The Carpenters 1969

[Twyla Plack]

Im doing something here that's extremely uncool. To be honest, I don't really like the Carpenters... but I do think that Karen Carpenter had one of the greatest voices of all time. And I'm hardly the only one to think that. I just looked up her Wikipedia entry, and it quotes Paul McCartney as saying that she had "the best female voice in the world: melodic, tuneful and distinctive."

The problem for me has been the Muzak-y song selection and production. But some of the group's songs were good or even classics, despite the fact they were cheesy. As for the production, recently I've been looking for multitrack versions of songs for some artists. I've been hoping to find that for the Carpenters in order to try to de-Muzak-ify the syrupy as best I could. The bad news is I couldn't find such multitracks for the group, but the good news is that someone else had them and already did what I wanted to do, stripping the songs down to their core of just Karen Carpenters' voice, plus bass and drums. There are some additional instruments and/or vocals here and there, but not much.

In my opinion, listening to these songs in this way is a real revelation. By removing all the overproduced gunk, you can hear just how great her voice is. She doesn't do vocal gymnastics like TV talent show winners do (thankfully), but there's something about the sound of her voice that demands one's attention. Thanks to Jeremy Doe for making these stripped down versions. I'm calling this album "Near Acappella" because that's the term he used.

If you listen to this, I promise I won't tell anybody! ;)

01 Ticket to Ride (Carpenters)

02 [They Long to Be] Close to You (Carpenters)

03 We've Only Just Begun (Carpenters)

04 For All We Know (Carpenters)

05 Rainy Days and Mondays (Carpenters)

06 Superstar [Groupie] (Carpenters)

07 Goodbye to Love (Carpenters)

08 Hurting Each Other (Carpenters)

09 It's Going to Take Some Time (Carpenters)

10 Sing (Carpenters)

11 This Masquerade (Carpenters)

12 Top of the World (Carpenters)

13 Yesterday Once More (Carpenters)

14 Please Mr. Postman (Carpenters)

15 Only Yesterday (Carpenters)

_1969-1975_NearAcapplla_atse.zip.html

For the cover art, I chose a picture that shows the bass and drums, since these versions feature those instruments so prominently. Interestingly, Karen Carpenter was a really good drummer, and she's the one playing the drums in this picture.

The Singles: 1969-1973 was the first Carpenters compilation. It was also one of The Carpenters' most successful albums and compilations. "The Singles" was a compilation of all twelve of the singles released during the first 4 years of their career. Many of the songs were remixed especially for the album, including the whole A-side, and "Yesterday Once More".

The first track on the album, "We've Only Just Begun" was given an instrumental interlude that segued between the melodies of (They Long to Be) Close to You, Superstar, and the familiar six-note introduction to the song.

"Superstar", "Rainy Days and Mondays", and "Goodbye to Love" were all mixed into a continuous song on The Singles: 1969-1973. The strings at the end of "Superstar" faded nicely into "Rainy Days and Mondays". While Karen sings "me down" at the end of "Rainy Days and Mondays", a very nice orchestral bridge fades into "Goodbye to Love". These three songs were sped up to match the key of the next song.

Although the CD remix is that of the 1991 remix of "Yesterday Once More", the vinyl LP remix was a remastered version of the "Now & Then" version with some modifications, most notably the omitting of the motorcycle at the end of the album version.

The Benjamin Franklin Haley collection, 1964-1967, contains weekly reports of Haley's work as an organizer of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Southern States Organizing Office. These reports describe metropolitan Atlanta's construction activity in terms of union employment and growth.

The Chattanooga Building Trades Council is a subsidiary of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department. The records, 1901-1968, of the Chattanooga Building Trades Council are composed primarily of correspondence, limited financial records, and work agreements.

The James A. Parker papers, 1948, 1975 contain a news clipping regarding the dedication of a union hall in Hampton, SC, named for Mr. Parker and the 1948 year book of the South Carolina Federation of Labor as well as a copy of the membership application to Local 1992.

The Southeastern Building Trade Conference is an umbrella organization uniting building trade unions from the southeastern states: Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. The Southeastern Building Trade Conference records include financial records, correspondence, minutes, and resolutions.

Formed in 1899, Carpenters Local 256 (Savannah, Ga.) would later absorb Local 1847 in 1921 and Local 1826 in 1939. The collection consists of minutes, financial documents, legal papers, correspondence and printed items. The papers reflect the local's concerns including full employment for its members, advising members not to go to Tampa, Fla. in 1904 to break a strike, attempts in 1943 by the War Manpower Board to freeze carpenters on the job and other union concerns and activities.

The records, 1901-1968, of United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 396, Newport News, Virginia, consist of financial ledgers and minute books. The records include those of Local 887, Hampton, and a minute book from the Peninsular District of Virginia.

United Brotherhood of Carpenters, Local 531 was chartered in 1900, the first trade union organized in the city of St. Petersburg, Florida. Its records, 1900-1977, of United Brotherhood of Carpenters, Local 531 (St. Petersburg, Florida), comprise mostly minutes and financial documents.

The records of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, Local 627 (Jacksonville, Fla.), 1937-1971, include correspondence, newsclippings, and printed material pertaining to Local 627's relations with the Florida State AFL-CIO, its predecessor the Florida State Federated Council AFL-CIO, the Florida State Building and Construction Trades Council, and the Jacksonville Metal Trades Council.

Records document the increase in union membership due to the huge shipbuilding industry in Tampa during World War II. Documentation includes minutes; financial ledgers and statements; apprenticeship training files; and printed items.

The Wood, Wire and Metal Lathers' International Union was founded in 1899. Local 234 was located in Atlanta, Georgia. This collection includes Lathers' Craft Problems and Reference Book, lathers' apprentice training and instruction manual, Local 234 apprentice school journal (December 1964-October 1974), and worksite photographs (March 1975).

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