⭐ Official Review [Single]: 1. "TICKET TO RIDE"/"YOUR WONDERFUL PARADE" (1142)

Which side is your favorite?

  • Side A: "TICKET TO RIDE"

    Votes: 37 80.4%
  • Side B: "YOUR WONDERFUL PARADE"

    Votes: 9 19.6%

  • Total voters
    46
There has been a bit of theorizing on this matter. "Your Wonderful Parade" on all of the singles I've encountered, has a lower matrix number than "Ticket To Ride". It's as if "Parade" was at one point destined to be the a-side, with "Ticket" as its b-side. The fact that you have a double a-sided WLP promo adds weight to that theory.


Harry:

I just pulled up the 45 that has 'Your Wonderful Parade' on both sides of the vinyl. The label on one side of the WLP says 'Ticket To Ride' and the flip says 'Your Wonderful Parade', but the actual vinyl plays 'Your Wonderful Parade' on both sides. The 'Ticket' side in the run-out groove is etched with the following: ^78673-X, as well as A&M 1882-15. The flip 'Parade' side reads: A&M 1881-17, with the number '1' written over the '2'. There are no other numbers listed in the run-out groove on that side.

Hope this helps.

Bob
 
While looking for my 45-single of the song, I decided to listen to the CD of Ticket To Ride,
then I listened to the MFP LP (UK) of the album. Big difference.
Seems to me that the song Ticket To Ride, as heard on the MFP-LP ---while not being
the (re-)cut version from 1973, also has none of the "pitch" problems mentioned by Newvillefan.
Does anyone else have this LP ?
In any event, the Ticket To Ride sparkles, to my ears.
(The "B"-side, Your Wonderful Parade, I can live without. Yes, it's catchy. Simply a mediocre song to me.
It suffers from the Mr. Guder treatment--great vocals, a good arrangement, but trying to
strive to be a better song than the song itself is. IMHO).
I wonder if the UK arm mastered their tapes a little differently.

But with Karen's vocal being off, could she have been recording the song at the same time as "Sometime", and she doesn't soun good because of the cold she had?
 
Harry:

I just pulled up the 45 that has 'Your Wonderful Parade' on both sides of the vinyl. The label on one side of the WLP says 'Ticket To Ride' and the flip says 'Your Wonderful Parade', but the actual vinyl plays 'Your Wonderful Parade' on both sides. The 'Ticket' side in the run-out groove is etched with the following: ^78673-X, as well as A&M 1882-15. The flip 'Parade' side reads: A&M 1881-17, with the number '1' written over the '2'. There are no other numbers listed in the run-out groove on that side.

Hope this helps.

Bob

OK, that sounds like a pressing error. While it was originally intended to contain Ticket on one side and Parade on the other, whoever grabbed the stampers got confused by the number change from 1882 to 1881 (the 2 over the 1).

When you listen to that, do you get the short opening on one side and the long opening on the other? I ask because one of your matrix numbers more closely match Rick's ochre copy, and the other more closely matches mine.

Harry
 
That's interesting, wouldn't they have caught the error in production and tossed it out? I still think there was some confusion about what was the A side and what was to be the B side, maybe not from A&M but from the plant who ran off the 45's?
 
While looking for my 45-single of the song, I decided to listen to the CD of Ticket To Ride,
then I listened to the MFP LP (UK) of the album. Big difference.
Seems to me that the song Ticket To Ride, as heard on the MFP-LP ---while not being
the (re-)cut version from 1973, also has none of the "pitch" problems mentioned by Newvillefan.

I'm not sure what difference you were hearing (I meant to respond to this ages ago) - the track on the MFP album is exactly the same version that appeared on OFFERING/TICKET TO RIDE. Perhaps you were just enjoying the magic of vinyl!

Theoretically, it would have been possible for the MFP people to have updated the song to the 1973 version, since they used the version of "We've Only Just Begun" that was heard on SINGLES 1969-1973 with the "Close To You" intro. So that MFP album had to have been issued in the later part of the '70s.

Harry
 
That's interesting, wouldn't they have caught the error in production and tossed it out? I still think there was some confusion about what was the A side and what was to be the B side, maybe not from A&M but from the plant who ran off the 45's?

Yeah, I'll bet you're right. You'd think that's exactly what would happen. Very odd. I've seen the labels be wrong or switched (or even missing) on a single, but never the vinyl itself being wrong.
 
There are many cases of vinyl mix-ups with something odd on one side or the other.
 
I voted for Ticket To Ride. The '73 re-recording is better and my go-to version, but I also very much like the original '69 recording.

I also like Your Wonderful Parade, but for some reason I didn't start to like it until I heard the mono version. Go figure.
 
This vote actually a bit of a struggle for me, mainly because "Your Wonderful Parade" has Karen's wonderful snare drum cadence, overdubbed into a massive drum corps sound, at the end. But "Ticket to Ride" is so special that I had to vote for it. My husband had never heard the Carpenters' version till after we married, and he finds it so markedly different from the Beatles' original. The Carpenters' more melancholy take on the song resonates with its lyrics, rendering it a truer version. That's not to take away at all from the Beatles. Who could? It's just that their uptempo reading was more of its time, and true to the innovations they were bringing to pop music.
 
"Ticket to Ride" is one of the (fairly rare) occurrences when a cover version surpasses the original, at least in my opinion. I have found that usually, I prefer the version of a song I hear first the most --- hence my preference for Sergio Mendes' take on "Fool on the Hill," which I heard before I heard the Beatles version. But THIS particular song, I think, lyrically seems more like a ballad than a rocker -- I think even if I'd heard the Beatles version first, I would still prefer the Carpenters version. I can listen to either the '69 or the '73 version and enjoy them both.

"Your Wonderful Parade" is a nice song but I can't say it's a standout tune for me. I like it, and it makes a nice intro to the album after the somberish "Invocation," and I enjoy the ending with the weirded-out drums, but that's about where it ends for me.
 
I remember buying John Mellencamp's "Scarecrow" CD, and KISS played instead! That was weird.

A few year's ago I bought a Christmas compilation CD in Sony's version of the "20th Century Masters" line called "Santa's Biggest Hits". But when I got home and opened up the CD the label said "Shawn Colvin". Who Shawn Colvin is I have no idea, but the actual tracks and artist on the disc were the ones listed on the back cover.
 
Not to be contrary, but I didn't care for that mix at all. In fact, it made me appreciate Richard's efforts on all of the remixes that he did on this song. But to each his own. I'll stick with the official mixes.

The sudden drop-out of nearly all backing instruments just to have Karen nearly alone kind of ruined the opening. This record was always about the blending of voices and instruments, and to have things suddenly disappear - and then shockingly reappear - didn't agree with me.

One telltale factoid: This record - in all of the official mixes and remixes - ALWAYS produces goosebumps. Yet listening to this mix in my air-conditioned, comfortable den with a cooling ceiling fan blowing, did nothing of the sort.

What is it that people like about this? Am I missing something? (other than goosebumps!)

Harry
 
I enjoyed your commentary, Harry.
In reply to your question: What it it that people like about this ?
Speaking only for myself, due to an aforementioned hearing problem, which I, unfortunately,
am grappling with---this mix--above--isolates Karen's vocals in such a manner that I am able
to delineate--to hear-- the nuances in every lyric she sings.
Is it perfect ? Of course not. (But, remember, I am not seeking perfection.)
I actually prefer the UK LP by MFP as having my absolute favorite "mix".
And, yes, I am not normally a fan of "removing" things from any mix, but,
as time progresses--and my hearing gets no better--I enjoy listening to a mix
that offers up a crystal-clear vocal.
So, summing things up, it is the clarity of Karen's vocalizations which sparked my interest.
 
I enjoyed your commentary, Harry.
In reply to your question: What it it that people like about this ?
Speaking only for myself, due to an aforementioned hearing problem, which I, unfortunately,
am grappling with---this mix--above--isolates Karen's vocals in such a manner that I am able
to delineate--to hear-- the nuances in every lyric she sings.
Is it perfect ? Of course not. (But, remember, I am not seeking perfection.)
I actually prefer the UK LP by MFP as having my absolute favorite "mix".
And, yes, I am not normally a fan of "removing" things from any mix, but,
as time progresses--and my hearing gets no better--I enjoy listening to a mix
that offers up a crystal-clear vocal.
So, summing things up, it is the clarity of Karen's vocalizations which sparked my interest.

I figured that would be the appeal when I heard it as well. It definitely brings the lead out in front. To echo Harry's sentiments, on a technical level it's out of balance, even for an "out-front" mix of Karen, but nonetheless she sounds fantastic!
 
Wow! I like it. It brings out Karen's lead, drums and Richard's background vocals, too. I love anything different. :)
 
I am pleasantly pleased with
Your Wonderful Parade,
as heard on the
Sweet Sixteen 40th CD.

Liner Note in Sweet Sixteen says "....recorded in 1968 in Joe's Studio..."

One of the earlier Carpenter/Bettis songs which I definitely enjoy !
 
HuffPost Exclusive: The 40th Anniversary of Carpenters / Interview with Richard Carpenter »

2009 Interview:

Richard Carpenter: "
Over a six-month period, it (Ticket) always had just enough action in the field that it kept being worked.
And it “Bubbled!” I remember we saw that in Billboard and went nuts. And then it debuted, and it went up, went down,
and went back up again, ultimately, reaching #54.
“Close To Youwas in the can and wasn’t going to be released untilTicket...” finally gave up the ghost.
As A&M wasn’t enjoying much chart success with singles at the time, #54 wasn’t too shabby."
 
As my hearing does continue to improve, I am re-visiting every single (and,of course, every album).
As I begin my tour of the singles--that is, on vinyl...
I must say, Ticket To Ride is resonating strongly with me.
Again, all pieces fit beautifully:
arrangement, harmony, lead vocals.
So, I must concur:
Brilliant effort !

Begs the further question:
Why did this song stall at 54 ?
 
This vote actually a bit of a struggle for me, mainly because "Your Wonderful Parade" has Karen's wonderful snare drum cadence, overdubbed into a massive drum corps sound, at the end. But "Ticket to Ride" is so special that I had to vote for it. My husband had never heard the Carpenters' version till after we married, and he finds it so markedly different from the Beatles' original. The Carpenters' more melancholy take on the song resonates with its lyrics, rendering it a truer version. That's not to take away at all from the Beatles. Who could? It's just that their uptempo reading was more of its time, and true to the innovations they were bringing to pop music.

I read in an interview a long time ago, that the drum " effect " at the end of the song was a fluke. the recording engineer told them he didn't know what happened, but he thought they would like it.
 
This vote actually a bit of a struggle for me, mainly because "Your Wonderful Parade" has Karen's wonderful snare drum cadence, overdubbed into a massive drum corps sound, at the end. But "Ticket to Ride" is so special that I had to vote for it. My husband had never heard the Carpenters' version till after we married, and he finds it so markedly different from the Beatles' original. The Carpenters' more melancholy take on the song resonates with its lyrics, rendering it a truer version. That's not to take away at all from the Beatles. Who could? It's just that their uptempo reading was more of its time, and true to the innovations they were bringing to pop music.

Indeed. The Beatles recorded/performed it as a rock 'n roll song, which is how they conceived it. The Carpenters found another quality to the song that the Beatles didn't originally have in mind, but I can almost imagine John Lennon and Paul McCartney being impressed with how Richard and Karen reinterpreted it.

Did John or Paul ever comment on the Carpenters' covers of their hits?
 
Begs the further question:
Why did this song stall at 54 ?

I think the Carpenters sound was quite the departure from what had been coming before, so this song just didn't press the right buttons.

Bacharach and David songs were all over the place by 1970, so "Close To You" was the perfect vehicle to launch Carpenters into stardom. I personally think that if "Close to You" had been their very first record, it still would have been a hit; and if "Ticket To Ride" had been a followup single to CTY, it would have fared much better than it did. CTY was just a better intro to the masses for the group. It had a more commercial sound for its time than TTR did.
 
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