“IMWAN for all seasons.”



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 19 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:54 am 
User avatar
1966 and all that

Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11834
Location: San Diego Zoo
I'm a big fan of Carpenters and own an almost complete run. I just need Yesterday Once More, the original singles collection, and the Christmas album. But I'm undecided on the Christmas album, feel I've got enough of those. I only play Christmas albums on the 24th and 25th of December. But Karen Carpenter had the most beautiful voice of any pop vocalist. Should I get the Christmas album? :?

_________________
"Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss?" - schoolgirl in the film "American Graffiti"


Top
  Profile  
 

IMWAN Admin
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:57 am 
User avatar
Helpful Librarian

Joined: Day WAN
Posts: 197137
Location: IMWAN Towers
Bannings: If you're not nice
Yes. Look ... when you have a lot of discs in your collection (which you undoubtedly do, Googa), you're going to end up playing a sizable percentage of them only once or twice a year anyway. So what's the difference if that once or twice a year happens to fall on the 24th and 25th of December?

_________________
Image


Top
  Profile  
 

ICE Mod
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:00 am 
User avatar

Joined: 12 Jul 2006
Posts: 7672
Location: Atlanta
GM,

The Carpenters' Christmas material is a must have, and Karen's wonderfully rich voice suits it perfectly. It is one of the few Christmas albums that I can listen to regardless of season.

Jay

_________________
Jay


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:00 am 
User avatar
1966 and all that

Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11834
Location: San Diego Zoo
I've got

Beach Boys
Brian Wilson
Tiny Tim
Phil Spector
Elvis
Vince Guaraldi

Carpenters would be my seventh Christmas title!

_________________
"Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss?" - schoolgirl in the film "American Graffiti"


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:02 am 
User avatar
1966 and all that

Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11834
Location: San Diego Zoo
Okay, I'll get Carpenters and Bing, and that's it - no more Christmas CD's after that. Oh yes, and Darlene Love's. Okay, that's enough!

_________________
"Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss?" - schoolgirl in the film "American Graffiti"


Top
  Profile  
 

IMWAN Admin
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:10 am 
User avatar
Helpful Librarian

Joined: Day WAN
Posts: 197137
Location: IMWAN Towers
Bannings: If you're not nice
... and The Four Seasons ...

_________________
Image


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:17 am 
User avatar
1966 and all that

Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11834
Location: San Diego Zoo
Linda wrote:
... and The Four Seasons ...


You're right, if I've got The Beach Boys, I need The Four Seasons... where does it end? :lol:

_________________
"Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss?" - schoolgirl in the film "American Graffiti"


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:46 am 
User avatar
1966 and all that

Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11834
Location: San Diego Zoo
Home Alone 2 OST contains a Spector-like Christmas song by Darlene Love, "Nobody Ought to be Alone at Christmas" - an essential piece of the Spector tribute puzzle.

_________________
"Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss?" - schoolgirl in the film "American Graffiti"


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 11:45 am 
User avatar

Joined: 20 Sep 2006
Posts: 3671
GoogaMooga wrote:
I've got

Beach Boys
Brian Wilson
Tiny Tim
Phil Spector
Elvis
Vince Guaraldi

Carpenters would be my seventh Christmas title!


You have 6 Christmas albums and think you have enough? :shock:
I buy twice that many new Christmas CDs every year...
Heck, I have 2 Carpenters Christmas CDs. You need to the get the 2 CD set that has both of the Carpenters Christmas CDs in it.


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:49 pm 
User avatar
1966 and all that

Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11834
Location: San Diego Zoo
Oh, I didn't know about that one. Well, you and Jay have convinced me - thanks, guys! I'll get the 2CD and I think there are at least two or three live albums that I'm missing as well. I never bought the box set because Richard went and radically remixed the tracks on that set. If you've got one of the old Rolling Stone Record Guides from the '80s, look up Carpenters, they really get slammed with one or two stars for each album. I hope they've had a critical reappraisal in the States since then. I remember there was a tribute album in the '90s, "If I Were a Carpenter", I think it's called. Carpenters are cool!

Linda, you were spot on with The Four Seasons. They would indeed be my next logical choice after Carpenters, Bing, and Darlene Love.

_________________
"Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss?" - schoolgirl in the film "American Graffiti"


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:53 pm 
User avatar
1966 and all that

Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11834
Location: San Diego Zoo
That makes a total of eleven Christmas albums for me - five for the 24th and six more for the 25th!

_________________
"Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss?" - schoolgirl in the film "American Graffiti"


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:31 am 
User avatar

Joined: 12 Jul 2006
Posts: 847
Location: illinois
If you're a Chicago fan I would strongly suggest "Chicago Christmas: What's It Gonna Be Santa." Oh, and the Carpenters Christmas album really is a must. Nicely formatted. Very listenable.


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:20 am 
User avatar
Smokin' D'oh !

Joined: 31 Jan 2008
Posts: 900
I don't have The Carpenter's Christmas album but does the "Christmas Portrait" below have the identical cover and tracklisting of the original release ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00004SED8/?tag=imwan-21

I think I read somewhere it was different.I don't bother with so many Christmas albums myself,but this year got The New Christy Minstrels two Christmas albums 1963 and 1966 on the two-fer Collectors Choice which conjurs up the (the imagined) cosy and jolly 1960s holiday of Christmas Past.
I would get the Christmas Portrait for that wonderful Karen Carpenter song that you can occasionally hear on radio during December "Merry Christmas Darling"-worth the entry price alone.

On the subject of The Carpenters "The Singles 1969-1973" US import

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00005R0TH/?tag=imwan-21

This begins with the track "We've Only Just Begun" but anyone else who owns this can't help but notice that preceding that familiar song is about a one minute incidental piano intro of "Close To You".
Was this how the original album went ?


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:36 pm 
User avatar
Iconoclast

Joined: 26 Sep 2006
Posts: 4543
GoogaMooga wrote:
I'm a big fan of Carpenters and own an almost complete run. I just need Yesterday Once More, the original singles collection, and the Christmas album. But I'm undecided on the Christmas album, feel I've got enough of those. I only play Christmas albums on the 24th and 25th of December. But Karen Carpenter had the most beautiful voice of any pop vocalist. Should I get the Christmas album? :?

Of course you should get the Christmas album. If you don't, every time you hear a Carpenters song, your thoughts will automatically reflect that you only own "an almost complete run"...Eventually you will cave.

Don't worry. It's all good. Every Christmas CD I own is there pretty much because it rounds out my collection of a particular artist.


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:55 pm 
User avatar
1966 and all that

Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11834
Location: San Diego Zoo
AMW wrote:
Of course you should get the Christmas album. If you don't, every time you hear a Carpenters song, your thoughts will automatically reflect that you only own "an almost complete run"...Eventually you will cave.


I was already beginning to think like that! :lol:

_________________
"Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss?" - schoolgirl in the film "American Graffiti"


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 12:16 am 
User avatar
1966 and all that

Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11834
Location: San Diego Zoo
I just remembered I own one more Christmas album, the psychedelic soul masterwork, "Peace", by the cult group Rotary Connection. They had Minnie Riperton on lead vocals and featured big orchestration. They were on Chess and Cadet. One for you Christmas CD collectors:

Image

So then I'll own 12 Christmas CD's, 6 for each day! :yay:

_________________
"Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss?" - schoolgirl in the film "American Graffiti"


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:34 am 
User avatar
1966 and all that

Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11834
Location: San Diego Zoo
And here's the OST with the Darlene Love track:

Image

_________________
"Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss?" - schoolgirl in the film "American Graffiti"


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:10 pm 
User avatar

Joined: 22 Jun 2007
Posts: 2466
Location: Massachusetts
Master Hare wrote:
I don't have The Carpenter's Christmas album but does the "Christmas Portrait" below have the identical cover and tracklisting of the original release ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00004SED8/?tag=imwan-21

I think I read somewhere it was different....
I would get the Christmas Portrait for that wonderful Karen Carpenter song that you can occasionally hear on radio during December "Merry Christmas Darling"-worth the entry price alone.


I used to own this "Special Edition" (US version, anyway) but sold it when the 2-disc "Christmas Collection," which contains the complete "Christmas Portrait" and "Old-Fashioned Christmas" albums, was released. My recollection is that the "Special Edition" did have the same Norman Rockwell/"Saturday Evening Post"-inspired cover art as "Christmas Portrait," but contained selected tracks from both Christmas albums, including "Merry Christmas, Darling." However, I was always dissatisfied with the cd, because it wasn't the same as the original album, which flowed perfectly from track to track, from beginning to end. The 2-disc "Christmas Collection" was quite welcome, though I'm sorry that it does not have the "Christmas Portrait" cover reproduced anywhere, not even in the booklet, and does not contain the original version of "Ave Maria" that ends "Christmas Portrait." The "Christmas Collection" version has a choir added to it, whereas the original is just Karen.

_________________
Momo


Top
  Profile  
 
 Post subject: This Carpenters fan needs your advice
PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 7:43 am 
User avatar
Smokin' D'oh !

Joined: 31 Jan 2008
Posts: 900
Momo wrote:
The 2-disc "Christmas Collection" was quite welcome, though I'm sorry that it does not have the "Christmas Portrait" cover reproduced anywhere, not even in the booklet, and does not contain the original version of "Ave Maria" that ends "Christmas Portrait." The "Christmas Collection" version has a choir added to it, whereas the original is just Karen.


Momo,

Thanks for clarifying.If I get round to buying it has to be the "Christmas Portrait" with the original artwork and songs in their original form.Completists might want the two-cd,but this is the one for me.Thanks. :thumbsup:


Top
  Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 19 posts ]   



Who is WANline

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  


Powdered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited

IMWAN is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide
a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.