanks for all the clips Greg and clarification on dates...great reading!!
 
I saw on iTunes this week that Brian Wilson is doing a very similar project to Richard’s new piano album, to be released in mid November titled “At My Piano”. It has songs he wrote for himself, and The Beach Boys on it. Interesting, and or coincidental?
 
The Garden Grove album:
Side 1. Carpenters Piano Fantasia 15:53
Arranged by Peter Knight w/University Singers of CSULB Frank Pooler Choral Director
Side 2. Warsaw Concerto 8:43
Capriccio Espagnol, Op34 10:10
Recorded October 20, 1985 at Don Walsh Auditorium Garden Grove, Ca.
Released in 1987
I bought 1, and Richard gave everyone an autographed copy at the dinner afterwards. I believe they were $10.00
I traded the spare for something on EBay over 20 years ago…
They give A&M credit for the front cover photo of Richard.
He also signed one of my Offering album covers, and my Goodbye To Love sheet music at the dinner. My favorite pic of Carpenters, still today.
 
The Garden Grove album:
Side 1. Carpenters Piano Fantasia 15:53
Arranged by Peter Knight w/University Singers of CSULB Frank Pooler Choral Director
Side 2. Warsaw Concerto 8:43
Capriccio Espagnol, Op34 10:10
Recorded October 20, 1985 at Don Walsh Auditorium Garden Grove, Ca.
Released in 1987
I bought 1, and Richard gave everyone an autographed copy at the dinner afterwards. I believe they were $10.00
I traded the spare for something on EBay over 20 years ago…
They give A&M credit for the front cover photo of Richard.
He also signed one of my Offering album covers, and my Goodbye To Love sheet music at the dinner. My favorite pic of Carpenters, still today.
Sounds like an unforgettable evening! d:)b

Thanks for the track information! Does it say on the cover if Richard also played on the Rimsky-Korsakov piece (Capriccio Espagnol) ? Right now I'm listening to a random version on YouTube and so far, I haven't heard any piano yet... (nice fairytale-like/festive piece though)
 
To answer your question Walkinat9, the Capriccio Espagnol is strictly the Garden Grove Symphony. No piano. The pressing is poor btw. I’ve not played this album in decades.
BTW, Dionne was very good. Better than I expected. Can she still hit all those high notes? No, but she did well for age 80, and sang a couple of remixed, reworked cuts. She sang mostly in her lower register, and was very snappy at times with the audience. She lectured a guy in the 2nd row that was filming her performance on his phone. Then gave the audience a bit of a lecture for not applauding her small trio of musicians, piano, electric bass, and drums, with more enthusiasm. She sang for about 90 minutes, bowed and left the stage. No encore. Oh, well. Glad she still has enough left in her to perform in these uncertain days. She looked very healthy and funny at times, with a couple of stories she wanted to share.
 
Since today is the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World, I was wondering if anyone had a video or photo of RC performing at EPCOT.
Thanks!
Mark
Funny you should mention this. After emptying my mom's house a few months ago after her passing, I came across some old things of mine; and in them, were pictures from this performance back then. I kept them rather than throwing them away ( and I threw a LOT of stuff away!) and thought about scanning them and posting them here, but didn't think anyone would be interested. They aren't that great (low-light = long shutter time = blurry). Harold, Agnes, and Mary were all in the audience and I chatted with them for a bit, but don't remember if I took any pictures of them. I'll have to look through them again. I think I might even have the entertainment "flyer" from Epcot for that day which has Richard listed.
 
Funny you should mention this. After emptying my mom's house a few months ago after her passing, I came across some old things of mine; and in them, were pictures from this performance back then. I kept them rather than throwing them away ( and I threw a LOT of stuff away!) and thought about scanning them and posting them here, but didn't think anyone would be interested. They aren't that great (low-light = long shutter time = blurry). Harold, Agnes, and Mary were all in the audience and I chatted with them for a bit, but don't remember if I took any pictures of them. I'll have to look through them again. I think I might even have the entertainment "flyer" from Epcot for that day which has Richard listed.
What a gift it would be to see these!
 
To answer your question Walkinat9, the Capriccio Espagnol is strictly the Garden Grove Symphony. No piano. The pressing is poor btw. I’ve not played this album in decades.
BTW, Dionne was very good. Better than I expected. Can she still hit all those high notes? No, but she did well for age 80, and sang a couple of remixed, reworked cuts. She sang mostly in her lower register, and was very snappy at times with the audience. She lectured a guy in the 2nd row that was filming her performance on his phone. Then gave the audience a bit of a lecture for not applauding her small trio of musicians, piano, electric bass, and drums, with more enthusiasm. She sang for about 90 minutes, bowed and left the stage. No encore. Oh, well. Glad she still has enough left in her to perform in these uncertain days. She looked very healthy and funny at times, with a couple of stories she wanted to share.
Thank you for the info (still hoping to accidentally come across a copy sometime :) )
I've heard some of Dionne's more recent live performances. She may not hit those high notes anymore, but if she starts singing you know it's unmistakably DIonne d:)b Would have made a great duet with Karen, 'cause she's right in Karen's basement register nowadays :cool: (although she's been there in her younger days as well if only to accommodate a duet partner ) Boy, am I not envious of that guy in the 2nd row getting a lecture from Dionne (although, in a way, he *could* of course claim that Dionne talked to him :-p ). Same thing happened to someone in the audience when I attended a live performance by Patti Austin at a jazz festival here in Holland years ago :)
 
Funny you should mention this. After emptying my mom's house a few months ago after her passing, I came across some old things of mine; and in them, were pictures from this performance back then. I kept them rather than throwing them away ( and I threw a LOT of stuff away!) and thought about scanning them and posting them here, but didn't think anyone would be interested. They aren't that great (low-light = long shutter time = blurry). Harold, Agnes, and Mary were all in the audience and I chatted with them for a bit, but don't remember if I took any pictures of them. I'll have to look through them again. I think I might even have the entertainment "flyer" from Epcot for that day which has Richard listed.
Memories and photos to treasure... I'm glad you kept them! :righton:
 
I always thought it would've been nice if Karen had been invited to the EPCOT opening Oct 1st 82 (they invited Marie Osmond). Even she had I believe she was hospitalized at this time so wouldn't have been able to attend.
 
^^Billy, do you mind if I advertise this one ? I love this clip:

Richard Carpenter - Opening of the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center (1994)​

 

Ha. I put that video up a couple of years ago. One of those "floating-around-the-Internet" files that found its way to me. It was terribly EQ'ed to emphasize the highs. I tamed it a bit and put it up - and if this is indeed from EPCOT, I had no idea.

Oh, and another of those "Richard/Harry" overlaps. Though I never learned to play this tune, my Dad used a recording of it on one of our earliest home movies.
 
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