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The Singles 1969-1973

The Carpenters - The Singles 1969-1973 Audio CD

A fair review of the The Carpenters "The Singles 1969-1973" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Carpenters reviews here, or go back to the The Carpenters tabs.

Band: The Carpenters
Title: The Singles 1969-1973
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-01-12
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: We've Only Just Begun 2: Top of the World 3: Ticket to Ride 4: Superstar 5: Rainy Days and Mondays 6: Goodbye to Love 7: Yesterday Once More 8: It's Going to Take Some Time 9: Sing 10: For All We Know 11: Hurting Each Other 12: (They Long to Be) Close to You

One of the best compilations you can find
But yet this is a compilation album where you can find the most complete and necessary group of songs by the duo which invaded the radio with the most simple ballads. Luis Mejia - The first single album by The Carpenters came early; as it's title states, it only covers 4 years. Each song fits perfectly with each other, and yet they all connect by a few seconds; a complete resource of short, worthy and enjoyable ballads which most were top charting. It is a short compilation to hear all the way through without any discomfort, all a number of melancholic, orchestrated, low key pop songs covered by the unique voice of Karen Carpenter. If there is a part of The Carpenters' songs missing here are some interpretations but as far as it goes this could be the only album of The Carpenters worth keeping.

OK In Its Day - But A More Comprehensive Compilation Needed Now
And, in its original format, the LP did almost live up to the billing of "The Singles" insofar as the hits for this brother/sister act were concerned to that point. When this was released in 1999 as a digitalized version of the original A&M 1973 vinyl album, a 12-track release was pretty much the norm. I say almost, because they did omit two legitimate hit singles from that period: Merry Christmas Darling, which hit # 3 on the Billboard Christmas charts in December 1970, and Bless The Beasts And Children which, as the B-side to the hit Superstar (# 1 Adult Contemporary (AC)/# 2 Billboard Pop Hot 100), itself made it to # 26 AC/# 67 Hot 100 in mid-1971.

But this now needs an upgrade because, after 1973, they added another 15 Hot 100 hits, including one more # 1, and 19 more to the AC charts, including 7 more # 1's (they had 15 # 1 AC hits in all, and 8 more that made the Top 10).

Some liner notes would also be welcome as the insert contains only the lyrics to the 12 tracks, nor does it have a discography of the contents. The one additional photo of the duo is also extremely fuzzy.

For the record, here is a discography of the contents, given in the order the hits appeared: Ticket To Ride - # 19 AC/# 54 Hot 100 late 1969/early 1970 on A&M 1142; (They Long To Be) Close To You - # 1 AC for 6 weeks/# 1 Hot 100 for 4 weeks summer 1970 on A&M 1183; We've Only Just Begun - # 1 AC for 7 weeks/# 2 Hot 100 fall 1970 on A&M 1217; For All We Know - # 1 AC for 3 weeks/# 3 Hot 100 early spring 1971 on A&M 1243; Rainy Days And Mondays - # 1 AC for 4 weeks/# 2 Hot 100 June 1971 on A&M 1260; Superstar (see above); Hurting Each Other - # 1 AC for 2 weeks/# 2 Hot 100 early spring 1072 on A&M 1322; It's Going To Take Some Time - # 2 AC/# 12 Hot 100 May/June 1972 on A&M 1351; Goodbye To Love - # 2 AC/# 7 Hot 100 later summer 1972 on A&M 1367; Sing - # 1 AC for 2 weeks/# 3 Hot 100 spring 1973 on A&M 1413; Yesterday Once More - # 1 AC for 3 weeks/# 2 Hot 100 summer 1973 on A&M 1446; and Top Of The World - # 2 AC/# 1 Hot 100 for 2 weeks in fall 1973 on A&M 1468.

Not the same as the original but close
This CD is close to the original album, but some changes were made. I had this album when I was a kid in the 70's and played it over and over. As others noted, there's practically no pause between songs and the intro to "We've Only Just Begun" was altered. The album was perfect as it was made in 1973, and you cannot improve upon perfection. It should not have been altered. People buy old music for the nostalgia as much as for the music itself. By altering the album, the producers have cheated us of our memories. Despite this, the music itself is as good as ever. And Karen's voice is still hauntingly beautiful. That alone deserves 5 stars.

Get the 1969-1981 Collection Instead
Every song I have heard Karen Carpenter sing has been enhanced by her beautiful, mellow, clear voice. Karen and Richard Carpenter were very good at a certain style of music. This CD collects most of the Carpenters' most popular music from their first four years of creating music. However, a later version of this collection has twenty-one songs in it. One proviso; some people think the remixing Richard Carpenter did in that collection was undesirable. You decide!

What is amazing about this music is that is sounds as contemporary today as it did when it was originally released. While many people may attempt to apply "timeless" to the music of various artists, thus far the Carpenters' music is timeless, and I think it will continue to be timeless in the adult contemporary genre for some time to come.

While Karen and Richard's music was mellow and mainstream, the art, technology and effort put into the music pushed their music to several limits. Karen tried very hard to create the most perfect music possible. When you listen to many female vocalists you hear when they take a breath. Karen did her best to turn her head from the microphone when she took a breath so you did not hear the breath. Karen and Richard pushed multi-track vocals to the limit of technology, recording track after track of Karen's voice, and then combining those tracks to create the gorgeous harmonies that are typical of the Carpenter's music.

The focus on perfection and technique could easily become the focus of the music, allowing the musical art to become lost. The Carpenters' always kept art as an important part of their music. Karen had an incredible vocal talent to sing as though she was singing to each and every listener. Her voice was able to communicate emotion in a way that few other vocalists have been able to achieve.

This CD is perfect for both casual and serious fans of the Carpenters, for anyone who appreciates mellow music, and for those who consider adult contemporary to be their favorite type of music.

I warn the focused listener that this music can become an emotional experience. Turn up the stereo on "Superstar," turn out the lights, lay back in a comfortable overstuffed chair, and feel the emotions evoked by the song; Karen Carpenter sang to strum the chords of your soul.
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The most well known album of the Carpenters!
A lot of these I like very much. This album of the Carpenters contains their well known songs that were recorded from 1969-1973. From the opening track, "We've Only Just Begun", with its intro sounding like "Close to You", to the final track, "(They Long to Be) Close To You", this album is one that any Carpenters fan should have in their music collection. I own this title myself on LP, tape and CD, and it is a joy to listen to. I love all of the songs. The opening track, "We've Only Just Begun" is a great one, as Richard got the idea of this song from an old bank commercial from '70. The second track, "Top of the World", is very cheery and happy sounding. 3) "Ticket to Ride", another great track that has a sad sound to it when Karen sang it. I think I read somewhere that when she and Richard originally recorded this song in '69 for their first A&M album (Ticket to Ride), she did not like her original performance of the song, so she wanted to re-record it for this singles album. The next song, "Superstar", is a great one as well and has almost a loud rock sound with the drums. The fifth one, "Rainy Days and Mondays" is also a sad sounding track, and almost seems to remind people that these kinds of days can make someone down and weary. The sixth one, "Goodbye to Love" is a great one with the fuzz guitar solo in the middle and in the climax. This song also has sad lyrics to it as Karen sings about a person not finding anyone to love them and they just decide to spend the rest of their lifetime in solitude and misery. Of course, we should never say "goodbye to love" at all, because we all know that we are loved by our families, friends, and the Good Lord as well; this is only a song. But, there are some people who are not loved very much or at all, and it is real sad. The seventh song, "Yesterday Once More", is another great one, talking about reminiscing about songs we all liked at a certain time years ago, and how great it is to hear the songs again years later. Track eight, "It's Going To Take Some Time", is another wonderful one, with a bittersweet sound to it. Track nine, "Sing", with a children's choir is very melodic and "childlike". Track ten, "For All We Know", is another song with a somewhat sad sound to it. Track eleven, "Hurting Each Other", starts out softly with Karen's voice along with the piano, and picks up to a louder sound and back to soft, etc. Yes, we all should stop hurting each other, because it won't make things better for us or anyone else. And the twelfth and final track, "(They Long to Be) Close to You", is another well known track with a happy sound to it and. It is kind of a shame that this album is no longer available for fans to get. I think it's because that there are a couple of other compilation titles of theirs that seem to provide a wider variety of their songs, those being "Singles 1969-1981" (which seems almost identical to this '69-'73 title) and "Gold" (from what I read on another review about this album). But, if you ever want to try to get this Singles 1969-73 title on CD (or tape), your best bet is to get a copy of it used, as it is not found in stores anymore. Karen's voice will always sound angelic on these songs, as it was so sad about her loss back in February, 1983 (I did not hear about her passing at that time, as I was only almost three and not yet into television news). This music of her and Richard will never wear out. Another note: I learned that this was their only album hit #1. That seems odd, because their music was so wonderful and still is. .

You can see a complete list of all The Carpenters discography, or go back to the The Carpenters tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.