⭐ Official Review [Video]: "INTERPRETATIONS"

WHICH CARPENTERS MUSIC VIDEO IS YOUR FAVORITE?

  • 1.) Without A Song 1:01 (Youmans/Rose/Eliscu)

    Votes: 9 17.0%
  • 2.) Superstar 3:49 (Russell/Bramlett)

    Votes: 3 5.7%
  • 3.) Rainy Days and Mondays 3:36 (Williams/Nichols)

    Votes: 5 9.4%
  • 4.) Ticket to Ride 4:10 (Lennon/McCartney) *

    Votes: 1 1.9%
  • 5.) Reason to Believe 3:03 (Hardin)

    Votes: 3 5.7%
  • 6.) (They Long To Be) Close To You 4:33 (Bacharach/David)

    Votes: 5 9.4%
  • 7.) Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft 7:07 (Woloschuk/Draper)

    Votes: 4 7.5%
  • 8.) Little Girl Blue 3:24 (Rodgers/Hart)

    Votes: 3 5.7%
  • 9.) Bless The Beasts and Children 7:07 (De Vorzon/Botkin, Jr.)

    Votes: 1 1.9%
  • 10.) Please Mr. Postman 2:50 (Holland/Gorman/Dobbins/Bateman/Garrett) *

    Votes: 11 20.8%
  • 11.) We've Only Just Begun 3:04 (Williams/Nichols)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 12.) When I Fall In Love 3:08 (Heyman/Young)

    Votes: 2 3.8%
  • 13.) From This Moment On 2:39 (Porter)

    Votes: 6 11.3%

  • Total voters
    53
I love Trying to Get the Feeling Again, as well. If I had one comment, it would be toward the lyrics. The music is great, and so is the arrangement and singing. Some of the lyrics as stated by many need revised to be a chart hit, even in 1975. I guess everyone was too busy to attempt it. But, the emotional feel and struggle posed by the lyricist is great for the song and its music. The ones Barry used are hokey for Karen, and I like this original version better and with just a few moments in the song with better lyric choices would have made a giant difference.

I have always wished that Richard would take another crack at YOU. The trite guitar accompaniment really needs something better than the boring line it masters. The vocal overdubs toward the end of the song are great and if they were introduced earlier it may help keep the interest alive since the musical arrangement is so boring. The song is great for Karen and it would sound better with just piano and voice than what is behind it as it stands.
 
^^It is a song that I cannot stop listening to...it is simply fantastic.
Here we have a "work lead" from January 1975...Karen at her vocal best (imho).
I like to compare the 45 vinyl (UK Single), the cassette tape of Interpretations,
the USA cd (promo), the Canada-released cd, the cd-Single....
and...well, you get the point,
I have many copies of the song, and I love the song.
 
Listening this morning to this compilation,
I must reiterate, I love this cd compilation.
Simply put, great !
 
I know that some find the lyrics and music flawed, but I think the whole track of Try To..is just chill-inducing. Karen's vocal is just spine tingling, and it's a lyric she really felt, so it's amazing that Richard let it slip through his fingers.

And I love hearing the page turn..
 
I remember getting “Interpretations” on cassette on Halloween 1997. The track that stood out for me was “If I Had You”. This was over a year before I found “Lovelines” or “Karen Carpenter”, so “Interpretations” introduced me to so many “New” Carpenters tracks. Side 1 went from “Without A Song” to “Desperado”, while Side 2 went from “Superstar” to “Close To You” (And it was the UK order not the US order). For me, Side 1 was the best side as it had so many new tracks, whereas Side 2 was made up of a lot of tracks that I had heard on the 69-78 albums and the “Carpenters Collection”. But “If I Had You” was the standout on the album.
 
After all these years, Karen's interpretation (& Richard's arrangement) of
Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again, is a standout amongst all of their recordings.
Always been a fan of Jim Gordon's drumming.
It is interesting to compare versions, here is David Pomeranz:
 
After all these years, Karen's interpretation (& Richard's arrangement) of
Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again, is a standout amongst all of their recordings.
Always been a fan of Jim Gordon's drumming.
It is interesting to compare versions, here is David Pomeranz:

"Always been a fan of Jim Gordon's drumming."
Agreed.
 
There’s something beautifully chilly about it. I wonder if this has anything to do with Richard retweaking the arrangement for a more modern 90s edge.
 
Same here! It’s like an masterpiece with the edges still intact.
There’s something beautifully chilly about it. I wonder if this has anything to do with Richard retweaking the arrangement for a more modern 90s edge.

I agree! :) Why are (we) talking about a song that isn't even a part of the Interpretations video? lol Not that it shouldn't be on it? Was there a video issued for "Trying" in any country? I'd like to see it!
 
Is there no actual "Official Review" thread for the audio
cd of Interpretations ?
Well, in any event, it is my "listen" for the day.
As a single-cd compilation, this remains a favorite--for many a reason.
1. It is not simply a compilation of "hits."
2. We got some new material...Trying To Get The Feeling Again, foremost among that new material.
3. Many vocal favorites here...
Bless The Beasts And Children,
This Masquerade,
Solitaire,
When I Fall In Love
When It's Gone,
Where Do I Go From Here,
Desperado,
Little Girl Blue,
You're The One.

4. We do get some interesting Singles...among them....
Sing, Superstar, Rainy Days, If I Had You, Please Mr.Postman
We've Only Just Begun, Calling Occupants, Close To You
....

This compilation is a favorite,
Oh, yes, I do have TWO promotional Posters for this release (24X36),
and the UK 45 Vinyl and cd-single of Trying To Get The Feeling Again.
So, yes, I do love this release.
I did not know that they released Trying to Get the Feeling Again in the UK??
It is one of my favorites- the way Richard arranged it, the simple backing vocals (thankfully, he did not add that cheesy Choir).
Exceptional all the way around!
I wished they would have here in the states. oh well...
 

Tryin To Get.jpg

I hate the orange that they used on the actual CD. It’s more of a brown than an orange, but it makes it tough to read the label. Whereas the album used a much brighter orange on the CD that made the letters pop from the blue (actually the blue is even brighter as well). The CD single kind of looks like it was left on the floor, under a car that leaked oil.
 
Why are (we) talking about a song that isn't even a part of the Interpretations video? lol Not that it shouldn't be on it? Was there a video issued for "Trying" in any country? I'd like to see it!

This song came up because it's on the accompanying CD but thinking about it, I don't know why they didn't release the video for it on this collection. It was a perfectly respectable tribute to Karen and extremely well done. It was broadcast in the UK on Top Of The Pops once or twice, and was never seen on TV again to my knowledge.
 
John asks Why "we are talking about a song Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again,'" as it is not on the Video Interpretations.
Primarily, due to the issue that there is not a separate "review thread" for the cd compilation of Interpretations.
But, discussion of the song is hardly inappropriate here, as the song was released for the 25th Anniversary Celebration,
and Interpretations--both cd and video format--was released specifically for the 25th Anniversary Celebration.
The 25th Anniversary was special, not least because the USA was included in the extensive promotion by A&M.
The song itself appears to have been targeted specifically in the UK market (1994: cd- single and 45-vinyl single).
Carpenters' Trying To Get The Feelin' Again should be much better known in the USA.
 
John asks Why "we are talking about a song Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again,'" as it is not on the Video Interpretations.
Primarily, due to the issue that there is not a separate "review thread" for the cd compilation of Interpretations.
But, discussion of the song is hardly inappropriate here, as the song was released for the 25th Anniversary Celebration,
and Interpretations--both cd and video format--was released specifically for the 25th Anniversary Celebration.
The 25th Anniversary was special, not least because the USA was included in the extensive promotion by A&M.
The song itself appears to have been targeted specifically in the UK market (1994: cd- single and 45-vinyl single).
Carpenters' Trying To Get The Feelin' Again should be much better known in the USA.
Do you know what the 'B-side' was on the 45?
 
Side Two: Sing
Back Sleeve: "Both tracks from the forthcoming A&M album Interpretations-A 25th Anniversary Celebration."
 
Side Two: Sing
Back Sleeve: "Both tracks from the forthcoming A&M album Interpretations-A 25th Anniversary Celebration."

I remember thinking at the time it was a terrible B-side choice. They could have picked a classier song to go with such a majestic previously-unreleased track. If it had to be something more uptempo and had to be from the same album, they could have at least gone for Please Mr Postman (a neat tie-in as they were both linked to the same album), or better still, the classy and ultra-sophisticated If I Had You (as remixed by Richard).
 
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I remember thinking at the time it was a terrible B-side choice. They could have picked a classier song to go with such a majestic previously-unreleased track. If it had to be something more uptempo and had to be from the same album, they could have at least gone for Please Mr Postman (a neat tie-in as they were both linked to the same album), or better still, the classy and ultra-sophisticated If I Had You (as remixed by Richard).
Or it might’ve been interesting to have maybe seen Desperado as one of the B-side tracks. Or even From This Moment On as “Interpretations” was the debut album for the studio recording of that track.
 
Watched this DVD today.
DVD Interpretations:
Where does the audio and video for this version of Close To You originate ?
For example, the audio on this DVD for that song is certainly NOT what you find on Yesterday Once More Video.
It is not the same audio of Close To You as you find on the Interpretations CD, either.
 
Aren’t those early videos from their summer tv series “Make Your Own Kind of Music?”
 
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