This is Torture, I Tell You!

[Mark-T]

So, my oldest son is a HUGE fan of Prince.

Today, he sent me an announcement of a new release, a boxed set expansion of his famous Diamonds and Pearls album.
Among other things, it includes 47 unreleased tracks! 47!

Only in my dreams can I imagine more Carpenters songs coming our way... even a trickle of a few more would be a delight.
Anyone else go through this?

Prince / Diamonds and Pearls reissue confirmed – full details! – SuperDeluxeEdition

superdeluxeedition.com

 

[Jack A.]

I agree that that would be amazing - anything new at all would be terrific to get. However, I think that pretty much everything that Karen ever recorded has already been released in one way or another. The fact that “As Time Goes By” was mostly just already-released songs from their television specials, means that there probably wasn’t much left for Richard to work with.

Karen probably didn’t really record much beyond what was selected to appear on an album. Prince supposedly wrote anywhere from 500 to upwards of 1,000 songs, so there probably is much more that his record company could work with to create posthumous material. On the old website, a fan asked Richard if we would ever see a new Carpenters album, to which he responded “No, nothing much left!”

I agree though - it is torture…haha…..

 

[GDBY2LV]

All My Life - 81
Ain't Misbehavin - 83
All The Way - 79
All Good Things I Remember - 81
And When He Smiles - 71 - Live At The BBC
And When I Die(Long Beach State College recording)
Auld Lang Syne - 79
Basket Case (Karen solo)
Better World - 79
Box Office Movie King - 76
Can't Buy Me Love(*Your Navy Presents*)
Christmas Alphabet(Duet with Kristy McNichol)- 78 - A Christmas Portrait, TV Special
Church Choir(Wild) (Karen solo)
Cinderella Rockefella(duet with Doug Strawn)
Close To You(Spike Jones style) - 76 - The Carpenters Very First Television Special
Come And Be Kind - 77
Crescent Noon (Cal State Long Beach recording)
Dancing In The Street (full length studio recording done during "Christmas Portrait" sessions)
Don't Leave Me -
Don't Try To Win Me Back Again (Karen solo)
Fallin' For Love - 82
Fool Me - 82 - Richard on vocals
For The Minute
Funny Faces - 79
Good Vibrations - 76 - Karen and John Denver duet
How High The Moon - 83
Hurting - 75
I Believe In You
I Can't Smile - 77
I Can't Stay Mad At You - 77
I Do It for Your Love (Karen solo)
I Don't Need You - 79
I Don't want My Arms Around You - 80
I Fell In Love With You (from "Your Navy Presents)
I Finally Got It Right This Time - 77
I'll Be Seeing You - 79
It's Really You (Karen solo)
Jimmy Mack (Karen solo)
Just Fall In Love - 78
Just Somebody
Keep The Love Light Burning (Karen solo)
Last of the Romantics
Lately - 79
Lord's Prayer - 83
Love As Old As The Heart - 83 - (RC)
Love Is Coming Back - 75
Love Making Love To You (Karen solo)
Love Me Like The First Time - 79
Love Song - 78
Love You Through and Though - 82
Mad - 79
Magic In The Music - 76
Man Smart, Woman Smarter(duet with Suzanne Somers) - 78 - Space Encounters, TV Special
Midnight (Karen solo)
Once In A Lifetime - 81
Play A Simple Melody - 80
Peter Pan Moon - 80
Rainbows In Your Eyes - 79
Real Love - 77
Runaway - 77
Savin' It Up For The Minute - 77
Sebastian
Second Thoughts - 77
Slaughter On 10th Ave - 83
Slow Dance - 79
Some Guys Have All The Luck - 82
Something's Missing (Karen solo)
Stay Young - 77
Stop Me - 82
Strike Up The Band(Karen's drum solo) - 76 - The Carpenters Very First Television Special
Sunday Afternoon
Sweet Talkin' Guy - 80
Thank You For The Music(studio recording) - 78
Thank You For The Music(live recording) - 78 - The Tonight Show(with John Davidson)
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - 80
These Are The Jokes Folks - 76 - The Carpenters very First Television Special
Truly You (Karen solo)
Try To Win A Friend - 75
A Wedding Prayer - 83
We Won't Be Back Tomorrow - 77
What Are You Doing For Love - 79
Where Is Love - 75
Why Don't They Understand
You Made Me Feel Love - 80
You're Just In Love - 80
You'll Never Know - 83
Yours Sincerely - 79[/b]. Cuts that are rumored to be in the vaults. Many have made their way to albums, and a couple of unauthorized releases already. We can all hope that there will be something new someday, but don’t hold your breath to long if they aren’t worthy in Richard’s mind.

 

[newvillefan]

I remember reading that Karen recorded four songs in April 1982. It would appear from the above list that these are ‘Fallin’ For Love’ and ‘Love You Through And Through’. Whether they are the tracks or not, I’d love to know why not all of them saw the light of day.

P.S. It looks like we nearly got ‘Sweet Talkin’ Guy’ on Made In America rather than ‘Beechwood’. They shouldn’t have been even entertaining stuff like that by 1980. What was their obsession with the “plus one oldie” approach? Horizon had ‘I Can Dream Can’t I’, Hush had ‘Breaking Up Is Hard To Do’. You couldn’t move for them on Now & Then. Even Karen’s album had one planned (‘Jimmy Mack’) until that idea was sensibly dropped.

 

[GDBY2LV]

Sweet Talking Guy would have been a much better choice, but again Carpenters got scooped by another act. Manhattan Transfer had the hit in the states with that remake.

 

[newvillefan]

Sweet Talking Guy would have been a much better choice, but again Carpenters got scooped by another act. Manhattan Transfer had the hit in the states with that remake.

I looked it up as I was intrigued but it doesn’t appear to have been a single release anywhere . Was it picked up by the charts based on radio play maybe? It was released in 1975 on their self-titled album. It is available on Spotify so I took a listen - it’s pretty lame compared to the original Chiffons version.

 

[GDBY2LV]

I’m wrong with that. They did Boy From New York City as a single. So sorry about the error. Similar songs, and they did sing it well. Thanks for the correction.

 

[Jack A.]

All My Life - 81
Ain't Misbehavin - 83
All The Way - 79
All Good Things I Remember - 81
And When He Smiles - 71 - Live At The BBC
And When I Die(Long Beach State College recording)
Auld Lang Syne - 79
Basket Case (Karen solo)
Better World - 79
Box Office Movie King - 76
Can't Buy Me Love(*Your Navy Presents*)
Christmas Alphabet(Duet with Kristy McNichol)- 78 - A Christmas Portrait, TV Special
Church Choir(Wild) (Karen solo)
Cinderella Rockefella(duet with Doug Strawn)
Close To You(Spike Jones style) - 76 - The Carpenters Very First Television Special
Come And Be Kind - 77
Crescent Noon (Cal State Long Beach recording)
Dancing In The Street (full length studio recording done during "Christmas Portrait" sessions)
Don't Leave Me -
Don't Try To Win Me Back Again (Karen solo)
Fallin' For Love - 82
Fool Me - 82 - Richard on vocals
For The Minute
Funny Faces - 79
Good Vibrations - 76 - Karen and John Denver duet
How High The Moon - 83
Hurting - 75
I Believe In You
I Can't Smile - 77
I Can't Stay Mad At You - 77
I Do It for Your Love (Karen solo)
I Don't Need You - 79
I Don't want My Arms Around You - 80
I Fell In Love With You (from "Your Navy Presents)
I Finally Got It Right This Time - 77
I'll Be Seeing You - 79
It's Really You (Karen solo)
Jimmy Mack (Karen solo)
Just Fall In Love - 78
Just Somebody
Keep The Love Light Burning (Karen solo)
Last of the Romantics
Lately - 79
Lord's Prayer - 83
Love As Old As The Heart - 83 - (RC)
Love Is Coming Back - 75
Love Making Love To You (Karen solo)
Love Me Like The First Time - 79
Love Song - 78
Love You Through and Though - 82
Mad - 79
Magic In The Music - 76
Man Smart, Woman Smarter(duet with Suzanne Somers) - 78 - Space Encounters, TV Special
Midnight (Karen solo)
Once In A Lifetime - 81
Play A Simple Melody - 80
Peter Pan Moon - 80
Rainbows In Your Eyes - 79
Real Love - 77
Runaway - 77
Savin' It Up For The Minute - 77
Sebastian
Second Thoughts - 77
Slaughter On 10th Ave - 83
Slow Dance - 79
Some Guys Have All The Luck - 82
Something's Missing (Karen solo)
Stay Young - 77
Stop Me - 82
Strike Up The Band(Karen's drum solo) - 76 - The Carpenters Very First Television Special
Sunday Afternoon
Sweet Talkin' Guy - 80
Thank You For The Music(studio recording) - 78
Thank You For The Music(live recording) - 78 - The Tonight Show(with John Davidson)
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - 80
These Are The Jokes Folks - 76 - The Carpenters very First Television Special
Truly You (Karen solo)
Try To Win A Friend - 75
A Wedding Prayer - 83
We Won't Be Back Tomorrow - 77
What Are You Doing For Love - 79
Where Is Love - 75
Why Don't They Understand
You Made Me Feel Love - 80
You're Just In Love - 80
You'll Never Know - 83
Yours Sincerely - 79[/b]. Cuts that are rumored to be in the vaults. Many have made their way to albums, and a couple of unauthorized releases already. We can all hope that there will be something new someday, but don’t hold your breath to long if they aren’t worthy in Richard’s mind.

Wait - they did The Lords Prayer? I would pay to hear Karen sing that (I’m assuming it’s a cover of the Janet Mead song?)

 

[Mark-T]

I think The Lord's Prayer was Richard's coal at Karen's wedding.

 

[newvillefan]

Wait - they did The Lords Prayer? I would pay to hear Karen sing that (I’m assuming it’s a cover of the Janet Mead song?)

Yeah as mentioned above, The Lord’s Prayer was in relation to Karen’s wedding and Richard’s part in that.

 

[JohnFB]

... Cuts that are rumored to be in the vaults. Many have made their way to albums, and a couple of unauthorized releases already. We can all hope that there will be something new someday, but don’t hold your breath to long if they aren’t worthy in Richard’s mind.

Quite an extensive (and impressive) list from @GDBY2LV, most of which are worthy - even more exciting (at least to me) would be a complete collection of all songs where double-tracking was used (either in whole or in part) on Karen's LEAD vocals totally stripped of that artificial gimmick so we could hear what she really sounded like on those recordings. I may be the only one here who wants this, or at least will say that they do - but something tells me that if Richard ever released such a project most of the fine people frequenting this forum would knock themselves out trying to hear it. And some might even grudgingly express their gratitude for my popularly proclaimed "obnoxious" insistence on this...this, my good friends, is the real unearthed treasure here ...

 

[Matthew S]

Quite an extensive (and impressive) list from @GDBY2LV, most of which are worthy - even more exciting (at least to me) would be a complete collection of all songs where double-tracking was used (either in whole or in part) on Karen's LEAD vocals totally stripped of that artificial gimmick so we could hear what she really sounded like on those recordings. I may be the only one here who wants this, or at least will say that they do - but something tells me that if Richard ever released such a project most of the fine people frequenting this forum would knock themselves out trying to hear it. And some might even grudgingly express their gratitude for my popularly proclaimed "obnoxious" insistence on this...this, my good friends, is the real unearthed treasure here ...

ha ha!! It’s not obnoxious unless you tell others they can’t like the vocals the way they like them. To each their own…

 

[JohnFB]

ha ha!! It’s not obnoxious unless you tell others they can’t like the vocals the way they like them. To each their own…

I don't think I ever said you can't - that wouldn't have been right, or polite - if I recall correctly I did express some lack of understanding about why anyone would want to hear anything other than Karen's natural voice - as the king in "The King and I" said "it's a bewilderment..." But, as you say, to each their own. Cheers!

 

[LyndaK]

All My Life - 81
Ain't Misbehavin - 83
All The Way - 79
All Good Things I Remember - 81
And When He Smiles - 71 - Live At The BBC
And When I Die(Long Beach State College recording)
Auld Lang Syne - 79
Basket Case (Karen solo)
Better World - 79
Box Office Movie King - 76
Can't Buy Me Love(*Your Navy Presents*)
Christmas Alphabet(Duet with Kristy McNichol)- 78 - A Christmas Portrait, TV Special
Church Choir(Wild) (Karen solo)
Cinderella Rockefella(duet with Doug Strawn)
Close To You(Spike Jones style) - 76 - The Carpenters Very First Television Special
Come And Be Kind - 77
Crescent Noon (Cal State Long Beach recording)
Dancing In The Street (full length studio recording done during "Christmas Portrait" sessions)
Don't Leave Me -
Don't Try To Win Me Back Again (Karen solo)
Fallin' For Love - 82
Fool Me - 82 - Richard on vocals
For The Minute
Funny Faces - 79
Good Vibrations - 76 - Karen and John Denver duet
How High The Moon - 83
Hurting - 75
I Believe In You
I Can't Smile - 77
I Can't Stay Mad At You - 77
I Do It for Your Love (Karen solo)
I Don't Need You - 79
I Don't want My Arms Around You - 80
I Fell In Love With You (from "Your Navy Presents)
I Finally Got It Right This Time - 77
I'll Be Seeing You - 79
It's Really You (Karen solo)
Jimmy Mack (Karen solo)
Just Fall In Love - 78
Just Somebody
Keep The Love Light Burning (Karen solo)
Last of the Romantics
Lately - 79
Lord's Prayer - 83
Love As Old As The Heart - 83 - (RC)
Love Is Coming Back - 75
Love Making Love To You (Karen solo)
Love Me Like The First Time - 79
Love Song - 78
Love You Through and Though - 82
Mad - 79
Magic In The Music - 76
Man Smart, Woman Smarter(duet with Suzanne Somers) - 78 - Space Encounters, TV Special
Midnight (Karen solo)
Once In A Lifetime - 81
Play A Simple Melody - 80
Peter Pan Moon - 80
Rainbows In Your Eyes - 79
Real Love - 77
Runaway - 77
Savin' It Up For The Minute - 77
Sebastian
Second Thoughts - 77
Slaughter On 10th Ave - 83
Slow Dance - 79
Some Guys Have All The Luck - 82
Something's Missing (Karen solo)
Stay Young - 77
Stop Me - 82
Strike Up The Band(Karen's drum solo) - 76 - The Carpenters Very First Television Special
Sunday Afternoon
Sweet Talkin' Guy - 80
Thank You For The Music(studio recording) - 78
Thank You For The Music(live recording) - 78 - The Tonight Show(with John Davidson)
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - 80
These Are The Jokes Folks - 76 - The Carpenters very First Television Special
Truly You (Karen solo)
Try To Win A Friend - 75
A Wedding Prayer - 83
We Won't Be Back Tomorrow - 77
What Are You Doing For Love - 79
Where Is Love - 75
Why Don't They Understand
You Made Me Feel Love - 80
You're Just In Love - 80
You'll Never Know - 83
Yours Sincerely - 79[/b]. Cuts that are rumored to be in the vaults. Many have made their way to albums, and a couple of unauthorized releases already. We can all hope that there will be something new someday, but don’t hold your breath to long if they aren’t worthy in Richard’s mind.

I had no idea, wow!

 

[David A]

As others have said, an impressive list. Where I may diverge from a more popular view is that, in spite of my passion and devotion to all things Carpenters, I trust Richard to ultimately choose what should represent their body of work.

Hmmm...this is a digression in thought although germaine because it pertains to whether other material like this ever sees the light of day - I wonder who will manage the Carpenters Catalog when "that time comes." Or will Richard, as many others have done, sell the catalog? I cannot imagine him doing that, though.

 

[JohnFB]

As others have said, an impressive list. Where I may diverge from a more popular view is that, in spite of my passion and devotion to all things Carpenters, I trust Richard to ultimately choose what should represent their body of work.

...

He has, and will continue to do so - however, it has always been debatable whether or not he always made the best or wisest choices - nor is there any guarantee that he will do so in the future...

 

[1979lee]

He has, and will continue to do so - however, it has always been debatable whether or not he always made the best or wisest choices - nor is there any guarantee that he will do so in the future...

goofus,man smart,ect

 

[Mr. Guder]

I would love to see the albums remixed in Dolby Atmos, if copies of all the multis exist for such a project. The Singles 1969-1981 SACD was fantastic, so here's hoping for more.

 

[CarpentersToYou]

That's been almost 20 years now.

 

[David A]

goofus,man smart,ect

I wouldn't say that I'm in the "always defend Richard" category on this forum but in this case, I can think of no one better than Richard for determining what songs deserve release/exposure as relates their music and legacy. Richard's reason for releasing songs like Goofus may not make sense to some of us, but Richard has his reasons and unless he himself has stated that any particular release was a mistake (in hindsight), then again, I stand by my opinion that no one can else can better decide what of their material should be released. And let's be clear - this is all opinion - after all, some people (not me) love Goofus and Man Smart, Woman Smarter

 

[Mike Smith]

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons just announced the release of everything they ever recorded. -- 44 CD's + vinyl. List price $400, others have it for #300. Tempted to buy it.

 

[GDBY2LV]

Maybe Richard will do something similar when he’s 89. Except Carpenters don’t have much in mono. Maybe Quadrophonic tracks instead? What a great set for the die hard fans.

 

[newvillefan]

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons just announced the release of everything they ever recorded. -- 44 CD's + vinyl. List price $400, others have it for #300. Tempted to buy it.

That’s one impressive set!

Valli, Frankie & the 4 Seasons: Working Our Way Back To You: Ultimate Collection - 44 CD+Vinyl Deluxe Ltd Boxset

Title: Working Our Way Back To You: Ultimate Collection - 44 CD+Vinyl Deluxe Ltd Boxset Artist: Valli, Frankie & the 4 Seasons Label: Madfish Records Imp Product Type: COMPACT DISCS UPC: 636551913256 Genre: Soundtrack Limited super deluxe 44 CD set including bonus vinyl LP. Madfish presents the...

towerrecords.com

 

[Randy M]

I wouldn't say that I'm in the "always defend Richard" category on this forum but in this case, I can think of no one better than Richard for determining what songs deserve release/exposure as relates their music and legacy. Richard's reason for releasing songs like Goofus may not make sense to some of us, but Richard has his reasons and unless he himself has stated that any particular release was a mistake (in hindsight), then again, I stand by my opinion that no one can else can better decide what of their material should be released. And let's be clear - this is all opinion - after all, some people (not me) love Goofus and Man Smart, Woman Smarter

Goofus & Man Smart, Woman Smarter are on my 'love' list. I remember Man Smart, Woman Smarter from the I Love Lucy show.

 

[Randy M]

The Prince Diamonds & Pearls reissue should be out. I hope your son wasn't too excited about the 47 unreleased tracks. I used to have 25 volumes - 25 CDRs - of unreleased & studio demos, and they are no longer with me. A lot of that stuff was a hard road to plow. Key word is 'tracks' not songs. The endless barrel scraping of Elvis is rough. For your son's enjoyment, I hope they are fairly listenable. Prince had several albums ready to go, then something would happen, he'd get mad at someone, break up his band, and he'd go back to the drawing board and recycle, reuse, erase somebody off his songs. His ex-wife said he wrote a new will every night because someone pissed him off earlier in the day. And look at the mess he left because he didn't have a will.