Karens solo album question.

[billyuk]

A few years ago I found the solo cd, it had many more songs on it than the one i have now. I was but a wee boy at the time so had no way of purchasing it. Could any one give me any info on what these songs are? Could anyone help me get my hands on a copy of them? The solo album is my favourite of all karens albums. Please help.

[billyuk]

Nobody know anything?

[Rick Henry]

Billy...

What are the songs on the current KC solo disc that you have?

There are nine unreleased songs which are floating around on the internet - maybe you had those at one point.

CLICK HERE to play the current 70's Game

[billyuk]

My solo cd has : Lovelines, if i had you, making love in the afternoon, if we try, remember when lovin took all night, still in love with you, my body keeps changing my mind, make believe its your first time, guess i lost my head, still crazy after all these years, last one singin the blues and all because of you. The versions on here are very different to how they appear on "lovelines". I saw the other songs on a cd on ebat once but was outbib, its the only time i've ever seen them anywhere other than on that original cd.

[GoodOldDreams]

billyuk said:

My solo cd has : Lovelines, if i had you, making love in the afternoon, if we try, remember when lovin took all night, still in love with you, my body keeps changing my mind, make believe its your first time, guess i lost my head, still crazy after all these years, last one singin the blues and all because of you. The versions on here are very different to how they appear on "lovelines". I saw the other songs on a cd on ebat once but was outbib, its the only time i've ever seen them anywhere other than on that original cd.

Hi Billy,

That list of songs is pretty much what we get here in the States, too. The nine unreleased songs that Rick mentioned about are still "officially" held back here as far as I know. Perhaps the CD you found previously with more songs was not a commercially made CD, but a "homemade" one where someone added others songs to it. Do you remember where you found this CD when you were "but a wee boy"? By the way, how are the versions on your solo CD different from the "Lovelines " CD? Check out these links:

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002G64/populasongsmu-20#moreAboutThisProduct

and

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000HY5H/populasongsmu-20

Hope this helps to clarify matters for you.

[Rick Henry]

Just to keep things clarified here there are three different albums which sometimes people get confused.

First there's Karen's solo album which includes the songs listed above by BillyUK - those songs include "Making Love In The Afternoon", "All Because Of You", "last One Singin' The Blues", "Guess I Just Lost My Head" - and others.

Next there's "Lovelines" - some call this a studio album - but it's actually a compilation of previously unreleased songs (from different time periods - including four songs from KC's solo). This was compiled by Richard and released in 1989 and inludes "Honolulu City Lights", "The Uninvited Guest", "Where Do I Go From Here" and others. Some people confuse this as being Karen's solo album.

Another is "Voice Of The Heart" - which is also a compilation of previously unreleased songs - released in 1983. This release includes "Now", "Prime Time Love", "Two Lives", "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore", "You're Enough" and others. This is a Carpenters release - but because of the solo picture of Karen on the cover some have mistaken this compilation for her solo album. This album also includes a remake of Karen's solo "Make Believe It's Your First Time" - which was an outake from the "Made In America" recording sessions.

Carpenters have several compilations of previously unreleased songs. These compilations are comprised of album outtakes, lost tracks, songs from television specials, etc.

The Compilations include (this list does not include compilations of Greatest Hits or previously released materail)
"Voice Of The Heart"
"An Old Fashioned Christmas"
"Lovelines"
"Interpretations: A 25th Anniversary Celebrations" - inludes two new songs.
"As Time Goes By" (my personal favorite of the compilation releases)

"Karen Carpenter" was not a compilation - this was an actual studio album which was belatedly released.

Sorry to go off on this little tangent...

Just to add the nine unreleased KC solo songs are:
Keep My Lovelight Burining
Midnight
Love Makin' Love To You
It's Really You
Truly You
Jimmy Mack
Sometinhg's Missing
Don't Try To Win Me Back Again
I Do It For Your Love

I would love very much to have completed and nicely mixed versions of these songs - I would go out and buy them in a flash. But Richard insists they won't be released. BooHoo!

[billyuk]

goodolddreams said:

billyuk said:

My solo cd has : Lovelines, if i had you, making love in the afternoon, if we try, remember when lovin took all night, still in love with you, my body keeps changing my mind, make believe its your first time, guess i lost my head, still crazy after all these years, last one singin the blues and all because of you. The versions on here are very different to how they appear on "lovelines". I saw the other songs on a cd on ebat once but was outbib, its the only time i've ever seen them anywhere other than on that original cd.

Hi Billy,

That list of songs is pretty much what we get here in the States, too. The nine unreleased songs that Rick mentioned about are still "officially" held back here as far as I know. Perhaps the CD you found previously with more songs was not a commercially made CD, but a "homemade" one where someone added others songs to it. Do you remember where you found this CD when you were "but a wee boy"? By the way, how are the versions on your solo CD different from the "Lovelines " CD? Check out these links:

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002G64/populasongsmu-20#moreAboutThisProduct

and

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000HY5H/populasongsmu-20

Hope this helps to clarify matters for you.

Thanks for the info, but i'm not getting albums confused. I've seen these unreleased solo songs on ebay. I found the karen carpenter solo album with these extra songs on in a second hand record store when i was about 16. The versions of certain songs from the solo album i.e if i had you, make believe its your first time are alot different than how they appear on lovelines and voice of the heart, just listen to the end of if i had you, the vocals sound very different and they have definatly been re-produced or remixed, I think all of the songs that appear on lovelines and the solo album sound re-done. If I find these songs I'll be sure to share them with you. I'm quite sure they exist.

[Rick Henry]

Hi Billy... the four KC solo songs which appear on "Lovelines" are a different mix than what appears on "Karen Carpenter" (solo). For the "Lovelines" release Richard remixed the songs himself. On the release of KC solo the mixes are the originals which were done by Phil Ramone and Jim Boyer. So, there is a slight difference from what shows up on "Lovelines" and what is on the solo album. And I'm sure you're aware of this, the recording of "Make Believe It's Your First Time" from "Voice Of The Heart" is an all together different recording. The one from KC solo is the original recording and the one on VOTH is a rerecording done with Richard.

I'm not sure if these are the differences you're talking about or if there are some other recordings out there.

When you found these in the thrift store ten years ago was it on record, cassette or CD? As far as I am aware KC solo was only released on cassette and CD. What did the cover look like? How many songs were on it? Were the twelve tracks you mentioned from you copy of the solo CD on it?

... verrrry interesting...

[GoodOldDreams]

billyuk said:

goodolddreams said:

Hi Billy,

That list of songs is pretty much what we get here in the States, too. The nine unreleased songs that Rick mentioned about are still "officially" held back here as far as I know. Perhaps the CD you found previously with more songs was not a commercially made CD, but a "homemade" one where someone added others songs to it. Do you remember where you found this CD when you were "but a wee boy"? By the way, how are the versions on your solo CD different from the "Lovelines " CD? Check out these links:

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002G64/populasongsmu-20#moreAboutThisProduct

and

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000HY5H/populasongsmu-20

Hope this helps to clarify matters for you.

Thanks for the info, but i'm not getting albums confused. I've seen these unreleased solo songs on ebay. I found the karen carpenter solo album with these extra songs on in a second hand record store when i was about 16. The versions of certain songs from the solo album i.e if i had you, make believe its your first time are alot different than how they appear on lovelines and voice of the heart, just listen to the end of if i had you, the vocals sound very different and they have definatly been re-produced or remixed, I think all of the songs that appear on lovelines and the solo album sound re-done. If I find these songs I'll be sure to share them with you. I'm quite sure they exist.

Hi Billy,

Since there are Japanese releases that we don't generally get to see in the stores here in the States, perhaps there was a limited British edition of Karen's solo CD that included more songs but is now no longer available. This may explain how some of the currently "unreleased" songs got out to the public in the first place and ended up floating around on the internet.

Thanks for pointing out the different versions. I think the version of "If I Had You" (as well as "Lovelines" and "Remember When Lovin' Took All Night") that Richard remixed for the "Lovelines" CD sounds a bit richer and fuller than that on Karen's solo CD. However, I like Karen's chillingly elegant version of "Make Believe It's Your First Time" on her solo album better than the more lush version on "Voice of the Heart."

[billyuk]

Rick, I have the usual kc solo album at the moment, the one that can be found anywhere. The album i saw years ago was a cd and had the same cover but had extra tracks, I'm sure about this as I was a huge fan of the solo album then, it hadn't been released for very long, maybe 6 months.
Goodoldreams, I am a massive fan of the solo album, i love it. I think because it's so different from a carpenters album, karens voice just sounds stunning. The version of If i had you on lovelines is better though, purely because it doesn't fade during that cool vocal part at the end.

[Rick Henry]

This is very interesting Billy. This is the first time I've heard of Karen's solo album with extra tracks. I am certainly going to have to do someresearch on this. Thanks for letting us know about this.

I am also a big fan of Karen's solo... as a matter of fact it's one of my top 3 all-time favorite Carpenters related albums. The other two are "Horizon" - my favorite and "Passage" - an interestingly unique and modern record for Carpenters.

[billyuk]

I have found the unreleased solo tracks, i'm downloading now. Horizon is also one of my fave Cs albums, so many good songs, love me for who i am being my fave. Happy, solitaire, only yesterday: such a good album. Anybody wants me to upload the unreleased solo tracks, let me know.

[jose]

Where did you find them?

[theeaceman64]

A day late and a dollar short but...

For the raw unreleased tracks without editing and such try this YouTube link:


www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIYAgHlGRmE

The :Message In A Bottle" edit remix (2011) note, "I wanna Be Free" was actually an outtake from 1971 and not from Karen's solo album:


www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr4_3Iqob8s

The Message In A Bottle remix 2021:


www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m9GD6W1sVo

Richard's remixes can be found in the Old Reel To Reel Gems video:


www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbGDRl43wKM

Hope this helps people.