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Post by Rick Henry on Nov 22, 2007 20:35:08 GMT -5
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Post by beaner on Nov 23, 2007 7:52:04 GMT -5
For me there so many also. Although I can remember what Carpenters song was popular when something important happened in my life, it may not have been a "happy song" yet a happy time in my life which still brings fond memories in a way.
Songs like "Hurting Each Other", "A Place To Hideaway", "Goodbye to Love" and "You".
However, one song that is a sweet song AND reminds me of a wonderful PERSON in my life is "I Have You". That song is ALWAYS a song I think of my MOM for. She was always there for me and would still be if I hadn't lost her so early on in my life and hers too for that matter. She was only 61. It's 24 years now and I'm sure that song has been played a thousand times by me and not one time have I not been singing it "to my Mom" along with Karen's beautiful voice.
Beaner
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Post by Rick Henry on Nov 23, 2007 11:01:32 GMT -5
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Post by Rick Henry on Nov 25, 2007 10:15:02 GMT -5
Here I am back with another memory of the song "Sweet Sweet Smile"... and the album "Passage" In 1977 (must have been around September or October as "Calling Occupants" was the current single) I was listening to a radio interview with Karen and Richard. It was a lengthy interview maybe 45 minutes long. They were talking about the album "Passage" and how different it was and how critics and disc jockeys really liked this album much more than it's predecessor the album "A Kind Of Hush" which featured the single "There's A Kind Of Hush". They discussed the popularity of "Calling Occupants" and how it was being played on radio stations that generally do not play Carpenters music... especially FM radio stations. During the radio interview they played every track from the album "Passage" (they also played two standards "We've Only Just Begun" and "Goodbye To Love"). When they played "Sweet Sweet Smile" the DJ had mentioned this was his personal favorite from the album and Richard also commented it was one of his favorites. As the song was being played I was in complete musical Heaven... "Sweet Sweet Smile" sounded so good on the radio and I remember thinking that this should be a single it's a natural. Shortly after that my wish came true as it was released as a single and the song achieved success as a top 10 song on the Country Music charts in early 1978. In Southern California "Passage" was a pretty popular album along with the single "Calling Occupants"... the single reached the top 10 on most radio stations in Southern California... "Occupants" was their biggest So Cal hit since 1975's "Only Yesterday". Next I will come back with some memories on the songs "Bless The Beasts And Children", "Please Mr. Postman" and "I Can't Make Music".
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Post by YesterdayOnceMore on Nov 26, 2007 11:29:01 GMT -5
Great topic, Rick - thanks. Loved reading your memories, Rick and Mary Ann....it's so fun to recall these. Quickly, one that jumps out at me is a memory surrounding the song This Masquerade. It brings back a very interesting memory - I was in the hospital after just having surgery for a kidney stone, and a good friend brought me the new album of Carpenters, NOW AND THEN, and I just recall being so aware of This Masquerade, out of all the songs.....of course, Yesterday Once More is also a favorite from this compilation, but it was Masquerade that I continued to play a lot, and wanted to do with the band I was working with at the time. I did go back on the road after a short at home recovery period, and taught the group two Carpenter tunes, immediately - Yesterday Once More, and This Masquerade. Ah, what memories, what memories.....
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Post by Rick Henry on Nov 26, 2007 11:45:37 GMT -5
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Post by ps11932 on Nov 26, 2007 17:17:43 GMT -5
Every time I hear "Love Is Surrender" I think back to a comment a friend made back around 1980. The song was originally a gospel song by Ralph Carmichael (who is still alive and active, as far as I know) and was adapted a bit by The Carpenters.
Well, this guy I knew, who was super-energetic and a real professional at a lot of things, would get together people 2-3 times a year for a seasonal choir; we would go to retirement homes, etc. (You didn't have to display any particular talent for this choir- just show up for practice and performances; otherwise I couldn't have been in.) Well, one time "Love Is Surrender", in the style Mr. Carmichael had composed it, was in the repertoire. During practice, Greg looked at the book and said,"Don't sing it like this, sing it like The Carpenters." It would be quite a few years before I actually heard the C's version, but the comment came to mind right away.
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Post by Rick Henry on Nov 27, 2007 10:24:34 GMT -5
Most Carpenters songs have two or three memories attached to them for me... "Bless The Beasts And Children" has two memories. Since I am limited on time I will share the one that's easier to explain right now and come back with the other later on... In 1990 I purchased the album "A Song For You" on cassette at a store in Newport Beach, California. I was so happy to have this on cassette as at this point in time I had a cassette player in my car and was looking forward to listening to it. I unwrapped the cassette as I sat in the parking lot and put it into my cassette player and happily listened to the song "A Song For You" as I traveled through Newport Beach. At each red light I pulled the cassette liner notes to read and when I got to "Bless The Beasts And Children" I noticed something unusual... the name was incorrect (or so I thought)... instead of the correct name "Bless The Beasts And The Children" the cassette listed it as "Bless The Beasts And Children"... they left out the second " The" in the title. I thought this to be quite odd. But it stuck with me and when I got home I checked my original "A Song For You" album and it also listed the song as "Bless The Beasts And Children"... I could have sworn I saw it listed as "Bless The Beasts And The Children" somewhere... so I went through all my Carpenters Greatest Hits albums and even pulled out the "Superstar" single which has "Beasts" on the flip side... but every single one of them had the song listed as "Bless The Beasts And Children". All these years I had the name incorrect... it was a minor thing... but I have always remembered that day and my drive through the beautiful Newport Beach wondering about the title of the song and thoroughly enjoying listening to the album "A Song For You"... which is one of my ultimate favorite albums... can never get enough of that "Road Ode" song..
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Post by YesterdayOnceMore on Nov 27, 2007 21:59:53 GMT -5
Here's a fond memory....my high school sweetheart moved about 3 hours away from here after graduation as her father took another job....I recall so fondly that the Song For You album came out the year after we graduated, and this album contained the wonderful "I Won't Last a Day Without You." We used to talk on the phone for what seemed like hours, and often in the background I would be playing the Song For You album, and would sing along with I Won't Last A Day Without You when it would come on! Seems like only yesterday. ". . . All my best memories come back clearly to me...some can even make me cry. . . "
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Post by Rick Henry on Nov 27, 2007 23:11:50 GMT -5
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Post by smoothie2 on Dec 2, 2007 15:43:50 GMT -5
:)HEY EVERYBODY FANTASTIC THREAD GOING ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!! Hmmm..just wonder why our memories seem to be "so clearly to..." US when it comes to the Carps.?.. Oh.....we are very very HOOKED on them.... ! ))))(((((()))))(((((())))))((((((( My very first major memory (and bear with me, you all may know this one just as well as I do, since I've told it several times before) yes, indeed, folks, the first time I heard or recall hearing KAREN AND RICHARD, mostly Karen on the radio.... RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS played on my portable radio on the farm when I was 11 or 12 at the swing set... BOOM!..."talkin' to myself and feelin' old..." Suddenly, like a flash, the Voice hit me, the words hit me (thank you Paul Williams and others who wrote it) and for a second or 2 everything around me turned numb Who sang that? This lady, this song...so very well FIT me! And I was in love with that voice.... I had to have more of course as time went on through the yrs. The voices blending together along with Karen's but most especially karen's ...was an elixir, a nice warm "fix" for troubled souls!! ...I'll share more later... so RICK )))))(((((((( RICK RICK)))) ? IS IT "BLESS THE BEASTS AND THE CHILDREN", OR LEAVE OUT THAT SECOND "THE"??
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Post by smoothie2 on Dec 3, 2007 0:18:17 GMT -5
The album CLOSE TO YOUwas my 1st Carpenters album I received when I was 12 or 13 as a Christmas gift along with my 1st record player....so that album (and song) will always be a special memory. I really think I was totally surprised to get either one. And little did i know what really an extraordinary wonderful album that was and still is. I even had the same kind of sandals back then that Karen is wearing on the front of that album I recall those sandals especially also because I wore them at my brother's wedding (along with a long dark purple dress.) .............................................. A SONG FOR YOU.....I first heard that album at my best friend's house not long after it came out....The song itselfstands out when I think about it because it's such an awesome song. I especially was impressed at the part of the chorus:" remember when we were together..we were alone and I was singin' this song for you" I love the way the words seem to blend together on the "we were alone and ...." When Karen sings it, to me it sounds like one word like:"wewerealoneandI"
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Post by Rick Henry on Dec 3, 2007 9:28:11 GMT -5
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Post by smoothie2 on Dec 3, 2007 13:52:55 GMT -5
OH My yes, what a superb talent Croce was....more later
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Post by wisejester7 on Dec 3, 2007 17:59:53 GMT -5
The only Carpenters 'live-moment' memory I can recall is not a fond memory at all, but it is something that is indelibly imprinted in my mind. I can vividly recall what I was doing, where I was standing, and who I was talking with the moment Karen's death was announced over the radio. The radio then played a Carpenters song. What song it was I am no longer sure. I think I was in shock. How could it be true? Karen was so young.
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Post by Rick Henry on Dec 3, 2007 23:58:31 GMT -5
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Post by wisejester7 on Dec 4, 2007 6:09:55 GMT -5
Yes, we are all very lucky to have memories to see us through. Karen left a fabulous legacy.
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Post by Rick Henry on Dec 4, 2007 10:18:28 GMT -5
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