Week #19: Solo Album, Richard Carpenter: "TIME"

[Chris May]

I thought it would be fun to dedicate the next few weeks chronologically to the Carpenters' individual solo projects. The album of the week is Richard Carpenter's debut solo release
entitled: "TIME".

Although records sales were poor for this particular release, there are still several gems, including cuts featuring Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick, Scott Grimes and Herb Alpert. The backing vocals are of course classic "Carpenteresque" and the arrangements, although a bit dated in my opinion are superb.

Please vote for your favorite song from this album and tell us why you picked it. -Chris

All thumbnails provided by http://www.grantguerrero.com/carpenters/carindex.html

 

[andywithaz]

I definitely went with Something In Your Eyes. It's the best song from both of Richard's two solo albums. My second choice would be Time and then In Love Alone.

 

[Mark-T]

I like this album-
"I'm Still Not Over You" is a great song- so are many others- BUT-
"Who Do You Love?" is my pick.
Richard sounds confident and playful, and I really enjoy all the background vocals.

 

[Chris May]

"I'm Still Not Over You" is my pick.

The elements that really attract me to this one are Joe Osborn's electric bass lines and Richard's vocals. Good stuff! -Chris

 

[coolvox]

I wish that Richard and Dionne
would team up for an album of
Bacharach covers. Seems like it
would be a match made in heaven.
JIM

 

[Jeff]

WHEN TIME WAS ALL WE HAD...

advanced overdubs, heightened production, refreshened sound and another glimpse into studio D. richard's vocals are hauntingly reminiscent. BRILLIANT. heartwrenching.

SAY YEAH! is next. same reasons as above.

it was studio D right?

Jeff

 

[Murray]

I voted for SAY YEAH!

I remember the first time I played the Time album. When SAY YEAH! started to play, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Could this possibly be THE Richard Carpenter... the same middle-of-the-road, OK Chorale loving, goody-two-shoes square that we knew and loved? Nah, it couldn't be... this guy was cool, he was hip, he was CONTEMPORARY!... and this song had radio hit written all over it. Had this been the lead-off single, rather than "Something In Your Eyes", I have a feeling that the album would have done much better than it ultimately did.

My very close second is WHO DO YOU LOVE?, which is another upbeat, very contemporary sounding track, and which also would have made a great single.

Murray

 

[Dave]

"Richard Plays & Sings" real well, but Karen was still "the whole show"...er, at least from what the many Cassettes that I saw in the "cut-out" racks at the now-defunkt Musicland and Sam Goody stores told me...

I think his decision to step out and make an album worthy of filing with the other Carpenters was a real smart move...

The classic crystalline sound is still here...! And the songs don't all "sound alike"; they're all unique and with their own story to tell... Like the 'hard to forget the good times' of "I'm Still Not Over You" and the 'Barry Manilow-esque' "When Time Was All We Had", the 'longing and wondering' of "Who Do You Love" and the steady and enthusiastic intro, "Say Yeah!", and the 'solitarity' of "In Love Alone" and hopeful, "Calling Your Name Again"... This should have gotten as much radio-play as the earlier stuff...!


Dave

 

[Harry]

This is actually a pretty tough choice, but I went with "Something In Your Eyes", on the strength of it being at least a minor radio single. Dusty Springfield does an outstanding job, and really should have been given credit on the single - an oversight for sure.

But really, I like just about this whole album. From the opening surprise of "Say Yeah", to the heartfelt "When Time Was All We Had", the album has it all.

If I had to lose a track, it would be the Scott Grimes vocal on "That's What I Believe". He does an OK job, but I would've rather had Richard sing the lead.

This was the first Carpenter-related project that I bought on CD first. Any prior releases I got on LP and later upgraded to CD, but this one came out in the CD age. I recall getting a couple of copies of promo LPs at the radio station and comparing the graphics, surprised to see the rearrangement of some of the pictures.

A welcome album from Richard after what seemed a long period of silence.

Harry
NP: Richard Carpenter, TIME

 

[ullalume]

I went with "I'm Still Not Over You". It could do with a re-arrangement. . .replace that synthisizer with an acoustic piano (or even an electric one), but that aside, I love the song, the arrangement and the backing vocals. It has a quality of "Only Yesterday" about it, and had it featured Karen's vocals I really feel it could have been a top 5 hit in 83 (when it was originally due to be recorded.)

I'd loose "That's what I believe", and I stated previously I think if Richard tackled it now the synthizer would feature much less. But all in all, a very good album (but no Karen)

Neil

 

[thestitch]

This is such a unique album right from the start. Like Murray, when I first heard Richard singing "Say Yeah" I almost fell off my chair! There are some wonderful songs on this album. "I'm Still Not Over You" sounds so very wistful and is a favorite to listen to. For some reason I'm not all that fond of Dionne here. I'm crazy about her singing and have lots of her albums, but her rendition sounds "faded". I don't know. Maybe I'm just weird.

To me the best on this album is "Something in Your Eyes". It's a classic Carpenteresque song! It gives me chills to hear it. It got quite a lot of air time on the radio in the Cincinnati area when it came out.

Marilyn,
who's now off to see the vampire at the blood testing lab to see what Lipitor is doing!

 

[Chris May]

I went with "I'm Still Not Over You". It could do with a re-arrangement. . .replace that synthisizer with an acoustic piano (or even an electric one)

DITTO on that one. I think the DX-7 keyboard throughout is what makes the album sound so dated. I too would have preferred more acoustic piano. -Chris

 

[andywithaz]

Yeah, that is one of the reasons the late 80s remixes sound so terrible. Whatever happened to a good old Baldwin?

 

[Chris May]

Yeah, that is one of the reasons the late 80s remixes sound so terrible. Whatever happened to a good old Baldwin?

AMEN BROTHA!

 

[andywithaz]

I was very surprised to see your responses. I would've never thought that ya'll would have liked SAY YEAH and WHO DO YA LOVE? They are great songs but it just not Richard's style. To me that is like saying that Richard is a great rap artist. The songs would be better if they had been performed by other artists.

And by the way, WHEN TIME IS ALL WE HAD is pointless next to TIME. The titles are too much the same.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I'm with Andrew. "Say Yeah", to my ears, sounds really strange coming from Richard. His voice doesn't suit the track at all. He just sounds like he's trying too hard.

As for my favorite, I absolutely cannot choose between "Something In Your Eyes" and "When Time Was All We Had". Both songs have been blessed with amazing lyrics (thanks, Pamela Phillips-Oland) and both have great vocal arrangements. If I could put a vote in for both, I would. Since I can't, though, I confess to not having logged a vote. It was simply impossible.

Ed

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I also agree that Scott's vocal ain't the greatest. You can tell that he was told to sound like he was having fun. His forced "Whoo" at the beginning of the track is too funny for words. However, Richard's gift for great vocal arrangements makes this one listenable.

Ed

 

[Dave]

I would've never thought that ya'll would have liked SAY YEAH...

Well, I thought "Say Yeah" was high-spirited and somewhat reminiscent of the "older period" and seeing Richard on the cover by his old '60's T-Bird even brings back memories of the "Oldies Medley" from Now And Then... "Say Yeah" seems like a statement, but at the same time, it is kind of "forced"...

...and WHO DO YA LOVE?...

Eh, just pleasant balladry, but it does make me wonder what it would be like if Karen were around to sing it...

...And by the way, WHEN TIME IS ALL WE HAD is pointless next to TIME. The titles are too much the same.

I kind of agree; that's why I said "When Time Was All We Had" was "Barry Manilow-esque... Not that I'm putting it down, but it seems to be from the "singer-songwriter school", and the same goes for "Time"...

...Now to hear some more of this "treasure" on my "old, almost worn-out and losing some its Oxide", Cassette...!


Dave

 

[enigma]

I went with something in your eyes as well. Not a fan of Richards solo material there is a huge obvious void here but that aside not bad. This song is the best I hear on this effort. :|

 

[cam89]

I went with IN LOVE ALONE. I think it is such a gorgeous sung and sung wonderfully by Dionne Warwick. Also the fact that it was written for Karen to sing but she never got a chance to hear it at a party Richard was having in Christmas 1982 as it was raining really hard. And after that, he never got a chance to play it at a piano for her to hear. But I don't listen to this song thinking Dionne is sing it wrong and it should be Karen. I just enjoy it as a beautiful song! Which is what it is.

My thoughts,
Cameron

 

[hierogryph]

I didn't vote in the last two surveys. I simply couldn't pick out a favorite single in either category!! Oh, I debated. I re-listened (for about the zillionth time) and tried to compare but just couldn't decide.

At any rate, I'm back this week to choose "Calling Your Name Again."

I bought this album when it came out. I liked it but I didn't keep it because it needed Karen too much. I remember thinking, "Oh damn, this (or that) song is good but it would be better if . . . "

I voted for "Calling Your Name Again" because, at the time, it was (to my ear) the stand-out song of the album. Loved the melody and the lyric (but really missed Karen as vocalist). Today, it's the only song I remember from the album and if I try really hard, I can almost hear it.

I probably should have kept the album, but moved around alot at the time and wound up getting rid of most all the LPs I owned -- mostly because I was converting my collection to CD recordings, which were the "wave of the future", and are easier to pack and lug about.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

My vote is for WHEN TIME WAS ALL WE HAD. Such a sad song that really touches me and with Herb Alpert guesting with flugelhorn makes it extra special.

For me there are a few songs that really make me think of Karen especially with the lyrics in:

WHEN TIME WAS ALL WE HAD
CALLING YOUR NAME AGAIN
I'M STILL NOT OVER YOU

 

[newvillefan]

My vote goes for 'I'm Still Not Over You'.

When I first heard this song, I got quite a shock because I thought it was about Karen, and I couldn't believe Richard would record something that was so personal and inwardly about her (even more so than the album's official dedication song to her earlier). It was kind of the feeling 'he's kept this little gem til last!'.

Just today I saw you smile
And it took me back to yesterday
You still move me like you did
When you read me with your eyes that way
Haven't seen you for a while
Father time must be a friend of yours...


It all struck somehow of that close bond between them and the reference to 'haven't seen you for a while' and 'father time' was almost like, because she was gone, she didn't grow any older, her image frozen in time. Of course I now know it's about an ex girlfriend, but it still makes me think like that even now!

Stephen

 

[Daniel Perales]

This CD practically have a permanent place on my car's CD changer. I've always play the entire CD when I'm on a trip, but there are 3 songs that really get's a replay most of the time:

"Who Do You Love?"

This song happens to be the favorite one, especially when my young niece and nephews sings along to it. The only bad thing about it is that the song starts to fade out too soon and it's the longest fade out I ever heard in a song.

"Calling Your Name, Again"

This is another song that I really sing along (when I'm alone in the car, that is ) while I'm driving. I just love the vocal arrangement on this one.

"Something In Your Eyes"

This one, I sing along with the background vocals. I really like Dusty as well.

That was also the first song that I've heard from this CD when it was played over the radio so many years ago (around early 1988). When I heard it the first time, I said to myself, "That sounds a lot like something Richard Carpenter would have produced", and sure enough, I was so right when the DJ mentioned the name of the song and by whom it was from. After that, I just went out and tried to find this CD through every record store I can find, but they didn't have it (or even heard of it for that matter). It took me almost 2 months before I finally found my copy.

I still have that CD, and I made a personal CD copy of it to keep it in my car.


Danny

 

[aaflyer98]

Ok, I'm oddman out here, but my pick for favorite song from "Time", is "Time". This instrumental showcases (in my opinion) Richard's strongest abilities in arranging and performing. This track could have been place on any Carpenters album and would have fit right in. I think this track is truly some of his best work. I'm not crazy about any of Richard's vocals...on this album or previous Carpenters albums. They are nice, but, I prefer Karen's vocals with Richard's arrangements. The guest vocalists (Dusty and Dionne) were very nice, but they made me miss Karen even more...wondering how she would have handled the vocals. I really had hoped Richard would have considered arranging and scroing for movies....he did a fantastic job of that on the KC story.