June 28, 2006
Yesterday Once More
Recently, we managed to get the rest of the Karen Carpenter recordings she made in May 1979 in New York with Phil Ramone producing and with Billy Joel’s band - Rod Temperton, Doug Stegmeyer and Liberty DeVitto, playing. These are different from the posthumous Karen Carpenter album that Richard Carpenter finally okayed for release in 1996. According to Phil Ramone, the tracks on that album were all selected by Karen for an album that she personally shelved in May 1980 to restart the Carpenters.
These nine songs are all unfinished in that they are raw mixes with no touch ups. But they are complete performances of each song. The New York sessions were never meant to sound like the Carpenters. They are uptempo with an r’n'b feel and decidedly funkier. But they all carry Karen’s trademark vocals - a wide-eyed earnest, girlish appeal. Just listen to Something’s Missing.
The clue that these songs existed was in what Phil Ramone wrote for the sleevenote to Karen Carpenter. He said then of the extra song Last One Singin’ The Blues that “the bonus track is unmixed and was one of several that might have been finished.” And if A&M could release that, we figured the others couldn’t be that bad in quality.
If you miss Karen, then you’ll want to hear her sing again. Karen wasn’t just a pop singer, she was our secret conscience, the little voice inside reminding us of teenage crushes, hopes and dreams. We love you, Karen.
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (these are high quality, stereo MP3s - sample rate of 192 kibit/s). As far as we can ascertain none of the tracks have been officially released.
Track 01. I Do It For Your Love [P Simon]
Track 02. It’s Really You
Track 03. Jimmy Mack
Track 04. Love Making Love To You
Track 05. Truly You
Track 06. Don’t Try To Win Me Back Again
Track 07. Something’s Missing
Track 08. Keep My Lovelight Burning
Track 09. Midnight
As always, feel free to drop us a line.