If i were a carpenter (tribute album)

[kc1950]

the benefit to this album is that it gave the Carpenters much needed street credibility and got people to respect their musicality and greatness -

that's the only benefit lol - i mean this is garbage - I don't mean to be disrespectful but calling this a tribute - it is banal, tuneless, and basically unlistenable - sorry - but if i am going to listen to a tribute album - i would think that it should be listenable and maybe melodic lol!!

If u want a good tribute - listen to Marcela Mangabeira - a female singer from Brazil - the album on itunes is called Carpenters - bossa grooves - revisiting carpenters - its very cool and its in tune lol!! Different of course but pretty cool and the way she phrases the vocals is pretty unorthodox - Tributes are always hit or miss but you appreciate the greatness of the tune

[Rick Henry]

I personally like the the tribute album... but I also love alt-rock and modern rock. I do agree some of the songs are not so great such as Bless The Beasts and Children by Four Non Blondes. Top of the World by Shonen Knife is a complete disgrace to the song and Babes In Toylands recording of Occupants is less than inspiring.But on the other hand Dishwalla's It's Going To Take Sometime is excellent with great guitar work. Matthew Sweet's Let Me Be The One and Grant Lee Buffalo's We've Only Just Begun are both respectable. My favorite is Sonic Youth's Superstar... this is total classic. sonic Youth brought out another side of this dark and moody tune and took the song to new heights. I also like Yesterday Once More by Redd Kross... but this could be more for sentimentality as a very good friend of mine had the original Redd Kross single back in 1984 and used to play it quite a bit.

I don't think the album is at all garbage... but at the same point I don't think it great either. I would rate this album 3 out of 5 stars.

[enigma]

I would give it a 1 or 2 myself it is far from a classic some songs like superstar got a unique treatment and were a good listen but overall I was not keen on these new interpretations of the Carpenters classics alot of them left a bad taste in my mouth or ears in this case.

[Rick Henry]

Feb 8, 2009 16:50:00 GMT -5 enigma said:

I would give it a 1 or 2 myself it is far from a classic some songs like superstar got a unique treatment and were a good listen but overall I was not keen on these new interpretations of the Carpenters classics alot of them left a bad taste in my mouth or ears in this case.

In reassessment of the album I would have to change my three star rating to two stars. There's really only two songs that I truly like and those are Sonic Youth's "Superstar" and Dishwalla's "It's Going To Take Sometime". Those I like mostly for the arrangements and the musicianship. A few of the others are okay. "Solitaire: by Sheryl Crow is okay, but Crow just does not have the vocal ability to make the song as effective as Karen did. Otherwise I generally like Sheryl Crow, she has a good solid body of work behind now. The Cranberries "Close To You" just does not appeal to me at all and Bettie Serveert's "For All We Know" is weak (but than again "For All We Know" has never been a favorite song for me even recorded by Carpenters).

Although, I give the album only two stars I still do not think it is garbage as the album is not without merit. Overall it is a well worked tribute album and the packaging is interesting.

I own a very rare copy of the album in a 7" vinyl singles box set. It's six singles (all with picture sleeves) in a box (with the same cover as the album).

Here is a pic of the box set cover and two of the singles

[timo]

I got to listen to this album yesterday - never heard it before - and wasn't very impressed.
Buzzsaw guitars and C's tunes with sloppy vocals? Well it wasn't all that but I don't think I'll give it another listen. Perhaps the fact that I'm not very familiar with any of the artists contributing didn't help either?
Btw. can't see the cover art work pictures, Rick!
Stars? Venus and Mars are alright tonight...at least in our night sky here...

[Rick Henry]

Feb 17, 2009 0:51:59 GMT -5 timo said:

I got to listen to this album yesterday - never heard it before - and wasn't very impressed.
Buzzsaw guitars and C's tunes with sloppy vocals? Well it wasn't all that but I don't think I'll give it another listen. Perhaps the fact that I'm not very familiar with any of the artists contributing didn't help either?
Btw. can't see the cover art work pictures, Rick!
Stars? Venus and Mars are alright tonight...at least in our night sky here...

I love buzzsaw guitars... and Carpenters tunes... for me I guess that's a good combination. I wouldn't go so far as to say that any of the vocals on the tribute album were sloppy it was all professionally recorded... although in comparison to Carpenters' pristine vocals anything could sound sloppy next to them.

I find it quite interesting that Sonic Youth's rendition of "Superstar" has become a classic in it's own right. The song (at the time of the tribute's release) received a good amount of airplay on several radio stations across the U.S. and was considered the album's leading single. Recently the song gained a good amount of popularity as it was featured in the film "Juno".

Of course Carpenters own the definitive version of "Superstar" although the song has gained acclaim by several artists including Rita Coolidge, Luther Vandross, Sonic Youth, Urge Overkill and Ruben Studdard... several others have recorded the song... but it's these renditions that have gained the most acclaim.

[carpentersgermany]

Actually I'm not that much into "Indie", so I don't know most of the artists featured on that tribute album. Most of the songs are not according to my taste, but I like the concept or the idea of that album anyway.

They did not take the easy way by just compiling some cheap cover versions of Carpenters classic to sell some records, but they just showed their respect to the Carpenters music by transferring their songs into a whole new context.. That's what I appreciate.

The only song I really do like on that album is Matthew Sweet's version of "Let me be the one".
Sheryl Crow - Solitaire and Grant Lee Buffalo - We've Only Just Begun are quite good, too.

[timo]

Thanks Rick, now the images are showing, a very funny sleeve btw.
I can play a mean buzzsaw guitar and I (kind of) understand the concept of this album - it just didn't hit me!
I've also listened to Delaney & Bonnie's original (?) Groupie(Superstar) - and that's a tight Southern Soul song. One song can be so many...

[Rick Henry]

Feb 17, 2009 10:35:30 GMT -5 carpentersgermany said:

Actually I'm not that much into "Indie", so I don't know most of the artists featured on that tribute album. Most of the songs are not according to my taste, but I like the concept or the idea of that album anyway.

They did not take the easy way by just compiling some cheap cover versions of Carpenters classic to sell some records, but they just showed their respect to the Carpenters music by transferring their songs into a whole new context.. That's what I appreciate.

The only song I really do like on that album is Matthew Sweet's version of "Let me be the one".
Sheryl Crow - Solitaire and Grant Lee Buffalo - We've Only Just Begun are quite good, too.

I love "indie" music... as that's where the music of tomorrow is born. Regarding the tribute album I wouldn't consider any of these artists "indie" as all of them were signed to major labels at the time of the tribute album. They would be considered "alternative rock" artists... though I never considered Sheryl Crow, Cranberries, Matthew Sweet or Grant Lee Buffalo "alt-rock"... they are more pop-rock with a bit of an edge.

Going back to "Superstar"... thank you Timo for mentioning Delaney and Bonnie's original which was named "Groupie" ("Superstar" is a much better name)... that one should also be added to the list of acclaimed recordings of the song.

[timo]

Hey, this new look's fab!
You know what - I gave this tribute another listen - and started to find it more interesting. I judged it way too quick! Now the only thing that really irritates is that plink-plonk guitar solo on Goodbye To Love. Not a good idea.

[carpentersgermany]

Feb 17, 2009 22:13:43 GMT -5 Rick Henry said:

Feb 17, 2009 10:35:30 GMT -5 carpentersgermany said:

Actually I'm not that much into "Indie", so I don't know most of the artists featured on that tribute album. Most of the songs are not according to my taste, but I like the concept or the idea of that album anyway.

They did not take the easy way by just compiling some cheap cover versions of Carpenters classic to sell some records, but they just showed their respect to the Carpenters music by transferring their songs into a whole new context.. That's what I appreciate.

The only song I really do like on that album is Matthew Sweet's version of "Let me be the one".
Sheryl Crow - Solitaire and Grant Lee Buffalo - We've Only Just Begun are quite good, too.

I love "indie" music... as that's where the music of tomorrow is born. Regarding the tribute album I wouldn't consider any of these artists "indie" as all of them were signed to major labels at the time of the tribute album. They would be considered "alternative rock" artists... though I never considered Sheryl Crow, Cranberries, Matthew Sweet or Grant Lee Buffalo "alt-rock"... they are more pop-rock with a bit of an edge.

Going back to "Superstar"... thank you Timo for mentioning Delaney and Bonnie's original which was named "Groupie" ("Superstar" is a much better name)... that one should also be added to the list of acclaimed recordings of the song.

Might be that it's a linguistic misunderstanding. Over here Indie music is kind of a sub-genre of Alternative Rock. First this music was called "indie" because it was distributed by independent record labels, but today even bands with a major deal can be so called "indie" - it's an own genre, maybe more than that a lifestyle..

[betossantana]

Feb 7, 2009 10:03:22 GMT -5 kc1950 said:

If u want a good tribute - listen to Marcela Mangabeira - a female singer from Brazil - the album on itunes is called Carpenters - bossa grooves - revisiting carpenters - its very cool and its in tune lol!!

Haven't heard that one but I have listened to another bossa tribute, Coffee & bossa: remembers Carpenters:

www.amazon.com/Coffee-Bossa-Carpenters-Mitzi-Caballero/dp/B000OZ2I7O

I find it kinda boring but my mom likes it...

[betossantana]

My favourite track from this album is the Cranberries' Close to you, love it! The rest of the album I seldom if ever listen to, almost only when some of the songs bumps in my shuffle playlist.

[kenny]

One thing I think might have been missed along this conversation is that not only being a great concept album, but these are all young folks interpreting classics we've heard a million times over & have each note memorized. Some of them were mere toddlers when these songs were out and some not even born yet. But the broad appeal of the Carpenters music itself - the one thing they were loved and criticized for - was put to the test of completely different sounds, some succeeding more than others.

I think it's great the word "indie" is being used - our music climate changes when it comes to the word POP and remember that pretty much each of the styles that we've defined as our own favorites and that become POPular were at one time akin to "indie" assessment. What's different, and catches on, becomes POP. And the Carpenters BECAME POP due to their massive success.

[Rick Henry]

Mar 5, 2009 0:02:30 GMT -5 kenny said:

One thing I think might have been missed along this conversation is that not only being a great concept album, but these are all young folks interpreting classics we've heard a million times over & have each note memorized. Some of them were mere toddlers when these songs were out and some not even born yet. But the broad appeal of the Carpenters music itself - the one thing they were loved and criticized for - was put to the test of completely different sounds, some succeeding more than others.

I think it's great the word "indie" is being used - our music climate changes when it comes to the word POP and remember that pretty much each of the styles that we've defined as our own favorites and that become POPular were at one time akin to "indie" assessment. What's different, and catches on, becomes POP. And the Carpenters BECAME POP due to their massive success.

Several excellent thoughts Kenny...

Carpenters started off an a true "indie" group. They were recording in a garage studio (Magic Lamp) before they made it to A&M. I guess back then indie group were called Garage Bands. I think that's why Carpenters are so well respected by the indie crowd because they did go from the garage to the stage. They did start off with a raw sound which was developed and honed and than perfected. Sonic Youth seems to be about the biggest of their fans. I remember Sonic Youth in their days when they were trying to break into the business.