Singles 1969-1973 LP

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

First let me say that I don't own the singles version on CD, so I have not really heard this for the past 10 years or more.

Since I got my new turntable, I cleaned up my Singles LP and to my suprise it is still in great listening condition.

I have to say that I really miss this album, playing it brought back alot of memories, I especially missed how each song seems to flow into the other like Rainy Days into Good Bye To Love, almost seems like Karen barely had time to breathe before the next started.

Top of the World goes right into Ticket with only just a sec between.

For some strange reason, Superstar seems diff to me, Karens vocal just seems slightly more clearer, she seems so loud. It's almost like I can hear every single instrument, playing on this track, nothing is buried behind its all right up front, really cool, especially when they are overdubbing the chorus together.

For All We Know is just a piece of gold, it is amazing how I can hear every little detail on this LP, I have heard this song so much on other CD's I have from the Carpenters, it seems more convincing & emotional hearing this on LP.

**Question for you all, Are there any differences on this LP that are special only to this LP? I know that Ticket is different & the first time we hear this re-record of this track here but are there any other things that you only hear from the LP Version.

Seems that I may have been listening to re-mixes for so long from other CD's that maybe this LP of the Singles just seems different to me (diff in a great way)

This is an excellent LP

...enjoying my vacation listening to my old records, online...

 

[Harry]

Items of interest about SINGLES 1969-1974:

[1] The opening "Close To You" intro to "We've Only Just Begun"

[2] "Top Of The World" appears in its single mix on an album for the first time.

[3] "Ticket To Ride" re-record appears for the first time

[4] "Superstar" appears in an un-remixed form, but speeded up slightly to effect the segue into "Rainy Days And Mondays". It was the first time these songs appeared 'together', and on most subsequent compilations, they're usually tracked this way.

[5] "Rainy Days And Mondays" has a re-recorded final line to make the segue into "Goodbye To Love."

[6] "Yesterday Once More" appears in its single mix on an album for the first time.

[7] "Close To You" appears in its shortened single mix on an album for the first time.

Harry
...a fan of the SINGLES 1969-1973 album, online...

 

[Rudy]

I have NEVER owned this LP, believe it or not! I always figured I had all the individual songs on their original albums, but wasn't aware that there were segues between songs until Harry mentioned it here many years ago. If I see one on vinyl on my next vinyl hunting trip, I'll pick one up. Looks like used CD copies are still quite plentiful.

Interesting, though, while looking through some stuff from Dad's house, I found my old Carpenters "Singles 1969-73" music book in the piano bench. I forgot I ever had that! Cover is the same color and embossed like the LP was. No...the piano arrangements aren't segued...

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Cool Harry, Now I'm going to have to re-listen again & look at your notes. No wonder Superstar seemed different to me, I am so use to all these re-mixes that Richard has done that any little difference just catches my ears.

Seems there are more special things than I thought about this LP.

..discovering an oldie but goodie....

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I don't know how to use the quote function.

But Harry said, ""Rainy Days And Mondays" has a re-recorded final line to make the segue into "Goodbye To Love."

Now that you brought this up, I have re-listened to my LP & I do notice this final line, Karen does sound slightly different with this re-record. It is ever so slight.

When would Karen have done this re-record? Wasn't this song originally recorded by Karen & Richard in 1971?

Then this Singles Lp was released in 1973? So she added this ending in 1973?

 

[Harry]

Yes. Richard wanted to make the SINGLES 1969-1973 something special, not just another greatest hits package with songs thrown together randomly. He specifally had Karen re-record her final line, "...me down" so he could segue it with the new oboe intro to "Goodbye To Love."

I've never been able to tell for sure, but I believe the "Close To You" intro added to the beginning of the album might have been specially recorded vocally by Karen as well. She was such a perfectionist and able to exactly re-create what she'd done before that it's really hard to tell.

Harry
NP: SINGLES 1969-1973, Carpenters, original CD

 

[Harry]

I don't know how to use the quote function.

But Harry said, ""Rainy Days And Mondays" has a re-recorded final line to make the segue into "Goodbye To Love."

A few pointers on the 'quote' function: the simplest method is to click the 'Quote' button on the post thay you want to answer. The software places the quote tags around that person's entire post and allows you to answer below. Once posted and when viewed, the quote is indented and in a smaller font.

To answer a specific and small portion of a post, you need to edit what the system put in between the 'quote' tags. When doing multiple answers, this requires adding new quote tags to start or end various quoted lines, or you can use the 'Quote' button above while you're posting after you've highlighted that which you want in the quoted section. To add a person's name to a quoted section, the opening tag should read [ Quote="Chris-an-ordinary-fool ] (without the extra spaces I used near the square brackets for display purposes here).

It's almost as easy as the image tags or colored or large text tags.

Harry
...with a quote lesson unquote, online...

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Thanks Harry, I made .wav files of this LP & burned them to CD today. I'm still amazed at how great this sounds. This will hold me over till I can get ahold of a Re-Mastered Cd in the future.

While I was making .wav files today, I noticed that the time for 2 of the tracks on this lp is not right. I always thought Richard was a stickler for everything being perfect.

If you get the chance take a look at the back cover of the Singles LP & look at the time for Weve Only Just Begun & Close to You they say 3:04 & 4:34. Are these times actually right?

 

[andywithaz]

By itself we've only just begun is 3:04 but with the added intro it is 4:09. Without the cut close to you is 4:34 but with the cut it is 3:41.











...teen loving the Carpenters...

 

[Harry]

Whoa! Raz is right - and I seem to have forgotten to answer this post. Sorry!

The timings for ".."Just Begun" and "Close to You" on Singles 69-73 seem to have been given their official album times, yet both were altered for their appearance here. "We've Only Just Begun" got that extra intro tacked on, and "Close To You appeared in its single edit. I can understand the first timing seeming wrong since the song doesn't really begin until after the intro, but I would have preferred that the special intro had been labelled and given its own track in the listings. "Close To You" is just flat-out wrong with that timing. I'm guessing that at one time in the planning stages they might have been toying with issuing the album version on Singles and changed it at the last minute.

The wrong track timings remained on the quad version of the album and even ported over to the '80s reissue of the album on CD here in the US. It was finally corrected on the Remastered Classics series issue in 1998-9.

Harry
...keeping an eye on the time, online...

 

[andywithaz]

Hey Harry!

Just thought I would point something out. You said that Superstar appeard in an un-remixed form but it doesn't. You can notice that Richard's backing vocals are more up front. Also there is are more drum beats especially at 2:56

 

[Harry]

Hey Harry!

Just thought I would point something out. You said that Superstar appeard in an un-remixed form but it doesn't. You can notice that Richard's backing vocals are more up front. Also there is are more drum beats especially at 2:56

Poor choice of words on my part. What I meant was that "Superstar" on the Singles 1969-1973 is 'largely' the original mix and not the dramatically different remix that was to follow in 1985 on Yesterday Once More and forward. Here you can hear the original oboes and other instruments 'largely' as they sounded on the original album. You're right, Richard and Karen did a little tweaking of a few things here and there on the Singles version, helping to make it all that much more a special album.

Also, my point about the speeding up of the song only applies to the original LP and the '80s-issue CD. The Remastered Classic CD corrects the speed differential from the original album track.

Harry
...choosing words more carefully, online...