⭐ 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
^^Thanks for the insight !

I see Ticket To Ride peaked in April 1970.
And, Close To You released May 1970.

Be that as it may, Close To You was (and, remains) a tough sell for me,
whereas Ticket To Ride has brilliance written all over it.
I do recall--way back, sometime in the 1970's--when I first recall hearing
Close To You on the radio, I was actually not impressed !
Since, above all--at that point in time--(while listening to The Singles 1969-1973 LP)
the two lackluster songs for me on that LP were
Close To You and It's Going To Take Some Time !

So, to this day, the success of Close To You boggles my mind.
Good song, I'll give it that.
But, Ticket To Ride
seems to be head and shoulders above it !


 
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^^Thanks for the insight !

I see Ticket To Ride peaked in April 1970.
And, Close To You released May 1970.

Be that as it may, Close To You was (and, remains) a tough sell for me,
whereas Ticket To Ride has brilliance written all over it.
I do recall--way back, sometime in the 1970's--when I first recall hearing
Close To You on the radio, I was actually not impressed !
Since, above all--at that point in time--(while listening to The Singles 1969-1973 LP)
the two lackluster songs for me on that LP were
Close To You and It's Going To Take Some Time !

So, to this day, the success of Close To You boggles my mind.
Good song, I'll give it that.
But, Ticket To Ride
seems to be head and shoulders above it !

Ya, TTR took time to come into its own. It was such a departure from its era. I remember CTY being the first Carpenters song I heard on my mom's kitchen radio, as a 10 year old. (Egads!) I was so used to hearing my older brother's and sister's music tastes on the radio. My friend had the album. When I heard that, I HAD to ask for the album.
 
I prefer the original 1969 recording of 'Ticket to Ride'. Karen sounds more gutsy and 'in the moment' than on the later version.

The first time I heard the re-recorded vocal was in 1982, when 'Very Best of The Carpenters' was released. (We didn't get 'The Singles' here in Australia, because half of the tracks had been included two years earlier on 'Great Hits of the Carpenters', which was released to coincide with the 1972 tour. 'Great Hits', of course, included the 1969 version of 'Ticket to Ride').

I have come to think that the re-recorded vocal for 'Ticket to Ride' sounds a little too sweet - sort of contrived, although it does have many of those mellow, warm, resonant, deep tones from Karen.

My version of the 1969 'Ticket to Ride' single, which is an American copy that I found in a second-hand store, has the shorter, edited piano introduction, which I prefer over the album version. 'Your Wonderful Parade' is minus Richard's monologue and starts with Karen's drums. At the end, the song comes to a clean halt when Karen stops drumming, instead of fading out like it does on the album.

My copy of the single shows 'Your Wonderful Parade' with the lower catalogue number, so I would assume that this song might originally have been intended to be the 'A' side.

Although I like many Beatles songs, I have never liked their version of 'Ticket to Ride'. I think that Karen and Richard's 1969 version is much better.
 
'Your Wonderful Parade' is minus Richard's monologue and starts with Karen's drums.

This is news to me. Every version I've come across has Richard's spoken intro - one is shorter than the album version and one is long like the album version. The only one I've heard that starts differently is the (Demo Version) on the box sets FROM THE TOP and ESSENTIAL COLLECTION which starts with Karen's count-off and then drums.

If yours starts with the drums, is their audience applause noise behind it?
 
The cold stop is on all of the singles I've heard, and is on the COMPLETE SINGLES from Public Broadcasting.
 
The cold stop is on all of the singles I've heard, and is on the COMPLETE SINGLES from Public Broadcasting.

Is it on the Japanese Singles box version do you know? I have that but must have never played that disc as I never knew the ending was like that.
 
No, in Japan, the "Ticket To Ride" single was backed with "All I Can Do", both stereo. In the UK, "Your Wonderful Parade" was the b-side to "Top Of The World" and is probably the album version, though I haven't heard that one.
 
This is news to me. Every version I've come across has Richard's spoken intro - one is shorter than the album version and one is long like the album version. The only one I've heard that starts differently is the (Demo Version) on the box sets FROM THE TOP and ESSENTIAL COLLECTION which starts with Karen's count-off and then drums.

If yours starts with the drums, is their audience applause noise behind it?

Actually, I'll have to double-check this. I was writing from memory. According to my memory, there is no spoken intro, but maybe I'm wrong. I'll let you know later. I could have been remembering the 'From the Top' beginning, now that you mention it.
 
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Ticket to Ride is on every playlist I have created with Carpenters songs. I have the original vocal performance by Karen and I do, as a couple others here mentioned, like it more than her re-recorded version. They're close, but there's a rawness and power the first one has, that the re-recording doesn't (in my view).

So obviously, I vote Ticket. It is one of my top ten favorite Carpenters songs.

Edit: Oh, and I agree with the poster who said that this is one of those fairly rare cases where a cover outdoes the original.
 
There are apparently two different iterations of this first single. Member @Rick-An Ordinary Fool and I went through a bunch of mono singles a while back and his copy of "Ticket/Parade" is different from mine. His version has the alternate take shorter intro to "Your Wonderful Parade", while mine has the standard-length intro heard on the OFFERING LP. I'm guessing that when "Ticket" first appeared as a single, it had that shorter intro'ed b-side and that after completion of work on the album version of the song, that subsequent pressings had the longer intro album version, but in mono of course.

I remember hearing "Ticket To Ride" as a single on the radio back in the fall of 1969. At that time I used to tape on reel-to-reel the songs I liked, and "Ticket To Ride" began to appeal to me a lot and I wanted to tape it. But it disappeared from the airwaves before I got the chance. But I remembered the name Carpenters and finally managed to get a copy of OFFERING at Christmas 1970.

I'm not sure from where my copy of the single came - probably a former radio station copy that went unplayed.

Harry
Hi Harry - sorry to get off-topic here, but I have a question for you: I would like to get Ticket to Ride Remastered Classics (US version) - I know prices would vary if I could find one, but what is a fair price for a used one is good shape (not necessarily mint) - I know someone who owns one, but I don't want to get ripped off. Any suggestions?
 
That's a tough question, Cody, as a lot of things are in play. Like how badly do you want or need this disc. And how anxious is a seller to get rid of the disc.

Are you looking to complete a "Remastered Classics" set? Or do you just want a CD copy of the album?

From experience I can say that virtually all versions of OFFERING or TICKET TO RIDE sound pretty much the same. There is distortion on some of the louder passages that is right there on the master tape. It will never sound any better.

I have the old A&M CD, the Remastered, and another Remastered included in the 35th Anniversary set, and I think they all sound identical.

Looking at Discogs.com, it appears that these discs, when available tend to go for around $15. But you might find one for a couple of bucks in a Goodwill or a yard sale.
 
That's a tough question, Cody, as a lot of things are in play. Like how badly do you want or need this disc. And how anxious is a seller to get rid of the disc.

Are you looking to complete a "Remastered Classics" set? Or do you just want a CD copy of the album?

From experience I can say that virtually all versions of OFFERING or TICKET TO RIDE sound pretty much the same. There is distortion on some of the louder passages that is right there on the master tape. It will never sound any better.

I have the old A&M CD, the Remastered, and another Remastered included in the 35th Anniversary set, and I think they all sound identical.

Looking at Discogs.com, it appears that these discs, when available tend to go for around $15. But you might find one for a couple of bucks in a Goodwill or a yard sale.
 
Hi Harry - yes, I am looking for Remastered Classics - I have most of them - this person told me a used Ticket to Ride is worth $250 - is he ripping me off?
 
I see this song has mixed emotions as to the version chosen for a playlist. I did not hear this song until the Singles ‘73 Album in ‘73. A few years later I had a friend who had the ‘Ticket’ album and really had a hard time getting through Ticket To Ride on it. The ‘73 version I like much better but would still never miss it if it wasn’t around. So, I even have mixed feelings about my chosen preferred version. I like the last chorus to the end of the song best. I especially like the ending used live in the ‘72 Australia Concert. Now, Close To You turned my world upside down and inside out and I have never been the same since!
 
In case you have not heard this version,
presumably, audio from Make Your Own Kind Of Music....
Ticket To Ride:
 
Record World, December 6, 1969 (page 26):
Exploding Smash: "Ticket To Ride," Carpenters, A&M. Now a Giant at KLEO, Wichita.
 
At least here--1969 All American College Show--it is explained up front that the duo are lip-syncing.
After listening to every Carpenters' version of TTR, my favorites are:
TTR off the Offering album and TTR off The Singles 1969-1973 album.
Love them both for different reasons.
 
^^ This video is fascinating. It is amazing that the duo had to lip-sync so many television appearances when they were such great live performers to begin with.

More highlights of this video for me;

  • At the opening, Arthur Godfrey calling Richard "Ed" and then something completely different when he invites him to shake hands with Ed Sullivan.
  • Sullivan "leering" at Karen throughout the interview.
  • At one point, 0:32, Godfrey touching Karen's hands (which are in her lap) and her looking down as if to say; "what are you doing?!".
  • We get a Karen eye-roll at 0:38.
  • And of course, those close-ups of Karen behind her drum kit that just show in such high resolution what an absolute natural beauty she was.
 
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